TONE TIPS FROM THE ROAD
PETER STROUD
The DNC Gig
Over the years I’ve played with Sheryl Crow,
we’ve done many memorable and meaningful
events—VH1’s Save The Music Foundation on
the White House lawn with President Clinton
and First Lady Hillary in attendance; 2002
Olympics in Salt Lake City, including a private
party for the U.S. Ski Team; and countless
charity events attended by prominent political figures, notable philanthropists, celebrities and sports figures all supporting various
causes. To play at these events is humbling
and inspiring; the latest of these events was
the Democratic National Convention in support of Barack Obama’s nomination for the
2008 Presidential ticket.
the local regional airport, and our van driver
couldn’t find the airport—“Hello Cleveland!”
Thanks to our iPhones and 3Gs with GPS,
we finally spotted it. Once we landed in
Denver, the vans picked us up on the tarmac
and whisked us away to our hotel…and got
lost again.
What could have easily been a complete clus-ter-&#$% appeared to be coming to life right
on schedule. I’m sure there were plenty who’d
beg to differ, but from our point of view it was
well-organized and on time.
Sheryl had been asked to be a part of “Green
Sunday,” an event preceding the
DNC held at the fabulous Red
Rocks Amphitheater just outside
Denver (as seen in U2’s Sunday
Bloody Sunday). My bandmate Tim
Smith and I joined her for a five
song acoustic set, followed by the
same from Dave Matthews and
Sugarland to an almost full house
attended by politicians, invited supporters of Obama, and those recognizing the need to bring attention
to the DNC the issues of global
warming and the environment. It
was quite an inspiring evening, and
one that had been planned into our
tour itinerary…unlike the invitation
that came the day after the show
from the Obama camp for Sheryl
to perform at the Invesco Field/ Mile High
Stadium for the DNC’s closing day ceremony
with Obama’s acceptance speech.
Thursday at 9:00 a.m. was lobby call. Vans took
us to Invesco Field for our 11:00 a.m. soundcheck. Security, as you’d imagine, was beyond
extreme. A circumference perimeter wall was
established a half-mile around the stadium
with concrete barriers and 10’ high fencing.
Security personnel—blank-faced, hard-looking
professionals in plain blue jumpsuits with metal
detectors—scanned underneath our van. Some
We soundchecked at 11: 30 a.m., not realizing
we were being broadcast live on CNN and
other news channels (my friends texted me:
“Dude! You’re on CNN!”). For the rest of the
afternoon we hung out in our dressing room,
occasionally rehearsing our tunes, waiting for
our 5: 30 show time. Sheryl did interviews.
Other artists performing that day included
Stevie Wonder and Michael McDonald. It was
pretty cool hearing that unmistakable, leg-
endary voice of Mr. McDonald warming up in
the next room, but I never had a
chance to run into Stevie.
After a minor delay we hit the stage
at 5: 45. The energy in the stadium
was electric and exhilarating. Our
performance was broadcast live on
CNN in its entirety, and most other
networks cut to it between interviews that were being held in front
of the stage. I’d estimate the crowd
at 60,000. We played “A Change
Would Do You Good,” “Out of
Our Heads,” and “Everyday is a
Winding Road,” and it was over in
a flash.
Without the slightest thought of declining the
offer, Sheryl and management shoehorned the
date into our calendar, which had us playing
the very same evening in Bend, Oregon. The
logistical feat to accomplish? Perform at the
Obama Rally at 5: 30 p.m. (GMT), then travel to
Bend to hit the stage at 9: 15 p.m. (PDT—they
pushed our show back from its previously
scheduled 7: 30 p.m.).
wore black gloves with metal knuckles, perhaps
capable of breaking out car windows. We drove
past a National Guard post with troops milling
in and out of tents. Next was an emergency
vehicle staging point full of fire trucks and
ambulances; they were prepared for the worst
possible scenario.
By 6:00 p.m., we were running
straight out of the stadium to
waiting vans. We were concerned that rush
hour traffic would slow us down getting back
to the airport, only to discover they had
closed down the entire highway system feed-
ing into and leaving downtown. We were the
only vehicles on I- 25 leaving the city—very
surreal. In the opposite direction towards the
stadium, there were lines of snow plows set
up as impassable roadblocks.
We pulled it off. Our private charter flight
landed in Bend, Oregon on schedule and we
arrived at our gig with 45 minutes to spare,
then hit the stage once again!
The DNC organizers arranged a private charter
jet to pick up Sheryl and party immediately
after our gig Wednesday eve prior in Boise,
Idaho. We did a “runner” straight off of the
stage, jumping into vans and heading to
Once through the security/credentials check-in,
we passed through metal detectors and were
ushered to our dressing room area. The stadium at that point was buzzing with final preparations, excitement…and tons of security. SWAT
teams and Secret Service, some fully armed
wearing Kevlar vests lined most every corridor.
To witness such an event taking shape is mind-boggling. There were hundreds of media trucks
from around the world. The stage was hi-tech
and magnificent, the sound system impeccable.
Peter Stroud
is co-founder of 65amps
sherylcrow.com
65amps.com
