I'm too old for this- Easy like Sunday mornin'

Here we are again another late night with an early morning to start.  I had tweeted earlier 'What stage can say they've had a live tv shoot, a soft rock band and a funk, pop band all in 12 hours?  Chevy Court can!"  Both bands today decided they needed to start at 8AM to be able to get everything done for their shows.  All of this going on while the TV shoot was setup and ready to air.  There were minimal fights and seemed that everyone was playing nice.  Both bands had someone advance the show prior and then had a different person in the road manager position with us on site.  Commodores had pyro that we had to jump through hoops all day to make happen.  It has definitely added to the show but a complete pain in the rear!

Can we fit anything else on this stage?

Christopher Cross was our 2:00PM star.  Can't say I've ever heard of him but his show was filled with soft rock hits. Perfect for the afternoon show.  They had a huge setup which had to sit in front of the Commodores upstage gear.  While they were supposed to play 60mins they ended up doing 90 which threw off the entire afternoon.  Speculation was made that maybe they played longer because Commodores impeded on their setup time.  Either way, I didn't have a happy road manager on my hands.  Fortunately, a little southern accent and a smile and he backed right down.  We worked through it and had the runs set so the stage would be ready and the band  and stars would make it through the gate before it closed at 5:30 for the parade.  I told him they WILL be here if they are in the car by 5:00PM.  Sure enough they are ready to go by 5:08 and are surly going to hit traffic with 17,000+ coming in for the Jason Aldean concert in the grandstand.  Another driver came in and said the backway was bogged down with traffic.  I immediately tracked down the Sgt. Trooper and we put together a plan to get the car through traffic and in the gate before they closed.  Whew!  I would have had an extremely unhappy band outside the gate (having to wait 45mins for it to open) and a furious manager on the inside.  I was bound and determined to get them in.  Thankfully the teamwork was superb.  We got them in and the fun began.  Two of the Commodores stood out at the desk and talked with us for close to an hour.  They were poking fun at each other and us, of course we threw it right back.  Great guys!  I was even thanked during the DJ intro tonight "The fine lady backstage told me that there should be no professional photography or video taping tonight."  Oh yay, how flattering! They start off the show with a bang..literally.  A waterfall of sparks from the middle of the stage and the guys walk through it.  The quiet one that didn't mingle with us was walking to slow and had to walk straight through it.  The show has gone non-stop with hits but these guys are all over the stage.  It's the full show, total entertainment!  The guys came off stage and immediately thanked everyone for helping during the day and "taking such good care of them". 

The rest of the weekend should be smooth sailing.  We're just praying Issac doesn't decide to throw us for a loop.  Looks like possible rain Monday. 

Cooler Than Me- Happy Together

We've had both ends of the genre and demographics today.  Our 2:00PM show with Mike Posner, alternative, pop rapper to our 8:00PM with a flashback to the 60's with the Happy Together Tour, featuring The Buckinghams, The Grass Roots, Gary Puckett, Mickey Dolenz, and The Turtles.  Either way it's been a pretty easy day.  I'm now just waiting on one acts flight info and I'll be completely done with the pre-advance for this fair.  Once we get through tomorrow it will be smooth sailing. 



I completely screwed up yesterday with Mike Posner's group.  I had taken my day schedule (with all the things to happen during the day) and hadn't saved it properly.  What I had printed for the runners didn't include Posner's flight information.  I didn't realize it until they called looking for their ride.  It continued to snowball with miscommunication with the pickups and even getting dropped off at the incorrect hotel.  UGH!  I hate it when I screw up but finally accepted that, "it happens".  They showed up this morning and the sound company had told them they had newer ear packs (how they hear the band and themselves during the show) than they had on site.  Thankfully they had the correct ones available and they hurried them over.  Crisis resolved.  Apparently Mike isn't happy unless he has his setup perfectly.  Once he was on site I realized wise.  This kid had everything handed to him.  I supposed he is in that generation though.  I didn't realize he was more of a songwriter and had written songs for many others.  Those were the songs he was playing so I thought it was a set full of covers.  He did a few interviews, signed autographs for the 100 or so that stuck around for the possibility of meeting him. 

