DO YOU KNOW WHO I HUNG OUT WITH TONIGHT?! A FUCKING LEGEND!
Not quite sure how I'm going to explain what happened tonight, so I'll just be blunt.
Take a moment, let that sink into your head. RINGO FUCKING STARR. A BEATLE! According to Family Guy, and my parents, he wasn't known for writing music, but his drumming was what the Beatles really wanted and he fit perfectly into the band. Hello, my name is Melissa and I KIND OF HATE THE BEATLES. I was forced to listen to them for years on end any time I was in the car with my mom. Which was at least once a day. But when forced to listen, I chose most of their single work instead of everyone together singing psychedelic drug songs. Ringo was always my favorite. Really, truly. John still scares the shit out of me, Paul is too cliche (and he's not really a looker anymore, now is he?) and George... meh. Ringo just seemed like a fun guy. AND HE IS!!
So, apparently the Beatles are still a fucking big deal. There was a "stalker" when I got into work around lunch-time. NO ONE WAS BACKSTAGE. Hello???? Yeah the band wasn't there, but come on!! This guy was putzing around BACKSTAGE looking for Ringo. So after being escorted off Riverbend, I was placed backstage to make sure more psychopaths didn't meander back. No one did, and I busted out my friend's Japanese textbook. Rosetta Stone pisses me off because it doesn't give you a direct translation and it doesn't remotely help you form sentences. This impressed all the guys who do the "behind-the-scenes" work for Ringo and his band. They all asked and either said it was great or that I was crazy. There was one older guy who said I was very inspirational to take that on simply because I want to learn the language. He was very sweet. Then he told me all about Japan and told me I'd survive because they have more to eat there then just fish.
Around 5:15, the head of the tour came out and asked if I was nervous.
"No, why would I be nervous?"
"That's the answer!"
-blink-
Really, I wanted to see Ringo. Maybe say hi. But like I said, I'd rather throw up then listen to multiple Beatles songs. So I really don't care if the man's a jackass. He should be. He's more famous then... pretty much anyone else in the music world. Ringo walks in and this is what I hear when the door is flung open:
"I don't want to freeze my ass off!" Then he turned to me and put his hand on my knee.
"Oh! Hello! I'm sorry I said that, I shouldn't have!"
I laughed, "Hi! It's okay, really, it's not a big deal!"
Mom came back later on, some other bitchy lady came back (I, in all honesty probably should have left, but my boss told me I could stay and believe me, the tour guys LOVED me) and the three of us were hanging out. My mom went out to dry one of the guys pants in the dryer and I sat in her spot in front of Ringo's door.
"Does anyone have any technical knowledge?! I did something to the TV."
The wardrobe woman out in the hall steaming clothes said he needed a teenager. Technically I'm not CLOSE to a teenager anymore but Ringo turned to me so I volunteered.
"I pressed the wrong damn button!"
"That's okay! Oh, I have a TV exactly like this at home! Only mine is bigger." I fiddled for a while and failed. Well, I was motioned out because Ringo got his food and his assistant said he probably wanted to eat alone. That's understandable!
About fifteen minutes later he walks out and says as he passes me,
"Some help you are! Not as easy as you said, huh lady?" UHM, THIS GUY IS A RIOT!
I apologized profusely ; )
Later near the start of the show, he came back out to get his veggie smoothie (which by the way was absolutely amazing. The guy who made it let me taste it to see if he should add more broccoli, and I said yes. OMG. Ringo is a health FREAK!) I asked if the TV was fixed.
"Yes, and you helped a great deal with that!"
He said something before he went on stage, but I don't remember what. When he came back during his intermission (one song. He drank a fruit smoothie which was also damn good) I told him great job. He looked shocked and snapped and pointed a finger at me.
"Hey! Thank you very much!!" He enthusiastically shouted (really, that was a loud thank you) "Wait -- how did you know I did a 'great job?' DID YOU LEAVE YOUR POST?!" I cracked up. I had to go eat dinner and walked through the house, so I watched a bit. He laughed. On the way back out I said something like, "have fun" and he stopped, bent over, looked at me, put his hand on my shoulder and said "It's so nice to meet you."
Durrrhhh.... "Thank you very much, Ringo!" (My mom yelled at me for not calling him Mr. Starr. He didn't seem to mind!!)
HOW BACKWARDS IS THAT?! RINGO STARR TELLING ME HE'S HAPPY TO HAVE MET ME?!?!?!! DAMN!!!
While he and a boatload of other famous old musicians were jamming on stage, we hung out with the behind-the-scenes crew and they are the nicest guys I've ever met in my entire life. There was no alcohol, no drugs anywhere in our building... a complete first. They shared Ringo's smoothies and the other guys' food (not Ringo's. But we got to take his food at the end. The guy loves blue corn chips and oatmeal cookies like me. SEE?! No wonder we got along!) Outrageously, one guy gave my mom and me Ringo's special bracelet that he gave the workers (like the Livestrong ones, only it's white, says PEACE & LOVE with three stars). Tee hee... my mom had already bought one! They also loved teasing me about how old I was, what the hell was I doing working this job, where I went when I left (potty! OH THANKS FOR SHARING THAT! Dinner too!) and how I can make loads of money. They let us take the leftover food at the end which was super cause we totally took all of Ringo's food. And tea. Shhhhhh.
