Welcome Home...The Unpublished Post

I wrote this installment of From Freehold to Flagstaff shortly after my first week home from Arizona, where I spent 4 months attending a National Park Service Park Ranger Academy.  It was never posted because I got to the point where I was adding pictures/videos…and I just lost steam and put it on the back burner.  It’s weird going from writing about what I did every day for 4 months to writing a single entry in the 4 months that I’ve been home. Here’s how my return shaped up, UNEDITED, and I will be posting 1 or 2 more entries summarizing how my summer of adjustment has been ever since my return. 

Thanks for reading, enjoy.

First and foremost, the rumors are true…after nearly 7 years, Laura & I are no longer together. I wish her nothing but the best and hope that she finds whatever it is she’s looking for.

That’s basically all I’m going to say about it.

Jerzinois' Last Picture Together :(

Leaving Day - All By Myself

I got about 3 hours of sleep before heading out to the Phoenix Airport, Nick was my savior once again; he chauffeured me there just like he did when he picked me up the first day we met.   We posed for one final picture in front of our house, I nearly got choked up saying goodbye to Fiona Coyote, and we were on our way.  It took us over 2.5 hours to get there with our stop at the ghetto rest stop. I was taking back by the fact that he didn’t just drop me off at the terminal and said “see ya later”. Instead, he lugged my heaviest bag to check-in with me and he & Carter sat in a waiting area with me up until about 15 minutes before I boarded the plane.  I didn’t want to say goodbye to them, I even sang “All By Myself” as they headed to the exit and I headed to security.

 

Ghetto Rest Stop

Not a bad view for a ghetto rest stop.

There were all kinds of people dilly dallying in the different security lines so I maneuvered to the one that looked the quickest…even though it had more people in it.  I chose wisely like Dr. Jones with that haggard looking chalice in the Last Crusade; I breezed through the line and was surprised that my belt didn’t set off the metal detector.  The nice TSA agent said have a safe flight sir and I was off.  Those other lines? Yeah just about everybody was getting strip searched.  WINNING! I only had to wait by the gate for about 10 minutes before boarding…or least until they started boarding.  I always look for people I know when waiting for a plane…no luck today. 

There’s not much I can say about the flight other than the fact that the pilot was FLYING…literally.  It was supposed to be a 5 hour flight but we made it in 4…I’m not complaining.  I had a window seat and, just like the plane ride out to Arizona and a TV in front of me so I could watch DirecTv during the flight.  I figured since I just graduated from a park ranger training academy that I should watch Yogi Bear…MAN that movie is AWFUL!!  Too much of Dan Akroyd’s annoying voice, whenever the old lady next to me would adjust herself she’d hit the volume control on my arm rest and blare his nauseating vocals.  That part was funny, yet I wouldn’t say anything to her as she accidentally broke my eardrums. 

Pretty cool they got the NPS uniform

My flight left at 10am AZ time and I landed at 6pm NJ time. I turned on my phone and told my family, Laura, & Rath that I landed.  I also saw that I received a message from one of the Triple F readers that I’ve never met, Nick’s friend Crystal.  It was a very nice letter and I just want to say Hi Crystal!!  Thanks for reading, sorry I didn’t get a chance to meet you!!  My dad was picking me up and he must’ve been very eager to see me because he called me and texted me a bunch to see where I was.  I called him when I got to the baggage claim to tell him I saw his car.  He informed me that one of my buddies was coming to help me. I turned around and saw my best friend for nearly half of my life, Chris Rath!  I was pumped to see him but very tired and hungry…I hadn’t eaten since like 8o’clock last night and they forgot to include a free meal during the flight…so my boy bought me a pretzel.

It took quite awhile for my bags to make their way out to the claim area but we booked it as soon as they were up.  My dad helped us throw the stuff in his trunk, gave me a hug, a “welcome home”, and we were out.  It started raining just as we pulled away from the terminal…that must be why the pilot was cooking.  I was so happy to see the rain…never thought I’d say that.  I talked about some of my favorite parts of Flagstaff, talked about Rath’s wedding (Kev nearly slipped up about the bachelor party and I almost ninja kicked him because of it), and I got to hear some stories about Kev’s (my dad) new job as a GOLF RANGER!  Two rangers…awesome!

My sister Maureen called me just as we were pulling up to the house, at which point she “unleashed the hounds!”  All of my fears of my dogs forgetting me were instantly wiped away.  Keaira and Casey came charging toward me when I got out of the car and Keaira wouldn’t leave me alone…Casey tried jumping in the car because she loves car rides.  Even baby Deja was there and she actually didn’t bark or go crazy, she just came to me and looked for some petting action.  My entire family and 3 of “The Others” were waiting to hug me hello as well.  We eventually made our way inside and I was surprised by the improvements made in the house while I was gone; lots of paint jobs, pictures hanging, and some curtains put in place. 

