Antsmarching.org Forums - Dave Matthews Band Discussion - View Single Post - From "DMB who?" to sitting next to Dave in a club booth @ TR3 in FIVE SHOWS
View Single Post
Old 02-28-2021, 12:53 PM   #23
Sniper15
 
Sniper15's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 10,953

Shows Seen: 115

DMB Hub Stubs: 29

My Tour Central Stats

Re: From "DMB who?" to sitting next to Dave in a club booth @ TR3 in FIVE SHOWS

Quote:
Originally Posted by GraceBuckley View Post
Sure, I can tell that story. Glad you still have patience for my wordy writing, but I don't really know how to tell short stories...

The important thing to remember is each time builds on the last one. So the Orpheum in Boston was first. I go to a LOT of shows, or at least I used to. As much as of course the concert itself, no matter who the band is, is the "main thing", I love watching the behind the scenes. So based on just watching what happens side stage and a few other places in the venue, I used to enjoy guessing which people played which role on tours of bands I knew nothing about.

It was watching those dynamics during the show that made me guess that one guy was DMB's tour manager. I was right. So near the end of the show I asked him if he was the TM, he said yes, and I just paid a compliment, a heartfelt one, but the next important thing to know is: "normalcy is EVERYTHING". So I just talked to him like a normal person, I didn't ask to meet the band, and I just was super chill. And, because I saw bands there all the time, I knew a bunch of hte security and they "overlooked" the fact that I didn't have a backstage pass when I hung out among the aftershow people with passes. And then when DMB's TM came out, he also overlooked my lack of pass and let me go up and talk to Dave.

Ok now it's the Northampton show. And what I'm about to say I do NOT recommend, and honestly it's usually hard to do on purpose, so I was lucky I was sincerely looking for someone to talk to. I went early, because it was sold out and I had no ticket. It was a theater or college arena/theater and I could hear soundcheck as I walked up. I walked around the WHOLE PLACE looking for somoene who worked there to ask about tix, but didn't find anyone. Then I saw a guy walking by and tried to walk quickly up to him but I missed him as he walked in the door. So... I opened the door myself to see if I could find him, he clearly worked there.

I have enough friends in bands and have spent enough time in soundchecks that I knew once I walked in how to act and what to do. So I basically I just fit in and got to watch the rest of soundcheck. When it was over I was looking around trying to see who looked the most like they could help me find a ticket, when after a bit I saw Boyd walking by. I said hi, and basically said "Um, I'm a new fan so I didn't get a ticket in time, trying to think how to get one" and Boyd looked at me, looked around, and pretended to be sharing a big secret and said "It looks to me like you're already in?" and I realized oh, right, duh! So ticket...unnecessary.

At some point I saw the TM again and we talked. When the show was over and he came out to get the bands guests, he invited me backstage with them.

After that it really just came down to being chill and not fan-girling out. I had really long talks with Carter, Stefan & Roi, and shorter but very nice talks with Dave and Boyd. Carter had family there, not sure who lived in the area, but they were super nice too.

I've said this before here and it seems like a weird thing to say, but I find that when you talk about regular stuff, like HonestDenver1 was also talking about, and treat them like normal people, you have much more chill conversations and the next time they see you, they tend to just invite you into convos because they know you're gonna have a normal conversation. I can't speak for DMB because I haven't had a real conversation with any of them in 12 yrs, but if they're still the way they used to be, they're like most other really really successful popular bands: they deeply appreciate and love all their fans, AND... they're a lot more at ease talking about things other than their music or their show. Doesn't mean they don't want to talk about their music or their shows, but they're rather talk about everything else.

That's it, the part that I think is so funny was me asking Boyd if he had ideas about where I could find a ticket and he looked around like "Um, I'd say you're already in!" and I realized he was right. For that to be how I get into my 3rd sold out DMB show just felt crazy lucky.

Then Roseland were shows 4 & 5...
These are awesome stories. Can you tell us what question you asked that got you VIP tickets at the Billie Eilish show? Also, what was the most surprising thing you learned about a band member, or the most interesting thing you learned about how the band/crew operates, during your years backstage?
__________________
Take these chances.....
Only tomorrow leads my way...
Sniper15 is offline   Reply With Quote