[UA] The Band, Elwood, the Band!

[Stuart Anderson]

Chad Underkoffler wrote:
> 
> [from a Pyramid message board]
> 
> On 14 Nov 2000 00:16:35 GMT, thrash at io.com (Christopher Thrash)
> wrote:
> > Need it be pointed out that the ultimate expression of this
> trend would
> > be to run a _So You Wanna Be A Rock N' Roll Star!_ campaign,
> centered
> > around a certain popular band from the San Francisco bay area?
> Extra points
> > for bringing back the shade of the lead guitarist to continue
> playing into
> > the present.
> 
> Yoink! <-- Simpsons sound fx for swiping something.
> 
> This, combined with too many late-night viewings of VH-1's
> behind the music and a long-ago TMNT adventure have combined to
> give me a "rockin'" idea for a UA scenario.
> 
> Take this struggling alternative neo-punk post-grunge foursome,
> let's call them, oh, I don't know-- the Marquisate of the Black
> Cross-- is just starting to get some play on the local alt-rock
> circuit when their front man / lead singer, a maniac named Don
> Wells, dies of while crossing the street, drunk.

<<snip the rest of the very good scenario idea>>

I ran a gig much like this when I first started running UA,
swiping the idea mainly from _The Armageddon Rag_ by George
RR Martin. You have a resurfacing frontman--is he real, is
he possessed, he he a homonculus containing a mojo bag
filled with hair clippings from Bobby Darin?--the clueless
devil-worshipping band, who may or may not've hit on
something, the conniving manager, who's just a street-level
rat-bastard, and hordes and hordes of eccentric fans. Throw
in some death threats, and Old Man Carruthers (who's staging
'accidents' in the music hall, instigating rumors of a
Phantom) and you have some Scooby Hoodoo high weirdness. The
rock band deal runs very well, because a) it's such an evil
industry in the first place b) it's such a weird,
anti-glamorous milieu, and c) everyone has their own piece
of rock & roll mythology they want to resurrect. (Thrash has
been trying to reanimate Jerry Garcia for years.) The other
benefit is that it can be run on almost any scale. The one I
did was very street--little supernatural. Chad's was a
little higher octane. My friend Juanita ran a similar
Cthulhu scenario where the universe was boiling out of
existence. But she was *way* into the Cramps. Go figure.
--Stu

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