We sat around the table and I wanted to hear about what had been going on in NJ but I wasn’t getting much from anybody.  I showed them all of my certificates, shared some stories that were “too hot” for the Triple F, and found the most eggs in the Easter egg hunt.  Laura called and said she was on her way.  When she showed up, I gave everybody their souvenirs…except my dad because I mailed his ahead of time and they hadn’t arrived yet.  Maureen & Katie, my sisters, made a bit of a feast and it was DELICIOUS…and filling.  It was a lot like Thanksgiving, after I ate it I was beyond exhausted.  Everybody made their ways home and I headed to my room.  I opened the door and forgot what a bunch of the stuff in my room was.  I had pictures hanging up that I didn’t remember ever seeing before.  I hugged my awesome LED TV and then laid down and observed how much crap I have in here.   I watched TV for a little bit and played half a game of Madden on Xbox before crashing for the night.

Monday-Thursday: Shaking the Alien

Monday through Thursday all seem to blur together.  I woke up abnormally early for a non-work day in New Jersey every day.  The trip to the Chinese buffet that Ché & I planned over a month ago was set for today.  I watched more TV (man I missed having a TV) in the morning then Maureen brought me over for lunch because, surprise surprise, my car that was supposed to be here Saturday still hadn’t arrived either!  We drove through the shopping center and I saw signs up in the Blockbuster windows that they were having a sale and everything must go. I wanted to pull over and see what they had; that was until we pulled around the corner & saw that they had already closed and EVERYTHING DID GO…even the sign on top of the building was gone!  Before I went out to Flagstaff I wondered how this store was staying alive, since so many were going under.  I intended to drop the DVD plan on my Netflix and starting back up with Blockbuster Online because they get the new releases to you the day they come out whereas it takes forever for Netflix & Redbox to do the same.  I could still get Blockbuster Online but I liked them best because you can exchange the discs at the store.  Bummer! That was just the beginning of my feeling like an alien.  I think I put it best in my FB status when I said I felt like Austin Powers when he got thawed out; I was still living in the past but now everything seemed new to me…hell even my bedroom.

We were the first to arrive at the buffet then Ché, Brittany, & Nic met up with us…some of my favorite people in this world.  Any doubts I had about looking better when I got home were immediately dismissed when they kept complimenting about how skinny I look…such ego boosters.  I could hardly eat because I was talking so much but the food was soooo good; better than it’s been in the past. Nobody wanted to go to the movies or the mall so we all left. When we were exiting onto Rt9, I pointed out to Maureen the differences in highways between Freehold & Flagstaff…there would be no median between the northbound & southbound lanes if we were in Flagstaff.  Like I did most of the week, I got right into bed when we got home and I didn’t leave it until Rath showed up to bring me back to his place.  A couple months ago, around the same time Ché & I made plans to meet up at the buffet, Rath made plans to take off of work the following day so we could hang that night and do stuff the next day.  I called to see where my car was during the day, “problem with truck, in Philly. You’ll have tomorrow.” Déjà vu.

We got back to his place, picked up Lindsay, and the 3 of us headed to Sports Zone aka my “Granny’s Closet” in NJ. I got to tell more stories to Lindsay and Rath so again I was a slow eater.  They had one of those free tavern poker tournaments going on and at one point I looked over and saw a dude leaning on the wall that looked familiar so I tried stalking his FB status to see if it was him but just as the page loaded, he walked over and talked to me...yup it was him, my buddy Roger from security.  I was still pretty tired so when we got back to Rath’s I just crashed. 

Tuesday & Wednesday had everything but good news. I woke up ridiculously early because I couldn’t sleep and Rath drove me around to a couple places.  We went to the police station to report my missing license plate then went over to the DMV to order a new one…the line was actually out the door!  I said screw that junk, I’ll come back.  Rath’s obsessed with golf, I hate it, but we needed something to do locally in the event my car showed up, so we went and played ourselves 9-holes of pitch & putt.  It’s basically the middle ground between mini golf & real golf and it still sucks.  We didn’t even keep score and we soon just started screwing around with it…it was such a beautiful day so it wasn’t too bad.  When we got home I saw that 2 of my boxes of clothes and stuff had arrived; we brought them inside then sat around my house for a little bit and then I finally got my wish…to walk around a real mall!

