THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 11, 1996 TAG: 9608090212
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 178 lines
PUTTING ON A SHOW featuring one of the nation's top rock bands is a piece of cake, right?
Not really, Rob Manley, production manager for Cellar Door Entertainment, will tell you.
It takes the organizational skills of a SeaBee battalion and the patience of a kindergarten teacher to get things rolling, mainly because so many things have to come together - mesh like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
Before the first note was struck last Tuesday night by the warm-up band for Hootie & the Blowfish at the Virginia Beach Amphitheater, an army of behind-the-scenes workers and technicians had been swarming over the stage for 12 hours.
Stage hands, sound and video technicians, food service, landscaping and security personnel, ushers and concession stand operators were bustling around the 90-acre tract off Princess Anne Road from 8:30 a.m. into the wee hours of Wednesday morning.
Not only does this army have to ``set up'' for the band, it must linger after the last customer leaves the amphitheater parking lot and take down and pack the hundreds of lights, speakers and control panels and thousands of feet of wiring needed to put on the show.
When the last car left the lot around midnight Tuesday, 400 to 500 people - some paid, some volunteer workers - had taken part in the production for more than 19,000 patrons, the largest turnout of the concert season, said Bill Reid, president of Cellar Door Entertainment.
If the production seemed smooth, well-oiled and effortless, Hootie and the band and their local fans had the legion of workers to thank, said Manley.
The same gang had to return early Thursday to do it all over again to prepare for The Monkees, a 1960s vintage rock band and popular television staple.
And indications were earlier in the week that The Monkees would be as big a draw as Hootie & the Blowfish.
``Our phones are getting slammed with calls,'' said Katie Mulligan, marketing director for the amphitheater. ``It'll be one of the top shows that we've had.''
Manley, 36, a home-grown Norfolk lad, said the production crew, which can number anywhere from 25 to 33 members, is a savvy and efficient team with more than 20 concerts under its belt and another 15 or so to prepare for.
``It usually takes us four hours to set up and about two hours to take it all down,'' he said.
On Tuesday, Manley had to coordinate backstage efforts with Jim Brammer, production manager for the Hootie band. ``We bring our own sound and lighting equipment,'' said Brammer, which is typical of the bands making the amphitheater circuit in the country. It's the job of Manley and his crew to weave it into the amphitheater's sound system.
Each band also brings along its own list of requirements for food, beverages and lounging areas, said Donna Kinney, who works for High Tops Catering, a Baltimore, Md., company hired to provide food service for Cellar Door operations around the country.
Kinney, a Virginia Beach resident, and a crew of about seven, began work Tuesday afternoon. Other crew members arrived early in the morning to prepare breakfast, lunch, supper, snacks and liquid refreshments for the Hootie band and its supporting crew.
``They send a `rider,' a list of things they want in their dressing room,'' said Kinney.
There are usually special requests from band members. Crosby, Stills and Nash wanted Paul Newman salad dressing, an order that required a High Tops crew member to make a special trip to the supermarket.
``Hootie wanted boxer shorts, socks, deodorant and razor blades,'' Kinney recalled. What The Monkees would need in order to make beautiful music wasn't yet known but could be equally as interesting.
Caterers also prepare traveling food for the band crews who want to munch on sandwiches and soft drinks or coffee en route to their next gig.
One of the perks of the job, Kinney conceded, is serving and occasionally chatting with members of bands, some with marquee names known the world over.
On Tuesday, shortly after 8 a.m., three big maroon and silver buses and six big tractor trailer rigs arrived at the amphitheater back lot with the Hootie band and its auxiliary crew of sound and lighting technicians and stage hands aboard.
By 9 a.m., the stage was cluttered by banks of lights, huge speakers and tangles of wires. Workmen tiptoed along beams high above the stage floor connecting microphones, speakers and boxes of lights as big as television screens.
While the stage hands and technicians sweated as they worked, the band drove to a nearby golf course to play a quick game to loosen up before their night's performance.
By 2 p.m., the stage was almost ready for the featured performers and their warm-up band, The Continental Drifters. A ``sound check'' from 3 to 4 p.m. entailed a lot of banging on drums and crooning into stage microphones by technicians.