The creepy things you see at a fair
 

Mike Posner entertaining the crowd

I knew it was going to be an early evening after having worked with the Happy Together Tour in Iowa.  The tour manager has everything down pat and the groups now exactly when and where they need to be.  The biggest hassle was having to coordinate the groups while the parade was going on.  Of course it was the biggest parade of the fair and it blocks off our gate.  No one out, no one in.  And of course the acts were all coming in during this time frame.  Several were following our runners in their rental vehicles and weren't the happy campers when they finally got here after sitting in traffic.  Turns out the group was 5mins late meeting the runner so they missed the gate being closed by 5mins.  Whoops, their fault.  Once Flo (the Turtles) had the delicious chicken with catering he said "I was in such a grumpy mood when I came in.  This chicken is amazing and now I'm so happy!"  Thank goodness for the chicken!  This is the last date on the tour for the group.  They have all been so sweet to each other.  Thanking each other for such a great run as they'll all go their separate ways tomorrow.  The tour manager said it's like high school buddies getting together.  The show is such an amazing concept.  One band- 5 Acts.  They have no set change and roll from group to group.  Each group plays for 20-30mins so you get a 2.5hour show with hit after hit of each group.  A complete flashback to the 60's.  With the records sold combined from all the groups it's over 100million!  Maybe we can just bring these guys back every night?  Unbelievably enough 'The Grass Roots' remembered me from South Plains several years ago and came up to say hello.  They were all such nice guys!

The end collaboration with the 5 groups on stage singing 'Happy Together'

Smore cones-Victorious

So the title isn't quite the musical mishmash.  That would be because we had a chef instead of a musical act for the 2PM.  The chef's are the most time intensive with the day of production as well as the pre-planning.  There's the setting of the stage; we used a range and deep fryer today and tables for the stage.  Plus shopping for all of the ingredients to make the recipes takes forever.  They started prepping the ingredients several days ago and moved everything to the backstage this morning where they continued to do work on it.  The thing with the cooking shows is it's just as much smoke and mirrors as the concerts.  99% of the work is done before they go on stage.  So who was our chef guest today?  The one and only, Guy Fieri!  Let me tell you he is the best!  He is totally personable, down to earth and went out of his way to thank everyone and tell them how great the day was.  The staff here had such a great time joking around with him.  Once I sat down for the first time at 6PM I realized how late it was and I hadn't accomplished hardly anything (well kinda).  He ended up doing a longer show than he was supposed to and then did a 100+ person book signing.  All while we were loading in the 8PM show. 

Prepping for Guy Fieri's demo

Victoria Justice was in the 8PM slot.  If you don't have young kids you probably have no clue who she is.  Two words Disney..Channel.  So it's tracks, with some dancing and a bunch of flashing lights.  Unfortunately, the lights required so much smoke I couldn't see 5ft in front of me on the side of the stage and was choked out by it anyway.  The tour manager asks me to review the timeline of the day and I see "Glam time" at 5PM.  "Glam Time"? I ask.  He laughs, rolls his eyes, and says "hair and makeup".  5PM for an 8PM show.  So 7:45PM rolls around and I ask if we're looking good to start at 8P and am told that they need until 8:10P...she's not ready yet.  Finally at 8:15 we started with the emcee, rolled into a trailer of her upcoming movie and she took the stage at 8:21.  :(  I'd cry if it took me 3 hours to get ready every day and honestly you couldn't tell.  She's the sweetest little thing and you could tell she loves her fans.  She ended up going out and signing in the afternoon for the crowd that was waiting for hours.  They do a VIP meet and greet after the show.  You purchase the meet and greet and get swag like a t-shirt, bag, laminate, etc.  Each person coming back has to have one...parents included.  If the parents didn't have one they sent the kids in by themselves.  They sold over a 100 at $150 a pop.  I'll let you do the math on that one.  They normally do over 200!  The crowd was crazy.  We had an estimated 21,000!  They were crammed in like sardines and completely throw off our numbers because they're little people.  =)  Twenty minutes after the show we're starting this meet and greet that ends up taking 1.5hr and she even goes back out to see the few remaining fans that stuck around to try and catch a glimpse.  Now they're like any other kids, hanging out in the dressing room gossiping, taking photos to tweet and talking about their passports for Europe (that last part is normal for a 19 year old right?). 

