Aerosmith/Lenny Kravitz - Atlanta, GA - Backstage!
We were about to get in line to go in Phillips Arena when Tom came up with an idea. He said, “Let’s go to see if we can get backstage as media. What do we have to lose?” We asked some of the employees how to get to the backstage media area. They told us how to get there and away we went on another adventure!

We walked around to the backstage area, where we saw all the tour buses and the large trucks. That area was fenced off. We really didn’t know what to do, since we weren’t on a media list. We ran into a few guys outside taking a break that were a part of the team from Crew One Productions which set up the stage, lights, and various equipment. Mo, Charlie, and Drew were very nice to us, but the one who explained the production process to us was Charlie. The others called him the captain of safety. They told us all about the big shows they have set up such as The Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews Band, and Metallica.

We decided to go to one door in which a huge security guard informed us that this door led to the catering area and the media needs to go in another door which he showed us. We walked in the media door and there was a lady there greeting everyone at the door. She asked us what we wanted and I simply told her we would like to walk around, take some pictures, and talk to the people in the backstage area (I showed her the microphone with the bag). She informed us we needed to speak to Anne Marie who was in charge of media for Phillips Arena. So we waited for Anne to come speak with us.

While we were waiting, Derek St. Holmes and his wife Stacey walked through the backstage area with Aerosmith’s guitarist, Brad Whitford. We knew for sure we had our backstage pass. As we greeted them, Derek told Brad we were the ones who interviewed him on the previous night. Brad looked at us, nodded his head, and kept walking. Our hopes suddenly vanished. We stood there in disbelief. We knew Derek could pull the strings with Brad to help us out, but not this time.

While we were talking, a couple of men walked through the backstage media door behind us. One man caught my attention because he had his head covered. Then I saw his face and out of the side of his nostril was a nose ring. He looked at me and I suddenly realized it was Lenny Kravitz. I said, “Hello Mr. Kravitz,” to which he replied, “How are you?” as he kept walking. At this point we had already experienced more than we expected, but the real excitement was about to start.

An older man with an All-Access pass walked through the backstage media door behind us and began to ask me who we were and what we were doing. I explained to him we were with Concert Blast and we were there recording a podcast. I asked him if he worked for Aerosmith and he told us he was there as a guest with his son and grandson to see the show. His son happened to be one of the sound men for Aerosmith. In my mind, I thought I should be very nice to these people and maybe they would be able to help us out with credentials. His son came in (along with his own young son) and we talked a while.

While we were talking with the three generation family by the backstage media entrance, he mentioned to me that Joe Perry’s limo was about to come in. About that time the large garage door lifted up. We were only about 25 feet away from the door so Tom takes my camera and proceeds to walk over to take pictures of Joe Perry. He took one picture of the limousine pulling in. We noticed movie cameras, lights, and the long extended microphones (we call them the big fuzzy mics) working around the limo. Someone told us that the morning news television show, “Good Morning America” was there to do a documentary of the Aerosmith tour. Joe Perry got out of the limousine and Tom took his picture. Tom drew attention from all over. I saw Tom getting closer to Joe Perry so I began to walk toward Tom with the microphone, but Brian grabbed my arm and said, “Hold on. Be ready to be run out of here.” A big angry security guard approached Tom and informed him he was not suppose to be taking pictures and that if he wanted to he could take that camera from him. Tom’s first thoughts were, “Mike might not be too happy about that.” Then the security guy demanded to know who Tom was with and who let him back there. Tom answered his questions then the man told everyone in the backstage area to get out now! The media people who were actually suppose to be there were told to get out. The guy was not happy at all!

We were happy to get out without getting in trouble, so Brian and Tom went to their seats, while I went to the car to put up the recording equipment. After I put up the equipment, I thought I would try one more time to talk to Anne Marie in the media area. I went back there and actually met with her. She told me that Aerosmith are pretty friendly guys, but my request should have been submitted to her at least a week prior to the concert in order to be approved. At least we had some fun experiences and just as important, we learned how to get the backstage media credentials.

Aerosmith really shined that night with a great musicianship, great vocals, and a great live show. During the encore, I ran down close to the stage to take better pictures. I saw Derek and Stacy in the crowd and sat behind them. When the final song was over, Derek told me goodbye and wished us safe travels home. Afterwards, Brian, Tom and I went out to eat at IHOP with my sister-in-law Gay, and her cousin, Marsha. It was fun listening to the women talk about Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, and Lenny Kravitz. What a great ending to a wonderful weekend.