1.20.11 - Dallas

I neglected to realize my room does not have a microwave.

Sad elbows.

I had one sent up.

Success!

Each day gets more better good and more surreal on this tour. Tonight we played a show in Dallas, and the atmosphere inside the stadium was so incredible! Everyone was in a great mood, and felt psyched to give up their energy to collectively create a killer show. I feel like Ozzy is getting more and more comfortable with me and my camera. The managers are even more comfortable with me than he is! They kept throwing me on the stage tonight anytime I was near them. They like tossing me around like that. Actually, I've become sort of the black sheep of the crew, which is fine with me as long as it remains in good spirits. They pick on me because I'm a new, younger dude. I might give me crap, too.

 An empty American Airlines Center, center stage view.

During sound check.

 

So this happened: We all have a pass that gets us backstage to dressing rooms, production offices, catering, etc. I lost mine after the Houston gig. Oops. I knew I was mince meat for this. That sort of thing can be seen as a breach of security because someone could just walk backstage without question. I heard once that the entire crew had to be re-issued different passes because one person lost their own. And I don't want to do anything to give someone a reason not to want me around in the future. Clumsy stuff like this could jeopardize my chances of being hired again. After a few hours of searching, nothing came up, so I emailed the tour manager. He told me this was a serious error on my part, but to pay a (very hefty) lost pass fee to get a new one. I walked into the venue and handed my (very hefty) lost pass fee to the guy, and he tells me my pass was sent to the hotel as he didn't know I was coming early today. My manager shows up later with a pass in his hands that has my name on it. Funny... it looks a lot like my pass from before. A little beat up on one corner, same scratch mark in the upper middle part. He says he found it in the van after everyone boarded the plane in Houston after the show. He then handed me my (very hefty) wad of cash and told me not to let it happen again. He and others had a good laugh about the whole thing, and I found it pretty funny, too. Apparently everyone was in on the prank. I definitely learned how valuable these passes are, but more importantly I felt like I had been initiated into a circle of people that might not otherwise treat this situation like a prank to others.

 I decided to check out Slash's set. Fact: Slash is ripped.

I also had the pleasure of meeting the lead singer of a band called The Polyphonic Spree. Yeah, I hadn't heard of them either, but I looked em up on YouTube, and the band plays some great feel-good jams. The singer (Tim DeLaughter), was an extremely nice dude, and was happy to answer some questions for me on camera for the web series. Awesome experience meeting this chap, and I know I'll meet some other celebs in the future. I got an email noting a few, but I'm not allowed to talk about it on the blog, here. Soon enough...

The best part of my night came at the hotel after the show. Everyone split ways when we got back, and about 10 minutes after settling in my room, my phone rang. It was Ozzy's manager, inviting me up to Ozzy's room to shoot some video. Apparently everyone was having dinner! I got to the room, and holy hell was this place a palace. Full size living room, dining room, kitchen. It was like a whole house on top of the hotel! Anyway, there was the band and Ozzy sitting around the table feasting on some steak, and there was one open seat at the head of the table. I took the liberty, and joined in. I hadn't planned on eating, but Ozzy turned to me and asked if I was hungry. Yes. Yes, I am hungry. He told the wait staff to bring me a rib-eye steak, and there it was. Now, I'm a vegetarian, but I wasn't about to turn down a free gourmet steak from Ozzy Osbourne. I dug in. Good gravy, this was a crazy amazing steak! He had actually been raving about this steak all day in the dressing room, and I asked him how many he'd had total since we'd been in Dallas (a day and a half). Seven. He also complimented me on the video work he'd seen from me thus far. Score!

Here I am in my room, uploading footage and blissfully writing this blog. I don't know how I'm going to come back to reality after this whole thing's over. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it I suppose. Until then, I'm going to try to continue making the most of the ride of my life.