The line 3 hours before Victoria's show; she went and signed

The crowd 30mins before they actually went on stage

21,000 people for Victoria Justice

Mike Posner and Happy Together Tour tomorrow!  Easy day!

Candy Girl-Shine

Today turned out to be somewhat of an early day.  The 8PM band thought they needed six whole hours to set up so they wanted an 8AM load in.  Ugh, I was dragging through the door at 7:15AM.  They setup, pitched their fits and then were back on the bus after 3.5 hours of work and being just about setup.  The point of coming in early was pointless.  Midtown Men arrived for their 2:00PM show, loaded in, hung out with us and warmed up in the dressing rooms.  Who are the Midtown Men you say?  Google them.  They're awesome.  They are the original 4 cast members of 'The Jersey Boys'.  They bring the 60's back and make it hot!  Their show is extremely entergetic and entertaining.  This is the second year in a row we've brought them to Chevy and they've packed them in each time.  Of couse it works well for 'Senior Day' but the Chevy Court staff were all up at the stage watching the show and the average age is 30! 

Midtown Men- Bringing on the show from the side of the stage

Once Midtown Men were finished, Collective Soul started miandering around the stage again.  They linechecked within 30mins and were twidling their thumbs.  About this time I was getting a jump start on the last leg of my advances and schedules, working out those last minute details.  I think we're pretty much set.  We're half way through the fair..6 Days to go!  I was actually excited for Collective Soul.  I guess they were a little before my time and I was being exposed to 'country' music at that time instead of the pop rock.  There was one guy wandering around throughout the day.  He'd walk in, crack a joke and leave.  But he actually came to me and said "thanks so much for today.  You guys have taken such good care of us, I appreciate it."  Then as we're getting ready for the show I see that he's part of the band.  Then it was explained with the fact that he's a fill in.  No wonder he wasn't grumpy like the others.  :) 
They had a decent crowd but I only recognized two songs and it happens that one was a Goo Goo Dolls song.  Just not really impressed.  But they were the typical rock show, on 5 mins late, off 5 mins early.  So now they're having a party with their guests outside and I'm about ready to kick them out of the building and push them on their bus. 

Collective Soul from front of house (FOH)

So excited about tomorrow with Guy Fieri!  Victoria Justice, let's just say I have the earplugs ready for the screaming kids. 

Big Band-Joy to the World

Jeremiah was a bullfrog....that's what's playing on my tv right now, but it just so happens to be a live feed from Three Dog Night on the stage.  We had these guys here last year and what a repeat!

I started the day off right with 8.5 hours of sleep and a 2.5mile run.  Amazing!  Now that I've been at work for almost 12hours I'm finally getting my 2nd wind.  The late mornings are always a good/bad thing.  Good because I actually get sleep and can workout but bad because I get here and the time just flies by.  Before I knew it I looked at the clock and it was 1:30pm but felt like 9am. 

We had the Buddy Rich Band for the 2PM show.  I wasn't familiar with Buddy Rich or the Band but was shocked when I saw the first folks to walk through the door.  Apparently Buddy's daughter is the lead for the band.  They have a great jazz sound.  The daughter and what may have been her son maybe were totally punked out with spiked, dyed hair and completely not what you would expect with a jazz band but it worked!  They were great to work with.  However, we had what seemed like an entire orchestra in our tiny dressing room area warming up all morning.  I couldn't hear myself think and my ears having been ringing since.  As most of the afternoon bands, they blew in and blew out. 

