Ways I Snuck Into Shows...

Never snuck into a show. Never saw Jerry Garcia. 

Never snuck into a show, but when I was in high school my friends dad came looking for let's call him Jimmy at a show at the Boston Garden dressed in a suit. He bought a ticket out front, but once in said he could walk any where inside. He covered most of the Garden all the way up to the front row. He ran into many of Jimmy's friends at the show but never found Jimmy. Lot's of Jimmy's friends were coming up to him during the show saying I just saw your dad and he is looking for you. At first Jimmy didn't believe them but came to realize that yes his dad was there looking for him. 

So anyway the suit thing will let you get around once inside. Not sure if it would work to get you in. 

Where's Showgower when we need him?

Personally I've rarely walked into a show as a patron without a ticket, but there was a time when the SF Symphony would occationally play a theater in Cupertino that had the concessions area in an unguarded patio next to the venue.

I would go into the patio at intermission, buy a beer and walk into the venue, no one checking tix at the re-entry door (small-time college venue, go figure).

I saw some good classical music that way.

Watched a few shows through the fence or from a nearby hillside, but all my attempts to actually sneak into a show ended in failure.  But in the grand scheme of things, I usually don't go to a show without a ticket, so its not been a big issue for me.

Warfield 1980

I was crashing with friend in Berkeley. We heard that students could usher concerts at the Warfield. I wasn't  a student but got a random student to lend me his ID. They issued you a slip of paper with the show you would usher. I whited-out that date and made several copies for future shows in the run (15?). After the second or third show  those weren't needed as the head usher would look for volunteers for shows he was short on help. We were assigned the upstairs/balcony. The seasoned ushers had the orchestra which had assigned seats back then. We were cut loose after the acoustic set. There were themed nites and we dressed the part.Fun times...

     One time at Deer Creek [those may be trigger words for a certain talking point of a certain "Stay-at-Homer's Oddesey" type guy] but I kind of "Jedi Mind tricked" the persons watching the gate, once I was in, took my un-ripped ticket, put it in an abandoned, empty 2 liter plastic bottle and threw it across the gate into the masses.

Crawled under the fence for Santana/Phish at the Mann music center ...1992

Climbed the fence at SPAC for the WOMAD tour(Midnight Oil/ Peter Gabriel headlined) I think that was in 1995.

Not a show but a pretty big deal. Game 1 2000 World Series,  Yankees Mets. Had a friend who was a camera man for Fox. Called me the day before.  Meet him at his trailer,  don't wear any team apparel and bring a friend.

He took us into the trailer and grabbed a couple credentials from his coworkers. Being pre 911 they really didn't check IDs, just showed the credential and walked in the press gate. We were in.

My friend asked if we wanted to go onto the field for batting practice.  Silly question.  We walked through the bowels of old Yankee Stadium until you saw sunlight peeking through the hall. Turned left and we were walking the tunnel into the Yankee dugout.  

The Mets were on the field. We just sat in the Yankees dugout and took it all in. Billy Crystal, Spike Lee, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra hanging out behind the cage. It was a really cool place to be. 

We went onto the field, grabbed a tuft of grass and headed back into the stadium.  My friend had to get back to work. He grabbed the passes off our necks and said have fun. Hung out in the back of the loge section.  There was a walkway back there behind the 10 or so rows of seats. Every couple of innings a cop would come by and make us move but never really had a problem all night. 

Englishtown 1977.

We arrived early in the am parked and proceeded the long slog to the gates which basically were the open spaces  between cargo containers that circled the racetrack. A major ruckus broke-out  there and we decided that was a good time to enter stealthy with our coolers of food, beer & water that they were searching and prohibiting. Thank god for those provisions as it was a hot hot day and we shared what we had with the heads around us. OMG the helicopters haha...

Never snuck into a GD show. Snuck into the US festival 83 first day which was the Clash last performance with Mick Jones. Glad I did. Great day of music. Had a backstage pass for JGB Warner Theatre  2/4/81 https://ia802605.us.archive.org/18/items/jgb1981-02-04/jgb1981-02-04.mp3...   went to to the entrance to get in and a big black bouncer guy told me I have to go around back to get in. It was a very cold and windy night and my pass ripped off me with the high winds and flew down the street. A bunch of low life Jerry junkies went running down the street chasing it.One dude got it and ran away with it. Didn't return it and say here's your pass brother. Basically stole it from me I was almost in tears and went back to the big black bouncer and told him what happened and he let me in. FUCK JERRY AND GD JUNKIES!!!! NOT ALL FANS ARE KIND!

The Beacon Theater in NYC had 47 fire exits.  Many moons ago, the downstairs access points to these fire exits where neither guarded or fenced in.  

We would climb up to the second floor, tell others to be quiet, then as soon as the lights went out, push in through the fire entrance / exit doors & waist no time scrambling to an empty seat.

When the GD played the Beacon (1976) there was a cordon of coppers surrounding the Beacon.  It would have been impossible to gain access using the above stated method.

