Backstage 101...part 5

I moved to Vancouver in late 1992 and easily discovered the most used hotels, and the backstage access numbers for most venues, and continued on with my conquesting of concerts in my new home city.

Def Leppard had just entered the touring world again after a lengthy hiatus and they were particular favourites of mine so I worked extra hard to secure an inside track with them. My band in Moncton had been called Savage, loosely named after Def Leppard’s bassist, Rick Savage. We covered a lot of Leppard songs and I loved their style, arrangements and general nice English-lad demeanour which had also drawn me once upon a time to Duran Duran.

I had seen the Leps in concert in Moncton in 1988, but that was before I had really sunk my teeth into my more detailed methods of gaining backstage access with ease. They were so amazing on stage, had so much energy with the most uplifting and powerful hooks and melodies. I was absolutely in awe of them and had more than a little crush on singer Joe Elliot. I was bound and determined to meet these guys as soon as I had the chance.

So in late 1992, when Def Leppard played Vancouver, I found myself speaking to their tour manager, Marty, and being surprisingly honest for a change.

“Seriously, I am their biggest fan, please can you help me meet them?” I wanted this one so much and I hoped this man would be sympathetic to that.

“How did you say you found my name and hotel?” he sounded friendly but definitely was giving me the third degree. “And why should you get to meet them over someone else? They have a lot of fans.”

“Well, my band was named after Rick Savage, and I would love to be able to tell him that. And I went to a lot of trouble to track you down, took a lot of time and effort to find you so I am really hoping it is worth it. Oh please, it would mean so much to me!”

I was reduced to common begging when faced with my favourite band but I could hear in his voice, he was just making me sing for my supper. He was impressed that I had found him and was actually just quite chatty and seemed to enjoy keeping me in suspense. So when at last he agreed to give me two tickets and passes, I was thrilled to bits. I didn’t have many friends in Vancouver at that time so I was taking my boss from the record store I worked in. She was definitely impressed by my ability to work this kind of magic but my aim with this one had not been to impress. I just wanted to meet the Leps and enjoy every moment of their show.  Which is exactly what I did.

Hands down, they were the nicest rock stars I have ever met. Sometimes when you meet famous people that you really love, and they turn out to be less than you hoped for in personality or charm (like Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden), it is a huge letdown and you never see them the same way as you once did. But for me, with Def Leppard, they lived up to every expectation I had, for which I will always be grateful and will always love them best.

They were all so down to earth, charming and open to chat and did not come across as the stereotypical “rock stars” I so often had met before. They just seemed absolutely normal; I would have loved to jam with them!

I made sure to tell Rick Savage I had named my band Savage after him and our love of the Leps and he nicely said, “Oh, I bet you played the songs much better than we do! Good for you!” It made my whole night!

I made sure to find Marty too. I shook his hand, and thanked him profusely for allowing me this wonderful evening with the Leps. He then said the magic words to cement my place in all future Def Leppard backstages: “Any time!”

I took him up on that offer time and time again, and the boys never disappointed me. It was in fact, a Def Leppard concert in Toronto in 1996 that became my final concert and backstage experience as I entered real adulthood at the age of 26.

While creating a life for myself in Vancouver and working as a travel agent, my concert attending and partying was slowly dropping further and further away from my life. I was finding new priorities and felt quite satisfied with all the wonderful shows I had seen and all the backstages I had conquered. I had impressed many friends, and I had outsmarted many people throughout the music industry. I had so many cherished memories and it was actually becoming more of a pain in the ass than an exciting pleasure to score my way into the shows any longer. I guess I was growing up and growing away from the need to show off to my friends. The people in my life who counted knew who I was and what I was capable of. I was more content listening to music or singing at home and pretending to wow huge audiences in my mind than actually see the performers live any more. I just had lost the drive to be the backstage queen and my life was about other things now.

I enjoyed every moment of that final Def Leppard show in Toronto in the summer of 96. My friends had gone backstage while the Leps were on, to party with the openers Tripping Daisy, as one of my girlfriends was dating a band member. All I wanted to do was soak in the music, and dance on my seat. I had flown to Toronto for the concert specifically and it was a great one. I sort of felt it might be the last one. Maybe not forever, but it was the last one I would probably work so hard for. We had a fantastic night backstage, drinking the Leps beer and I drunkenly almost left with a 6 pack before my friend stopped me and scolded me! I was just having such a fun time and I didn’t want it to end. My memories never would though.

Flash forward to 2003. I was pregnant with my first baby, and my 12 year old niece was obsessed with Avril Lavigne. Years had passed since that final Def Leppard backstage in 1996, and I hadn’t thought about concerts in a long time. I wasn’t even living near to a venue and I certainly didn’t have any plans to travel somewhere for a concert. But my niece loved hearing my stories and wished so much I could make that same magic happen for her first concert. She wanted to meet Avril so much. After some thought on the matter, I decided to contact a couple of my old groupie friends. Some of them were still active on the scene and I had one girlfriend who had dated the roommate of Avril’s drummer. It could be a good lead and I wanted to help my niece, so I checked it out.