Three Dog Night arrived and they were very familiar with the setup and what we have to work with.  These guys are complete pros and just get the job done.  That makes my day so much easier.  I was able to work on the next few days and even go walk around one of the buildings with all the booths with junk for sale.  We had the threat of rain from about 4PM on.  I walk across the street, walk into the building and it starts pouring.  After pouring down about 30mins it calmed down to a sprinkle and stayed that way up until showtime.  Of course with rain people wonder if the show will still go on.  You better bet it will!  As long as the stage is dry and the equipment is ok (no lightning, no downpours and risk of electrocution) the show will go on.  So we started the show and the guys flew their hits in 90mins.  Had the weather been good I was expecting a pretty decent crowd.  Once it started raining everyone figured the crowd wouldn't show.  Boy were we wrong!  They packed in 10,000 people!  Completely unbelievable!  I'm looking forward to working with these guys again in Lubbock.  It should be another fun time.  But for now we're gearing up for another long day.  8AM call in the morning but i have to be here at 7AM.  Geez!

Stranger in My House-Every Storm

What a day!  We had four different 'events' on the stage today and it made for a long one.  We were here by 7:30A for Gary Allan's load in.  Shortly after dumping his gear the stage turned in to a Catholic church.  Mass was held and then Gary's load in continued.  Then Ronnie Milsap's gear was loaded in.  Ronnie had to change travel arrangements late last night so they weren't going to arrive until shortly before the show.  It might have been a record turn around.  They left home at 6AM, got to Syracuse did a show, were back at the airport by 4:30PM and then home.  Ronnie is such a sweety.  He was just singing everyone's praises on stage before he went on.  You can tell his crew is great because they really take care of him.  The show was really good and they had a decent crowd.  With all the hits his has it was sure to be a show full of legendary hits. 

We had started load in for Gary Allan at 8AM but after Ronnie's show they had to continue building Gary's stage and linecheck.  They were able to do that before 5PM when we had a different kind of entertainment.  Hofmann hotdogs, a Syracuse based sausage company, sponsored to bring Kobi, the record holding champion of hot dog eating.  He was to attempt to break the record of number of hotdogs eaten in 10mins.  Disgusting.  I think the best part was figuring out how he does it.  While I didn't have a pleasant experience with the CEO of the company it turned out to be entertaining for about 5,000 people in the crowd.  For some reason people think that if they're "someone" they can get in people's faces and scream and stomp their feet and get what they want.  Fortunately, when this happened I had three guys come stand behind me (literally) when they saw the guy getting in my face.  Kill 'em with kindness people.  I decided it was best that I just stay backstage for the most part after that.  If they needed something done they needed to find someone else to do it.  But the guy did it.  He ate 110 hotdogs in 10 mins.  Again, disgusting!   He would take two of them, break them in half and swallow them.  I've never seen anything like it.  He drinks three gallons of water before and we believe throws that up.  It stretches out his stomach and leaves room for the hotdogs.  He eats the hotdogs and well then, throws those up.  Puke!

 

 



Finally, after this marathon of a day we got Gary Allan finished on stage and ready to put on a show!  I've loved Gary's music for years and for the first half of the show every song was a hit.  His new stuff is REALLY good!  Hopefully the new single is going to sky rocket.  He finally has the support behind him with the label.  The show was really good.  His crew was great for working through all the stuff they had to deal with on the stage.  He is a really great guy.  His band is extremely talented.  His road manager is a great friend of the company so I hardly got anything done with him floating around and visiting, but it was a nice break.  I actually took a few minutes to sit on the side stage to watch the show. 

Crowd building for Gary Allan

 

Had to get the shot of the musician in a kilt

Now that I have this written and the crew is finally packed and ready to leave (midnight) I'm ready to end this 17 hour day and head home. Finally get to sleep in a little and run in the morning. Happy camper right here! :)

Ready or Not-Freeze Frame

What a day!  I was completely overwhelmed with the birthday wishes today!  While it does stink having to work on my birthday, I'm glad I get to spend it with friends and lovely people.  I got to start the day off with a run.  It's crazy but I'm starting to enjoy running.  I'm actually craving it.  It's 30mins completely to myself with my music and apps.  Knowing that I've accomplished 2 miles or so before I even start my "day" is such a motivator for me now. 
Unfortunately, the acts booked weren't my cup of tea though. 

