August 16, 2024 • 21 mins
In the first edition of ACF 411 from the IHeart Podcast Parlor at the Allen County Fair, Russ Decker has a conversation about concerts at the Fair with stories about what goes on behind the scenes.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, welcome to ACF four one one. It's our
first podcast from the Allen County Fair and we're glad
to be part of the iHeart Podcast Parlor. Used to
be the milking parlor here at the Allen County Fair,
but we're going to turn it into a podcast parlor
and it's powered by nutrients. We want to thank them.
We also want to thank Spencer's Sugar Shop over there
(00:21):
inherit April Spencer and her family. They brought us two
plates full of cookies that look just absolutely scrumptious, so
we want to thank her for that. And we also
want to thank our friends down at the Allen County
Dairy Service because they're making milk available. We don't have
any right now, but we will get some. And Alex Wilfore, Engineer,
thank you from iHeart for being here. And then a
(00:43):
special shout out to the Buckland Acres Bistro. It's right
across from where we are at the Dairy Parlor and
they're offering we're going to be awarding this week seven
twenty dollars gift certificates to their concession stand here to
some of our best kid guests. So as we start
entered through the course of the affair interviewing our junior
(01:06):
fair folks. We'll be awarding some gift certificates, so that'll
be pretty cool. So joining me in the podcast parlor
for our first episode from the County Fair is Charlie
Whitell And I've known Charlie for a long long time,
probably twenty thirty years.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Oh yes, yeah, it's got to be at least that
long because it goes back to the nineties, early nineties.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Yes, a long time. So Charlie, if you don't know
Charlie is mister concert, I remember him. So we go
clear back to the old Saint.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Jude Jude fella. That's yep, yep.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
And but for the twenty nine years that you say
was twenty nine, you've been helping produce the concerts here
at the Fair, so a lot of you've seen a
lot of artists in twenty nine years.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Oh yes, we have been through quite a few. Some'm
in the mud and that's not all always fun, but
it's really amazing how an act comes in and you know,
you have a Sometimes you can have a huge audience,
(02:12):
but they don't know what really goes on behind that
stage or with that stage, because we bring the stage
in now on Wednesday night just to park it. We
build it on a Thursday, sounding lights on a Friday,
and the band comes in on a Saturday morning, and
then we put everything up on that stage. And the
(02:34):
most remarkable thing is that we tear it all down
to dirt that night and then it drives off and
it's all put up somewhere else. Yeah, that is the
amazing part.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
So let's start when you're putting a concert together, it
starts with booking the right act. And so let's talk
about what goes into picking who's going to entertain at
the Allen County Fair.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
There's there's a lot that goes into that. And the way,
you know, well a variety attractions is who purchase purchases
our acts for us, and or we purchased through them.
But they will give us a list, and it used
to start in October and then we would go through
(03:21):
that list, you know, say okay, this is our number one,
number two, number three, and sometimes you don't get any
of them because it's all about routing.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
You know.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Of course, if they're playing in California on Friday night,
they can't play Limo on Saturday night. So but a
lot of that goes into it, and it you know,
it takes a lot, and sometimes you lose a lot,
you know, because it's not easy. And this year was
one of those years when we went to a many
(03:55):
mini acts that we wanted. I mean, you know, everybody says, well,
why didn't you get Lady Wilson, Well, we tried, why
don't you get Parker McCollum, We tried, why don't you
get Bi Zerman. We tried and there was about twelve
acts and we've tried to get and this year it
came down to Brothers Osborne. That was the one that
(04:16):
was available. And so you know, that's the way it works,
you know.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
And in the entertainment business, they're not all home runs everyone.
I mean last year, I mean, Hardy was an incredible show.
I mean sold out in what fourteen fifteen minutes, twelve
thousand seats. You're not going to do that every year,
you just it was just it was the right band
at the right time, at the right price, and when
when the trifecta happens, it's a good show.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
We've had one band that sold out the first day
other than Hardy, but it took from nine o'clock in
the morning to one o'clock in the afternoon, and that
was def Leppard.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
I was going to guess Alabama because that was a
good show. We've had them.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Twice, right, we had we had them twice and so
over to every seat.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
So were you doing the concerts when we had Tom
Jones out here?
