Still fumbling: School daze

In high school in the San Fran Bay Area, I went to concerts a lot. Now, not so much.

But when Poison and the Spin Doctors were signed up to play the Greeley Stampede, I begged Tracy for tix for my b-day and she hooked me up (as well as my buds Dan and Dono). And then, days before the show, Dan worms his way into three backstage passes as well. It was set for a freakin' awesome time (I love the funk rythmn of the Docs and Poison is OK, too).

The pass:

I had images of drunken groupies backstage, but, sadly, it was not to be. "Backstage" at the Stampede means you get to hang out in the dirt and wait for the bands to walk to the stage.

This is what I'm talking about ...

(Hard to believe the girls stayed away from them, huh?)

Dono was still excited ...

But no groupies, so this was the only boob they got ...

But we saw a couple interesting things. Like, the Docs apparently used Van Halen's old sound equipment (see below) ... I picture there's a store where all hair bands buy and sell equipment ... It would be a fun place to visit...

And you know those "HUGE" walls of speakers at a concert? Well, a look behind the curtain reveals there were only six or so speakers (it was still plenty loud, tho!). Kinda sad to know this...

So, the Docs were late in starting because two of the four guys in the band were lost (only us cool backstage people knew this ... woo hoo!). And then, this cab pulled up and Chris Barron, the lead singer of the Docs popped out! The day is saved!

OK, at this point of the story, I should probably also note that I was rather intoxicated. I figured I'm going to a metal show, Dono was driving and WTF, right? Anyway, drunkedness equals bravery and it helped a lot because it gave me the cojones to walk up to some of these folks and get pics. Here's me with Barron on his way to the stage ... and the bass player (after the show)

And below is the drummer. His name is Aaron. From the stage, I thought he looked just like me. Upon closer inspection, he's not a twin but could be a long-lost brother (except he has rythmn which means he's not a blood relation)...

During the Docs show, I stood close to the stage. Like I said it was loud, but I haven't been up front at a show in years. The funniest part was a song that featured the phrase "big, fat, funky bootie" several times. The hearing impaired person had to sign the words and it cracked me up as apparently the sign word for "bootie" is pointing to your ass. Here's a video (I was drunk so I straigtened it out a couple seconds in ... gimme a break)

The Docs did a great show and then we went backstage again (because we are so cool!!!).

I also want to comment on my attire. I was able to fit into my "Don't Blame Me. I voted for Bill and Opus" shirt from the '80s thanks to losing part of my fat ass so that also made the night special.

Anyway, we were waiting around for Poison and Dan spotted Rikki Rocket, the drummer, standing by a bus. He was far away and if I had been sober, I probably just would have watched. But I was drunk and said WTF and went over to him. Super nice dude (even with eye shadow and mascara!). A pic:

For Poison, Dan, Dono and I went back to the seats which were in the 4th row of the arena floor (behind the pit I stood in for the Docs). Poison put on a great show and we were screaming and bouncing around like it was 1987 all over again.

After the show, we went backstage again (because we're that cool). Nothing really going on but I got this pic that sums up backstage at the Stampede pretty well.