Meanwhile, Jody Cox, Jose Bricio and Gregg House, of HITS (High Impact Television Systems Inc.) of Virginia Beach, were busy setting up video cameras to record the night's performance on tape. Using a backstage control room cluttered with switch panels and television monitors, Cox, House and Bricio would provide close-up shots of band members on huge overhead screens for concert patrons on the lawn and in the roof-covered rear rows of the amphitheater.
As with the food caterers, Cox and company Have to bow to the whims of the featured performers. For instance, Linda Ronstadt disliked having cameras at stagefront, said Cox. So, Cox and company acceded to her wishes and did their videotaping from afar.
A major part of the amphitheater operation is the concession business, which is contracted out to Ogden Entertainment Services, a Maryland-based company that services most of Cellar Door's amphitheater operations on the East Coast and in the Midwest.
Nick Biello, a spokesman for the company, said Ogden oversees the operation of 74 permanent concession stands and 24 portable stands at the amphitheater here. The stands offer everything from hot dogs and beer to ice cream and pretzels. They are manned by paid and volunteer attendants, said Biello. The volunteers represent groups like the Aragona Moose Lodge, the Tabernacle Choir of Virginia Beach and the Davis Corner Rescue Squad, which derive charitable contributions from the concession stand sales.
One concessioner is Beach Bully Open-Pit Barbecue and Catering, which has its headquarters near the Oceanfront. Owners Chris Merrill and Rick Waskey started with one stand and now have two operating during concerts. Their specialty is open-pit cooked beef and barbecue, which is prepared at the site early in the day. As stage hands muscled lighting frames and speakers around the stage Tuesday, smoke from Beach Bully's outdoor cookers drifted lazily into the sultry afternoon air.
Once the concert starts, security men like Sam Eure or others like him, take their places at stagefront. Their job is to keep overzealous patrons away from featured performers.
Eure, a Virginia Beach bail bondsman and a former local high school football standout, enjoys the job. ``We'll accept gifts for band members and put them on the stage,'' he said. ``Each band is different. Some don't want the fans too close to the stage. Others don't mind. Hootie wanted us to let the people close so they could sort of interact with the crowd.''
Fans, especially female fans, sometimes stretch the bounds of propriety, Eure conceded. ``We've had all kinds of bribes from women to let them back stage. Some want phone numbers (of performers). They'll do almost anything to get back stage.''
Once the show is over, it can be up to two hours before all the cars and vans are out of the amphitheater parking lot and onto main thoroughfares like Princess Anne and Dam Neck roads. Dozens of parking lot attendants and police officers are called upon to keep the flow even and steady.
They are only a small part of the amphitheater army who'll be on hand for the 15 or so performances remaining in the maiden season, which ends in early October. ILLUSTRATION: [Color cover photos by David Hollingsworth]
Staff photos by DAVID B. HOLLINGSWORTH
Matt Kreisler, a rigger for the Virginia Beach Amphitheater, walks
among the crates filled with sound and lighting equipment for Hootie
& the Blowfish.
Rob Manley, production manager for Cellar Door Entertainment, heads
up a crew of 25 to 33 members.
Ford McCabe, a guitar technician for Hootie & the Blowfish, is
instrumental to the success of the band.
ABOVE: Bobby Mallotti, left, and Muff Mishoe, box office manager for
the amphitheater, go over seating arrangements.
BELOW: Dave Lesser, general manager of Jack and Jill Ice Cream,
cranks 10-ounce pretzels before the concert. There are 74 permanent
concession stands and 24 portable stands at the amphitheater.
Deborah Evans works security for the amphitheater, but before every
show all employees - stage hands, sound and video technicians, food
service, landscaping, ushers and concession stand operators - pitch
in to help set up for the concert on the 90-acre tract off Princess
Anne Road.
Sam Eure, a bail bondsman and former local high school football
player, makes sure overzealous patrons don't get too close to the
performers.
After 12 hours of preparation, the headliners, Hootie & the
Blowfish, perform Tuesday night before 19,000 patrons, the largest
turnout of the concert season. There have been 22 concerts in the
amphitheater's maiden season, with 15 more still to go.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH AMPHITHEATER by CNB