THE TIME CAME TO SAY GOODBYE. The head of security came to me and asked if I would hold open the stage door for Ringo, and then the band. Hell yes! Ringo was going to walk out and walk into a van and fly to Atlanta so he wouldn't stick around at all. What to do... I decided on nodding and flashing the peace sign as he walked by. He yelled (we're on stage and the band is still playing and singing) "Thank you very much!" and smiled as he squeezed my shoulder. I reached my hand up and held his. "You're welcome, Ringo!!" Bam, gone. I understand why. There are WAYYYY too many creepy Beatles fans. I would not want to meet them, EVER. The rest of the band got a great job from me, and they were all so sweet about it. One guy even wanted to hit Skyline before flying out. I exploded into a cheer. He pointed to me and said,
"See? She knows it's good!" Then I had to explain the 3, 4 and 5 way to him and one of the managers.
I've met a shitload of musicians/artists. I've met even more than a shitload of behind-the-scenes workers/crew. And I can safely say I have never, ever met a more polite, sweet, funny group of men. They were all so down to earth. Their goal was to make us all laugh, and I heard the guys (whispering to each other) how nice we were, and how pleasant it was to see our smiles. Yeah, that was all me and my mom. The third lady didn't do shit, they didn't give HER a bracelet!, and they didn't talk like they constantly did with us. I am so thankful to have worked and stayed back there tonight and really, I basically "hung out" with a rock legend. In fact my mom told pretty much everyone we work with that she hates me because "Ringo was ALL OVER HER!!!" Either I remind him of his daughter, I'm just that good looking, or he appreciates that someone my age knows and enjoys his music. (My mom and I spent a good half hour speculating, and those were our top three reasons) Doesn't matter.
The guy is NORMAL. He's 70 and looks like he's 40. Seriously. He looks a million times better than Paul does now. He's really small, probably shorter then me and shockingly, skinnier then me. He smelled amazing, had Beatle hair and wore dark sunglasses everywhere. Except you could see his eyes when he wore his "inside" pair. Really, he talked to me more then anyone else working backstage. My poor mom, who has loved and worshiped the Beatles for 46 years only got touched once by him (probably because she had the nervous laugh when she talked to him, and I basically didn't give a shit). He never said one word to the bitchy lady. Whatever it was, he was funny and VERY nice. Just... I mean, look at everything he's done. And he's as normal as any other regular person. Plus, his accent is a RIOT. OH! I LOVE IT!!!
THANKS RINGO STARR!!!!!
Take a moment, let that sink into your head. RINGO FUCKING STARR. A BEATLE! According to Family Guy, and my parents, he wasn't known for writing music, but his drumming was what the Beatles really wanted and he fit perfectly into the band. Hello, my name is Melissa and I KIND OF HATE THE BEATLES. I was forced to listen to them for years on end any time I was in the car with my mom. Which was at least once a day. But when forced to listen, I chose most of their single work instead of everyone together singing psychedelic drug songs. Ringo was always my favorite. Really, truly. John still scares the shit out of me, Paul is too cliche (and he's not really a looker anymore, now is he?) and George... meh. Ringo just seemed like a fun guy. AND HE IS!!
So, apparently the Beatles are still a fucking big deal. There was a "stalker" when I got into work around lunch-time. NO ONE WAS BACKSTAGE. Hello???? Yeah the band wasn't there, but come on!! This guy was putzing around BACKSTAGE looking for Ringo. So after being escorted off Riverbend, I was placed backstage to make sure more psychopaths didn't meander back. No one did, and I busted out my friend's Japanese textbook. Rosetta Stone pisses me off because it doesn't give you a direct translation and it doesn't remotely help you form sentences. This impressed all the guys who do the "behind-the-scenes" work for Ringo and his band. They all asked and either said it was great or that I was crazy. There was one older guy who said I was very inspirational to take that on simply because I want to learn the language. He was very sweet. Then he told me all about Japan and told me I'd survive because they have more to eat there then just fish.
Around 5:15, the head of the tour came out and asked if I was nervous.
"No, why would I be nervous?"
"That's the answer!"
-blink-
Really, I wanted to see Ringo. Maybe say hi. But like I said, I'd rather throw up then listen to multiple Beatles songs. So I really don't care if the man's a jackass. He should be. He's more famous then... pretty much anyone else in the music world. Ringo walks in and this is what I hear when the door is flung open:
"I don't want to freeze my ass off!" Then he turned to me and put his hand on my knee.
"Oh! Hello! I'm sorry I said that, I shouldn't have!"
I laughed, "Hi! It's okay, really, it's not a big deal!"
Mom came back later on, some other bitchy lady came back (I, in all honesty probably should have left, but my boss told me I could stay and believe me, the tour guys LOVED me) and the three of us were hanging out. My mom went out to dry one of the guys pants in the dryer and I sat in her spot in front of Ringo's door.
"Does anyone have any technical knowledge?! I did something to the TV."
