October 7, 2009: The Third Eye Blind Back-Stage Story:
Ok fine, you win … even though I’m extremely exhausted from driving 13 hours I will tell the unforgettable tale of how I met Stephan Jenkins last night! .. WARNING: Don’t attempt this unless you know what you're doing!
So as you all probably know from my countless updates, I went and saw Third Eye Blind last night when I was in Nashville, TN … they put on an extremely amaazing show at the Cannery Ball Room with a mixed set of popular hits and awesome new tunes (including some of my favs like Bon Fire, Dao of St. Paul, Water Landing, etc.)
Anywho … so I went to the show with my three buddies Dakota, Cameron, and Matt. First of all, how we got Cam into the show in the first place without a ticket is a whole other story (but that’s neither here no there) … back to the tale at hand … so we spent most of the afternoon listening to 3EB records and having a few drinks to get pumped for the show, during which Dakota joked about how cool it would be to sneak back stage and meet the band … we laughed because of course this would never happen (… or so we thought)
Later that night: … after the opening band finished there set, Dakota and I sat down for a beer behind the bar when we both casually glanced around at the venue. Dakota once again entertained the possibility of going back stage … after scanning every door and noticing security guards left, right, and centre, I quickly established in my mind that it was indeed NOT possible to do so and relayed my thoughts accordingly … Dakota on the other hand had his own ideas brewing
I decided to go find Matt & Cameron and leave Dakota while he finished his drink … I managed to make it pretty close to the stage before the band came on opening their set with “Can You Take Me” into “Losing A Whole Year” … the set ended with “Don’t Believe a Word” into “Semi-Charmed Life” (ps. AWESOME!)
After the first set I noticed I missed a few messages on my phone … they were from Dakota saying: “I’m Back Stage!” … I totally didn’t believe him at all; I was like how did he manage to pull that off? He also replied saying “I’ve got back stage VIP passes for you too!” Again, I thought he was pulling my leg … I managed to get out of the crowd and meet him behind the bar before the band came back with their encore. Dakota looked at me, smiled, and handed me a legit VIP backstage pass … in total utter shock and disbelief I was like: “How the hell did you pull this off!?” … With a smirk he turned his back to me revealing a stolen walkie-talkie attached to his belt imitating a crew member! (I laughed so hard when I saw it .. sincerely a priceless moment)
Two seconds later we were back stage literally behind the band watching them from 5 feet away performing their encore! (To my other surprise, I looked over and Cameron was backstage too lol) … I was shocked, amazed, impressed, and still in total disbelief thinking that at any second we were going to get caught and kicked out! … The band wrapped up and came off the stage giving us all hand shakes … (My first groupie experience I guess?) … lol Anywho, right after Dakota looks at me and says: “Hey, you wana go downstairs and meet them?” … I’m like HELL YES!
We proceeded downstairs to where the green room was and standing right there was Mr. Stephan Jenkins himself! He was talking to his road manager when he noticed us and said hello … (trying to keep my composure) I said hello and great show! He thanked me and gave me a fist-pound (soo cool) .. I also asked him why 3EB hasn’t come to Canada yet, and he said that they don’t think they have a big enough following up here? I told him they have a huge following and that they should play Toronto this coming year … so listen up Canada: REQUEST, REQUEST, REQUEST!!
I didn’t want to ask for an autograph because we were already pushing our cover, so we politely said goodbye and headed out the back door … honestly, that was one of my Top 10 BEST NIGHTS in Nashville ever!! How Dakota actually pulled it off will remain between us four (and maybe a few of you who I tell in person) … but I can’t begin to tell you how cool that experience was!
So anywho, that’s that .. I’m back in Canada now for a bit, hopefully getting back down to the Music City again as soon as possible … I love it so much there, and the amazing times my friends and I have been having at Music City Hostel just keeps on getting better and better! Thanks Ron & Tracy for having us; and thank you Dakota, Cameron, and Matt for an EPIC night out! I think Cameron said it best last night when he quoted: “Music City Hostel is like Hotel California: you can check out anytime you like but you can never leave!”
Cheers & God Bless,
Steve Rivers
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