My friend was happy to give me a good cover story since she had recently had a nasty break up with this roommate of Avril’s drummer, and she had no problem giving me lots of inside scoop. Once well-armed with all the information I needed, I decided to see if my old ways still retained some charm. I began by calling the venue in Edmonton where Avril was playing that night. A girl who sounded about fourteen answered the phone! I soon realized, that it was just that I was now so much older…a fact that continues to catch me off guard! This would be a piece of cake, I thought with my usual arrogance.

“Hi, this is Rebecca from CKNC radio in Northern B.C. (completely made up off the top of my head, not that this “kid” receptionist would know!) and I need to get in touch with production for tonight’s show.”

“I am sorry, that line is private, maybe I can take a message?” Damn, this little “kid” was good! She almost caught me off guard but I recovered quickly.

“No. I need to reach road tour management right away but if you can’t help me, I will just have to go back to my office and get the number. Charles in head office said for me just to try the box office rather than me having to drive all the way back to get it! I would forget my head if it wasn’t screwed on!” I tried to sound frustrated and self-effacing both at the same time.

“Well…hold on a moment, I will see if I can put you through, but I can’t give out the number..,one moment.” She was waffling! I was pleased with myself but not through the gate yet. After what seemed like an eternity, she returned to the line.

“Ok ma’am (Ooh how I hate being called that!), I will put you through, hold one moment.”

“Thanks so much for your help.” I breathed a sigh of relief and prepared myself for the acting job ahead of me as the backstage line rang and rang.

A gruff male voice answered after a few minutes and, going on the assumption this was not the drummer named Matt that I was looking for, I blurted out my radio-personnel story and gave him the tour manager’s name, explaining I needed to confer with him right away. The gruff sounding grunt told me the man I was looking for was back at the hotel and not due to arrive for another hour. I bluffed and said I would try him at the hotel, trying to sound very knowledgeable. But before he hung up, I boldly asked, “Is this the only production line back there? Or are there several extensions?” He told me that was the only one and my luck was with me, as he confirmed the number back to me quite happily, even if still with a rough-edge to his tone. Now that I had the number to the backstage line, I could call back again at my leisure. But I also had the information that the entourage was staying at a local hotel. It wasn’t long before I had found the hotel I needed and was on the line with Avril’s tour manager. He sounded easy-going and as I explained to him my story that linked me to Avril’s drummer Matt, it made enough sense to him to be believable. I had some great facts and details from my groupie friend, and the tour manager took down my number and said he would have Matt call me as soon as possible.

Waiting for the phone call drove me crazy! I waited for awhile but I am not very patient when it comes to concerts and arrangements for backstages, so after a few hours I called directly to the backstage line that I nicely had secured, and within moments I had Matt on the other end of the phone!

“Hi Matt! I spoke to James (the tour manager) earlier in his hotel room. I wasn’t sure the best way to get in touch with you….but I am a good friend of Jennie’s! You may not remember but we partied together at New Year last year in Toronto, you were pretty hammered and, well…we all were!” I giggled for good effect and I heard him laugh too. My story checked out with him, Jennie was his ex-girlfriend, she’d filled me in on how drunk he was at the big New Year’s bash and how many girls had been all over him. In his booze-clouded memories, I would hopefully just be one of those girls.

We chatted back and forth a bit more, like old friends almost! He was perfectly relaxed talking to me, feeling secure that he had “partied” with me previously and I was linked to Jennie. I explained finally about wanting to get my niece into the show and sweetly added how great it would be to see him again and “catch up”. Oh how I hoped my baby didn’t start crying at that crucial moment!

He was so obliging and took down my name (I gave him my sister’s name since I obviously wouldn’t be going myself!) and said he would leave three tickets and passes and looked forward to seeing me later. I felt so triumphant! I still had the power! I still could work the backstage magic! Just like riding a horse, I thought. Even if you fall off, you just get back on and it all comes back to you. I would always be able to do this, no matter how much time passed, no matter who the performers were. I felt confident that if I wanted it to happen, I would always be able to make it happen.

My niece had a fantastic time at the concert. Matt had come through like he promised and her first concert experience is one she will never forget. I passed his name out to other young family members and gave lots of advice on how to make the backstage access happen, but still not too many seem able to grab the phone and put on the right performance that I perfected in my own special way.

I am so proud of all the memories I have made and can make again, should I ever choose to, or should anyone need my help. But the only backstage access my life holds these days is for something kid-friendly. My life is all about my children these days and although it was fun while it lasted, my days of making backstage magic are now behind me. And has made some great bedtime stories for the next generation of concert goers that I am raising! I am teaching my children to always go after what you want, using their own power, inner magic, and a whole lot of rock and roll!