I’ve missed the Freehold Raceway Mall but there were tons changes going on around there.  For one, we walked into JC Penny and half of the store was gone!  Everything that was left was on sale!  Rath got some shirts, which was cool because at times it seems like he’s anti-mall, and when he checked out the cashier said something about a coupon for the next time he shops there.  Does that mean they aren’t closing?  There were plenty of other changes actually inside the mall as well.  Foot Locker, which used to be one the biggest and best stores in the place, was downsized and moved to the location where the DVD store used to be. The place where Foot Locker used to be had been under construction before I left, now that entire wing of the mall is a giant Forever 21 store; there’s an escalator in the store!  I wanted to check out FYE, GONE!  That whole wing was turned into a furniture store.  Who the hell buys furniture from a mall?  There was only 1 Gamestop now, who needs two especially right on top of each other, but the place where the upstairs Gamestop used to be was combined with where Sbarro used to be and transformed into a T-Mobile store right in the food court.  That’s crap because that’s where the rumored 5 Guys Burgers & Fries was supposed to go!  The Lady Foot Locker is completely gone and Champs, my favorite store, got a facelift but is now smaller than it was.  Aye Carumba!

My car still hasn’t arrived so I called the transport company again to figure out what was going on, the dispatcher told me to call the driver.  I did and he told me I wouldn’t see my car until tomorrow evening.  What is with this industry!?!?!  When Maureen got home she made dinner and her, Matt, & I ate then she let me take her truck over to see my baby, Indy. Although she changed her greeting a little bit, she was flipping ecstatic to see me!  She ran out the front door and ran circles around me.  I got her inside and she ran back & forth between the front door & her “toy box” with a toy in her mouth up until I got inside and sat in my “greet Indy chair” at which point she stood up and hugged  me by putting her paws on the back of the couch and sniffing & licking me a bunch.  It was great.  She normally stands up and puts her nose to my face so I kiss her when I walk in, but I’ll take this greeting. I was still very tired so I only visited with Mr. & Mrs. Stone for about an hour and then headed back home.  On the way home I had the dreaded phone conversation that changed my life the way I knew it and eventually got myself to sleep.

This was taken at a later date...she's wearing her NAU collar :')

I woke up Wednesday morning to a text from Laura that her grandma passed away this morning, one day after her birthday.  I spent some of the morning figuring out what happened, learning details about the services, and checking up on Laura & her family.  I spent most of the rest of the day applying to and searching for jobs.  I got a phone call at 1130 that the transport truck was here, not bad only 5 days late.  There were a bunch of cars in front of my house for some reason so I had to walk to the end of the block while they took it off the top tier.  I was so nervous they were going to drive it off the side of the trailer but they didn’t…obviously…I’m not in jail (bc I wudda killed him people).  I didn’t give them a tip this time and they did NOT look happy…screw them. My car smelled horrible but everything was intact and in place.  I headed to McDonald’s for a Big Mac, drove around for a little bit, and then came back home to finish up some job stuff.  I applied to the permanent ranger job in Philly and to the TSA.  I found some other interesting things that I’ve been dragging my feet to take care of but one thing I searched was the word “blogger”. I mean I get some great feedback with this blog, and a lot of people have said that I should try a career in writing, maybe it’d be good for me…after a few writing classes of course. 

I didn’t do much else Wednesday, or Thursday for that matter…including not unpacking.  It’s pretty easy not to go out and spend money when you’re not bringing any in I guess. I did splurge on a haircut, I love when this dude cuts my hair.  He’s a 55year old jacked black dude and he always does the best job out of everybody there.  The first buzzer pass dropped a good clump of hair on my apron…more gray hair than black.  I picked it up and shook my head.  He laughed, “Yeah it’s there…but it don’t make you look old.  You’re facial features still make you look like a young dude.” I went on to tell him that I’ve had gray hair since I was 11…he told me what they call that in hair school but I forget what it is.  Laura & I were supposed to go the Yankees game as part of birthday gifts I got her last month but due to the circumstances, we opted not to go.  She still wanted to hang out and I wanted to pay my respects so I headed over to her house.  I thought she’d have a bunch of family there but it ended up being a low key evening with her & her parents.  I headed out and got home to watch the NFL draft from the 6^th pick on…I still didn’t unpack and I passed out sometime around the 25^th pick.

