Date: July 11 2002
Place: Hyatt Hotel, Los Angeles.
Theme Song: Cherry Lips - Garbage
"Kirby.............Kirby Bloom...."
The awkward syllables of my name echoed throughout the room, stirring the butterflies in my stomach.
"Kirby Bloom?"
"Yes, I'm here," My shaky right hand raised just above my head. My name was ticked off along with the twelve others.
"You all know the basics of your jobs. Carry whatever equipment you can to wherever it needs to go, your separate managers will keep you posted if anything changes...We leave for Oklahoma tomorrow night, so try and get rested up. Twelve blurry eyed roadies is not a cool thing,"
The man up the front whom I'd never met shifted on his feet, not with nervousness, but with arrogance. The look on his face and tone of his voice made you feel as if you were a servant and not an employee.
"So that's basically all I need to tell you at the moment. Like I said, your managers will give you another debriefing before we leave tomorrow. Thanks guys and good luck. Could I please see Asher Grant, Melody Hargrove and Kirby Bloom up the front please,"
My legs failed on me when I realized I had to stand up. The conference room with no windows was empty of the bulk of the roadies, leaving Asher Grant, a lanky bohemian, Melody Hargrove, an inner city punk, and the arrogant man waiting for me. I grinned meekly, and stood beside Asher.
My ears were filled with the white noise of nervousness, it became so loud that I had no idea what the man was saying. I knew it would be important but I hadn't the energy nor dedication to ignore the nauseating nervousness.
Soon, I noticed the man had left. Asher Grant and Melody Hargrove began to leave, they stopped just before the door and signaled for me to follow. I had no idea what I wanted to do at that moment. Did I want to bask in the confined comfort of an empty conference room where no one would bother me, or did I want to make a run for the hotel room, double lock the door, disconnect the phone and block the windows.
By 11am tomorrow morning I will need to face reality. By 11am tomorrow I will be Hanson's personal assistant, hence the nausea. Can I just say that right now, I am a firm believer in the saying 'It's who you know, not what you know that gets you places'.
My father decided to take advantage of his contacts and get me the hottest job on the market. I may have been reluctant at first (that is now replaced with panic in its most concentrated form), but I gratefully accepted. The money I'd be making would run rings around the $7.50 an hour at the coffee shop, and it would begin paving the way to where I wanted to be.
This opportunity is both amazing and right on time, but there is still the minor dilemma of such intense nervousness that keeps me from moving.
The bing of the elevator snapped me from semi-consciousness. I followed Asher and Melody into the hallway of the bustling 7th floor. Tour executives left doors wide open and ventured from room to room, talking, laughing and playing music as audibly as they could.
The details of my room for only one night went unnoticed as I dumped myself on the marvelous bed. I heard footsteps on the carpet, followed my more footsteps, I refused to move or even open my eyes in my stubbornness. The door clicked shut behind the intruders which caused a sense of alarm, I decided to open my eyes after all and was met with the image of Asher and Melody hovering over me.
The three of us began talking and with the addition of music and chocolate, I began to relax. I soon learned that we would be traveling with Hanson, carrying any extra luggage, doing their laundry, running their errands and basically doing everything they were capable of doing but figured they'd splurge and let someone else do it.
The neon numbers flicked until they read 10:30. My eyes were droopy from the early start and decided it was high time to brush my teeth and drift into a deep and satisfying sleep. Ash and Mel said goodnight and retired into their rooms that were identical to mine.
Date: July 12 2002
Place: Hyatt Hotel, Los Angeles.
Theme song: Just Push Play - Aerosmith
"Hey...Hey wake up," Asher snapped his fingers in front of my face until I realized I was required back in reality. I looked to Asher then to my chocolate chip pancakes, to Melody and then to the brand new person standing beside the table. I could have sworn my art teacher from high school was standing right there, the resemblance was uncanny. She wore a crazy patterned shirt, black jeans, specs that were too large for her face and her hair fell in dark red heaps all around her face. She had a kind face aged by time, but mostly rock and roll. I could just see her in a white room smoking a cigarette and telling the countless stories of her wild and crazy life.
"Hi sweetie, I'm Rita," She smiled benevolently and brushed my shoulder lightly as if making it known to me that I was, in fact, there.
Rita turned out to be our boss throughout the tour, or, 'separate manager' as was mentioned in the conference yesterday. She gave us our own beepers and cell phones and said if we had any problems, then we should go to her. I liked her a lot by the end of the fifteen minute chat.
The three of us finished off our brunch and filed outside.
That familiar feeling of dread crept back as I sat on my suitcase in front of the lobby windows. Our ride was apparently five minutes away, we were to sit in the back row. Behind Hanson.
Five minutes my ass. The shiny golden van maneuvered itself to come to a halt in front of us. Hanson's father Walker hops out of the passengers seat and three silhouettes sit behind the darkly tinted windows of the car.
Walker went straight inside, taking Rita with him. So Asher, Melody and myself were left feeling self-conscious outside the van. The door slid open to break the silence, and scare the shit out of me.
Zac Hanson's friendly animated head popped out, followed by his body, then Isaac and Taylor.
