Now with the Valentine’s Day holiday fading, it’s time to reference some encounters with rock star heartthrobs heard while on the beat.
The friend of one of the stalwarts from Guv’s Place in North Hudson got serenaded at a Pearl Jam concert in the region awhile back. Star lead singer Eddie Vedder sang him a happy birthday on-screen, then invited him up on stage for a few moments. That was certainly a few seconds “of what was everything …”
With the following celebs, it’s the return of No More Mr. Nice Guy. Local people who have worked with them as arena support members say that Van Morrison is actually kind of a jerk, and that the entourage will give you grief if you get in the way of Elton John’s nap in the next room, as happened backstage at the Xcel Energy Center. On the plus side, frontmen David Grohl and Billy Jo Armstrong were very nice when seated next to a man who is now a local bar manager, as was Donald Fagen, who can really warm up to people and even joked about wanting to take a local bartender, Michele, who was working with a touring catering firm to the stars, on tour via packing her in his suitcase. She also said The Boss would always come by and say hello when he was backstage, even though the catering job kept her working virtually around the clock — in many cases running down the precise list of snacking items that some rock stars say they literally could not get on stage without. Among the noteworthy of these picky acts having played in Hudson, is the occasional swing made through the region to play at Dibbo’s by Foghat. The staff had to jump through hoops to meet the fickle needs of bands such as these — did they become a Fool For This City? — and their efforts included running down the street a few blocks last-minute to get some special kinds of snacks.
Another local patron works mainly for such a company that helps book bands for festivals and orchestrate their shows all over the country, but if that isn’t enough, she was looking for another parttime gig. This job has largely stayed under the radar, but has notoriety in its own genre. And also, it is work with fits and spurts — like my freelance writing, I told her.