rdp3186

Eric

Why has 311 not been on the program yet? Are you a 311 denier?

Hey all! Blue Man Group has been a huge influence and inspiration to me as a theatrical and concert lighting designer ever since I first saw the show in NYC back in 2001. I've even had the pleasure of working backstage on your touring show 3 times! The mantra of "follow your bliss" along with the symbol of the complex album will be a tattoo I get very soon.

My question is regarding the change from the original ending finale (the KLF paper one) to the current one. That original finale is still to this day one of the most mind blowing and incredible live experiences I've ever been a part of. Why was the overall ending sequence changed? Was it a music rights issue with the KLF? (which I'm curious what their thoughts are on BMG using their music) was it a waste thing either the amount of paper used nightly, or was it just time to do something new? The visual of tubes going all over the place, paper waterfalls over your head in blacklists and Strobes with acid house playing loudly is very unique.

Thank you all for everything! Taking my fiancee to see you guys in Vegas this November for her first BMG experience!

Rammstein.

They came to Baltimore last April. I should probably state that Rammstein has been my absolute favorite band since I was in 6th grade (im 26 now) and getting to work backstage on a band whose live show and music I admired and played a big part in me getting into the theatre and concert business, it was needless to say I was excited. For months i wouldnt shut up about it and my coworkers (and my bosses) knew how much i was looking forward to it. The first day was just the rigging (115 some points for about 50 some motors? Cant remember exactly) but seeing the cases roll in with the logos just gave me chills. The next day i came in and worked on power, then was put on pyro crew, which if anyone here knows Rammstein, can understand how awesome that is. We were unloading the trucks and everyone was seeing how happy I was.

I was actually seeing the show with my gf, her father, and all of my close friends (who are also massive fans) so instead of sending me home, my boss kept me all day to help with pyro check and setting up house spotlights, so i got my rammstein crew pass and pretty much just stayed there all day backstage. After the fire dept came and inspected the effects, it was just hangout time. I went out in the loading dock to have a smoke (a clove) with sone of our guys and the tour guys, and i get a tap on the shoulder followed by a "that smells very good" I turn around, and it's Till, the singer. I get a pretty big smile on my face and start to laugh.

I go "yeah, it tastes even better" he then asks if he could have one. We end up chatting for about 15 min, which during i explained how Ive been a longtime fan and not only is it a pleasure to see them all live, its been and honor to work bdckstage ans setup this concert for them in my hometown, and i thank them for coming back to the united states. He then thanks me for all of my hard work the past two days and tells me to have a great time tonight, and that hed invite me and my gf to the after party if i didnt have to work. He then went off to start preparing for the show. Apparently the rest of the band were at the bar across the street where most of us gobto have a beer after a load out, which i found to be equally awesome.

Overall, its been the major highlight of my career. Sadly i couldnt get a pic with him or have him autograph my pass as its considered pretty unprofessional for us to do that, and i was on the clock working and I still needed to act professional and not start struck. But it was the best concert in my life and the highest point in my career so far.

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When I was really young, like 5 or 6, I found my parents copy of the Phantom of the Opera. I fell in love with the music and just loved everything about it, then found a copy of Les Miserables and my father explained the show to me and I instantly fell in love with theater. When I was first grade, my grandmother and mother took me to NYC and took me to see my first Broadway show, which was Miss Saigon (which i fell asleep too), but the next night we saw Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. All of the lights and set pieces and colors and everything just fascinated me. Every year since then, they took me to NYC in December and would see more shows. This tradition continued on all the way to college. Around when I was in 4th grade we got to go see the Lion King on its opening weekend. During the intermission I went to use the bathroom and snuck backstage to look around. I looked around the empty stage when I was stopped by an actor asking me why I was backstage. I told him, "One day I'm gonna be working here on this show."

When I was in fifth grade, I wanted to audition to be in a show, but I didn't want to act, I just wanted to be a part of it. So my music teacher introduced me to the jobs that happen backstage. I ran lights for my fifth grade talent show and that was it for me. That's what I wanted to do for the rest of my life was work on these shows. I told my teachers and friends that this was going to become my career. I worked backstage at every show up until I graduated at 8th grade. During those years my dad's coworker also happened to be a very senior member of the stagehand union in our city, and told me that if i was serious about this business, that when I graduate college to give him a call. He gave me tours backstage of the arenas and theaters, and even let me work backstage on some high school level shows when I was in sixth grade.

By the time I started high school though, I was getting bored with musicals and my interest in theater was starting to fade a little bit. That December on our annual trip, my grandmother got my younger brothers and I tickets to go see the Blue Man Group. I didn't really know too much about them at the time, but when I saw them, it completely re-sparked my love for theater. I had never seen anything quite like it and didn't know that theater meant more than just musicals, and I just fell in love with the job all over again. I then signed up to be i my high schools stage crew, and by the end of my senior year, I had worked on every show and was the student moderator of the stage crew. All my friends that I had made in my high school's crew i consider my closest friends and brother today.

I went to College and got my AA degree at my community college's theater program, working in the shop full time as a student employee and got to be the Assistant Technical Director on our production of Joseph, the show that got me into theater so very long ago in the first place. I then graduated and transferred to Towson University, one of the best schools to study the craft in the northeast, where I got my Bachelor of Science in Fine Arts in 2009, where I also met my current girlfriend and made a bunch of great friends and associates that are now a major player in the Baltimore theater scene. During all of this, I worked at my local grocery store alongside my grandfather and grandmother, who were the produce and floral managers there respectively for 30 years. It was a family owned store, and the owners and employees there have known me since I was a child and have known that this is what I've always wanted to do. I worked there in many different departments throughout my high school and college days, and they always worked with me when the time came for me to work a show. I worked there from 2002 to 2011, and am incredibly grateful for all of the support that they gave me.

After I graduated, I worked for a regional theater company helping turn their normal theatre in the round into a cabaret theater. I worked there for a month until the job was done. After that for about two years I worked at the grocery story and just took every call I could get, which were very far in few between. I thought that my dreams were out of my reach, and went back to school to get my EMT license to see if i could get another career going, till my dad made a phone call to his old co-worker, and I out of nowhere I got a phone call from the union to come to the arena for a load out, and I haven't looked back since.

The most emotional moment came for me when we had just finished loading in Lion King at the beginning of my starting career, and we everyone went on dinner break. 95% of the show was up, and i went and walked out on the empty lit stage, with all of the set pieces setup and the decks laid out and everything, and it was like I was transported back to when I was just a kid again, looking around saying that I was gonna work here some day, and here I was, almost 20 some years later and I was standing on that same stage. I had made it. I kept that promise to myself.

Without sounding to cliche, your dreams and goals can come true. Mine did, and yours can too.

Follow your Bliss.