This is a classic tale of trying to have your cake and eat it too. After successfully sneaking backstage at the Hartford �95 gig, we assumed we could do the same on the first week of our �98 excursion. A quick look at the calendar once the tour was announced revealed that there was a nice block of shows in early June that perfectly fit our schedules.
At the time I was a manager for a Czech mountain bike rider who had just signed to a deal with Tommy Hilfiger. I spent that spring and summer driving around the country doubling as the road manager for the program that essentially consisted of doing stunt demos in Hilfiger retailers across America � the perfect job for a single kid fresh out of college.
A two week break in my schedule allowed us to attend the Page & Plant shows in Birmingham, Nashville, Oklahoma City, Kansas City, St. Louis, and Indianapolis. Six shows in nine days. Mike flew in from Phoenix and I picked him up in Chicago and off we went.
As we made our way down to Birmingham, we reminisced about the way we had snuck backstage in �95 and began to plan a similar operation. The problem was that in �95 we had already seen a few shows and knew the method of operation. This time around we were going in completely blind.
Without a brilliant idea like the one in Hartford, we thought our chances of getting backstage were slim. With the day of the show now upon us, we had nothing. Sadly, I feared we had lost our edge. It was, though, only our first of eight shows we were planning to see that summer, so we figured eventually an idea would come to us.
It was early afternoon when we arrived at the venue to further investigate any alternate entrances into the building. For curiosity�s sake, we walked around to the media entrance we had seen the day before to see what the security situation was like there. After seeing nobody guarding the door, we figured it was either locked or there was a security guard right inside. Neither was the case.
Sometimes you don�t need a great plan, just a little bit of luck. We opened the door and just like that we were again backstage. As I thought back to Hartford, I feared we had arrived too early, but we couldn�t chance leaving and trying to get back inside. We had actually made it in, so we had to make the best of it.
The backstage area was much smaller than that of Hartford and didn�t offer too many places to hide out. Trying not to draw attention to ourselves by standing around looking lost, we began to walk confidently throughout the hallways and eventually came upon a small cafeteria with a massive spread of food. A handful of roadies were assembled around one of the tales enjoying their lunch.
After discussing our options, we made a bold move. I walked up to the table, grabbed a piece of cake and a can of soda and sat down at the end of the table as if I was just another hardworking guy who was enjoying his lunch break. Mike followed my lead, grabbed some food and sat down next to me.
After looking around the room, it was obvious we didn�t belong. Everyone in the room was wearing black jeans, black work boots, black t-shirts and had long black hair. Except for us of course. Also, everybody else was wearing the proper credentials.
Nobody seemed to pay any attention to us and in hindsight we probably should have just sat there for six hours. Instead, feeling uneasy after 15 minutes or so, we got up and exited the cafeteria. We wanted a better understanding of the layout of the backstage area � where Jimmy and Robert�s dressing rooms were, etc� so we began to walk around.
As we rounded the corner we bumped into assistant tour manager Richard Davies. He wasn�t fooled�at all.
He immediately asked us who we were, what we were doing backstage, and how we had gotten in. Before we could even begin to think of an answer he called for a security guard and we were immediately escorted out of the building.
After digesting the sudden defeat, we had also realized that any chance we had of getting backstage at any other shows during the week was foiled. If we bumped into Richard again, he would almost certainly recognize us.
Fortunately though, we shifted our focus away from our obsession with backstage access and looked at it from a different angle. You could say that this failure was actually the beginning of our greatest success.
The foundation was laid for one of the greatest plans ever � a plan that would come to fruition five days later in Kansas City�
Thanks for Reading,
-A.L./M.T.
