I found this insight into who were the fans and their interactions with Russell and his band, their participation at concerts and in fandom really interesting. Despite the article being written nearly 15 years ago some things remain the same. Russell still loves and plays music with some variation of the TOFOG, now called the Indoor Garden Party band. Last year some of his fans, who are mostly mature age women spend thousands of dollars following Russell and his current band the Indoor Garden Party band around at concerts in the United Kingdom.
Some things are different. Many of the Russell Crowe fan sites established in the early years of the Internet that recorded and share information such as interviews, articles and photographs are still available. In the early years fans connected through group forums run by fans as social media was in its early years. Today many fans share a connection through social media with the main official sites run and controlled by Russell Crowe himself.
I was also interested to read how these early fans met and interacted with Russell Crowe through chance encounters after the event. Last year fans with enough money who travelled to an Indoor Garden Party concert and buy a ticket to a concert could also buy a meet and greet with Russell Crowe and the band. Those fans who did this shared their photographs via social media. As a consequence their fan status increased as they became known to the band members themselves and fans.
I have copied this early article below for those fans interested. I was also lucky enough to have found a photograph of Russell and his band playing at the Lookout Hotel in Scarborough, Western Australia in 2003. No copyright infringement intended.
'30-odd foot of groupies' published in The Sun-Herald on 17 November, 2003. The article can be found at https://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/11/16/1068917672468.html
For a band of diehard fans (many old enough to know better), it's Russell Crowe's music, not his on-screen machismo, that has them crossing the world for front-row seats, Christine Sams reports.
It's a long way from the pristine white beaches of Panama City, Florida, to the darkened front row of the Campbelltown Catholic Club in Sydney's west. But no distance is too great for 61-year-old grandmother Carol Atkinson, who has travelled across the world to worship at the shrine of 30 Odd Foot Of Grunts (TOFOG). And her idol of choice is the band's lead singer, Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe.
With her thick glasses and ample build, Atkinson looks more like a girl guide leader than a rock groupie who has come to Australia three times this year to see Crowe perform. "I have children the same age as Russell," she laughs. "It's disgusting, isn't it? But I've spent more than half my life caring for my children. Now it's my turn."
Atkinson estimates she has spent thousands of dollars ("if you don't add it up, you don't feel bad") and a stack of frequent flyer points on her passion for Crowe. She's seen the 39-year-old New Zealander perform in Australia, Chicago and Canada. Along the way, she's bonded with 15 groupies who have travelled variously from Japan, the US, Britain and, of course, Australia. "Most of us came to the band through Russell," she says. "But now we're genuine TOFOG fans. You don't come all this way just to see one guy."
Joining the diehard fans are hundreds of Campbelltown residents - some curious about seeing the Hollywood star, others simply wanting a good night out for $22 - who sit up the back of the auditorium with their beers. But even among the most reluctant attendees (mainly blokes who've been dragged along by their wives) there is a frisson of excitement when Crowe steps up to the microphone.
As a teenager in New Zealand, Crowe - who acknowledges the influences of singer/songwriters Billy Bragg and Elvis Costello - performed under the stage name Russ Le Roq. He still tells stories about busking on the streets of Sydney in the 80s with his mate Dean Cochran, now lead guitarist in TOFOG. (The band's name refers to a sound effects request Crowe found amusing while working on the 1995 film Virtuosity.) But much like Keanu Reeves and his band Dogstar, Crowe and TOFOG are regularly derided and mocked by some critics. "TOFOG is horrible by any standard: lyrics a teenage poet would be ashamed of, barely passable musicianship ... and Rusty's hulking physique and quavering, off-key voice out front," wrote one Australian critic.
Not that such opinions matter to Crowe's fans.
"I grew up with the Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel, whose lyrics meant something," says Atkinson, "and it's the same with Russell and the band. I've got all the CDs - in my car, on my computers at work and home - and I enjoy the songs. When you see them live, it's electrifying. I don't really understand the criticism. I find it strange. It could be the tall poppy syndrome. The band perform a type of music and, just like opera or pop, it might not be your thing but it's still good."
Backstage in Campbelltown, Crowe says he often recognises the fans - mainly women - who've followed the band's entire Australian tour. Since July, TOFOG has performed more than 24 gigs throughout the country including dates in Darwin and Mildura and a free outdoor concert on Palm Island, 65 kilometres north-east of Townsville.
Atkinson came face to face with her idol during a gig at Coffs Harbour in July when he stepped off the stage to speak with her. She was jet-lagged and "lucky to remember my name". "He asked me where I was from and was very polite and friendly," she recalls. "I've spoken to him three or four times since. I don't approach him. That's not my style."
After a show, it's not unusual for the singer/guitarist to receive congratulatory cards - his first child with wife Danielle Spencer is due in January - as well as gifts and fan letters. The actor even announced the gender of his unborn baby - a boy - during a gig in Chicago.
On stage, Crowe gives the fans a little wave as they sing along to every word of every song. That's no mean feat - most Australian music fans would struggle to sing one chorus or even name a TOFOG song. But dedicated fans - here and in the United States - have embraced the band's latest album, Other Ways Of Speaking, which was released in Australia in July.
The technology-savvy groupies also rely on internet chat forums to brag about their encounters with Crowe throughout TOFOG's tour. Favourite sites include www.gruntland.com (the band's official site) and www.russellcroweheaven.com where fans write poems dedicated to Crowe and buy merchandise including posters and photographs. Among the free gimmicks available are Crowe paper dolls. Think Crowe in casual gear, Crowe in Gladiator mode as Maximus.
But even for web-obsessed fans - including those wielding scissors and a glue stick - there's nothing like seeing life-sized Crowe in the flesh. Atkinson has befriended a Tasmanian named Sunnie Gill, the founder of the Russell Crowe Heaven website. Gill is thrilled to see the star on stage but, after seeing the fans in action, admits to having reservations about the Grunt groupies. "It's so competitive among them, it's actually a bit scary," she says warily. "These people are hardcore. I thought I was a fan but now I'm like, 'Whoa!'"
Atkinson is unfazed. "We're just here for fun," she says. "We certainly don't want to make Russell feel uncomfortable in any way and I think he knows that. It doesn't seem to matter whether people are here for the gladiator, for Russell Crowe or because they won tickets in a radio show. I've seen the way he pulls them in, the way he involves them in the show. It's just phenomenal to watch."
