A friend is a huge fan of Vince Gill and so am I. Vince was on tour and came to Oakland Coliseum Arena. He was open to receiving guests before show. I have to admit that most of the artists who come out of MCA Nashville are gracious, courteous and humble. Is that just a Southern thing? We made our way to the back stage greet and meet “Green Room”. It was stocked with refreshments, couches, flowers, Nintendo video games, chairs, lamps and table tennis. There was food, candy and beverages a plenty. After a while Vince popped in with other band members and started mingling. He made the rounds meeting everyone, posed for photos, signed autographs and hung out. I got to spend a little more time with Vince when he said to me “hey are you hungry? I said “Oh yeah” He said follow me…we made our way over to a hospitality table which was set up with a Panini press. Vince said how about a grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich. So there I was having Vince Gill prepare these sandwiches, and tell me he was so happy that someone else wanted to eat with him.We talked about the traditions of before show and he said “ I like to eat before I hit the stage so I don’t have hunger pains and my stomach does’t growl.
Nirvana
I met and spoke to Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl numerous times. In this profession, it’s unavoidable when you work with a label whose artists you represent when you are in the field. One of the early interactions with the band was in the planning stages of the release of ”Nevermind” Through an executive at Geffen Records we had discussed with Kurt doing a record release party, which was vetoed. I suggested an instore autograph signing or an instore Live Performance. Kurt liked the idea of performing for a small group of fans in a store and said he would only do it at an indie store. I suggest Peaches in the U- District of Seattle which was approved by the band and label. They had a solid fan base already from the release of “Bleach” and performing in small bars and clubs near the University. 9/16/1991 the store was packed to the gills with anticipation, of course the fire department showed up, took one look at the crowd inside and said no one else is allowed inside, so we stationed a couple clerks to guard the entrance, so if you were late you were stuck outside. The band lit into a searing 10 song set rift with a mosh pit and kids crowd surfing over the record racks. Kurt at one point dove into the crowd himself. The instore turned into a success, and store sold all 400 pieces of “Nevermind” The band stuck around and signed autographs for about an hour outside in the parking lot in front of the Fire Engine. The fans were great and stuck around. I brought the band back into the store to meet Jamie the manager and his staff. I leaned into Kurt and asked “Well what did you think?” and he said “Better than expected” Enough said.
https://youtu.be/wqEFhNR9-t8
https://youtu.be/s7npc9J-Zzs
Peaches store in Seattle was in the process of being sold off. The new owners called them Beehive Records.