A fly on the wall -- Cleveland 5/20

I can call myself a fan... but I'm not a fanatical. I like alot of their songs, own a few cd's, a dvd, and get a craving to hear them in my cd player for a week at a time. But I don't make it my business to know everything about them.
Saturday was my first Pearl Jam concert. I had been scheduled to work their show the last time around a couple of years ago, but seniority bumped me. That's the way it goes sometimes. Not a problem this time. I had my choice -- backstage morning, or crew lunch and dinner. After a glance at their rider (only 2 dressing rooms), I chose the lunch and dinner for the simple fact that I can watch the show too -- or at least some of it. Besides, alot of the bands will come to the crew room for dinner anyway. A couple of the guys did come in. Morning Jacket came in after their set.
Our area where we put our dirty dishes and linens is behind stage left. As I was on the floor putting dirty linen away, Mr. Vedder walked by. Mind you I have seen alot of people backstage. There is no reason for them to notice me unless they need something. Half of the time they don't make eye contact. But he smiled and acknowledged me. It was only a split second, but it shows character. I can remember working another concert of a band that I really liked whose lead singer was compared to Mr. Vedder. I did backstage for that show and he (the singer) yelled at me for trying to put something (doing my job) in his dressing room. I have worked three of their shows, and seen him plenty. He never made eye contact with me once.
Lucky for him the rest of his band was nice and so was his road crew. And now that band is broken up. He is solo and the rest of the band has a different name...go figure.
Anyway I guess the point I'm trying to make here is that I had a good time too. Pearl Jam has a great stage presence. Its hard to get all that from a dvd. And the added bonus is they are extremely down to earth. I was privvey to the security meeting. They held it in my room. I remember hearing them say:" they are extremely fan friendly... treat the fans as you would like to be treated...they want everyone to have a good time" This means alot when you hear of some of the other crap certain performers ask for. You would be amazed. And also the fact that they encourage taking pictures at their shows.... all I can say is Wow... that takes me back to a time when we were allowed to do it. When bands didn't want every red cent out of your pocket for pictures. I never sold any of mine... these were my own personal memories. Pearl Jam respects that. Now the next time they come around, I'll be torn between working and seeing the show. No working pass for me this time, but I did get a thank you t-shirt (Pearl Jam--Local Crew)....cool beaners ;-) Oh and by the way... yes what I saw of the show was great. I had to leave before the show was over. I have no idea what's up with the writers for our paper. This is not the first time they got it wrong. As for me, I'll be looking forward to the next trip through Cleveland.
~ThorneHope
"If you get close enough to someone to look them in the eye, you just might see a little bit of yourself"