The first act is straight out of Disney's 'Good luck Charlie' and 'Lemonade Mouth', Bridgit Mendler.  The typical pop, teeny bopper act that's really 20 something.  She was really cute but you could tell straight out of Hollywood.  I was truly ready to get these guys in and out of here.  The day ended up going well but normally with these acts they need a little extra TLC.  This was obviously one of the first (if not the first) show for her.  They had a rehearsal yesterday which was the first time the band and engineers worked together.  Lovely!  The show was half tracks which brings me back to the entertainment vs musical aspect.  The rolled in about as quickly as they rolled in.  I was laughing because one of the 'handlers' made the comment of "oh it's like watching your first born on their first day of school!"  Yes, must have been the first live show.  :/

They were whisked away and in came The J. Geils Band.  They were such a pleasure to work with.  You probably recognize "Freeze Frame"?  That's them!  Just a down home blues band.  This was their first show of their tour as well.  The tour manager was such a pleasure.  Everyone in the band was great but such potty mouths.  And if I'm saying that.... It was entertaining just listening to them.  I was however a little shocked when they said...oh yes, the show is about 2-2.5 hours.  Oh goodness gracious!  They weren't kidding.  They were rockin' for over two hours.  I'm pretty sure that's a record for Chevy Court!  But they also brought in the largest crowd yet for the Court this year, 18,000!  It's always a thrill to see the huge crowds start to build.  Clay had the UPROAR Tour across the way and unbelievably with Staind and Shinedown it was a calm crowd. 

I had a little hiccup to the day.  I received an email about 5PM saying that the act for 2:00PM was having complications and may not make the gig.  Of course that puts me into overdrive.  Trying to find a possible solution that can be in upstate NY in less than 24Hours.  Yeah right!  After a dozen phone calls and crossing my fingers that everything is ok, I got the call that they're making the trip.  They had to reschedule their flight for tomorrow morning and will literally hit the ground at the venue an 1.5hr before showtime.  So we'll all be on our game tomorrow and ready when they arrive.  Unfortunately, the 8:00PM band is coming in at 8AM so it'll be a short night on sleep. :) 

Some Girls Do- Run

Haha...I think I'll see what the best mishmash of songs I can put together over the next 10 days from our 2PM and 8PM shows.  Today we've had Sawyer Brown, Matt Nathanson, and showed the premier of 'Nashville' ABC's big hit show this fall.  Plus I had Bridgit Mendler in town who was rehearsing and driving us all crazy with the back and forth runs and delays. 

I was completely honored to witness one of the many events on the fairgrounds today. 

A young boy asked for his Wish (through Make-A-Wish) to become a police officer.  The law enforcement agencies in Syracuse came together to swear C.J. in, give him a uniform and even gave him a police escort to Chevy Court where he had his first interview.  We all stopped dead in our tracks to watch them roll in. 

 

It was supposed to be an early morning so with less than 7 hours sleep I chose to forgo the much needed run and was at the fairgrounds by 8:30a.  Of course the band ended up being late.  It all worked out for the best in the end. Sawyer Brown is one of the best groups to work with in the business.  No frills, here to work, and completely entertaining.  The first time I saw them was in college and just loved their show.  Now I've gotten to work with them several times.  The day was just smooth.  They come in do their thing, have a high energy show pack up and leave.  Unbelievably, these guys drove 13.5hrs to do this show and then turned around and drove back home. Crazy!  We had a bit of a small crowd but it was seriously hot and most of the seating by the stage is in the sun.  Everyone that was here really enjoyed it.  I look forward to working with them again. 

Sawyer Brown

I'm starting this out with, NO I'm not spoiled (ok maybe just a bit).  I'll just consider this a birthday present from the stagehands. :)  They ran  video feed to my office and brought in a tv.  Now I can watch what's on our jumbotron from the comfort of my office.  It's the little things, folks!

