I have been working with major acts for over 30 years, and the one and only time I have been treated badly (Genesis) was when I asked for an autograph. Act like you belong just as much as anybody at the gig and you will do fine, (as long as you are damn good at what you do).
Here?s a good hero story. I recorded Aerosmith for the Armegedon Movie release party at Cape Cannaveral, NASA base. I was in heaven. No kidding, kill me now cause this is it, my heroes. The setup was a bear because Florida was on fire and it was about 100 degrees and 90% humidity. Smoke, sweat and heat. However the sound check went well, so I expected the show to go well. Not so fast.
My assistant did not roll tape in time and missed the top of the first song. CRAP! I stopped hyperventilating just in time for the band to roll into the second song. About ten seconds into the second song, (Walk This Way), the very famous and powerful John Kolodner, who was in the truck for the show, heard something he did not like. He came down to the console, tapped me on the shoulder and told me to stop the band and have them start again! I looked back at him and he was dead serious. Oh man. I called Steve Weincam (the best stage guy on the east coast) on the com and said, ?Steve, Mr. Kolodner wants you to stop the band?. Steve laughed and said, ?Right?. I said, ? No really, stop the band?. I can?t say what he said next.
After he recovered, Steve walked over to the stage manager and told him to stop the band. The stage manager turned to him and without a word, threw his headphones down and walked off the stage. In the meantime the band was about a third of the way through this song. Mr. Kolodner was getting tense, so I told Steve that he had to do it himself. In one of the bravest actions I have ever seen, he walked out into the middle of that stage, tapped Steven Tyler on the shoulder and when Steven turned around in amazement, told him to start the song again!
Steven stopped the band, told the audience that we were recording and they were going to do the song again. Just like that, totally professional. When they came to the truck for a playback, I thought they were going to kill me but they were great. We told them we had a ?technical? problem with the first song and they said, ?No problem?. I couldn?t believe it.
I guess the moral to this story is that you would be hard pressed to put your famous musicians out more than we did, and we lived. No worries man.
Best Regards,
Bill
Bill