How I ended up backstage at Metallica

In one sense, this is hardly unique - probably about 100 people manage to get backstage at any given concert. Friends, neighbors, family members are instantly stage-side. Other important folks both known & unknown. Behind or above them are a subset of hangers on. I was in this group. This story is essentially my life story, but I think it conveys why I was SO F'ING PSYCHED to be backstage at Metallica last night. I'm writing this blog to: 1. Brag 2. Say that I rokked out HARD not only for myself, but for all the folks mentioned here + countless others who have DREAMED of this longer and harder than I could ever imagine. Full disclosure: I did not "meet" the band. This post goes back to my musical roots. In the 90's, I was in my teens. A friend of mine, Steve (same last name as a famous horror writer - Isn't that cool?) was OBSESSED with Metallica. I was more of a GNR fan myself. My clueless mother (sorry mom!) acquiesced when I asked her to go to Scotty's Music in Morristown, NJ and buy me Appetite for Destruction on cassette. She gave it to me for Easter. It was 1989 and I was 8 years old. When Axl sang about 'Mr. Brownstone', I figured it was his landlord or something and thought Mr. B. was a 'Motherf*'er' because the band was late on rent or something along those lines. I don't know, I WAS 8. Anyway - so Steve and I had this huge ongoing debate about whether GNR or Metallica was cooler (Separate disagreements - Foo Fighters & Rage Against the Machine - Recently I confirmed my feelings about Foo Fighters, & long ago realized I was a moron for not liking Rage). At the time we had the debate, we were 15. Steve, a DIEHARD Metallica Fan who knew every riff from every album was a little disappointed but totally OK with the 'New' Metallica - aka Load & Reload. I thought they sucked (aside from 2x4, which is pointless, but RULEZ). Fast forward a few years to high school. I was in a band the F'Allstars. Such a great name. I was the guest-lead singer (because I didn't have the patience to learn the lyrics to our originals - or learn new songs that I didn't already know - keep in mind this is pre iTunes, MP3's, Pandora, etc.). My homies Jim F'ing D. (middle name assigned because he could play Eruption), Tyler, Dan, & Dave (also unofficially in the band) would wail on whatever metal we could find. Given that we were young & inexperienced musicians, we rarely tackled Metallica originals, but we played 'Am I Evil' and 'Blitzkrieg' a lot. And by a lot, I mean THEY played them a lot, and I showed up on gig night and fumbled the lyrics. Also during high school, I had a life-mentor/guitar teacher Stevil (Steve + Evil = Stevil). Stevil taught me the ways of the world & also how to repeatedly play the same minor arpeggios over and over. Yay. By cosmic forces, Stevil found out in his teens that he was a half-sibling to a Bass Player in a popular southern hippy band. A few backstage passes later, I had a profound realization: Musicians (even popular ones)are humans too. Most struggle to pull down $50K a year, despite a devoted fan base, extreme efforts on their parts (touring/recording/etc.). Despite his hippy ties, Stevil was a SHREDDER. Also during high school, my brother Greg was looking for musical guidance from his older brother. At one point, he became so obsessed with Metallica, that he crafted a thinly veiled bastardization of 'Enter Sandman' lyrics that were accepted to the school poetry magazine. Hilarious. He and I had Metallica action figures at one point... OK, time to get to the 'present'. My wife and I moved to the Bay Area 2 summers ago to follow a job for me in the startup world. Despited an ENORMOUS amount of effort, she couldn't seem to get a foot in the door for her preferred work (Teaching) or other ideas she had - media, etc. We slept a few WEEKS on my boss' floor. We were rockin' a LOW budget, but still wanted to have fun. We listened to Phish from the back of the Greek, and listened to most of Outside Lands from Lawn Chairs in Golden Gate Park (both great listening experiences, but the folks lurking in the shadows of these two venues are less than desirable when no security etc. are involved.) Fast forward a year and Phish was playing Outside Lands. I had made friends with Nate & Jeff + the rest of the crew. I've been to 10 Phish shows besides OSL, and I usually had to drag my girlfriend/wife or some other homie. This time was different. We GROOVED HARD. I promised myself I'd go to whatever lengths it took to see every Outside Lands Fest so long as I am able. Fast forward another year and Tix went on sale for Outside Lands. I wasn't gutsy enough to buy 'Eager Beaver' tickets, but I strongly considered it. THEN. THEY. ANNOUNCED. THE. LINEUP. (Interesting side note: one of my wife's students was an actor in the record store OSL announcement video with MC Hammer) I bought tickets immediately. Having dragged a few friends to concerts in the past, I started working Jeff HARD. His favorite bands are mostly Jam-Bluegrass focused, so I knew this wasn't exactly his bag. Then again, he's a red-blooded male raised in America during the 90's, so I can't say he was very reluctant. Ok, so I had my crew. Despite being a medium-huge Metallica fan (all albums, many DVDs) I had never seen them live. This was my chance. I had mentally prepared myself for standing a few hundred people back from the stage. Best case scenario I got about 20 feet from the stage. That's not at all what happened. We made our way into Outside Lands. I was prepared to wrangle our gang into the Metallica crowd super early to get a good spot. During the process of wrangling, Jeff got a "random" text - a friend had 'VIP' passes. Jeff works in the media biz, and so we all immediately assumed we'd be getting into some food tents with Ad people. Not Bad! That's not at all what happend. Turns out Jeff personally knew a member of the Metallica family. When I first heard this a few months ago, I got mega excited, but having been backstage a few times, realized that it was unlikely given the huge size of a crew that follows a band around (keep in mind, Metallica is from SF) that we'd get anywhere near the stage There was a large VIP portion of the Crowd stage Left - Easily 1000 people). When he got the 'VIP' text earlier the thought didn't cross my mind that it might be this person. Well, something went right. After making our way through security, we ended up stage left. PRETTY F*ING COOL, but about 4 people deep. If you're going to be a Bear, be a Grizzly, I always say. So we did the unthinkable - we left stage side - we managed to meet up with Jeff's connection. She brought us over Stage Right. THERE. WERE. 8. PEOPLE. THERE. As in "When Robert Trujillo Turns His Head Right, He's Going to see me going crazy". Ok, so pretty cool, No? We are at the top of the ramp to the upper platform from which they perform. This is going to be good. I'm still waiting to be escorted out though... Looking backstage I see familiar faces: Jason Newsted, SAMMY HAGAR!!!. The lights dim, Ecstasy of Gold Begins Playing - THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING!!! And then, they arrive. I watch Robert stretch out so he can do that crab walk thing, I watch the high 5's go around. Very quickly, the band appears on the stage. I don't recall the setlist perfectly, but I believe they opened with Hit The Lights. I see an entire song from backstage. "Good Enough" I think to myself - "No one can take this away from me" As I'm there, riding the rail, rocking, I can't help but think of how lucky I am. I'm sending texts, emails, whatever to the folks mentioned above, and they're FREAKING OUT. I'm rocking for like 8 people!!! A friend asks me who I had to blow to get back there and I respond 'Lars'. We are so close to the action that when the pyros go off during Blackened, I literally feel my hair blow back. The fireworks are deafening, because they're being set off 20 feet from where I'm standing. I don't care, I just keep rocking. THIS. DOES. NOT. HAPPEN. As the band makes their way through their set, they notice one at a time that there's a TOTAL F'ING MANIAC STAGE RIGHT WHO IS EATING THIS FOR DINNER!!! I headbang with James & Robert. FOR REAL, THAT REALLY HAPPENED. They take a small break for a guitar solo, and I see my chance - "ROBERT!!!" I scream at the bassist like a total psycho. He acknowledges me, makes his way into the weird stage thing. FUCK YES. They rock for about two hours (I time traveled, so I really have no idea), finish their set, play an encore, make their way off stage. We begin to mosey, when I notice some blacked out SUV's with a police escort waiting at the bottom of the stage. They peel as I throw 'the horns' at them. GANGSTER. It's now Sunday. My neck is very sore from rokkin', my ears are ringing, and I'm in Oakland eating grilled chicken. Wow. In conclusion - SO. F'ING. COOL.