Fortunately I got a mail order ducat.  When Kingfish plus Keith & Donna played the Beacon (11/7/75) the usual modus operandi worked easy squeezy.  Saw lots of other shows that way. 

I got on the elevator in the lobby of MSG and it opened upstairs in  blue seats...

the second day of jerry at squaw i walked in up the backside. they said go ahead, so wasn't really sneaking...saw a dude barefoot doing it...in the sierras....

lance isn't going to like this...

msg 90. slept in car in parking lot...only was able to get a few tickets via mail order. shut out the 1st two nights...tried again and no luck. i got in line w/ my philly ticket stub in the middle of the pack, they said "hold your stubs up", which i did with the torn end in my hand...got all the way to the old usher at the door, handed my ticket and bolted up the escalator...

2nd time was in france, one of the shows we didn't have a ticket for...walked the perimiter, saw the chain link fence and simply crawled under it...2 gendarmes w/ rifles were close and looked at us, but we just kept walking in. 

never did it any other time.

I had a ticket for the JGB early show at the Beacon Theatre on December 9, 1983, but could not find a ticket for the late show. I resigned myself to spending the rest of the evening on the sidewalks, and retreated down a side street to smoke a joint with a buddy. We ducked into a doorway and sparked up, and were about halfway through the joint when the door we were leaning against started pushing against our backs. A girl with sparkly dilated eyes poked her head out and seemed surprised to see us standing there--she actually said "Eek!"--but then she told us to hurry up and follow her. We did this without question and followed her up dark and winding stairways for a while before we came to a closed door. She pushed it open, and there we were at the back of the loge and the band was just starting to play.

Jerry Garcia Band
Beacon Theatre​
December 9, 1983

Early Show

Sugaree
Catfish John
That's What Love Will Make You Do
Love In The Afternoon
Let It Rock
Someday Baby
Run For The Roses
Deal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy0ihSbwxe4

Late Show

Set 1:

Cats Under the Stars
Knockin' on Heaven's Door
The Way You Do The Things You Do
Mississippi Moon
Tangled Up in Blue

Set 2:

Rhapsody in Red
Gomorrah
When I Paint My Masterpiece
Midnight Moonlight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsRmJilpGKg

     edit of the 8:04 post:  a certain "Stay-at-Homer's Odyssey"

     https://youtu.be/NEw4yAHN2Hc

     with all due respect...I'm just trying to find a bit of levity 

     By the way, I think the band was keenly aware of the carnival atmosphere's positive impact, its incorrect to think otherwise 

     Gyuto Monks Tantric Choir 
     The Perfect Jewel
     Sacred Chants of Tibet

     https://youtu.be/INIMACWzMsI

My first thought was chicken bong! Walkie  talkie boy

i talk about myself may too much as it is

i can say it is possible ....

Bragging about ripping off artists.

     ^ I'll ask

MarkD

 ntfdaway on Wednesday, April 1, 2020 – 09:49 pm

Bragging about ripping off artists.

Or Philthy rich artists ripping off lifelong fans!

Big difference between Phil and Bobby and the crew and Dave Nelson.or Hunter, As Jerry said it's yours after were done with it.

Frank Zappa

Portland's Paramount Theater (now Schnitzer Concert Hall)

1980

Strolled calmly through the front doors in the middle of a mob scene of ticketed fans.

That wasn't my original plan.. it just happened....as I was trying to find a friend inside.... so I stayed.

Richmond, VA 11/01/85 - Sold out show. Group of 5 friends found only 3 tickets. My girlfriend and 2 others used the tickets. My friend Al and I (and 100s of others) hung outside where we could see Heads in the hallway through glass. The show had started. Chaos. At the exact right instant, when a security guard walked away from a door he was guarding, I caught eye contact with a guy and gestured for him to push open the door, which he did. I charged through that door with a bunch of people behind me, including Al, I hoped. I did not look back. The guard came back and tried to grab me, so I reacted by elbowing him in the gut and running quickly into the dark of the arena, down the stairs until I got to the floor and blended in with the crowd. I had a freaky little moment when I thought about badly it would have worked out for me if the guard captured me. I imagined a brutal ass kicking and a night in jail. No, I was not tripping. Don't think I would have been that aggressive and brazen if I had dropped acid or shrooms. After my brief negative fantasy subsided, Al showed up out of nowhere, we hugged, smoked a bowl and set out to find our friends in the Phil Zone a few feet in front of the soundboard. It was a great show. I broke up with the girlfriend a few days later, and never went back to Richmond, VA again.

Oh forgot. Duke 1982 spring tour. First show of the tour where Jerry and Phil changed sides. No ticket to be found. Beautiful spring sunny day Lot's of pine trees. Showtime was waiting by the side doors with others and someone pushed it open from inside as the show just started and we rushed in and saw the whole show. Listening to it after it wasn't very special. The next night in Norfolk was epic.