Biggest Loser – End of the Road

I visited my old stomping grounds in two ways today. I had to meet up with the security van pool at PNC Bank Arts Center, which you gain access to via back roads by Holmdel Park…you know…where I used to work.  On my way to PNC I stopped at NAPA auto parts to pick up some crowd surfer catching gloves and then headed to the park but I temporarily forgot how to get there.  In all seriousness, I had to pull to the side of the road and think about where I was going…after 2.5 years of working there. The crew had a pizza party planned for me so that was cool.  I walked in and Augun, one of my good buddies who used to always call me fat, greeted me with “Where’s your gut? I don’t think you went to a ranger academy, I think you were on the Biggest Loser.”  That was incredible to hear him say…especially since he used to ride the crap out of me because of my weight.  The two new rangers that replaced me, who I’ve met before, were there and were as cool as the rest of the crew was. My boy Simpson was in and we jumped right back into ripping on each other.  One of my supervisors talked to me about coming back as a seasonal with an accelerated pay rate and said he’d keep the position open for me…so that’s good.  He then gave me a tour of the new & improved shelter building before sending me on my way.  I got lost looking for the 7-11 I used to go when I worked at the park so it may have been a good thing that I was jumping in a carpool instead of driving.  I stopped at “Sevs” and got some energy drinks, water, & ice for the cooler that I picked up for the shooting range…I knew it’d come in handy. 

I got into the PNC parking lot via the back roads…which some say is illegal but I don’t know.  I saw some guys dressed in all black…black pants & black tank tops or t-shirts…standing outside of their cars.  I didn’t recognize any of them but I figured that’s where I needed to be.  As I got to the lane where they were all parked I recognized Turtle…so I was set.  I took a second to try & compose myself, I was feeling loopy & nearly got lost 3 times today, and then I got out and joined the group.  Turtle was also impressed with how much weight I lost as we caught up for a little bit.  A few familiar faces showed up but a lot of the people there were new hires, others were regulars from different venues that I’ve never worked with.  I remained the strong silent type most of the time at the meeting place; that was until my van had to wait to leave because one of our passengers was running super late.  I recognized the name but it was a different person…so I felt bad that I yelled in the background when he was holding us up. 

Today was the first day that the NFL players were supposed to be allowed to work-out and stuff at their team facilities. This event is held in the parking lot at Giants/New Meadowlands Stadium.  When we arrive every year we drive pass all of the Giants practicing outside, I stop and watch for a little bit, then get to work; that all changed this season because there was no team activity & we came into the parking lot a different way. I kept my Bamboozle streak going of being the best (as I’m told by my guys) damn stage supervisor there is…running the headliner main stage all three days.  There’s a lot that goes into that, most of which is behind the scenes.  

It was outside here, in the parking lot

My supervisor told me he’d give me a list of who he wanted at my stage, which was a first but welcomed change since I didn’t know most of the company and people usually beg to get with me since I have the bigger named bands.  Well that list was never generated and the other main stage supervisor & I conducted a little kickball style draft.  He unfortunately got a head start and the only person that I knew at my stage for Day 1 was my usual right hand man Josh, my sister’s boyfriend James, and my brother’s girlfriend Elena.  I loved my crew though. They were basically all new which meant I had no bad habits to break.  Whenever we do big festivals like this, I give them a pre-shift rundown of our rules and show them a bunch of techniques for dealing with crowd surfers, injuries, etc..  Usually, this little speech goes in one ear and out the other…not this time.  I couldn’t have been happier with my guys.  They listened, followed directions, and we all had a great time doing it.  I found out later that I played basketball in high school with one of my guys’ brother and the driver of our van was only a few years behind me at the same high school, played basketball for the same coach, and was a park ranger at the NJ park that sparked my interest in the entire park ranger training program.

When I supervise stages at smaller venues I’m usually just responsible for the barricade (fence with steps that keeps crowd from the stage) but when we’re here I’m responsible for the barricade, the far ends of the barricade, the front of house where the soundboard is, 2 VIP platforms out in the crowd, and multiple spots backstage & onstage..checking on each of them after each set.  YIKES!  I utilized my resources flawlessly and once again…my crew was amazing.  People even volunteered for the “garbage spots” all 3 days…made my life much easier.  It makes me wonder why I didn’t work that much back when I was fulltime at Holmdel Park because I fell in love with the job all over again this weekend.  I love BS’n with the fans and getting them on our “team”.  I know most of the stage guys and photographers, and it’s probably the closest to being a celebrity that I’ll ever be. 

Friday was a short day band wise, there were only 4 bands on my stage and we started almost in the evening.  It was too cold for the shorts I was wearing, the famous Meadowlands Winds were whipping across the parking lot, but I am veteran and at least was smart enough to bring my Under Armour type shirt thing.  I’d never heard of most of the performers this weekend and the first day was geared more toward the hiphop scene.  The first act, Sam Adams, was a “white hardcore rapper”, as one of the girls in the front row put it.  He got the place going that’s for sure but I couldn’t help but think it was Steve-O from Jackass up there.  He was awesome with the crowd, constantly jumping to the ground and climbing on the barricade so they could all grope him.  Like most rappers, he just took songs other people did and puts his own words on them or spoofs them…like his song “I Hate College.” 

