Va Beach roadie report.....

[jenny]

this is short as I have quit my job and continued on the road with Janis....




ha ha ha ha ....... I wish............

Here is my story and I am sticking to it......

While at work on friday I received a call from philip.. what a joy it was to hear from philip. He said that Load In would be at 2pm on Sunday but he wouldn't be joining the crew that it would be Greg and Gail. My excitement begins and continues through sunday. As sunday arrives I make sure I have my things for Janis to sign, a gift I have for her, my camera and plenty of film... out the door I go at 1:30 so as not to be late. At 2:30 the van arrives with Greg and Gail but no Janis yet...... I recieve my ID that shows I am part of the crew and the work begins... My first two items I carry in are THE TWO GUITARS... I immediately thought of DaveM as I believe he and I were the two most excited to actually handle the santa cruz at janismania....Once I set them on the stage I took a minute...every item that came out of the van had JANIS IAN on it with all the info in case of being lost ... I then carried the sound board up to where it would be set up.. Greg first sets the stage.. setting the mic stands..quitar stands...plugging things in and making sure they work... taping everything down..as I watch I can already tell that Greg could do this in his sleep...it is already a routine for him.....after the stage is set he continues to set the board.... I ask questions as we go along and he was more than willing to answer them as he worked... then I notice that JANIS has arrived... I get a "hi Jenny, how are you" and one of those famous hugs...........

[Dee]

Thank you, Jenny.

[MARILYN/GEMINI]

Ah, Jenny....tell us more..........................pleeeease.:)

[jenny]

..... Janis then gets ready to do a interview.... She tells them lets get this done as I am already an hour behind. After the interview she asks if I want to take pics of her while in the dressing room... of course I do. So after the interview we go to the dressing room and Janis unloads her makeup and places everything in its certain place. I comment that she could probally do this in her sleep. I take pics and I notice on the floor, THE BOOTS and get a pic of them. Once Janis is done with that we head outside foe a break. All of a sudden I hear "are you Jenny"..it was Beckyva.. a quick hug, hello/goodbye ( more on that later) and back inside Janis and I go. We now need to find out where will the food be, how will Janis get in and out of the dressing room, there was a change in the show time, Janis is on the phone, off the phone,always taking care of business. Janis and I then take care of her signing my things and then we take time to eat.. Janis, myself, Gail, Mark the opening act and his wife, and eventually Greg have Thia food. Once we are done with that Gail and I head to unload the van of the merchandise thing and get that set up. We take the paper off the cds, get the tip jar ready, set the cds and dvds out, and I start watching out for the rudies,,,, in comes sister rose and wildflower, redjack and kathy, dian and kathleen, becky and husband and a number of my local friends....Gail tells me to go and have fun.... which I already was doing..... Mark opens the show to a standing room only room.... he was great and will be back again. After a quick break Janis comes on..The show was awesome... she also lets everyone know where the message boarders are and we let them know.. we also got to sing along to "folk is the new black"... after the show it was back to work for me...as it moves along I am told "go to the van we are running out of the "who really cares books"...I go to get them ....and get back .. Janis says Jenny ...go through the line and bring the children and handicapped people to the front of the line... I take pics of people with Janis and then the rudies wait to be last.. we take our group photo and I get my usual spot,, kneeling in front of Janis... Janis asks me to take some pics of her and Mark and then it happend... Janis asked me to hold the guitar... it was then time for everyone to clear the area..... it was time to take care of business.... I can't tell everthing... that is part of the job.... then I was outside loading the van and then talking to Janis..... it was time to say goodbye... I hated having to say goodbye.. I gave Gail a hug.. Greg a hug and then said goodbye to Janis.... a big hug too.... MY roadie for a day had ended..........................

[jenny]

..... let me tell you people....... this is what we know about attending a Janis Ian show.........

we wait to see where Janis will perform
we purchase a ticket
we wait... and wait ... and wait for the date to come
we go to the show
we listen to the show.
we visit after with Janis and take pics and sign things
we go home......