Speaker 2 (05:05):
No, okay, because I was my first.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Year, all right, because that's how old I am. I
remember back in my reporter days. Tom Jones one year
was the headliner out here and we did his interviews
over at the hotel where he was staying because he
didn't want anybody backstage went allowed. So but he actually
did a press a formal press conference over at the
at the hotel where he was staying, and that was
(05:30):
pretty incredible because he had a full orchestra. I mean
it was it was an entire orchestra on stage with
Tom Jones. And that was at the height of his popularity,
like a Vegas show. It was like, holy, this is cool.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Yeah, now you know, you bring up the backstage. We
run a really tight backstage. We don't we don't like
extra people back there. We don't know what they're there.
They went back there why they're back there, you know,
so we run a really tight backstage. Someone did get
back there and knock one's ezy tops door, and their
(06:08):
tour manager kind of let me know that that should
not happen. And I can't use the language she used,
but I got the message.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Yeah. Yeah, So let's talk about I want to back
up in a little bit. We'll talk about putting up
stage lights and what's all involved. But I want to
just talk about the day of the show, so in
this case, tomorrow, But take me through your day. You're
out here early, and then when does the artist arrive,
what's the band arrived, how's all that? When do they
(06:39):
do sound checks? How? How does your day lay out
in front of you on the concert day.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Well, I'm always the first one here and I get
I usually pull in sometime around six thirty on show day.
Now tomorrow, the band is going to load in at
ten thirty. But we got some other some lighting stuff
or not lighting, but some sound stuff that we have
(07:06):
to put out to front of house early. So we're
going to start about nine o'clock. But I get here
in order to, you know, make sure everything is we're
supposed to be, and that we're ready, and then when
the when the band shows up, the very first thing
when the band band shows up is usually the semis.
(07:27):
That's what we have to unload. And now we're to
my stage hands. But we get them parked. I talked
to them, tell them we're going to park them. Then
the buses come in and then you talk to the
lead bus. You talk to him and then he tells
everybody where they're going to park. They get to choose
where they want to park and how they want to park.
(07:48):
And I think the most buses we had here was
like seven. I think that was what Tobe Keith we
had a We had a lot of buses here. I
didn't know where I was going to put them all,
but they figured it out, you know, and that was
good that that saved me a lot. And then you know,
you're talking talking about the stage hands. Now I have
(08:10):
a really solid group of stage hands. And we've been
doing some other We got picked up some other shows.
We did the Country Rubble Rumble this year, which was
a two day show here at the Fairgrounds at the Pavilion,
and we also did all Glades County and but that
is really the nucleus of the whole thing, because if
(08:35):
you don't have good stage hands, you don't have a
good day, okay, And when you have good stage hands
that everything goes smooth. To act is happy, uh, and
everybody's happy. You get done, and then about between two
and three they do a sound check that will take
(08:55):
you know, about an hour that they do that, and
then you load in your your the first band that's
going to play, you know, you load them in and
then they do their soundcheck. Immediately after that, you do
a security meeting at five o'clock with the headliner, and
then at six point thirty, Yeah, gates gates open and
(09:20):
that's when everybody floods in and you know, it goes
to their seats, and that's when we're doing our last
minute things that we need to get done. But it's
usually pretty well set by that time. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
So you know, everybody hears these stories about artists and
peculiarities that some may have and something weird in your
twenty nine years, if you had anybody ask for anything
really odd that you had to scramble to figure.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
It out, Oh yes, this was this was a good one,
big time rush. Okay, I'm reading down through their writer
and I see where they want a puppy in the
production trailer. And I called up Jabag, who was the
person who really put me out there very first we met,
(10:15):
you know. And so I called jay Ub and I said,
I'm not putting a puppy in the production office. He said, well,
he said that you talked that over with them. That's
up to you. So I call the guy to advance
the show and he says, well, let me go over
the things I want to go over first, and he
does and then he comes. I know you read about
(10:36):
the puppy, he said. Forget about the puppy, he said.
I went. I went to a show and I go
into the production office and there's a big Saint Bernard
sitting on the bed. I said, well, I had two
great days lined up for you. Now there is one
(10:58):
other thing that other people have brought up to me
and have said, you know, we're here where they asked
for just like green emin ms. Yeah, And I said
that's true. I said, I've read several writers like that.