See my Face? I think I'm trying to figure out if that's Sam Adams or Steve-O

The crowd was very tame, as far as our standards go, for both his set and the following set…The Ready Set. I was summoned to escort Boyz II Men while Josh & James held down the fort.  I wanted to check out a song or two but the crowd was surprisingly very into them, considering the show type and the age grouping, so I had to stay around & keep an eye on backstage and then escort their golf cart through the concourse of the stadium as they made their way to the dressing rooms.  They “sang” Motown Philly, On Bended Knee (which I called would be the next song), I’ll Make Love to You (where they give out roses and we had to nab a stage crasher trying to get a rose or who knows what), and ended with End of the Road.  The crowd was singing, I was singing, it was great.  When I helped escort them to their dressing room, the cart stopped to figure out a course of travel, and Shawn made eye contact with me and then shook my hand.  I blurted out that I was a big fan of theirs and he thanked us for all that we do.  You couldn’t chip the smile off of my face the rest of the night.

Shawn Stockman - He Talked to Me hahaha

I think LMFAO was next on my stage and they soaked everybody with all types of alcohol.  At one point they all jumped down into the barricade and I had to boost two of them back up on the stage.  Then 30 Seconds to Mars headlined and sounded great…but the crowd still wasn’t how it normally is for Bamboozle…until Jared made them that way.  We were given a heads up that he would pull people up onto the stage but one of his people would pick them out 1 by 1…that didn’t exactly happen. Jared was the “one of his people” and he got them on stage by saying “who wants to come on stage?”  Uhhh….duh.  Everybody does!  Again, the crowd was very cool…they waited for him to point out 2 people, they surfed over and walked around and got on stage…there was no chaos like I’ve seen in the past.  He did the same thing a few songs later…only like 4 people were picked.  Once again later.  Then for the last song…he basically dropped a Thanksgiving Feast out in the middle of a tent city in the Bronx by inviting everybody up on stage…that’s when things got interesting but again…controlled chaos.  Before I knew it, I was the last line of defense between these kids and the stage…which was about head level to me.  The crowd all came into the barricade and hung out, trying to get on stage. The plan was to have them walk around and use the steps but some of these kids tried climbing up right in front of me…nearly impossible the way everything was set up.  I give them credit…they actually listened to me when I told them to go around.  I was very shocked.  Eventually my brother and some of the other guards made a human wall that eventually moved and cleared out the barricade of everybody not wearing a security shirt…which also brings to mind another funny story.  Jared (Leto), lead singer of 30 Seconds to Mars and is a bunch of TV shows & movies, didn’t want photographers close to the stage…they had to shoot from front of house.  That was his request…so that made me laugh when he indirectly called me out for getting the photographers out at what I thought was the normal “get outta here” time…after 3 songs.  Little did I know that he took a break during the 3^rd song to talk.  I hear no more music, I think it’s over, you guys go bye bye.  He accredited it to a miscommunication over the microphone but I still found it comical that he didn’t want them close enough in the first place then he didn’t want them to leave.

30 Seconds to Mars...they in there somewhere

Okay shows over, gotta do it again tomorrow, little bit of a longer day…goodnight.

Tell All Your Friends

The vanpool met a little earlier today but it was pretty much the same routine.  When it got to staff sign-in time, there was one person that was in my barricade the day before working today…so I grabbed him right away. Two of my old work horses, Dotts & “Voice” came to play so I snagged them too…other than that it was even more fresh meat. One of my guys was wearing suit pants and dress shoes…I called him Jimmy Suits.  Once again, I gave my pre-shift barricade meeting and this crew, although half of them may not understand a word I said, due to a language barrier,  they all seemed like they wanted to learn and do a good job for me and again….I couldn’t have been happier.  Yesterday was more of a hip-hop themed day, today was more of a scream-o rock type music day. 