We had Matt Nathanson for the 8:00PM slot and I was really looking forward to this show.  Again, the crew was great.  They were willing to deal with all of our little idiosyncrasies with the stage.  They can't load in until 4:00PM, they have to stop making any noise from the stage for a half hour for a parade, they were finished with everything by 7P so that we could show the ABC Premiere of 'Nashville'.  Plus had an emcee that took a 5min intro to promote the area city schools.  Needless to say it felt like a 3-ring circus but it all pays off when the band says the show was better than the night before.  Sounded better and they felt better on stage.  Matt was really cool.  He was just wandering backstage during the day and hanging out in the green room.  He definitely spiffs up for the stage. 

The show was very chill and flowed with several hits and recognizable covers.  Now it's the waiting game again of...please, exit the dressing rooms!

Brokenhearted-Everybody Talks

Today was the opening of the GREAT New York State Fair!  I haven't blogged the past three days because I haven't been working...kidding!  Monday I wrapped up at Iowa, cleaned my office and caught up on some work for NY.  Had a wonderful dinner with the production crew that evening and got some sleep.  I set out for NY on a 6:30a flight and was at the fairgrounds by noon on Tuesday.  Spent the rest of the day doing paperwork and getting everyone straight here.   Had a great night out on the town with friends and then spent Wed at the fair.  I love seeing everyone again and catching up! 

We hit the ground running today.  The band wasn't due in until about 10A so I took advantage of being able to come in early and knock out some paperwork.  Now I'm a couple of days ahead so I can fall behind later in the week. :)  This stage is crazy.  On weekdays we have a local tv show that is aired live from the stage in the morning.  Then we load in one band for a 2PM show, load them out and then load in another band for an 8PM show.  Perfect days are when they don't overlap and I only have one band at a time on the premises.  Today they both showed up about the same time.  Very tight quarters with two bands and a tv show running around.  YIPEE  Fortunately, these bands are great and we didn't have any problems.  We were solving problems all day being the first day, which is expected. 

The 2:00PM show featured Karmin which is was really excited to see.  I didn't get to sit down and watch much of the show but what I heard was good.  What was even better was getting to listen to the lead female singer warming up in the dressing room.  You know it's no frills, no pro-tools, nothing to make them sound better when they're not on stage and she was rockin' it.  The show was very high energy with a pop-rap feel.  The smaller crowd that was here loved them.  I'm looking forward to working with them again in Lubbock. 

Ted and Amy- our rockstar emcees

KARMIN

 

 



Once the 2:00PM show wrapped up they were loaded out, taken to the airport and the 8:00PM show fully moved in.  Their gear was loaded in and set and the band members started floating around backstage.  It's always fun when you realize you've been hanging around/talking to the lead singer or band member all day only when you look at the stage during the show.  Neon Trees were such a pleasure to work with.  They were pleasant and thankful with what they were provided.  The show was really good.  They had a lot of ground lighting that made for a good light show.  Now that Chevy Court has gotten bigger there is now 4 LED screens around the court that air the show.  It works really well for when we have huge crowds so everyone can see.   The crowd was as big as I suspected it to be.  The band has two huge hits out and I guess I expected it to be a bit larger.  They had about 6,000 with the typical screaming tweens in the crowd.  Now they've been hanging out in the dressing rooms listening to music instead of showering and getting back on their bus like they're supposed to.  :)  I can see these guys really taking off and hope to work with them again in the future.

Neon Trees

Life is a Highway!

Big day again today and another sold out show!  It was destined to be a huge crowd on the grounds tonight with 5 mega shows playing.  Boyz II Men, Street Corner Symphony, Here Come the Mummies, WAR were on the four free stages.  Rascal Flatts, Little Big Town, Eli Young Band and Eden's Edge all on the grandstand.  The Flatts tour was extremely organized which makes my job just a bit easier.  I was still running all day but there were a lot of things I wasn't have to mess with that I normally would.  It was neat to see how all of the acts know exactly when to do what.  Some were better at it than others but it all worked pretty seamlessly. 

I absolutely love working with Little Big Town and Eli Young Band.  Just knowing those were two on the lineup and working with their superb tour managers again made me feel at ease.  I've never worked with Eden's Edge but they were very nice as well.  Flatts are always a hoot.  With the entire tour being obviously a lot of moving parts and people it was amazing to see how they could fit all of their equipment on the stage.  Unfortunately, the size of the stage hinders us from being able to put up entire, arena like setups.  Video walls are paired down, sets are shrunk and every inch of real estate is used.  They compacted it as much as they could but they were still hanging off the edges so to speak.  But with that brings easy parts on us.  Like the fact that they loaded out in two hours, where as last night in Louisville it was almost 4.