I said, do you know why they do that? Well, no,
I just think they're being foolish. I said, no, No,
(11:20):
they want to know that you read that writer. That's right,
and I read them. Yep, I read every word in
that writer.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
So I know, you know, we talked, So Charlie knows.
From back in my old days, my wife and I
promoted produced some concerts and one of them we did
was the Beach Boys when they were here in nineteen
ninety two, ninety one, ninety one, And so they had
a thing in their writers. Sometimes you can look at
(11:49):
they seem like an oddball thing, but when you actually
read it, you know exactly what happened somewhere else. So
in their contract, I always found it unique that you
had to have different are towels for the Beach Boys
before the show and after the show. And you just
know that somebody handed them a sweaty towel once and
so it's like that's not gonna happen anymore. So if
(12:11):
they have white towels to use before the show, you've
got to have, you know, some other color for them
to use when the show's over, because they don't want
to use the towels that they used before the show.
But sometimes so it's weird stuff that you see in writers,
But a lot of times, if you read it, it's like,
I know what happened here and it's like, okay, but
that makes and there are other stuff in the contract
(12:33):
you just don't talk about, so that can be pretty funny.
But so let's talk about let's talk about what people
don't see. You know, you sort of ran through it.
But so yesterday I was out here, so that would
have been Thursday. You're starting to put the stages coming up.
It's here today, tops on, starting to get some stuff,
(12:53):
So walk us through. You know what it takes to
It's not like we just like put it. You're not
putting on a form out on the field and all
of a sudden you got a stage.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Well see, okay, there's been a lot of changes on
stages and that that came from Indianapolis when when they
had that problem because we used to I caught it
an erector set because you had to build the whole thing.
Now we use hydraulic stages, and that's what you saw
out there. So it comes looking like a semi and
(13:25):
then everything folds out.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
It's like a transformer guy.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Yeah exactly. And you know, well, we have a smaller
stage this year. It's a stage line three twenty and
it only takes four people two and a half hours.
To really set it up. But then when you build
wings on it and that that's what takes more people.
So I had I had ten stage hands out there
(13:50):
and getting everything. But then we after we get that done,
then we have to put out the bike rack and
get all that laid out, you know, to the beer tants,
the hospitality tents. We took her to that and then
plywood o s B board. That is a big thing
because we are a fair you know. Uh variety calls
(14:11):
it the mud and dust Tour, and they are not lying.
So we lay down a lot of plywood for people
to walk on because you want to get all that
mud up on the stage, you know, because then somebody's
got to power wash that thing. And we can't powerwash
it here because all that water would run off.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
On that well. You know, it's having helped you out
for a number of years back there. It's when when
the weather's not cooperating, it's it's a nightmare. Like you
talked about bringing in truckloads of maults. People listening might
not even what's the malts doing for you? I mean
you're just covering.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Mud, right, We're covering mud. That's exactly what we do.
We we uh. And you know what people don't really
realize is that some of these rains that we've had,
I've been on show day and you know, it took
a lot of people out front of house. And when
I say front of house, that's the front of the
(15:10):
stage where the audience is, and they're out there throwing
mulch so that you have a place to stand or sit.
You know. Well, I remember coming to a show with
Alan Jackson and it had rain and my next door
neighbor lost his shoe in the mud. And the first
(15:33):
place I went to, because it's before I work shows,
first place I went to was the swine Barn to
hose me down from the waist down because it was
all I was all mud, you know. And so we've
really gotten a handle on that and we try to
make it as best we can for the audience, because
that's who this show is for. It's not for me,
(15:55):
It's it's for you.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
You know, And I think you know you always keep
that in mind. This is about the fans, the people
that are coming there and want to hear that artists perform,
and we want to present that artist in the best
light we can because it's a big deal for people
to see their favorite star perform live. Yes, and you
want it to be a memorable experience for him.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
You know one thing that I have said to people
that you know, I like, I love music, okay, and
I listened to a lot of music, but I don't
necessarily look at myself as a fan an artist. And
when I when I stand backstage and I watch and
help put all this together the bank stage, I get
(16:37):
chills because that's that's my niche. You know, that's what
I love to do. And I'm like the fan that's
out front who's enjoying what happened.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
You know, you know, I always I am glad you
said that, because it's kind of I always thought I
was being weird. But when my wife and I were
producing shows and we did it for about a decade,
the biggest thrill I got was standing backstage and watching
the crowd having a good time. And for me, that
was the show I watched. The music was great, but
(17:10):
just seeing you know, whether it was two thousand people
or it was ten thousand people, they're having fun, they're
having a really good they're creating some memories, and it's
like it just makes you feel good. It's like, yep,
we put this together, and they're all gonna leave here
with the have a really good night at the fair.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
And exactly, you know, And the ones that I really
like to see are the kids, because you know, his
are everything. You know.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Big Time Rush was so much fun because of that.