The crowd was pretty tame for the first couple of bands, and then Anberlin (sp?) took the stage.  I’ve heard of them before but couldn’t tell you anything about them.  The crowd went nuts, surfing and dancing their heads off.  That was going on while Paramore dropped by for a signing session…they weren’t even playing this weekend…so I sent my two work horses with Brian for crowd control while I kept an eye on all of the rookies.  Circa Survive came on and flat out made me a fan…at least of their live performance.  I don’t care about bands as much as I do about the crowd that comes to see them and the fact that the lead singer sang 4 songs in the barricade with me tailing him for the event that he jumps into the crowd was AWESOME…and he did just that.  He stood on the fence and sang with me spotting him.  He surfed on the crowd with the microphone…looking and reaching for me whenever he was done playing.  At 1 point he dropped a battery pack for the wireless microphone that he wasn’t using and talked to me about it over the wired microphone that he was using.  When he was done playing on the ground he used me to get back up on the stage to close out his set.  I love it. 

During that particular set we had my stage’s first real incident that involved an impaired female getting violent with several of my guys, including my brother.  In my opinion, this chick was on something much stronger than alcohol.  She had to be if she was trying to beat up the biggest guy in the place.  It was ugly.  She was punching, slapping, and kicking any and everybody that came around her.  Eventually she went down to the ground and we backed away from her because she was still trying to kick everybody…then I remembered my ranger training as I approached her and pinned her legs on the ground.  She was turned over to venue employees and we went back to our posts. 

A minute later, one of our regular photographers told me that my brother was “fighting again”…I don’t think my feet hit the ground with how fast I ran out to where he was.  He wasn’t fighting, thank goodness for whoever his opponent would’ve been, but there was a debate on whether or not the girl should be thrown out…this is the point where I interjected and used my “Verbal Judo” to back down the other employees who were opposing my brother’s requests.  I went legal on them, threatening to press charges if she wasn’t removed from the venue.  She was removed from my sight and the day went on. 

No other bands really stick out in my head but I was really looking forward to the last 3 of the evening.  I had Dashboard Confessional coming up…who I haven’t seen in years and I rather enjoy, E-Town Concrete was at another stage, and Taking Back Sunday would be headlining the day back on my stage.  Dashboard was great as he calmed the crowd down before TBS blew the roof off…if there had been a roof over an outdoor parking lot concert venue that is.  I sang along with them and a bunch of people near the stage in the crowd were loving it…taking pictures of me as I sang to Jimmy Suits, and “pounding the potato” with me song after song.  Brian held down my stage while he sent me to back up the “hardcore” stage for E-Town Concrete…which back in the day meant if they were playing in a club then there’d be plenty of fights in the crowd.  I got there just as they were playing one of my favorite songs, Mandibles.  I don’t know much of their old stuff…and it was hard to hear with the bass drowning everybody out through what sounded like a broken speaker…but they wrapped up with “So Many Nights” & “Baptism”…it was glorious.  During the set I saw a girl I used to work at Chili’s with and caught up with her real quick backstage after the set.  She was managing another one of the bands I wanted to see, who was having their reunion tonight.  I talked to Anthony, the lead singer of ETC, real quick…we go way back…and he kept asking me how they sounded lol…awesome!  I sprinted back toward my stage…checking on my VIP platform people, then my backstage people before getting back into the barricade.

ETC - Mandibles

Dashboard Confessional - Hands Down

Taking Back Sunday is one of my favorite bands…it’s probably the only band that my brother Brian & I have in common…so I love when we get to work them together. It’s even cooler, depending on how you look at it, that they dig us too.  Brian is good friends with just about every member of the band; Eddie’s the only one that remembers my name lol.  Adam’s family is super cool.  His dad was asking me a bunch of questions about the ranger program and was very encouraging about the whole job situation.  I swear when they come around it’s not even like work.  It was one of the first shows they’ve played since reuniting with the original lineup.  They treated the crowd by performing their entire first CD, Tell All Your Friends, in its entirety before playing the newer stuff.  Incredible.  Adam , the lead singer, is another crowd pleaser…so he played around the barricade with us for awhile.  At one point he walked by me and put his hand on my stomach as he sang and smiled while walking past me.  He walked to the side of the stage where Brian helped him back up and he looked right in Brian’s face and said “I fucking love you.”  The front row was loving it.  We had all kinds of numbers in the barricade now and the crowd wasn’t as intense as it normally is for a TBS show…so I made sure to check on my crew and sing along with the crowd back near the soundboard…again…they loved it.  Back by the front…while they were performing…Eddie looked down to Brian & I and asked how they sounded…that’s just funny.  In typical Adam fashion, he closed out the set by climbing the truss on the side of the stage…all the way to the top of the stage, stuck his leg through one of the ladder-esque rungs, hung himself upside down, and finished the last song in that position.  He’s a nut.  