The fun part was watching their meet and greets run so smoothly.  They literally had them back to back and they ran through one band, brought out the next and then started the next one and so on.  And we had 12 buses parked in our compound today.  It was a RV lovers dream; 12 Prevost for everyone's gazing pleasure.

As we got closer to show time it definitely got busier.  I was trying to get all of the comp tickets sorted out and changes kept needing to be made.  The runners that would normally take them to the ticket office were busy so I was having to run back and forth.  But then the tour management started getting worried that JoDon was going to be late getting back from golf because of the traffic.  Then JoDon ended up playing golf a half hour longer than expected.  Fortunately, they were able to get him on the grounds quickly and he only delayed the meet and greet like oh...15mins. 

Little Big Town

Eli Young Band and Eden's Edge signing autographs for fans

A part of the Dream Team- Mark Cockriel of OnCue Systems

Everyone sounded AMAZING on stage.  I even got to catch at least one song of each band (except for Eden's Edge) and was really impressed with the stage setup and sound.  Apparently Boyz II Men had a huge crowd as well (about 7,000) and the other stages had nice crowds as well.  This fair has probably been the smoothest fairs since I've been here in four years.  Everyone really worked well together, the bookings flowed well and were good choices and of course the weather was just perfect.  Hopefully the overall outcome of the fair will be the same as our experience in the grandstand. 

So tomorrow I'll be wrapping everything up, packing up my office and stuff and ready to fly out bright and early on Tuesday for Syracuse.  Start at the Great New York State Fair on Thursday!

Don't Stop Believin'

We hit the big time today, whether we were ready for it not.  The long days are really catching up with me now.  I was good until about 7p tonight and then hit a wall.  But that's beside the point because it was all worth it to see 11,000+ people flood into the grandstand. 

Journey/Benatar/Loverboy has been sold out for nearly two months.  It's amazing how they were just here three years ago (with Heart minus Benatar/Loverboy) and a sell out then as well.  This tour was huge.  Benatar's setup with Neil's guitar world could be a headliner show on it's own.  Then put it with Journey and Houston, we have a problem.  The stage here is just too small.  There was no way around it.  We ended up having to build two wings with scaffold and boards.  That way they could store what couldn't fit on the stage.  Plus we had the trucks waiting to be able to pack right up at the stage because they have a 900mile hike tonight.  The day started out late because they had an 800 mile hike from Louisville last night.  Not a problem for me since I was only going to get 5hours of sleep as it was. 

The crew was great today.  The production manager is one of the best guys that I know at his job.  He's very thorough and easy to work with which makes my day so much better.  We had to work through issues like sight line seats, interpreters, moving trucks and trailers back and forth during the show.  It was definitely a huge production.  We really didn't have any problems until the rain set in.  Of course it was at show time again.  We still started on time and after about 30mins it drifted out as quickly as it came in.  I definitely racked up the 'steps' today with 5 trips to the box office and 4 trips to the stage. 

The show was amazing.  Loverboy is a great group of guys. Benatar, don't get me started.  She still has it but she's still.....  I had to leave the backstage area because she didn't want to be seen walking to the bus.  Seriously??  11,000 people just watched her on stage but she can't been seen by local crew?  This is why she's #2 on my "I really have to work with her?"  Journey is just awesome, 'nuff said. 

Now I get to sit here for another two hours waiting for them to get their stuff packed up and get on the road.   Plus it's too cold to stand outside.  This is seriously fall weather.  I wish I had packed more pants!  Tomorrow is the night that never ends...4 bands!  But I can't wait to see my friends with Eli Young Band and Little Big Town.  Last night at the 2012 Iowa State Fair with another sold out crowd!

All my rowdy friends are coming over tonight....