All those kids right at the fence their faces lighting
up because they think they they kind a glimpse of
one of their favorite stars.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
And I will tell you a funny story about Big
Time Rush.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
All right, I like it.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
And Okay. They do a fair manager's convention in in January,
and it's in Columbus, and so I was working for
a variety of attractions at the time, and so they
call in the fareboard or the entertainment committee for the
(18:12):
Allen County Fair. Because all these fair boards are fares
are down there, and we're sitting there, we're talking about
Big Time Rush. None of us knew who Big Time
Rush was. So one guy calls his daughter, she's about
eight years old, Oh yeah, yeah, I love Big Time Rush. Well,
I come home. I have two six year old granddaughters
(18:32):
that are two months apart, and I said, hey, have
you heard of Big Time Rush? They started singing their songs.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Yeah, that's when you know you got it.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
I had people calling me up, can you give me
tickets for my kids?
Speaker 1 (18:47):
So yeah, Big Time Rush was a fun concert to
work because I remember standing at the doors that just
opened in all these little girls were coming up, staying
right at the fence to look backstage. I remember one
of the members of Big Time Rush headed up to
we have it's kind of like a porta Potti on steroids.
(19:08):
It's a big trailer up there, but that's what it is.
And one of the members of Big Time Rush was
walking into that and the girls like, they're so and so,
what do you think he's doing? And I looked at
the momb she smiled, she knew exactly, and I said,
I think it's just freshening up for the show. Okay,
that's really cool. But it was just but they were
just at that age just seeing her face. I mean
(19:31):
that for her made the whole night because she got
a glimpse of him that nobody else saw before he
was and it was just it was exciting. And I
remember I took them down to took one of the
Big Time Rush down to the local YMCA to work
out before the show, and there was a swim beat
and we did great walking into the YMCA until one
(19:51):
little female swimmer spotted one.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
That's all it takes. That's all.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
And the next thing I know, we're like we're surrounded
by like four screaming girls and their moms, all leading pictures.
And I remember looking at the guy and said, hey,
I can get you out of here if you want.
He's like, nope, this is fine. He stayed there in
post for every picture and with all those girls. So
it was a great experience. And obviously, again we talk
about the fair about is about creating memories, and they
(20:19):
created a lot of memories for a lot of people there.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
And they were the only band that I know they
did this. Only three of them showed up and they
got on a car and I think I think it
was the sheriff drove them down the midway in that
girls were chasing them all the way through. I mean,
it was hilarious, good memories.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Charlie Whitell, the man behind all the concerts at the
Allen County Fair, thanks for coming into a c F
four and one for our podcast, the very first episode
from the Allen County Fair.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Thank you for having me russ I really appreciate this,
all right, And
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Coming up next we're going to have the King and
Queen will be here just a couple of minutes on
ACF four o one one from the Allen County Fair
All right, welcome to ACF four one one. It's our
first podcast from the Allen County Fair and we're glad
to be part of the iHeart Podcast Parlor. Used to
be the milking parlor here at the Allen County Fair,
but we're going to turn it into a podcast parlor
and it's powered by nutrients. We want to thank them.
