So here's a little story. Depeche Mode were scheduled to play Athens, I was so excited about it, and then Dave Gahan fell ill and they had to cancel Athens and another 5 gigs.

Here I go, registering in a DM forum (one of the most popular) to talk about any rescheduling, discuss news and the band etc. etc. Well, the situation is quite similar to what we had with Keith's brain surgery a few years back, not much information coming out, rumours flying left and right and a logistics chaos with the postponed gigs, but the thing is, at least then I had Rocks Off and I could trust the news, discuss, even get angry with the rumours, but heck, I was free to do so.

In the DM forum, every second message I post gets deleted  First it contains "Speculations" (which the admin won't allow), then it contains links to newspapers that have speculations, or it contains discussions over speculations or talking about Dave Gahan's health, which is a private matter. Weel, if you can't talk about how this affects the tour of a band you love, what the heck are you supposed to talk about in a forum at a time like this?

And on top of that, people get banned for discussing the above and all the others suck up on the admin. Not to mention that when I try to ask why the heck my posts keep getting deleted, all I get is the admin's power trip and a "i owe you no explanation" attitude. Sucks!

Anyway, just wanted to say again how much I love RO, this censorship-free space on the internet where we can all talk, argue and make up without any crazy axe over our heads threatening to ban or delete us.

And I can love the admins here without feeling I'm sucking up, lol. Love you guys, keep going like this and thanks for giving us a FREE and open space to rave on about our favorite band 

Nice of you to say that, although in fairness there are occasions when if we think that wild speculation which isnt already in the public domain crosses the line of personal privacy, we'll certainly decide against allowing to it to be posted, because you dont want some journalist lifting it and making it worse than it already is.

Two I can think of in recent years were what turned out to be unfounded rumours about Ronnie needing a liver transplant (early 2003) and Keith's head injury being a lot worse than it was reported (May 2006) which simply wouldnt have served any purpose but to alarm people unnecessarily.

One which wasnt unfounded but which we decided to keep off the boards was when Mick went back to London after the Phoenix show in November 2006 to visit his dying father. It wasn't in the papers and there were conflicting stories from the Stones camp every few hours that week as to whether the Vegas show that weekend would go ahead or not. So, we had the dilemma of wanting to respect Mick's privacy but at the same time wanting to advise fans that the show was at risk. In the end, we mailed everyone we knew who was planning to go to Vegas and got them to spread the message to anyone who needed to know that the show was in doubt and the reason for it but on the understanding it was NOT to be mentioned on the forums. Seemed to work out ok, and the show went ahead anyway, even though Joe died that afternoon while Mick was on his way back to the US.

If its already in the papers though its absolutely pointless to pretend it's not there.

only one?

Gazza wrote on May 27^th, 2009 at 8:06am:


Oh, what a weekend....anxiously awaiting my next text from Gazza while I sat in Vegas on pins and needles. I was texting LJ: "But my hotel room is room 1009...isn't that a good sign???" LOL

Yet another example of the way our moderators go above and beyond.

Mick ended up landing just 3 or 4 hours before going onstage. It was such a touching show. Keith patted him on the shoulder several times, and the long looks from Charlie were obviously meant to prop him up. When it was over, Mick looked absolutely spent.

In many ways, one of his finest performances, in a true 'the show must go on' manner.

Keith (Paris 1976) and Bill (Tokyo 1990)  have done the same thing just hours after hearing of a bereavement (in both their cases, it was for shows that were being televised as well).  Must take incredible inner strength to be able to do that.

The reason is that I don't speak English and Gazza does not read your posts  

Now seriously... We tolerate freedom of speech, but not aggressions or insults and of course respect Stones privacy

Even that Gazza is in the European time and I'm in the American we cannot delete immediately so when you see something that MUST be deleted please send us an e-mail to [email protected]

To be honest sometimes I want to delete some posts and sometimes some regulars take the board as theirs posting pretty often and taking the leadership. Some regulars have quit because of this but anyway we tolerate some flooding

:necrophillicpost

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Well, at least you still have your Gossip Girls Message Board to fall back on....

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LOL You so NASTEE! I go there for info on Jeopardy! And the new 90201...

The Tone Loc Message Board I frequent is more active than this place.

Half the board is still recovering from TomL's BBQ!

Saint Sway wrote on May 27^th, 2009 at 11:14am:


wait until payday...once TTM can afford some more malt liquor, posts will pick up.

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Yes..theyve just released a new album and are on a world tour. Not my taste personally, but I downloaded an advance copy of their album for a mate who's a big fan and he thought it was the best thing they'd done for about 15 years.

"The Rocks Off Message Board - where you come for the Stones news, but you stay for Porto Potty pictures."