A fortunate entry, but not an outright sneak.

Pittsburgh 4/2/89. Cold rain falling. Ticket didn't pan out.

One Head inside pushed a door open and many others rushed in.

Knowing the cop v head tensions prevailing, I chose not to follow.

After circling the building I came back to a door which remained open. I entered in time for Iko with an unopened beer still in my pocket.

Awesome show and tour in 1989 in my vicinity.

>>>lance isn't going to like this<<<

Ah, you got me all wrong Turtle.

You were there to see the show, you tried to buy tix but couldn't and I'm betting if the venue had released some you would have bought one.

You were there to see the show, you were shut out, you used some initiative to get in.

I can respect that.

And Mark, it's really more the promoter than the artist who's getting ripped off, but it's always cool to hate the promoter so there's that.

..

Kaiser 2/14/88 - Searching for a ticket, someone gave me an unused ticket from the night before. Walked up to the woman at the door and started talking to her while I handed her the ticket. She ripped it without looking at it and I walked on in.

I also don't go to shows without a ticket, so can't say that I've ever snuck into a show, but have snuck onto GA floors at larger venues quite a few times: two nights at D&C in Boulder last year & many at Dicks for Phish over past several years. Not one to jump over a fence or anything, but typically scout out the ushers guarding the aisle from the abive and "profile" who's taking their job the least seriously, then stand by about 10 rows up from the floor ... waiting for a group to merge into and stay on the "outside" of the usher and actual wristband holder

Last year at Dicks I was actually busted by security on the floor for not having a wristband after roaming around for 20 minutes before the show.  I was escorted to the stands, but went right back to the same well and was back on the floor in 5 minutes. Had to hang low with my hands in my pockets in the middle of the crowd until it got dark.

I've acted as a "decoy" for others to sneak on floor by holding up my wristband and asking the usher in a weird slow way "does this let me come and go" while other person slips by.  I have also wanted to drop a pocket full of change in front of usher as a decoy too.

It's kind of a rush & is probably the biggest "scam" I will pull in life ... so don't sweat it too much.

Jerry Garcia Band - Nov 6, 1982    Richie Coliseum, Univ of MD

Got there early and spotted frat boys hauling kegs into the side door so they could sell beer inside.

Still looked like a college kid, so I acted like I was working and grabbed a keg and helped carry it in. 

They hadn't let anyone in the building yet and I was pretty noticeable sitting alone in the empty stands, as I definitely didn't fit in with the beer crew. 

So I had to turn invisible for an hour.

Luckily, there was a stack of paper cups nearby -- props always help -- and I just guarded them til the crowd filled in.

Artists aren't getting ripped off when people sneak into a sold out show. I'm not condoning entering a venue without paying admission. It creates a potentially dangerous overcrowding situation, and it isn't something I strive to do again, but... If the show is sold out, and tickets are not available for purchase, then neither the bands nor promoters are getting ripped off when people sneak in. If anything, they potentially make more money if some of the people who sneak in buy licensed merchandise. Plus the venue sells more beer, probably. They wouldn't make that additional revenue if the ticketless trespassers stayed outside. 

Me and a friend got onto a smoking patio during intermission, and when the crowd was pushing past the security guard who realized he wasn't going to be able to stop each person to check their ticket, we got in and caught a Tom Petty show. Missed the Jackson Browne opening set.    

Zero  shows > KVHW shows, mid/ late 1990s Northern CA various bars and clubs from Santa Cruz to Arcata.

Friend and I used to get to the shows early and start running extension cords and plugging in slide projectors full of psychedelic slides.

The promoters thought we were with the band -- we had Zero stickers plastered all over our road cases and looked legit with all the lightshow equipment.

For the longest time, the band thought we were working for the promoters or the venues. Damn did we have fun.

No one ever really busted us cause we did a good job and stayed out of everyone's way. And after a while it turned into a real paid gig.

     First off gentlemen...let's be clear, some people have traveled more miles to see Garcia than others, let's at least agree on that!

     Jerry Garcia and John Kahn 

     Ripple 

     May 5th, 1982

     https://youtu.be/gtEbE4Oxkbk

     ....can we go back to discussing Joe Biden's candidacy?

     https://youtu.be/rYuODHYfvHQ

I have one of the Cats Under The Stars batiks.  Don't recall where i bought it.  Probably Shoreline.

Never scammed my way into a GD show, but I helped others.   At Providence in '86 I was outside about to go in when a door got popped open and people started rushing in.  I had a ticket, so I intentionally walked right into the arms of some big security guy, who was not happy when I produced my ticket while a bunch of others streamed inside.  I also collected ticket stubs and would put them inside a crushed paper cup that we would throw back outside over the heads of the ticket takers, to friends who would tape the tickets back together, perforate the tape with a razor blade, and get back in with an "untorn" ticket.  At MSG in '88, One night a friend of mine  couldn't find a ticket.  I went up to one of the ticket takers and made a big distraction with questions about how to get to my seat and the venues amenities while she ducked under the barrier and scooted up the escalator into the show.  
 