We also want to thank Spencer's Sugar Shop over there
(00:21):
inherit April Spencer and her family. They brought us two
plates full of cookies that look just absolutely scrumptious, so
we want to thank her for that. And we also
want to thank our friends down at the Allen County
Dairy Service because they're making milk available. We don't have
any right now, but we will get some. And Alex Wilfore, Engineer,
thank you from iHeart for being here. And then a
(00:43):
special shout out to the Buckland Acres Bistro. It's right
across from where we are at the Dairy Parlor and
they're offering we're going to be awarding this week seven
twenty dollars gift certificates to their concession stand here to
some of our best kid guests. So as we start
entered through the course of the affair interviewing our junior
(01:06):
fair folks. We'll be awarding some gift certificates, so that'll
be pretty cool. So joining me in the podcast parlor
for our first episode from the County Fair is Charlie
Whitell And I've known Charlie for a long long time,
probably twenty thirty years.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Oh yes, yeah, it's got to be at least that
long because it goes back to the nineties, early nineties.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Yes, a long time. So Charlie, if you don't know
Charlie is mister concert, I remember him. So we go
clear back to the old Saint.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Jude Jude fella. That's yep, yep.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
And but for the twenty nine years that you say
was twenty nine, you've been helping produce the concerts here
at the Fair, so a lot of you've seen a
lot of artists in twenty nine years.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Oh yes, we have been through quite a few. Some'm
in the mud and that's not all always fun, but
it's really amazing how an act comes in and you know,
you have a Sometimes you can have a huge audience,
(02:12):
but they don't know what really goes on behind that
stage or with that stage, because we bring the stage
in now on Wednesday night just to park it. We
build it on a Thursday, sounding lights on a Friday,
and the band comes in on a Saturday morning, and
then we put everything up on that stage. And the
(02:34):
most remarkable thing is that we tear it all down
to dirt that night and then it drives off and
it's all put up somewhere else. Yeah, that is the
amazing part.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
So let's start when you're putting a concert together, it
starts with booking the right act. And so let's talk
about what goes into picking who's going to entertain at
the Allen County Fair.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
There's there's a lot that goes into that. And the way,
you know, well a variety attractions is who purchase purchases
our acts for us, and or we purchased through them.
But they will give us a list, and it used
to start in October and then we would go through
(03:21):
that list, you know, say okay, this is our number one,
number two, number three, and sometimes you don't get any
of them because it's all about routing.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
You know.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Of course, if they're playing in California on Friday night,
they can't play Limo on Saturday night. So but a
lot of that goes into it, and it you know,
it takes a lot, and sometimes you lose a lot,
you know, because it's not easy. And this year was
one of those years when we went to a many
(03:55):
mini acts that we wanted. I mean, you know, everybody says, well,
why didn't you get Lady Wilson, Well, we tried, why
don't you get Parker McCollum, We tried, why don't you
get Bi Zerman. We tried and there was about twelve
acts and we've tried to get and this year it
came down to Brothers Osborne. That was the one that
(04:16):
was available. And so you know, that's the way it works,
you know.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
And in the entertainment business, they're not all home runs everyone.
I mean last year, I mean, Hardy was an incredible show.
I mean sold out in what fourteen fifteen minutes, twelve
thousand seats. You're not going to do that every year,
you just it was just it was the right band
at the right time, at the right price, and when
when the trifecta happens, it's a good show.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
We've had one band that sold out the first day
other than Hardy, but it took from nine o'clock in
the morning to one o'clock in the afternoon, and that
was def Leppard.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
I was going to guess Alabama because that was a
good show. We've had them.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Twice, right, we had we had them twice and so
over to every seat.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
So were you doing the concerts when we had Tom
Jones out here?
Speaker 2 (05:05):
No, okay, because I was my first.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Year, all right, because that's how old I am. I
remember back in my reporter days. Tom Jones one year
was the headliner out here and we did his interviews
over at the hotel where he was staying because he
didn't want anybody backstage went allowed. So but he actually
did a press a formal press conference over at the
at the hotel where he was staying, and that was
(05:30):
pretty incredible because he had a full orchestra. I mean
it was it was an entire orchestra on stage with
Tom Jones. And that was at the height of his popularity,
like a Vegas show. It was like, holy, this is cool.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Yeah, now you know, you bring up the backstage. We
run a really tight backstage. We don't we don't like
extra people back there. We don't know what they're there.
They went back there why they're back there, you know,
so we run a really tight backstage. Someone did get
back there and knock one's ezy tops door, and their
(06:08):
tour manager kind of let me know that that should
not happen. And I can't use the language she used,
but I got the message.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Yeah. Yeah, So let's talk about I want to back
up in a little bit. We'll talk about putting up
stage lights and what's all involved. But I want to
just talk about the day of the show, so in
this case, tomorrow, But take me through your day. You're
out here early, and then when does the artist arrive,
what's the band arrived, how's all that? When do they
(06:39):
do sound checks? How? How does your day lay out
in front of you on the concert day.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Well, I'm always the first one here and I get
I usually pull in sometime around six thirty on show day.
