So I got a call on Monday evening, from Suzy Pendergrast (Caitie's mom and in charge of booking acts for the State Fair), asking if I wanted to work as a stagehand Tuesday through Thursday with Ted Nugent's show. Next then I knew, I'm employed the entire Fair, I'm a sound tech for two gypsy chicks, watching security drag drunken brawler after brawler out of a concert towards cops, moving with the Stage Manager to disrupt a drunk running on stage and helping Ted Nugent's crew tear down a show while dozens of fans clamor for Uncle Teddy.
Yea, it was crazy. Basically, I'm now a stage hand for the main stage where every concert is. I help every concert setup before the shows and tear down after the shows. Then the Entertainment Cooradinater heard I was a sound tech in a previous life and had me run a show that involved two clown gypsy-like females. I guess they liked how I did it, because they asked me to run all their shows. So now I run over there every few hours and do a simple play n' fade job. It's pretty boring but the gals think I'm doing some kind of incredible task. Whatever.
I also was a hand during the Ted concert and wow. That was a show. The first hour was pretty cool, The Nuge was jamming onstage while everyone milled around getting beers. Then it got interesting. As the evening wore on and people were on their fifth or thirtieth beers, they got rowdy. Really, really rowdy. I should have known it got bad when six cops stood outside the concert ready to handle anyone ejected by security.
Well, it wasn't too long before the first guy tried running on stage. He was tackled by security and dragged out. Then it got worse. More and more people started fighting or trying to run onstage. Security was way over-taxed, so the Stage Manager and I stood near the stage, ready to bring guys down who charged onstage. Man, I wanted to wade into the pile of drunks and security guys. It was against every instinct to stand there and do nothing.
Then a guy ran onstage, grabbed Ted's hand in a quick shake and run off. He ran right into the Stage Manager, in front of me, who tackled him. I was close behind in case the guy ran off again and loving it. It was so awesome. I love that stuff. Afterwards, the Stage Manager (Scott) and the Entertainment guy (Tom) said they could tell I was "chomping at the bits" to wade in there and that "Caleb needs to be a bouncer, he's bigger then all the guys on security".
After the show, Tom had me check the fences for people climbing over while they loaded up Ted. We broke the stage down, constantly being asked by fans if we could "get Ted to sign this shirt" or whatever other piece of crap they thrusted at us. Once we packed everything else up, got Ted's techies heading towards their hotel and helped the house sound crew finish the stage tear-down, Scott gave all us stagehands free Ted shirts. He's a pretty cool guy.
This job is pretty awesome, for I have passes to go anywhere in the Fair. I get to go all the concerts free of charge (although I'm not a big fan of Josh Gracin or Jays of Clays, but the War concert should be cool) and be backstage whenever I want. Still, I wish I managed to get a security job at the Sluicebox or concert security.
I also went hiking in the pouring rain for two days over the Johnson Pass and it was awesome. I loved it. I'm a wilderness buff and that kind of stuff I just eat up. Here's a few shots of the Awesomeness doing his awesome things.
Well, that's my life, as awesome as it is. Other random stuff happened, like my birthday, which was also awesome. Emily gave me an awesome book, the Alphabet of Manliness, and I got the cool traditional 
birthday cookies from the Morrisons. Also netted Wall Street Journal subscription, which is a totally badass paper that should be read at all times.
Speaking of reading, I'm reading a stack of books currently. I'll get the titles up in a bit but the list includes two World War II books, two books on economics, a fiction thriller and three on the Civil War. In addition to all this, I want to add American Gods to my must-read list.
College classes start Monday! Expectations!
- Maddog