"Hi guys, I'm Zac,"
"I'm Ike,"
"I'm Taylor,"
The three shook our hands, the scene was almost comical.
"Asher,"
"Melody,"
"Kirby,"
"It's nice to meet you," Isaac said, "It's gonna be cool to have someone our own age around,"
We smiled and nodded in agreement.
"Well," Taylor flipped his dark blonde hair around, "We're running late already so hop in,"
We all noticed Walker heading back to the van with a wad of paper, Rita beside him.
"I'm gonna be hanging with the rest of the crew ok you guys, I'll see you in Oklahoma. Take care kids," She smiled in her motherly art teacher way and waved at us as we drove away and out of sight.
- - - -
"Wanna swap for a little bit?" I asked Melody after hearing her third complaint.
"Yep!" She agreed willingly, handing me Taylor's over-stuffed bag in exchange for Isaac's backpack full of god knows what. Whatever he had in it was definitely lighter than what Taylor had packed, I mentally kicked myself for offering to swap.
We finally got ourselves checked in and ready to board after half an hour too long. There was still an hour before we had to board (there should have been two) so we all headed for the member's lounge.
Melody and I giggled when we spotted the coffee machine. The rush of travelers had just passed, so only a few people lingered around. This proved to be convenient on two accounts; the coffee machine was all ours and nobody mobbed Hanson for autographs.
I pressed the 'mocha' button and watched the Starbucks coffee trickle it's happy trail into my cup.
"Hi girls, I just wanted to say hello properly, I'm sorry I didn't do it before, I was just in a bit of a rush," Walker stood beside us, his aura was firm and confident.
"Hi Mr. Hanson, my name's Kirby,"
"I'm Melody,"
"Hi Kirby and Melody, you can call me Walker,"
Walker made himself a very black coffee and went off, Mel and I went over to Asher as soon as we spotted Hanson heading in the direction of the machine. We were still far too nervous to be around them.
"Could you guys be more obvious?" Asher asked with an amused expression.
"Quiet you, they're intimidating," Melody crossed one leg over the other.
"I think they're pretty cool, Zac's really nice,"
I tuned out of the conversation to watch them. They sat nine tables up from us, Zac and Taylor sat in arm chairs watching the TV, and Isaac sat with Walker and another man on a different table. Taylor's foot shook carelessly, he and Zac laughed to each other. Isaac spoke seriously with his father, his eyebrows raising every now and again. Ike seemed to be more reserved than the other two. Ike was still friendly, but Taylor and Zac seemed a lot more inviting. I guess it must be hard for Isaac, being the eldest, he must get dumped on with a lot of responsibility sometimes.
"I heard we're getting a tour bus once we get to Oklahoma, and we're all traveling on it,"
"WHAT?"
"Yep," Asher said, "We have to drive everywhere, "
"We have to live with Hanson now?" I asked, gulping down half the coffee. Sure, they seemed nice enough, but....No way!
Soon enough, Walker was rounding us up, the plane was boarding at 12:45 and it was 12:47. We took our places on the brand new United Airlines plane, the three of us got to sit beside each other. I braced myself, knowing that once this plane landed, the madness would begin.
Date: July 12 2002
Place: Oklahoma Airport
Theme song: Cigarettes Will Kill You - Ben Lee
"Kirby, please try to look happy," Asher stood in front of me, ruining the fixed stare I had managed to dedicate to the baggage claim conveyer belt.
"I'm just nervous, Ash, I really am happy underneath it all,"
Our bags came around and we hauled them onto the poor little trolley, its wheels would be very bent by the time we were done with it. After some reasoning with Melody, I ended up with Isaac's backpack once more, and her with Taylor's brick-heavy bag.
"Melody, would you mind carrying the guitar?" Taylor asked Melody, his face looked crumpled from an uncomfortable sleep on the plane.
"Uhm, I'm sure Kirby wouldn't mind, she got away with the light pack,"
I pulled a face at her while Taylor wasn't watching then smiled pleasantly when he handed the acoustic guitar to me.
"Guys, there are apparently quite a few fans waiting outside, I heard it's kind of crazy out there, so just stick together ok? Boys, do a couple of autographs but only if they have pens, and no photographs,"
The 'boys' nodded and followed their dad to the exit. I wondered why the fans hadn't come into the baggage claim area since it was open to the public. We came through the doors and were met with a warm Oklahoman breeze and then, I knew why the fans hadn't come into the baggage claim. To my left, the entire sidewalk in front of the airport was packed with fans, all squished and uncomfortable and now, they were screaming.
I heard Zac sigh before he went off to sign only a few lucky people's CD's, as did Ike and Taylor. Asher, Mel and I sat in awe from the back seat. All those fans were here just for them, some must have been waiting for hours.
They were guarded in by a metal barricade that was weighted to the ground by a few sand bags. The barricade leaned forward as the fans grew more and more eager to touch a Hanson.
I stuck my head out of the van and called out, "Walker, I think they better get inside now, that barricades about to fall over,"
"You're right, come on guys, we're running late,"
The boys nodded in over enthused understanding, waved a few times and got inside the van.
