I've been semi-pro for a while now and have also been a gig organiser while at college and in my time have booked, supported and auditioned for some quite well-known rock bands, usually either on the rise or on the slide. Some were decent down to earth folk but many others were arrogant, egomaniacal ****s who take all the fun out of music. One of the worst was Mick Hucknall, whom I had the misfortune to come across in his pre-Simply Red days. I've also read that James Brown and Frank Zappa tended to treat their musicians like employees, fining them for bum notes etc. These days I mainly in play folk-blues, celtic and bluegrass bnads which is a lot more fun. The people here just get off on playing the music and are not bothered about being stars.