Blogging

Ok, so like many others I created a Blogger account figuring I had something important to say. Like so many others I posted exactly 9 times and then left it dormant for 2 years. However, recently I encountered a few life situations that are so unique that I couldn't sum it up in a Facebook post etc. After I share these with the world, I plan on going back to non-blogging mode unless the mood/world strikes me. So, without further ado...

Lazy Man's Hike

Lazy man's hike this weekend with C&R: took the tram up Cannon, Hiked/snowshoed/butt-slid down to Loneome Lake, then trudged back to the Cannon parking lot. Dinner at a great place In Concord called Granite. Missed the Superbowl...oh well...

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Hope everyone has a happy & safe holiday, C&I wish you the best! Catch up in the new year!

Goodbye Rocktober, Hello - Uh, November...

C & I are grooving along in our lives, taking time to see family and get outside. C had a class this weekend, so I went climbing at Rattlesnake rocks with some friends. Every time I've climbed outside this fall, I've been pumped that I've snuck in yet another day under the nose of Jack Frost! Here's hoping for at least another one or two, then a quick transition into ski season!

Catch Up (Pt. II)

Immediately following my trip to England and Ireland, I jetted home, then to Chicago (on about 4 hours of sleep) for a wild weekend in the windy city. Highlights: J.F.D. and D.D.'s wedding followed by a great reunion of the F'Allstars! Pics and Video exist throughout cyberspace, so keep an eye peeled!

Catch Up

Quiet summer. Highlights: Moved to Brookline, saw Phish at Fenway Park, and Wilco in Lowell.

So recently (past few months), I've had a few things to celebrate:

1. C's graduation from Breadloaf School of English in Oxford! Got to spend some time in the Cottswolds, visited the new in-laws in Ireland, and had a fantastic break from work.

2. First anniversary with C. on 10/4. We spent the day in Providence, checked out the RISD art museum, saw a cool Chihuly piece, some Gilbert Stuart portraits of George Washington, and a big floating, rotating squid thing. Finished off the night with dinner at a great Portuguese place (name escapes me) a concert from Peter Rowan and Tony Rice at the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River, MA.

3. Birthday, celebrated with Colby pals camping at one of the RMC huts on the side of Mt. Adams. Woke up to snow, trekked it down, chillaxed in North Conway, then Red Bones in Somerville!

4. Just for fun, Yonder Mountain String Band at House of Blues in Boston. Great Show.