04.21.12 Eagles @ MGM Grand Garden Arena - Las Vegas, NV

We have doors

Today - the Eagles. People have joked that they are the MGM Grand Garden Arena house band. We've had them 3 times in under 6 months and will add another before year's end. I wish they were our house band. I could do this show once a week. The entire production team is pretty laid back. The head of their security for this leg, Gio, is one of my faves. We see him at least once a year, 2 if I'm lucky. Last time he was with Aerosmith I think. 

Although I was happy to be doing this show I was not happy about being there at 8.00a. My guy who normally supervises the early shift flew the coop to Italy for a little vaca. He's my savior so I'm thrilled he got out of dodge for a while. But working these 16+ hours days suck. It's not so much the length but the boredom in between the drama. If I were busy the entire time it wouldn't be so bad but there's nothing worse than being bored at work. Yeah, there were about 50 things I could have been doing to curb my boredom but that early on a Saturday morning, who the hell wants to be at work. People think this job is so cool, so glamorous, so fulfilling. That's a bunch of crap. What makes it tolerable are the people… well my small, tight knit group anyhow.

Where's my wardrobe?

As the afternoon dragged on I fuddled with my new BlackBerry. I used to have a BlackBerry with Netel. Remember those? Of course not. No one in the world still has them. I hated mine because unlike the phone you don't have the option to ignore a 'chirp' unless you turn off the network altogether which means you can't receive calls, texts or emails. So annoying to awake to that sound. The worst was when someone would 'accidentally' chirp me. I got the Bold with the touch screen. It's always fun to get a new toy. I am toying with getting an iPhone but am too cheap to pay for the monthly service. Work pays for my CrackBerry so what's the point in paying for another one. When the 5 comes out I might suck it up and get one though. We'll see. So where was I… the Eagles.

Crowd loves them!

Sometime around 1-ish I head to tour catering with the boys. I just sit down with my plate of greens when my phone goes off. It's Gio reminding me of the 1.00p meeting. Oops. Kinda forgot about that. Luckily he was cool and said just pop over when I was done eating. So I mowed down my salad, grabbed Mary who works with me in the arena and we head to studio 4.

Gio is one of the coolest guys I come across. He's the rare breed of tour security who is great at his job, calm, cool, friendly yet stern but most of all respectful towards my entire staff. I can't tell you how many assholes are out there. The best phrase (or variation thereof) is, "…this is your house. I'm just a visitor." We go thru the mechanics of the show. No pyro, no intermission, camera policy has relaxed, blah, blah, blah. The Eagles show isn't tres complique. No theatrics. Just 4 guys on a stage. Pure music. We go over the credential board & the access points. There are a couple of VIP hospitality parties: 1 for fans who paid for the privilege, 1 for the band guests and 1 for the MGM. Nothing out of the ordinary. Best part of the meeting - Gio tells us the band is doing a runner. That means no lingering after the show. The band goes directly from the stage to their vehicles to the jet. And I mean directly. With the police escort it takes all of 4 minutes to go from the stage to the FBO across the street. Now THAT'S a runner.

Joe Walsh working the crowd

From 1.30p - 3.30p not much going on. I got people in place for a sound check, tweeted some random pics, smoked a few Dunhills and gabbed with Zippy about life. Before I knew it 4.30p was here and it was time to brief my supervisory team. I've said it 100x and I'll say it again. My 15 men & women are the best in the business - and they take better care of me than I deserve. I always feel like a load's been lifted when they arrive on site. I know everything will be ok and I can relax. There's nothing like the feeling of complete confidence in your team. Nothing.

How'd you like to be this guy!

5.30p hits and I head out to the 150 ushers checking in for the show. I gave out some employee recognition awards and tell them they've all gotten a raise. Not a huge one but hey, a raise is a raise. It's the 2nd one they've gotten under me - I'm pretty happy about that.

6.25p and I grab Zippy to get doors open. Actually at about 6.00p Max calls me and says that production has already given the go-ahead for doors whenever we're ready. That hardly ever happens. Ever. So I get everyone in place and in my loud-mouth voice, "Everybody UP! Here we go. Have a great night!"

Once doors are open, the show is in the hands of my team. I don't micro-manage, I don't interfere when I don't need to, I fully trust them. I'm always available to them if they need me but they rarely do. I let people actually do their job. That's why I hired them. If I wanted to do it for them, I'd change my occupation. So I head back to my office to true-up my estimate for settlement before going upstairs for dinner.

Eagles don't fly, they roll!

As soon as the band hits the stage I head to Seablue and am looking forward to a quiet dinner alone. I'm not in a social mood and just want to watch whatever dumb Stanley Cup Playoff game Bill has on the screen. Shortly after I sit down Sebastian comes in and asks to join me. He's the Director of Restaurants or something. To be honest, I don't remember his title. He's a good guy and despite my desperate need to be alone, I oblige. What am I gonna say, "No, go away." It ended up being really fun. We laughed for a good 1/2 hour straight. He's French so when he tells stories in his accent it's so hilarious. In the end I'm glad we had dinner together. Unexpected surprise.

Where's your seat? Front row?

Around 9.00p I head back to the arena to check on the show. At this point I've seen zero of the concert, and that doesn't bother me one bit. I saw them twice back in the latter part of last year and we'll have them back in November of this year. But I figure I should Tweet a couple of pics for the Grand Garden Arena feed so I head to the concourse and grab some shots. I don't have the patience to sit thru a whole song so I head backstage to chew the fat with the guys. Another favorite site: the artist cars lined up. Watching their taillights drive away makes me so happy!

Crowd heading out

I head back to my office and decide to go watch the last song from the vommy. I walk thru the tunnel and I see house lights up. The show is over. Even better! Everyone is milling out like civilized adults. I wander onto the floor to say hi to some guests and ask if they had a good time. A resounding yes. The chair racks move in as do the cleaning crews. My favorite part of the night. The End. I wrap up with my team and my 1.00a I'm home. Ahhh.

Thanks for a great show Glenn, Joe, Don & Timothy. We'll see you again November 17th - if I'm still around...