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| Photo courtesy of Dana Gorab |
I’ve been working on concert crews for nearly 40 years, and I’ve probably seen more performances than most people could imagine. Some were spectacular, some were unforgettable and a few actually brought me to tears.
Stagehands love live music, too, and what’s more, we love bringing shows to life for audiences. We may be working above the stage, behind it or underneath it, but we feel the energy when a performer really connects with an audience. It’s one of the reasons we do this job. Even though I’ve seen thousands of shows, things still happen that raise gooseflesh on my arms.
One of those moments came during Fleetwood Mac’s reunion tour, The Dance.
I’d worked with Fleetwood Mac before, back when things could get pretty wild. But seeing them reunited in 1997 was an entirely different experience. They were together, they sounded incredible, and from the very first note, you could feel the energy coming off that stage. It rolled across the front of the audience and flowed right up to where we were working in the catwalks.
There were people weeping in the audience, and I understood exactly how they felt. It was one of those performances where something extraordinary happened between the musicians and the crowd. My voice still shakes when I talk about that night, almost thirty years later.
Another time, I was working a Neil Young show at Great Woods, the outdoor amphitheater outside Boston that’s now called the Xfinity Center.
I’ve worked on productions with enormous sets, elaborate lighting and huge props. Believe me, I appreciate what goes into creating a spectacular show. That’s my job.
But Neil’s stage was almost bare; nothing but Neil, a stool and his acoustic guitar. Behind him was a string of Christmas lights arranged in the shape of a ship. That was the entire setup.
I was up on the catwalk, running a follow-spot, and I had a wonderful view of the performance and the audience. Neil was playing his greatest hits, including songs from the 70s, and the audience was on its feet all night long. He connected with those people in a way that’s hard to describe. It was like lightning going off. It was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.
We can build the biggest, most elaborate stage in the world, but when a performer really connects with an audience, none of that other stuff matters. I think we all cried that night.
And then, there was one of my idols, Tina Turner. This happened in the early 90s, also at Great Woods. I had immense respect for Tina, not just because of her talent, but because she was a true performer. Every single time she stepped onto a stage, she gave it everything she had.
For this particular show, they’d brought in a cherry picker - or a mechanical lift for Tina to use during her performance. Somebody asked me if I’d try it out first to make sure it was safe for her. I said, “Absolutely!”
They put me up in that thing and extended it all the way out over the audience seats. It was cool as hell.
Time came for the show. Now, I had tested the cherry picker, so I knew what it felt like to be out there. But who knew Tina Turner was going to hang off the thing with one arm and one leg, wearing leather pants and stilettos? She was amazing! When Tina came back down onto the raised stage, there was a ramp leading offstage. My friend Rusty and I were standing at the side, ready to help her.
And here’s the thing: at that moment, we weren’t thinking about the fact that this was Tina Turner, one of the biggest stars in the world. We were stagehands doing our jobs. She was coming offstage, and we needed to help her down safely.
Tina came right into our arms, and we caught her. We were all sweating because it was the middle of summer and hot as hell. Tina had been giving everything she had to that audience, and Rusty and I had been working the show.
As we caught her, Tina handed me an armful of teddy bears! Then she grabbed Rusty’s face and planted a great big kiss on his cheek. She told us, “Without stage hands, I would be nothing.”
Rusty and I just stared at each other with our eyes filling up with tears. You have to understand something about working backstage. The crew is responsible for making sure everything happens the way it’s supposed to happen. We’re there before the performers arrive, and we’re still there long after they’ve gone. We do our jobs because we love what we do, but we don’t always get a lot of recognition from the people onstage.
And we don’t expect it. That’s not why we’re there. But here was Tina Turner, this incredible woman I’d admired for years, taking a moment to acknowledge us. Not just with a thank-you, but with genuine affection and appreciation.
We were gobsmacked. Rusty had this big lipstick kiss on his cheek, and he told me, “I’m never gonna wash my face again.”
I’ve worked thousands of performances over the years, and I’ve seen some extraordinary things. But I’ll never forget that moment with Tina. The audience had spent the evening showing Tina how much they loved her. And when she came offstage, she turned around and showed a couple of stagehands how much she appreciated them.
That meant the world to us. Of course we busted out crying!
- Lisa Deyesso, veteran stagehand and co-author of WE ARE THE CREW!
