Screw Woodstock and reliving the past Im going to Lollapalooza!!!!

by Ted-E on may 26, 2011

I had just graduated college in 1994. I received my degree in Audio Engineering and Music Business. I was a 24 year old NYC club kid / performance artist and I was also waiting tables. During my schooling I was lucky enough to have become an assistant engineer to disco producer Eric Matthews aka Garys Gang. I just recorded Tavares Greatest hits. Summer of 94 was an amazing summer. I refused to go to Woodstock and relive the past. The future was wide open and my friends and I put together our own tour. The plan was to drive from Long Island to see friends at Syracuse University, than make our way to go rock climbing for the first time and than go to Lolla at Saratoga Springs. After Lolla we drove all the way down to New Jersey to go see Steve Winwood and Traffic open for the Grateful Dead. Lollapalooza Saratoga Springs. WOW!!!! What a day. I was with 10 of my best friends. 4 of us just graduated and I was ready to live the dream. LSD was still huge back than and we were all on some. However it started to rain cats and dogs (this was not a hallucination lol) The 5 hits I had in my pocket were going to get ruined so I decided to eat them all!!! My friends watched me throw them all in my mouth and my girlfriend at the time said dont eat them all so I ripped them in half and threw the other half in her mouth. We were a fun loving crew. Professional Recreational we called ourselves. Tribe Called Quest was amazing When the down pour happened we watched The Breeders under cover on the bleechers watching all the kids go crazy. I cant remember if the Breeders opened for George Clinton or vice versa but this is what happened... The sun came out and I ended up crowd surfing. I made my way to the stage and got thrown over the rail. Security was kind enough to escort me back to the entrance way. However in my eager to work in the business acid filled mind lol I thought it would be a great idea to crowd surf back to the front and if security wasnt paying attention (which they werent) I could get backstage. Which of course is what happened. Now I am backstage. There must be a production office somewhere. Sure enough I found production walked in and found two girls with walkie talkies. I spoke with them and told them how I just graduated college and would love to get a job traveling as an assistant engineer. What is the sound guys name and how can I meet him? They told me and said of course he was out in the center of the field (duhh where else would a sound guy be?) I said thank you for your time and walked out of the office!!!! They didnt even ask me if I had passes. As I was walking around I ran into Gary Schneider guitar player for George Clinton he was near his trailer smoking a joint was kind enough to share it with me. We smoked talked about how great the show was. I told him how I got back there and what my dreams were and he said to me Kid theres only one way to go in this business and its to pave your own way. I said thanks and we shook hands and I was about to leave. As I was about to leave The Beastie Boys were walking besides me on their way to the stage. They were cool said whats up and we all walked onto the stage together!!! Everyone in production watched us walk on together. I hung out side stage and rocked out for the first 4 songs until finally someone asked me Where are you passes? I replied oh I left them in production. He said you need to go get them. I said no problem. I walked off the back of the stage with the happiest shit eaten acid grin on my face because I cant believe that I just pulled this all off. My energy was soooooo high that I made my way back through the crowd saying get ready, get ready, here it comes,, because I just knew that the next song was going to be SABOTAGE! Sure enough Mike D dropped the bassline and I was dead center crowdsurfing and moshing having the time of my life. When the Beasties were over I found my friends and told them what just happened. They all laughed their asses off. We also caught I think the Flaming Lips and Verve a few of the side stage acts. I had seen Smashing Pumpkins open for Pearl Jam who opened for Red Hot Chilli Peppers for their Blood Sugar Sex Magic tour. My Beastie Boys experience was so intense, they totally stole the show. Beasties blew Pumpkins off the stage that show. We all had fun and got home safe. Slept and made our way back to Giants Stadium in the am to see Winwood and the Dead. That was the last time I saw Jerry Garcia. I moved to LA and almost exactly a year later from when I saw the dead, Jerry died. It was the end of an era. Oddly enough I landed a job as a casting director in LA. Hollywood life was fun but boring compared to NY. The only person I thought that was creative and lived in LA enough was Perry Farrell. I knew that if I could work and meet Perry that my life and career would change forever. My love and respect for what he has done w Janes Pyros and Lolla he / you are one of the most important people in the business. There are a lot of important people out there and he / you is definitely one of them. So Hallows Eve and Halloween 1996 what happens during production in the day? Set up and nobody knows who anybody is. I showed up with all my costumes and props walked right into the Mayan Theatre followed signs to the dressing room and said this is who I am, this is what I do Ill work for free. Archie Bell said thats cool smoke a joint? I said sure. Than he said you know the songs? I said hell yeah. Showed him some tricks, costumes he said your cool Ted all the dancers dance for free anyway so get in the cage. I guess good energy attracts good energy. My entire motto in life has been If you Dont ask you will never know. If you dont try you wont get anywhere. I became friends with a few of the guy in production and Lolla 1997 I was literally hanging in the truss above the stage watching Korn roll in on their low rider bikes. The kids kicked up so much dirt it was a giant dust ball. Korn and Tool Killed it that year too. I did some sidestage devil sticking. Was in the tent w Pyros for the private show and have to say that was another high light experience. No LSD for that show. lol. We all grow up eventually. There is a time and a place for everything. Professionalism is crucial and my reputation has been based on my reliability. See my website to see where I have gone.... www.ted-e.com Perry thanks. To everyone reading this hope you had a good laugh. I now am the host in charge of the dj booth and tech riders @ Pacha NYC. I just shot Americas Got Talent as well. I would love to come to Lolla and work for you all. Fly me out, put me in a hotel, and let me host in costume and do what I do. Give Love Get Love. Namaste Ted E 917 586 2078 Ted@ted-e.com

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