- - - -
A few fans waited patiently outside the hotel, they were far more tame than the crowd at the airport. These guys just smiled happily when they noticed the silver van pull up. They gave Mel and I a few strange looks but still came across as quite nice. The guys decided it would be safe enough to pose for some photos and sign each CD.
The hotel seemed to be very nice. The lobby was full of antiques and crystal vases, the staff all wore lovely pressed uniforms and were nice to everyone.
"Come on guys, enough dawdling," That other man who'd been driving the van and talking on his phone half the time began to boss us around. I wondered what he meant by 'dawdling', we'd been standing in the lobby for 30 seconds.
Walker came over with a handful of blue plastic key cards, "Isaac, here's your key, and yours Taylor, Zac you'll be sharing with me, and you guys will be sharing too,"
We took our keys that all opened the same door and followed Walker to the elevator.
"Not a bad room, huh?" Asher threw back the curtains, letting the afternoon sun stream in. I suppose the room was alright, but it seemed as though all the money had been spent on the lobby. But, it had a spa bath, a kitchenette and feather pillows.
"How long are we here for again?" I asked, my head sinking into the pillow.
"Three nights I think," Mel replied.
"That seems like a while,"
"Yeah, something about the bus running late,"
"Uh huh," Asher added, "We get to Seattle the day of the concert,"
"Hmm, that's gonna be crazy......So what do we do now?"
I heard Asher chuckle lightly, "You didn't hear a word Walker said, did you?"
"I tune out a lot," I chuckled as well, "That other guy, I wouldn't have a clue what his name is, or even why he's here,"
"Warren. He's a tour executive," Melody said.
"Oh....They seem to be popping up everywhere," I said, "So.....What are we doing now?"
"Walker said Rita's taking us to dinner in an hour,"
"That's news to me," Melody said, already choosing an outfit and calling shot gun on the shower. Mel locked herself in there and Asher went out to the balcony to smoke, leaving me to answer the door.
Taylor stood there, a big linen bag in his hands, "Hi, um, I was wondering, would you be able to do this washing? Not straight away, just before the show...Is that cool?"
"That's fine, I'll have it all ready by tonight probably,"
"Oh, ok, excellent! Bye!"
I dumped the bag on my bed and joined Asher on the balcony.
- - - - - - -
Date: July 13
Place: The venue
Theme song: Freak - Silverchair
"Goddamn that's heavy," Asher said, setting the case onto the floor of the stage. I stood on the edge and stared at all the vacant seats, that childish want inside me was begging for me to scream out something just to hear it echo.
Zac was playing nothing in particular on his drums, although it still sounded great. Isaac and Taylor were ambling around, going back and forth on and off the stage.
I sat in a gap between two speakers with my legs dangling over the side of the stage, there was nothing between me and the wide open space of the arena.
"Um, excuse me," I heard Melody's cautious voice and smiled to myself, "Did you need anything?"
"I could really go a frappucino," Zac called from his drums. If I'm not mistaken, Mel jolted nervously.
"Ooooh that sounds good," Taylor said, "Mocha?"
"Yeah," Zac nodded.
"Ike? Mocha?"
"Sure,"
"Ok," Mel suddenly looked like she had no idea what she was doing.
I hopped up and stood beside her, "What size? Grande?"
"Yep, sounds good," Taylor reached into his back pocket to pull a crisp 20 dollar bill from his wallet.
"Three grande mocha frappucinos it is," I pulled Melody's hand until we were backstage.
"What happened there man? Brain freeze?" I asked, finding our VIP passes so we could get back inside.
"I dunno what came over me.....I was fine talking to them yesterday..."
"They're very intimidating guys,"
"That's right, they scare me. But not in a bad way."
"Nuh uh," I lifted my hair from under the VIP pass and put my sunglasses on. It was just after midday and there were already a few fans outside, even though the concert wouldn't start until 9pm. The arena hadn't been used in a little while, so the mutual decision was made to go there a little earlier and make sure everything was in working order.
The twenty fans grouped behind the fence began to whisper as Melody and I walked across the parking lot, our VIP passes shining like bronze medallions. Wouldn't want to attract attention or anything.
"Excuse me," One girl called. I winced without her noticing. I considered ignoring her but decided to be civil instead.
"Yeah?"
She looked surprised that I'd actually noticed her existence, "Are you Ashley?"
"No....?"
"Then who are you?"
"I'm a roadie,"
The girl raised her eyebrows then looked back to her friend that mouthed 'yeah right'. "Can we get meet and greet passes?"
"Come back here at 7 and we'll see what we can do. The guy's will be out at about 4 so stick around,"
The girls looked surprised once again and smiled gratefully, Mel and I went off on our mission, deciding to enter the front way when we came back, holding three delicious looking frappucinos. Make that six, how could we not get one for ourselves? (And Asher, of course.)
"Someone ordered three mocha frappucinos?"
All three Hanson's turned to me and smiled, "That'd be us,"
The guys devoured their frappucinos, complained about being bloated for a little while, then got straight back into practicing.