I also got miracled into a few shows:  the last night of Red Rocks in '85 when I couldn't even get into the parking lot without a ticket and was out on the state highway in front of the venue, when some guy pulled over and handed me a backstage pass.  At the Rainforest Benefit at MSG in '88, I got three for myself and two friends in a span of about 5 minutes.  I'd bought taper tickets for the rest of the run, but they weren't selling taper tickets for that final night.  At JFK Stadium in Philly in '89, my girlfriend and I had been making and selling avocado, tomato, cheese and sprouts sandwiches all day to earn enough money for tickets.  No one was selling them.  We were just putting our fingers in the air when I looked down and a gust of wind blew an unripped ticket right at my feet.  I told my girlfriend to take it and I'd find another one.   Another couple came up to me, and the girl said she had an extra and wanted to give it to me because the girls usually got all of the miracles.  Equal Rights, hell yeah.

Non-GD, I've had a few interesting experiences.

At Neil Young at Merriweather Post Pavilion in '89,  I drove up from Charlottesville with a group of friends. After the show, a couple of us were driving up to Newport, R.I. to visit some friends. I needed extra money for that part of the trip, so I sold my ticket and told my friends to meet me by the concession stand on the lawn after I figured a way in.  While they were hung up in a clusterfuck at the ticket entrance, I hopped a couple of fences, only to realize I was in the backstage area with about 40 yards to the entrance to the general crowd area by the women's restroom.   I Heckyled and Jeckyled my way from tree to behind a generator to get as close as possible, but still had about 20 yards of open space to traverse to get to the crowd area.  So I just stood up and calmly walked through the split rail fence acting like I belonged there.  I thought I'd made it when a lady working security grabbed my arm and asked me where my backstage pass was.  I told her it was in my pocket and acted like I was about to pull it out, and when she released her grip on my arm, I bolted off into the crowd on the lawn, amazingly losing her and sitting down low and out of sight.  My adrenaline was pumping. After a few minutes when I decided the coast was clear, I got up and headed over to the concession stand to meet up with my friends, who still hadn't gotten in because of the logjam at the ticket entrance.   The show started, and a couple of songs in Neil started to play Sugar Mountain.  My friends still hadn't shown up. For some reason, I felt had to get closer and get into the pavilion.  Instead of trying to get through the side entrances, I decided to hop the fence from the center of the lawn.  I got over but was immediately put in a big bear hug from some security guard built like an All-Pro offensive lineman, who proceeded to tear my shirt and throw me out of the show on the far side of the venue from the parking lot I'd come in from. There was a nice shady grove of trees there and a group of folks just hanging out and listening to the show for free.  A couple of construction workers motioned me over and shared the bottle of tequila and some joints they had with me, and I ended up having a good old time enjoying the show from out there.

In the early 90's, my girlfriend and I wanted to see Mickey Hart's Planet Drum at the Lisner Auditorium in D.C., but it was sold out and we couldn't find a ticket.  We decided to take a walk around the back of the venue, and we saw a couple of caterers coming out to their van from backstage.  My girlfriend struck up a conversation with them and asked if they were hanging around to catch the show.  They said they weren't and had to get the van back to where they worked out of.  She asked if they still needed the adhesive backstage passes on their shirts, and they said we were welcome to use them.  The show had just begun when we got in, and no one appeared to be backstage.  There was a little room with all sorts of snacks and beverages that the caterers had set up. Feeling a little parched and hungry, we were helping ourselves, when Mickey's manager burst in demanding to know what we were doing there.  We showed him our passes, but he started launching into a harangue, wanting to know where we'd got them.  We weren't going to rat out the caterers, so we just told him we were heading out into the seats and he let us go.  
 

On Roger Waters' Dark Side Of The Moon tour, I had recently moved to Seattle and was shopping at a record store near the Key Arena when I remembered the show was that night.  I decided to walk down and look for a ticket, but it was sold out and no one had any.  This was the first time I saw them scanning tickets at the entrance, and it dawned on me that the days of stubbing in were over.  Never having been to the Key, I decided to take a walk around it to check it out.  On one side, you have to go down and back up a large set of concrete steps where there's an entrance ramp for the load-in. Coming back up the other side, some long-haired grunge rocker named Slaughter gestured at my Orioles hat and started talking about how he had seen them at the Kingdome.  New in town with nothing better to do, I figured I'd talk some baseball.  He insisted I share the rum punch he was working on.  I realized that the ban on smoking inside of venues had recently gone into effect, and this was where they were letting the smokers out to get their fix.  I was trying to find out how the show was going, but he only wanted to talk baseball.  Eventually, Slaughter said it was time to head back in.  I thanked him for the drink and the stories and told him to enjoy the rest of the show.  He got kind of a confused look on his face, and I reminded him I didn't have a ticket.  He told me to follow right behind him.  He'd charmed the security ladies working the smoker's lounge on his way out, getting them to remember his hat so he wouldn't have to get his ticket back out.  We went through the entrance with me on his tail while he greeted the ladies and gestured at his hat.  We were about ten feet past them when I heard one of them say "you fellas have your tickets, right?"  I just waved my hand and said, "oh yeah" and a few steps later was walking through a black curtain draped over a portal, and pyrotechnic cannons were firing off behind the stage, the Pink Floyd pig was floating above the floor and Waters and company were roaring through "Sheep" to end the first set.  I bought Slaughter and myself a couple of more rum punches at intermission, and got treated to DSOTM in it's entirety with a couple of songs from The Wall for the encore.