I was able to first hand see just how hard the road crew works and how Janis' day goes from start to finish.....
From the moment the crew arrives they are continuously working only to break for a brief moment to eat..
Janis is constantly moving....working.... on the phone.. getting things taken care of...talking to Pat very briefly.... making sure this and that is taken care of that all of a sudden pops up.... all this work is going on before and after the show and to see Janis appear onstage to look refreshed and ON is just amazing...I really saw how much hard work is involved and folks it isn't all pretty all the time... you have to be dedicated and really love what you do for all of this to come together.... MY experience was absolutley awesome and would do it again in a heart beat... it was a chance of a lifetime and will treasure it always......and anytime Janis needs me to fill in as roadie ..... PLEASE CALL ME........ I already know how to do it and will fit in just fine................Pictures to come soon............... and you might look out on ebay for janis tickets with janis' autograph as well as my autograph on the back................... worth BIG money................feel free to ask me any questions................. I loved it................. Jenny

[Chet]

Janis says Jenny ...go through the line and bring the children and handicapped people to the front of the line...
I know I shouldn't be surprised to read this, but yet I am. Janis is not just a singer-songwriter, but a caring human being.

Thanks, Jenny, for a great roadie report.

[jenny]

.... something that only Gail and I know ( I will share at my own expense)..when I was asked to go to the van to get the "who really cares books", I had to borrow a flash light due to it was pitch dark and couldn't see, then I locked myself in the van.... alright already quit laughing... I had to crawl up to the front to get out...

......I felt so important the whole day.. having my ID around my neck allowed me to come and go where I wanted ..... I noticed every now and then people looking at me.... I could tell they would say.. she is with Janis' crew... it was so neat....This was just an awesome experience that will remain very meaningful..... Janis is just a great friend and I value everything I learned through this experience ....

Janis really has to move things along.... constantly working it.... knowing the line is long for signing .... trying to have conversation with everyone... I saw first hand people seeing Janis for the first time and saw the excitement in their eyes ... they were meeting their idol too...... their dream was coming true too......... and our Janis made everyones dream come true....

what an awesome time it was...........
I want to apologize to my rudie friends for not being able to spend much time with you... as you know I was working...... thanks for understanding.... I now see Janis how you do your best to make time for everyone ... thank you so very much for an awesome experience.......

NOW..... when you need a fill in merchandise person or just a crew member ... give me a call... I already know the ropes..........

Big hug........ Jenny

[GodSistah]

This is a really good report, Jenny! I'm glad you had fun!:)

[Wandering Man]

Thanks for the fun write-up of your evening! It's refreshing to see how accessible Janis is to her fans. I enjoyed getting to meet you and look forward to seeing your pictures from the show!

Mark

[jenny]

..... if you need a roadie to help with your show when you come back to virginia Beach ... just give me a call....... it would be an honor.............

;-) Jenny

[MARILYN/GEMINI]

Excellent !! Glad it was a great experience!!!

[david uk]

Jenny that was a great account! I am sooooooooo jealous! I love the amount of trust Janis gave you- handling the guitars, merchandise etc... but then I guess she knows you
...

Thanks jenny- it was just like being there!

[Denise]

Jenny - can't wait to see your pictures!

[Marcia Drummergal]

Jenny!! Thank you for remembering so many details. As if you'd forget a thing!! I can't think of a better roadie for Janis! <g>

Glad you had such a wonderful time but then, how could you not?! I am also anxiously awaiting your pictures!!

Marcia :)

[RedjackRyan]

I'm so happy for you Jenny! one look at your face and i knew you were in heaven having the time of your life. Thanks for a peek behind the scenes, we all knew Janis and crew work very hard on each show..but we didn't know just how hard. Kudos for everyone for pulling off the impossible every show.