Well not really, my hotel room is certainly not big enough to hold all of my rowdy friends, especially here in Iowa.  Last night was definitely proof of that.  Pranks are so funny when the victim is totally off base on who to suspect.  :)

Today we had Hank Williams, Jr and George Thorogood.  Turned out to be a pretty easy day!  They ended up getting here an hour late because they were coming from the KY State Fair which is about a 10 hour hike.  They were great to work with and very nice.  You might ask, well how was Hank?  I wouldn't know.  His plane landed at 8PM, was on grounds by 8:30PM.  He went straight on his bus and came off for 15mins to do a meet and greet with 30 people, back on for about 10 and then to the stage.  Did a 90min show came off, got in the truck and went to the airport.  I can handle days like that.  Unfortunately, it stresses out the management when he's finally on site.  He wasn't happy he didn't have a police escort from the airport.  But then again I'm not happy I can't fly private.  We're even. 

George's show was great.  He definitely still has the voice and the show.   Hank was off key half the time but I'm pretty sure everyone in the crowd was too drunk too notice.  They sold over 90 kegs tonight for 8,400 people.  Which I guess when you think about it isn't very much.  They really enjoyed the show and singing along. 

George Thorogood

The best quote said all day was "I'm glad Obama wasn't here today.  I really wouldn't have wanted to deal with Hank."

I didn't take any photos of Hank...I spent my time watching the show in video world where I could hear myself think and not have to shout to talk. 

Journey wrapped up at Kentucky is heading our way.  Watch out Des Moines!

Big Time...something or another

Wow, it's Thursday...and I'm tired.  It finally hit me about 3PM today.  It might have been the fact that I stayed out til midnight having a few cocktails and then some amazing fresh, oven baked cookies or maybe it's because I was ran to death today.  Either way, you'd think I'd learn from my lesson.  Nah, I'm sitting here having a drink and probably will do the same thing.  :)

Last night was another day off, we'll call it that anyway.  I did make it out for a run and then sat on the couch for 6 hours working on the next fair.  Sending emails, making calls.  Finally stopped about 6:30P for dinner with the Dream Team again and then over to the fair.  We made our rounds on the free stages seeing Dia Frampton and then Hunter Hayes.  Once we made it to see Hunter the crowd was HUGE!  I would say about 7,000 and they were singing every word.  They were almost louder than he was.  I love seeing the crowds like that.  For those acts we really keep our eye on the acts and see who we think we'll be big by the time our booking comes around.  We've hit it right on the head the past two years (Band Perry last year). 

2nd Favorite vendor on the grounds!

So we're on to Thursday now.  I knew this day was going to be rough.  We had already been fighting with the band over equipment since last Tuesday.  My boss gave me a friendly reminder yesterday.."Sara, we're not in the music business, it's the entertainment business."  The fact that these bands need all this fancy equipment to make them sound like they need to and 'in order to do a show' infuriates me.  But then again I like music not tv stars that want to sing.  Anyway, this happens to be a fly date for Big Time Rush.  You may know them from Nickelodeon if you have small kids, nieces, nephews whatever, otherwise you've probably never heard of them.  Good reason for that.  With fly dates come additional needs which just runs me all over the place.  These are the days I earn the big bucks (haha).  They do a 200 person meet and greet EVERYDAY!  But they make about $150 a pop for each one...you do that math. 

They did this meet and greet, after spending an hour checking everyone in, in less than 45mins.  CRAZY!  Everyone on this tour was extremely nice.  The boys of the band were very nice and normal "kids".  I believe the group made at least four visits out to the fair for fair food.  They'll have a nice flight tomorrow. =)   We ended up starting the show at 7PM to encourage ticket buyers to be able to bring their kids.  The band only has 60mins worth of material..can stretch it to 70 if they talk in between and wallah, all this hard working, bickering back and forth for a 70min show. 

However, they were wrapped up and off the grounds by 8:45P.  That will be why this is being posted two hours earlier than usual and is shorter...because I'm now going to have an adult beverage (or two..) and get yet another Cajun chicken on a stick. 

Looking forward to a rowdy good time tomorrow with Hank Jr. and George Thorogood.