5 Depraved Things You See Working Backstage At Concerts

But the really famous ones expect to be recognized. And if they aren't ... "Elton John is who I remember most. We had a 16-year-old watching the door for a concert, and Elton John came up alone. Now, she was young. She might have known his music, but she later told us she had never seen him before. Elton John walked up to the door and she asked to see his pass. He told her, 'I'm Elton John,' but because she didn't know, she said she couldn't let him in ... Instead of calling his manager or someone more senior, he went ballistic. When I came to the room, I overheard him saying, 'Don't you know who I am?! I'm Elton John! Let me in my room!'"

According to Cody, Sir Elton John was "livid" and "red in the face" by the time he got there. "I ran up and opened the door, apologizing to Elton John as he went in. But he stood halfway through. 'I want her fired. Now. I'm not leaving until she's fired.' I got by with 'I'll see what I can do,' and he stormed away. We brought her back and she started to lose it. She was crying and saying, 'I didn't know!' We didn't fire her, but we made sure she saw pictures of whoever was performing from then on. And I can't listen to Elton John the same way anymore."

Now, normally guys like Elton, who have a net worth higher than most nations, travel around with an entourage. But it seems John had lost his that day, and without them, "he looked like a regular guy. My first thought wasn't 'That's Elton John!' when I saw him. There was a golf tournament in town, and I thought, 'That's John Daly trying to get in.'"

Elton John had the worst reaction Cody's witnessed, but he's not the only famous person to take offense at not being recognized. "Steely Dan were ticked off, because we had to hunt down a photo of them ... Nine Inch Nails showed us their driver's licenses, and we had to check their names against Wikipedia on our booth computer. They were speechless."

It's a lucky thing nobody got stabbed there. The venue, understandably, took more precautions after that: "After Bon Jovi, we had Iron Maiden, and we made sure to clear the fans out of the area before. When they came, the first thing they said was, 'Where is everyone?' and we told them there were no fans there. They looked crushed, and their manager said to let them nearby if they wanted to. I guess it does something for egos." Or, y'know, maybe Iron Maiden just likes their fans. And can take a light stabbing now and then.

And, this being rock 'n roll, Cory has also fielded his fair share of straight-up insane rock star demands on "the list." One time the guest list included a horse. "Like, a real horse. Why, I don't know. But we allowed it. We were halfway thinking it was a joke. But no. When the band came, there was a horse in tow. It stood on plastic sheeting in a corner until we brought it outside. We were never told why. I still don't know, either."

We pressed Cory for details, and he provided them. But we'll warn you, his explanation left us with more questions than answers. "Yeah, the horse never went into the green room. It went backstage. And it was back there for only about a half an hour until it started getting jumpy. I heard audio feed come over the speakers, some thuds, some 'whoas,' and the next thing I knew, it was being led outside. I really don't know why it was there. It might have been because a band member really liked it. They were country pop, so maybe he wanted it close? I don't know. The rest of the concert, it was on the lawn in a corral some of the band crew set up."

A big part of Cory's job is making sure no one under 18 gets in to see the rock stars. "We need their ID, and if they can't show it, we wouldn't let them in. The times we were asked why, we said it was because there was alcohol back there, and minors can't be around that. I'm not a lawyer, and I'm sure they could have disputed that, but they took it at face value. We didn't want any underage anything going on."

The music industry, ladies and gentlemen!

Basically, when fans see a bunch of guys set up and guarding the green room, they'll assume it's because Motley Crue is behind those doors, doing blood magic or eating mice. So they'll hang around as close to that room as they can, while the real Motley Crue sits safely in their trailer. And when more elaborate deception is necessary, Cory and his co-workers get creative. "Either someone from the band crew, one of us, or one of the stagehands will be cloaked by an entourage. I have long hair and a small beard, so I'm usually picked with alt bands, or Kid Rock, or someone similar. We have exactly one black guy working here, so he's our choice for black performers. But that's what we do. Cloak them, and everyone thinks it's them. I've overheard 'Chris Cornell, I love you!' before, which made me happy."

When the band decides to post up somewhere besides the green room, they still need to be guarded. But the guards have to be less obvious about it. "What we did was, we fiddled on our cellphones or looked like we were waiting for something. Sometimes we were given a trashcan and a sweeper to make it look like we were cleaning when we were actually still, in effect, the doormen. I was personally asked a few times by fans what I was doing outside the bus, and I told them 'On break' or 'Cleaning.' Behind me was the singer, maybe a manager, maybe their spouse, and then a few other security guards. But no one knew the better. Then when it came time to come out, they would walk right past the fans into the backstage, and the fans didn't know it until they passed right by them."

Evan V. Symon is an interviewer, writer, and interview finder guy for Cracked. Have an awesome job/experience YOU'D like to see? Hit us up at tips@cracked.com today!

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