I was also at those Richmond Coliseum GD shows in '85, and remember the night of the doors being popped open.  I'd bought a ticket but was already inside.  It was a large group of people who got in.  The crowd made a lot of noise, and we all knew something significant had just happened.  You can hear it on the audience tapes.  Turned out the city D.A. got swept in with the crowd, and that was the end of Grateful Dead shows in Richmond.

     My favorite Shoreline story might be the last California Grateful Dead show ever, which was also the last time Jerry took stage in California, I was super high, and charged with the task of rolling a fat spliff for what seemed like the largest fatty circle I've ever seen in my life...and that's having been in some historically large fatty circles at Madison Square Garden when I was traveling with the spinner family on East Coast Jerry Tour, those fatty circles were so large the ushers just smiled and laughed...anyways, I put two Club Caberet widths together and gave it the old college try, this was not the first time I was asked to roll the philzone spliff, but I could feel the significance of the moment, it was a perfect roll, in a fatty circle of at least 85, it went around almost twice!

     ...then they played Unbroken Chain

     https://youtu.be/wyi99sqCu5U

^^^^^I love your story, Alan R!

     Alan,

     Were you in attendance during the "Up on Cripple Creek" at Cafe Tomo?  I always thought that was particularly psychedelic.

     https://archive.org/details/zero1998-05-03.sbd/zero1998-05-03d1t01.shn

I was at that show.  It was a little over a year before I moved down to L.A.  Cafe Tomo was a nice little room.  I still have the poster from Sublime's last Halloween show with Bradley Nowell from there.

     It wasn't so much "sneaking in" per se, and I think I may have mentioned this story before, but I was really testing my limits at the Chevrolet Theater in Wallingford, Connecticut...it's my understanding that Dave from Tahoe [be good family] dropped me off at a roadside hotel...anyways, when I woke up the next morning somewhere in Connecticut it was like a scene out of a movie, there was a small amount of bourbon in a bottle on the dresser of a motel room, I had no idea where I was, I got up, moseyed up to to office, they said I'd already paid the night before and called me a cab.

     Hopped in the cab on the way to the train station, stopped on the way and scored a six pack of Sierras, caught the train to the city.  Of course they are cool with people drinking on the train so I start in on the beers, before long I'm in Manhattan, I catch the subway to the Beacon Theatre, as I'm climbing the stairs surfacing in Manhattan I walk to the curb and nearly get hit by a city bus, seriously, the bus almost hit me, anyways...one of the bottles of beer fell out of the bag and broke on the ground...I couldn't leave a single shard of glass on the ground or I'd feel so obsessively guilty that someone may step on it that I stayed there until every sliver of glass was picked up and thrown away...at that point I think I slammed the last of the beers and made my way to the theater...when I arrived I was super early for the show and my main focus was to wash my hands from having picked up all the glass in the street, so I was kind of in the process of asking a person at the box office of the theater if I could wash my hands when this gentleman happened to be leaving and kind of was holding the door for me to enter, it seemed a bit serendipitous, so I walked in...as I was walking about I found the restroom in the basement and was washing my hands when I started into this lengthy discussion with an older gentleman about golf, and the theme of the movie "Bagger Vance" as far as "finding your swing", the theory being that everyone has a swing, you simply have to discover your's.

     So after a while I went back upstairs, figuring I'd grab a bite to eat or maybe go out for a drink, when at the top of the stairs I hear Phil playing bass, I can hear him tuning the bass right beyond the door, so I open the door and quietly sit in a seat as not to disturb anyone...Phil soundchecks Eyes of the World > King Solomon's Marbles > Stronger Than Dirt > Eyes of the World...my mind is blown, I was able to sip on the last bit of the bottle of bourbon from last night's show in Wallingford during what seemed like a private show on Broadway, if I live to be 100 I'll remember that moment, it was as if in a dream, then, after the soundcheck, the dust settled a bit and I make my way to the entrance, I strike up a conversation with the woman in charge of the entrance and ask her if it's cool to go outside for a little while, she says that would be fine, so I go to the liquor store and get a pint of bourbon, then score some herbal technology, and at that point there was a huge crowd and I walked up to the front door and the lady was nice enough to let me in, I thanked her and went back in to the area I was for soundcheck striking up a discussion with one of the crew members behind the soundboard, then all of a sudden it was announced there was a backstage meeting, the crew member and I just kind of kept up this discussion as we meandered towards the backstage meeting, at that point it kind of seemed like a natural progression of the day.