Now tomorrow, the band is going to load in at
ten thirty. But we got some other some lighting stuff
or not lighting, but some sound stuff that we have
(07:06):
to put out to front of house early. So we're
going to start about nine o'clock. But I get here
in order to, you know, make sure everything is we're
supposed to be, and that we're ready, and then when
the when the band shows up, the very first thing
when the band band shows up is usually the semis.
(07:27):
That's what we have to unload. And now we're to
my stage hands. But we get them parked. I talked
to them, tell them we're going to park them. Then
the buses come in and then you talk to the
lead bus. You talk to him and then he tells
everybody where they're going to park. They get to choose
where they want to park and how they want to park.
(07:48):
And I think the most buses we had here was
like seven. I think that was what Tobe Keith we
had a We had a lot of buses here. I
didn't know where I was going to put them all,
but they figured it out, you know, and that was
good that that saved me a lot. And then you know,
you're talking talking about the stage hands. Now I have
(08:10):
a really solid group of stage hands. And we've been
doing some other We got picked up some other shows.
We did the Country Rubble Rumble this year, which was
a two day show here at the Fairgrounds at the Pavilion,
and we also did all Glades County and but that
is really the nucleus of the whole thing, because if
(08:35):
you don't have good stage hands, you don't have a
good day, okay, And when you have good stage hands
that everything goes smooth. To act is happy, uh, and
everybody's happy. You get done, and then about between two
and three they do a sound check that will take
(08:55):
you know, about an hour that they do that, and
then you load in your your the first band that's
going to play, you know, you load them in and
then they do their soundcheck. Immediately after that, you do
a security meeting at five o'clock with the headliner, and
then at six point thirty, Yeah, gates gates open and
(09:20):
that's when everybody floods in and you know, it goes
to their seats, and that's when we're doing our last
minute things that we need to get done. But it's
usually pretty well set by that time. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
So you know, everybody hears these stories about artists and
peculiarities that some may have and something weird in your
twenty nine years, if you had anybody ask for anything
really odd that you had to scramble to figure.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
It out, Oh yes, this was this was a good one,
big time rush. Okay, I'm reading down through their writer
and I see where they want a puppy in the
production trailer. And I called up Jabag, who was the
person who really put me out there very first we met,
(10:15):
you know. And so I called jay Ub and I said,
I'm not putting a puppy in the production office. He said, well,
he said that you talked that over with them. That's
up to you. So I call the guy to advance
the show and he says, well, let me go over
the things I want to go over first, and he
does and then he comes. I know you read about
(10:36):
the puppy, he said. Forget about the puppy, he said.
I went. I went to a show and I go
into the production office and there's a big Saint Bernard
sitting on the bed. I said, well, I had two
great days lined up for you. Now there is one
(10:58):
other thing that other people have brought up to me
and have said, you know, we're here where they asked
for just like green emin ms. Yeah, And I said
that's true. I said, I've read several writers like that.
I said, do you know why they do that? Well, no,
I just think they're being foolish. I said, no, No,
(11:20):
they want to know that you read that writer. That's right,
and I read them. Yep, I read every word in
that writer.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
So I know, you know, we talked, So Charlie knows.
From back in my old days, my wife and I
promoted produced some concerts and one of them we did
was the Beach Boys when they were here in nineteen
ninety two, ninety one, ninety one, And so they had
a thing in their writers. Sometimes you can look at
(11:49):
they seem like an oddball thing, but when you actually
read it, you know exactly what happened somewhere else. So
in their contract, I always found it unique that you
had to have different are towels for the Beach Boys
before the show and after the show. And you just
know that somebody handed them a sweaty towel once and
so it's like that's not gonna happen anymore. So if
(12:11):
they have white towels to use before the show, you've
got to have, you know, some other color for them
to use when the show's over, because they don't want
to use the towels that they used before the show.
But sometimes so it's weird stuff that you see in writers,
But a lot of times, if you read it, it's like,
I know what happened here and it's like, okay, but
that makes and there are other stuff in the contract
(12:33):
you just don't talk about, so that can be pretty funny.