Old Pic of Adam professing his love for Brian

After their set, I walked Adam’s dad back behind the stage and he kept right on building my ego up with his supportiveness of me to find a job.  I said bye to Eddie & Adam and closed up my stage for the night.  I had no voice left and didn’t wanna talk to anybody.  Tomorrow was our earliest day and I just wanted to get home…so you can imagine how aggravated I was when we stopped for gas on the Parkway.  Even more aggravated when the attendant (that’s right non Jerseyians …it’s illegal to pump your own gas in our state) tried waving us down a narrow alley of cars to get to his pump instead of the one we were already at. AARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHH

A Day to Remember

Sooooo yeah, I think I got 4 hours of sleep last night. We were meeting the vanpool at like 9 or something, and I didn’t know any of the bands on my stage today.  I only mention that last part because people have been begging me all weekend to bring them over to my stage for today and I had no idea why…minus the fact that Lil Wayne was headlining.  When the headliners are on, most of the other stages are closed up and we usually need the backup from those stages so most of the crew comes over and helps out.  That ended up being the reason.  If I had the choice, I’d want the other main stage today since Senses Fail was on it and I miss them every year at both Bamboozle & Warped Tour hahaha.

The day as a whole was the calmest of the three.  I even had time to bust some underage drinkers from my barricade.  No all of you in the know…I didn’t leave the barricade to confront them; I left to get the proper confronters to do so.  And did they do it? NOPE! Man it’s tough being part of the most elite security force ever created sometimes.  I had a mixed bag of my prodigy guards & the old work horses in my barricade today.  I actually filled my entire roster before the other barricade supervisor even showed up.  You snooze, you lose Big Show!  One of the dudes that I had yesterday is just an awesome guy.  He’s a bit of a special needs person but he has a talent somewhat like Rain Man; if you tell him your date of birth he can tell you what day of the week it was within 3 seconds.  He’s a great dude.  Being in the barricade to him is like….you know what…I don’t even think I can describe how much it means to him in terms that we understand.  He was very excited and he & I were going crazy psyching him up for today’s action during our entire walk to our stage.  I don’t know why but something threw me into a funk almost the instant we got to our stage. 

I’d pass my crew in the barricade and they’d say things like “uh oh, he’s in a zone.”  I don’t know what it was but there was definitely a switch flipped on me.  I went from “haha” to straight up business mode.  The good thing about today was I didn’t have to do a pre-shift meeting because everybody has worked with me before.  The bad thing was they may have been too comfortable with that already and I had to whip some of them into shape real quick, but then it was back to being a dominant crew again.  Even guys who I view as equals to me were asking my permission to do stuff…very strange. 

The only performer that was on my stage today that I’d ever heard of was Lil Wayne and I think he sucks.  Oh yeah Chiddy Bang too. We had a mix of reggae & jam bands, to hip-hop, to hardcore, to scream-o, to dudes that dressed like chicks and played metal music.  That’s what Bamboozle has come down to.  The first band to give it to us was Attack! Attack!  Again I’ve heard of them, probably have worked them before, but I don’t remember them.  The crowd loved them and I think I counted as many as 8 moshpits at one point…..and everyone was behaving in them! There was a band called Black Cards that came out to a roar from the crowd, but the crowd just watched them instead of dancing and surfing and what not.  Early in the set my buddy Craig comes up to me and asks if the bassist is Pete Wents (sp?) (from Fallout Boy & Ashley Simpson fame)?  I thought he was way too small him and I couldn’t see the tip of his tattoo in his V-neck shirt so I didn’t think it was him.  Then he started giving away clues, I heard a girl in the crowd say it, and then he took off one of his shirts and I could see his chest tattoo…yup it was him.  This dude’s famous and he’s taking like the back seat to the band’s female lead singer, who sounded a lot like Gwen Stefani.  Once their set was done, I went to check on my backstage crew and the lead singer had just come off the stage.  Somebody with an “I’m an Important Person” pass asked her for a picture.  Her manager said not right now but she stopped him, asked him “why not”, and posed for a bunch of pictures with different people backstage.  I thought that was super humble and incredibly awesome. 

Later, the manager of A Day to Remember pulled Brian & I aside to tell us about some of the theatrics involved with their set.  Yet another band that I’ve heard of but don’t remember.  Near the end of the set, the lead singer was going to get inside a “water walker” (air filled ball big enough for a person to get inside of and walk around in…like a big hamster ball) and we were to crowd surf him from the stage, across the barricade, and into the crowd & eventually bring him back onto the stage. The crowd loved this band and they very easily could’ve been the headlining act.  The ball trick worked out well after a few complications with inflating it, the singer stepped right on my hand and bent my wrist awkwardly when we got him back on stage, and life was good.  Then it was time to wrap up the show, Weezey Style.