     So then I find myself at the backstage meeting, which was interesting, very cool...then all of the sudden the meeting ends and everyone kind of goes their separate ways and I'm kind of just backstage by myself, so I begin to walk up the stairs, it was very quiet, and I get to the 2nd floor and there's a large room with a huge catered banquet set up and the only person in the room was Phil eating an hors d'oeuvre, I stood in the doorway and said something to the effect of "I hope I'm not disturbing you" to which Phil said "No, not at all, how are you?"  I then said, "You probably don't remember, but we met after the very first Phil & Friends show which was really the last Grateful Dead acoustic show at the Berkeley Community Theatre at the banquet after the show...we also met at a book signing in San Francisco, I'd just like to take a moment and tell you what a positive impact you've had on my life."  It was at that point he grabbed my shoulder firmly, looked me right in the eye and said "I want to thank you for supporting us all these years.", I then said "God bless you Phil" and he said "God bless you too.", I then quietly left Phil to his banquet and walked up the next flight of stairs.

     So I reach the third floor of the backstage and there's a large room where Barraco, Herring, Haynes & Molo are kicking it, Jimmy and I were able to talk PRS guitars, they had a clear plastic glass for me to pour a glass of bourbon, and I'm having an absolute blast hanging out listening to Jimmy talking about fishing in Georgia, when Phil's manager stops by...naturally she was curious who I was, I mentioned my name was Bryen but that didn't seem to matter much...she could not have been any nicer as I was ever so politely directed to the stage door, her name was Cathy, she was a Saint.

     So...as the sun had already set on Manhattan, and the street was bustling with excitement, without an actual ticket to the sold out event...I walked around the corner to the front door of the theater where my new friend was still at the door, she smiled, and waved me through...I went and found a seat to the right of the soundboard next to TaperRob, who I had just met for the first time, sipping my pint of bourbon and rolling a spliff of my freshly scored artisan herbal works.

     It was one of the great days of my life.

>>>>>Luckily, there was a stack of paper cups nearby -- props always help -- and I just guarded them til the crowd filled in.

Ha, I probably would have hid in the shitter.  Paper cup guard seems a little friendlier.   

< I also collected ticket stubs and would put them inside a crushed paper cup that we would throw back outside over the heads of the ticket takers, to friends who would tape the tickets back together, perforate the tape with a razor blade, and get back in with an "untorn" ticket. .....my girlfriend and I had been making and selling avocado, tomato, cheese and sprouts sandwiches all day >

Lot of spinner-esque stories there, Dave. They certainly had the "ticket factory" going full bore ...garbage bags full of stubs from various venues, markers, colored pencils, pins to punch holes,... they had collectors, runners, ticket makers, etc. Always seemed like a lot of work to me.

And Stacey P made the best sandwiches (I don't suppose...)

let's at least agree on that!<<<

I'm sure there are things I'd agree with Hitler on, but would that change what he's done?

Byren - Honestly no idea as there were no tickets stubs -- only way to know you were there was to steal a poster outta the window (or find a video of a show someone took 20 years ago).

Cafe Tomo in Arcata (Humbolt Co) certainly deserves it's own thread someday. Small restaurant /club on the square in Hippietown USA. Lotta good music.

K V H W May 17, 1999  (this is really KVHH -- Terry Haggerty instead of Ray White):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLKvmF788VM

Another funny blend-in-where-you-don't-belong story:

I was a big Neville Brothers fan and happened to be in NYC for work when they played Saturday Night Live in Feb 86.

A friend who couldn't attend hooked me up with a guest pass he got courtesy of the soundman, if I could get up to the studio to get it. But it was under his name.

Somehow I bluffed my way into the elevators and once I got up there, there was no place to sit. All the seats were reserved or taken. And it's a lot smaller than it looks on tv.

So I just hung against a wall and tried to blend in. Got dirty looks from Lorne Michaels and Dennis Miller. Luckily I had a sport coat on and a briefcase -- because I was coming straight from work -- so I musta looked official.

All of a sudden, the door I was leaning against opens and Jay Leno and Jon Lovitz walk thru doing the opening monologue. That's me in the background.

My only time on national tv.

i love you lance

I know someone that snuck into the New Years '95 Phish run at MSG by getting into the Garden on the 27th and hiding out in a bathroom stall for a whole day, feet up, door locked and only came out when the doors opened on the 28th. 

Fucking Schwupp.

That's commitment.

Isn't Bill Graham notorious for ripping off the bands by overselling venues and pocketing the money!

That would be more like ripping off the fans.

Alan I heard Richie Coliseum was easy to sneak into. I know someone that snuck in through the bathroom window. I think you just climbed a fire escape. I saw the Ramones once and The Jam a different time at Richie. Missed the Garcia show as was on the west coast then.