Sorry we didn't get a chance to spend more time together, but seeing how much fun you were having was worth the trip down. A great show was just the bonus. <hugs on ya my friend>

[Dar]

Thanks for the GREAT report and the behind the scenes info!!
Sounds like you had a fabulous time!! Can't WAIT to see the pictures!

I'm so happy for you!! If you could bottle the feelings you had, you could make a million!

[jenny]

....... was a picture of Janis and I together.... what with my embarrassing nose flare up I was too embarrassed to get one...... getting pics of Janis was just fine... and the group pic turned out great.............. will post it later.... thanks.. Jenny

[dragonlady]

Yeah...I left my camera at my sister's house so I missed out on my traditional picture of Janis and I. Up till then I had one from every show I'd been to except the first one. I didn't know you could take pictures at the first one so I didn't bring a camera...I know better now. I was kicking myself for leaving it behind on Sunday.

But I think we got a pretty good group shot though. We shall see....


-di

[Lin]

we wait to see where Janis will perform
we purchase a ticket
we wait... and wait ... and wait for the date to come
we go to the show
we listen to the show.
we visit after with Janis and take pics and sign things
we go home......

and then we wait again to see where janis will be performing....

the circle continues!

Lin

[marjan]

You lucky girl, I'm so glad everything worked out for you. A roadie for a day is I think something we all want to be. You gave a great impression of your day :)
Marjan


And the great news is we all can be a roadie for a day!!!
If you or I want to be a roadie for a day, the only thing you have to do is ask for being a roadie and donate a fair amount of money to the Pearl Foundation.
But keep in mind it has to be a "fair amount"!!!! Just check out the PF pages.

[SongDragon]

I'm glad it worked out for you Jenny! I don't think I could ever do that much. I always feel so clueless working with other people, especially when I don't know how anything is set up, or where it all goes! I help my friend Jen set up for her gigs, and that's just about it.

Thank you for the wonderful write-up.

~Song

[DaveM]

Gosh, there are going to be authentic Jenny autographs on eBay? Will definitely have to watch as I don't have one.

Yeah, I know....I'll bet everyone would like to know just what "a fair amount" comes to in Bush-era dollars. But that's Pirate Jenny's secret.

[Eva]

Jenny, you must have had a wonderful day. Good! :cool:

Eva

[Rickster]

Jenny, Awesome! Sounds like it was a great time!

[Oak Kitten]

Great Roadie report Jenny! I am glad you had such a good time.

OK

[Gigglepottomus]

Jenny what a wonderful experience. Thank you so much for sharing.

Marjan thanks for explaining how we all can become a Roadie for a day I had no Idea.

When I can afford it I might take a shot at it. If I had the money I would be a big donor anyway. The Roadie for a day thing would be a very nice perk.

In the meantime maybe we could have a Poor Roadie for a day. Maybe in the form of a contest we all could enter. Just dreaming here.:o

[Dee]

feel free to ask me any questions................. I loved it................. Jenny
I have a question Jenny:

Did you have to keep pinching yourself to make sure your Roadie-for-a-Day experience was really happening? (I would have.)

What a great experience it must have been for you. Thanks for sharing your day with us.

[Judy]

Jenny -
I really enjoy reading your posts...No holds barred, you are in the moment and darn glad of it.
What a wonderful experience for you!
Judy

[CD Matthew]

What a terrific write-up, Jenny! Thanks for sharing so many juicy details. It was fascinating to get a little window on all the behind-the-scenes doings. What a thrill! Thanks again...

CD Matthew

[jenny]

... I didn't have time to stop and pinch myself... I stayed busy from the time the van arrived till the time the van pulled out.....

It seemed like forever for that day to arrive and in a blink of an eye it was over.... the crew was just awesome. I seemed to have fallen right into place and meshed pretty well with them. I am still beaming and probally will for a long time... I alreay miss them... bet they are missing me too... ha ha ha ha ...... they were great.........hope they can continue on the road without me.... he he he he ......;-)