His water walker, pretty damn cool.

 This song made me a fan, A Day to Remember - The Downfall of us All

Somehow, everybody & their brother had a press pass for this set so I did multiple pass check sweeps prior to him taking the stage…then I posted up with my back to the stage.  My barricade looked like it did on Friday for 30 Seconds to Mars except it was photographers trying to get the perfect shot instead of kids trying get their 30 seconds of fame.  It was a mad house and as soon as Lil Wayne took the stage, I could tell his bodyguard, who reminded me of the Candyman when joined me in the barricade, didn’t like it one bit.  He gave the order to cut their photo time short by 1 song, and even though they were upset about it, most of the photographers listened to me, shook my hand & thanked me for the weekend as they left.  I was surprised how many people were into this guy but he had an insane sing-a-long.  I love a bridged gap like the one between music/lifestyles that Bamboozle puts on; nothing like seeing a dude with facial piercings and a pink Mohawk rapping to Lil Wayne.  Again, the crowd was tame for a headlining act…until there were 2 songs left in the set.  It never fails to have a fight near the end of the last day and this year was no exception.

Candyman - Lil Wayne's Bodyguard

My prodigies paid attention in class on Friday, they saw a fight break out and they summoned me.  We’re not technically supposed to go over the barricade & into the crowd for anything but if we have to I told them I’m the one to do it because I’m experienced & I have the radio.  When I came over & stood up, these 3 beasts were going at it 2-on-1…each of them my size or bigger.  I was wondering what they were doing in a Lil Wayne crowd & not a hardcore crowd but whatever…I had to go.  The crowd was hanging over the top of the barricade so I couldn’t step up onto it to get into the crowd and the steps were so awkwardly placed that I couldn’t climb my up and over…so I got as high as I could and Craig launched me over the first 3 rows…where I landed inside the little opening that the fight cleared out.  As soon as I got there the fight stopped and the finger pointing started…I felt like a soccer referee.  I took the 1 out of the 2-on1, grabbed the back of his shirt & told him to walk.  He started resisting so I started pushing him.  At one point he was challenged why the other guys weren’t being thrown out…I told him he wasn’t leaving he was just leaving that spot and he was lucky that wasn’t being arrested because the State Troopers on scene saw me go in after him and were waiting at the edge of the crowd, not entirely true but whatever it took to gain compliance hahahaha.  As far as they knew he could’ve just been injured, not in a fight.  When I was talking to him I could see he had some blood on his tongue, so I positioned myself to his 2 o’clock and covered my face the way we were taught to at the academy when conducting searches.  Phantom of the Opera fans – “keep your hand at the level of your eye”.  Yes I went in by myself but I trusted my crew to be fast enough to get there had he been stupid enough to do anything.  I had the “I’m okay” signal up the entire time I walked him until there was no more crowd around us.  I even joked with him once we got there that he can’t be fighting in front of Lil Wayne & his people…he laughed.  I showed him where to get cleaned up, two different groups of different security teams watched me get him out of the crowd almost in awe of what happened, and the Troopers were ready to pounce on him.  All of that was playing back in my mind as I got back behind the barricade, chuckling to myself.  Wayne’s bodyguard checked on me and the rest of the night went smoothly. 

One of my happiest moment of the entire weekend was probably when this group of kids came back toward the stage at the end of the night as the crowd had already left, looking for their set of keys.  I had them describe the keys and I remembered seeing a similar set of keys earlier In the day.  I found wherever they had gone off hiding to and asked the kid for a further description.  He nailed it, I pulled the keys out from behind my back, and the kid tackled me, hugged me, and thanked me to death…weaving his way past all of my “backup” that was surrounding me.  I was happy to give them to him because I couldn’t imagine being one of these kids who lose their wallets, keys, etc.. and then gotta figure out a way home at the end of the night.  This group of kids was from Connecticut, I wonder what they would’ve done had we not found them.

We headed back, signed out, and I didn’t have to wait for a vanpool today, Katie drove me!  Unfortunately, we still had to stop at PNC to get my car.  I’d gotten home at 2am the first 2 nights; 1am was like a gift from the time gods.  I was sooooooooooo tired and I had to be up early for Laura’s Grandma’s funeral services…it’ll be a miracle if I’m on time. I set aside my suit and everything I’d need to get out the door as fast as I could…and it was a good thing I did…….

There you have it, my return week.  Hardly a job, no more g/f, and a bunch of changes to my usual spots…I knew there’d be a period of adjustment but I didn’t think things would start off sooo poorly.  Little did I know…things would slowly begin to get better……..