I knew a few girls who joined up with the Spinners, Alan, but I never hung with that crowd.  There was a hardcore group of tourheads based in Charlottesville that had coalesced before the Spinner phenomenon emerged.  Some went to UVA, like me, some were Charlottesville natives, and some had floated into town off tour.   The girls I knew who joined up with the Spinners credited this group as an influence.  
 

I don't think I knew Stacey-P.  That wasn't the name of the woman in my JFK tale.

Love your SNL Nevilles story.  Good stuff!

Memories coming back. Used to go to Wolf Trap in around 80/81 and sneak in all the time as there was just a 2 post fence to keep people out. Saw Ray Charles. 2nd row for B.B. King, Bobby Blue Bland and Big Momma Thornton, Bluegrass fests ans a few others. $100 bottles of Dom Perignon sold at the concessions. 

I forgot about a Mickey and Planet drum show close to where I lived I think in 99. I got off work late about 7pm and remembered Mickey was playing down the road so I went there but only had maybe $10 in my pocket. Bought a 6 pack and figured I'd listen from outside in the back as I didn't have enough for a ticket plus it might have been sold out. Others were waiting behind the building when a guy comes who say's he had lunch with Mickey and had an extra and gave it to some kid. There were about 3 more of us that wanted in so the Mayo Center of the Performing arts( Morristown Community Theater at the time) had a policy where you could go outside and smoke a cig and get back in with your stub so this guy who got the free ticket went in and asked other people for their stubs and we all got in! Good thing I went because Babatunde Olatunji showed up and played a few songs with Mickey. T'was a good night of music! 

"We were going over the wall in Saratoga when we ran into a slight problem."

"Yeah, what was that?"

"They saw us."

For reasons I can't remember now, I didn't have a ticket for SPAC in '88, even though I had tickets 

for the other shows we went to on that tour. (Pittsburgh, Rochester and the two at Oxford Maine).

That was the time they reduced ticket sales to 30,000, after the Dead had drawn over 40,000 there in '85. 

Of course that was an insane show, the crowd was loud and energetic, and the band seemed to really react to it that day.

Went with a small group of friends in a couple of cars, got there early and Jack and I immediately set out looking for two tickets.

We both had plenty of money and were prepared to pay over face. One little problem. Super sold out summer Dead show, close enough 

to NYC to draw that crowd, and there were no tickets to be had. We spent the entire day trying, up until the show was about to start. I was ready to concede defeat, and Jack said fuck that. We walked back to the back of the venue where the 8-10 foot high chain link fence was and quickly surveyed the situation. There were no other people there.

The security guards had formed a spread-out line down the hill from where we were, ready to take on a bunch of people who were about to go over the wall.

We realized we had to do a blitzkrieg attack, sprinting down the hill, hoping to time it so the guards were tackling a wave of people going over the side fence. There was no cover, no way to just scale the fence and mosey on down like we were already in the show. 

The band hit the stage and started Hell in a Bucket, which was the cue for a wave of people to go over the fence down the hill. We scaled the fence and charged down the hill, me praying not to be tackled by one of these big security guys. I was still in decent shape and so was Jack; we split up a bit and ran through as people were being taken out all around us. We quickly melted into the GA crowd and celebrated as they went into Bertha. "Throw me into the jailhouse!" Nope, not today.

(a few months later I talked to someone who was tackled and detained by security; they took them to this little impromptu jail on-site and made everyone pay $100 to get out. Ouch)!

Good Scarlet->Fire, and the first Victim and Foolish Heart I saw. Strong show. One thing I clearly remember is many people bitching about the I Will Take You Home out of space. God damn picky sniveling Dead Heads.

I wasn't proud of doing that then and I'm not now. That obviously was the time the band was begging people not to act that way, for good reason. 

Well, one show out of 13 years, sorry guys, I guess I owe you $20.
 

Knew spinners I met on Europe 90 tour from Northern Cali who got into every show free. They said the GD were onto them and said they knew how they were doing it but they still got in. I think they scammed their Eurail passes too somehow. We drove a few of them from Essen to Berlin and they slept in our car we rented a few nights.

Deer Creek '95.

I watched two friends, seemingly invisible, walk right into nearly every Spring '95 show so I resorted to trying it, given some unfortunate turn of circumstances for myself.