The wardrobe woman out in the hall steaming clothes said he needed a teenager. Technically I'm not CLOSE to a teenager anymore but Ringo turned to me so I volunteered.
"I pressed the wrong damn button!"
"That's okay! Oh, I have a TV exactly like this at home! Only mine is bigger." I fiddled for a while and failed. Well, I was motioned out because Ringo got his food and his assistant said he probably wanted to eat alone. That's understandable!
About fifteen minutes later he walks out and says as he passes me,
"Some help you are! Not as easy as you said, huh lady?" UHM, THIS GUY IS A RIOT!
I apologized profusely ; )
Later near the start of the show, he came back out to get his veggie smoothie (which by the way was absolutely amazing. The guy who made it let me taste it to see if he should add more broccoli, and I said yes. OMG. Ringo is a health FREAK!) I asked if the TV was fixed.
"Yes, and you helped a great deal with that!"
He said something before he went on stage, but I don't remember what. When he came back during his intermission (one song. He drank a fruit smoothie which was also damn good) I told him great job. He looked shocked and snapped and pointed a finger at me.
"Hey! Thank you very much!!" He enthusiastically shouted (really, that was a loud thank you) "Wait -- how did you know I did a 'great job?' DID YOU LEAVE YOUR POST?!" I cracked up. I had to go eat dinner and walked through the house, so I watched a bit. He laughed. On the way back out I said something like, "have fun" and he stopped, bent over, looked at me, put his hand on my shoulder and said "It's so nice to meet you."
Durrrhhh.... "Thank you very much, Ringo!" (My mom yelled at me for not calling him Mr. Starr. He didn't seem to mind!!)
HOW BACKWARDS IS THAT?! RINGO STARR TELLING ME HE'S HAPPY TO HAVE MET ME?!?!?!! DAMN!!!
While he and a boatload of other famous old musicians were jamming on stage, we hung out with the behind-the-scenes crew and they are the nicest guys I've ever met in my entire life. There was no alcohol, no drugs anywhere in our building... a complete first. They shared Ringo's smoothies and the other guys' food (not Ringo's. But we got to take his food at the end. The guy loves blue corn chips and oatmeal cookies like me. SEE?! No wonder we got along!) Outrageously, one guy gave my mom and me Ringo's special bracelet that he gave the workers (like the Livestrong ones, only it's white, says PEACE & LOVE with three stars). Tee hee... my mom had already bought one! They also loved teasing me about how old I was, what the hell was I doing working this job, where I went when I left (potty! OH THANKS FOR SHARING THAT! Dinner too!) and how I can make loads of money. They let us take the leftover food at the end which was super cause we totally took all of Ringo's food. And tea. Shhhhhh.
THE TIME CAME TO SAY GOODBYE. The head of security came to me and asked if I would hold open the stage door for Ringo, and then the band. Hell yes! Ringo was going to walk out and walk into a van and fly to Atlanta so he wouldn't stick around at all. What to do... I decided on nodding and flashing the peace sign as he walked by. He yelled (we're on stage and the band is still playing and singing) "Thank you very much!" and smiled as he squeezed my shoulder. I reached my hand up and held his. "You're welcome, Ringo!!" Bam, gone. I understand why. There are WAYYYY too many creepy Beatles fans. I would not want to meet them, EVER. The rest of the band got a great job from me, and they were all so sweet about it. One guy even wanted to hit Skyline before flying out. I exploded into a cheer. He pointed to me and said,
"See? She knows it's good!" Then I had to explain the 3, 4 and 5 way to him and one of the managers.
I've met a shitload of musicians/artists. I've met even more than a shitload of behind-the-scenes workers/crew. And I can safely say I have never, ever met a more polite, sweet, funny group of men. They were all so down to earth. Their goal was to make us all laugh, and I heard the guys (whispering to each other) how nice we were, and how pleasant it was to see our smiles. Yeah, that was all me and my mom. The third lady didn't do shit, they didn't give HER a bracelet!, and they didn't talk like they constantly did with us. I am so thankful to have worked and stayed back there tonight and really, I basically "hung out" with a rock legend. In fact my mom told pretty much everyone we work with that she hates me because "Ringo was ALL OVER HER!!!" Either I remind him of his daughter, I'm just that good looking, or he appreciates that someone my age knows and enjoys his music. (My mom and I spent a good half hour speculating, and those were our top three reasons) Doesn't matter.
The guy is NORMAL. He's 70 and looks like he's 40. Seriously. He looks a million times better than Paul does now. He's really small, probably shorter then me and shockingly, skinnier then me. He smelled amazing, had Beatle hair and wore dark sunglasses everywhere. Except you could see his eyes when he wore his "inside" pair. Really, he talked to me more then anyone else working backstage. My poor mom, who has loved and worshiped the Beatles for 46 years only got touched once by him (probably because she had the nervous laugh when she talked to him, and I basically didn't give a shit). He never said one word to the bitchy lady. Whatever it was, he was funny and VERY nice. Just... I mean, look at everything he's done. And he's as normal as any other regular person. Plus, his accent is a RIOT. OH! I LOVE IT!!!
THANKS RINGO STARR!!!!!