The line was packed all the way to the gates in a more than sold out appearance over 4th of July weekend and I was instantly turned away upon getting to the entrance after the ticket that I had apparently turned out to be bunk - the ticket taker had a scanner and showed me the disappointing results. I tried convincing him to just let me walk through to no avail. I turned around and started to think about walking back away into the crush but after seeing how fruitless and depressing that was proving to be, I turned around and assessed the situation at hand. Right at that instant, the ticket taker at the next turn-style had turned away to check something and, BAM!, I scooted right through, unnoticed, probably barely outside of his peripheral vision. I did not to run but hurried away half-expecting to get tackled. On my way to the 10th row center seat that I knew my buddy had, I floated past a big chilly tub of tall boy beer cans being sold and just grabbed one and kept going, again unnoticed, all the way to the seat. Right after arriving an extremely lovely young woman sat next me and struck up a conversation. Along comes my buddy, very disappointed that his wife and her friend got blocked like I did but notably stunned as to how I got in so quickly - and on a fake ticket at that, with a cold beer still in the can, chatting up with a beautiful lady. We briefly caught up, he took a seat close-by, and the lights went down.  

Deer Creek was always a real gas ('90 was clear front-runner for me!) but that last show there when people began spilling over the wall onto the lawn and then toppling said wall (leading to the next night being canceled) was altogether 'not good' for sure. The band was visibly very fkn pissed, rightfully so, and I seriously wondered if they were even coming back for the second set. I sort of felt guilty as I to had snuck into that show and even more so after getting back to the car and seeing the flattened women in our party whom were blocked (legit) entry as well.....I also just somehow became temporarily invisible for a few minutes that afternoon long ago. 

>>>>Deer Creek was always a real gas

Keller Williams has a song about that and has a special message for you "if you were one of them"

I don't know if this counts as "sneaking in," but my son grew up going to NWSS.   As I recall, they had a policy that kids 10 and under didn't need their own ticket.   My son stayed 10 as long as we could get away with it.

On a similar note, we went to see "the Dead" at the Gorge in 2003.   My son must have been seven at the time and we went with a couple who had a daughter of the same age.  We had tickets for everyone, but as we were getting up to the gate, we heard that kids didn't need tickets if they were carried in.   So we hoisted up the kids into our arms (they are heavy at that age) and walked on through without using the kids' tickets.   We then passed the two unused tickets through the fence to a young hippie couple with their fingers in the air.

PLQ Louisville 2002, we did not intend to sneak in but it just worked out that way....To get a then friend of mine to go on the trip I had to agree to see aerosmith in Lexington after seeing Phil in St Louis. We get to Lexington and it turns out aerosmith canceled the show. So off to Louisville we went. As stage hands we had worked with Robbie Taylor a time or 2 so we decided to go say hello. We walk thru a security meeting and walk right in the backstage door and actually get on stage and say hello to Robbie. He is like "no time now its close to doors" so we walk thru a long hallway and end up walking up the aisle thru the house. At this point I realize we need to get hidden or we will get tossed and the show was sold out. So we go to the bathroom and wait for about 30 minutes until the first person entered the bathroom and then we dissapeared into the crowd. Luckily the show was GA so we were good.

Thanks Ken - Yes, I have heard Keller's Deer Creek rap and thought it was pretty cool too. As great as it was seeing the GD there, however, (and no foul to those in recovery), it was like an AA meeting in comparison to the more renound Alpine Valley in East Troy, WI!! '88 in particular was completely out to space...complete with toppless "hippie chicks" walking around with trays of bud and the biggest bags - as in Hefty - of the best shroomz I have even seen/eaten. Vehicles parked on the highway and 4 shows, with Dylan playing in the middle night if I recall but we trucked back to Chicagoland to clean up and re-supply for the duration. A superb Morning Dew on June 23 if ya need another great one! I think that was also the year that another girl hopped up on stage and sat down right in front of Garcia and he played gladly right to her until Big Steve came and peacefully coaxed her backstage. Good times.

^^^*WTF^^^

Those '88 Alpine shows were literally and figuratively hot.  Like pushing 100 degrees hot.  
 

I remember being up high on the lawn when they launched into Cassidy as the sun was going down.  I was super baked and had just lit a bunch of incense sticks and planted them in the ground when some girl crouched in front of me and said "I love you".  I was so faded that I thought it was this girl Laura that I'd been seeing who didn't seem ready to commit to the relationship.  We'd traveled up from Charlottesville in different cars, and set up separate camping arrangements.  I said "I've been waiting to hear you say that" before realizing I had no idea who this girl in front of me was.  There was a brief awkward pause, then she just gave me a hug and danced off.  

Laura and her girlfriends did the rest of that Summer Tour, but I bailed after Buckeye Lake to get back to my job at the health food store.  I liked the job, it was run by the Yogaville ashram, and I was more interested in keeping it than doing the rest of the tour.  I was starting to get burned out on the Mega-Dead scene.  I missed out on some great shows, especially the two at Oxford Speedway in Maine.

Laura got killed in a car wreck later that year right before Thanksgiving.  It's a much longer story.  I was a mess there for a while, but pulled through with the kindness of some friends and unexpected insight on Laura and my relationship from her step-dad, who I'd never met, but sought me out at her memorial service.   What he told me really helped me manage the disbelief, confusion and grief I was dealing with.  I never saw that guy again, but I will always remember his gesture helping me get closure.

The  Blackbird breakout from Alpine still gives me the chills.