But so let's talk about let's talk about what people
don't see. You know, you sort of ran through it.
But so yesterday I was out here, so that would
have been Thursday. You're starting to put the stages coming up.
It's here today, tops on, starting to get some stuff,
(12:53):
So walk us through. You know what it takes to
It's not like we just like put it. You're not
putting on a form out on the field and all
of a sudden you got a stage.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Well see, okay, there's been a lot of changes on
stages and that that came from Indianapolis when when they
had that problem because we used to I caught it
an erector set because you had to build the whole thing.
Now we use hydraulic stages, and that's what you saw
out there. So it comes looking like a semi and
(13:25):
then everything folds out.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
It's like a transformer guy.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Yeah exactly. And you know, well, we have a smaller
stage this year. It's a stage line three twenty and
it only takes four people two and a half hours.
To really set it up. But then when you build
wings on it and that that's what takes more people.
So I had I had ten stage hands out there
(13:50):
and getting everything. But then we after we get that done,
then we have to put out the bike rack and
get all that laid out, you know, to the beer tants,
the hospitality tents. We took her to that and then
plywood o s B board. That is a big thing
because we are a fair you know. Uh variety calls
(14:11):
it the mud and dust Tour, and they are not lying.
So we lay down a lot of plywood for people
to walk on because you want to get all that
mud up on the stage, you know, because then somebody's
got to power wash that thing. And we can't powerwash
it here because all that water would run off.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
On that well. You know, it's having helped you out
for a number of years back there. It's when when
the weather's not cooperating, it's it's a nightmare. Like you
talked about bringing in truckloads of maults. People listening might
not even what's the malts doing for you? I mean
you're just covering.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Mud, right, We're covering mud. That's exactly what we do.
We we uh. And you know what people don't really
realize is that some of these rains that we've had,
I've been on show day and you know, it took
a lot of people out front of house. And when
I say front of house, that's the front of the
(15:10):
stage where the audience is, and they're out there throwing
mulch so that you have a place to stand or sit.
You know. Well, I remember coming to a show with
Alan Jackson and it had rain and my next door
neighbor lost his shoe in the mud. And the first
(15:33):
place I went to, because it's before I work shows,
first place I went to was the swine Barn to
hose me down from the waist down because it was
all I was all mud, you know. And so we've
really gotten a handle on that and we try to
make it as best we can for the audience, because
that's who this show is for. It's not for me,
(15:55):
It's it's for you.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
You know, And I think you know you always keep
that in mind. This is about the fans, the people
that are coming there and want to hear that artists perform,
and we want to present that artist in the best
light we can because it's a big deal for people
to see their favorite star perform live. Yes, and you
want it to be a memorable experience for him.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
You know one thing that I have said to people
that you know, I like, I love music, okay, and
I listened to a lot of music, but I don't
necessarily look at myself as a fan an artist. And
when I when I stand backstage and I watch and
help put all this together the bank stage, I get
(16:37):
chills because that's that's my niche. You know, that's what
I love to do. And I'm like the fan that's
out front who's enjoying what happened.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
You know, you know, I always I am glad you
said that, because it's kind of I always thought I
was being weird. But when my wife and I were
producing shows and we did it for about a decade,
the biggest thrill I got was standing backstage and watching
the crowd having a good time. And for me, that
was the show I watched. The music was great, but
(17:10):
just seeing you know, whether it was two thousand people
or it was ten thousand people, they're having fun, they're
having a really good they're creating some memories, and it's
like it just makes you feel good. It's like, yep,
we put this together, and they're all gonna leave here
with the have a really good night at the fair.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
And exactly, you know, And the ones that I really
like to see are the kids, because you know, his
are everything. You know.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Big Time Rush was so much fun because of that.
All those kids right at the fence their faces lighting
up because they think they they kind a glimpse of
one of their favorite stars.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
And I will tell you a funny story about Big
Time Rush.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
All right, I like it.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
And Okay. They do a fair manager's convention in in January,
and it's in Columbus, and so I was working for
a variety of attractions at the time, and so they
call in the fareboard or the entertainment committee for the
(18:12):
Allen County Fair. Because all these fair boards are fares
are down there, and we're sitting there, we're talking about
Big Time Rush. None of us knew who Big Time
Rush was. So one guy calls his daughter, she's about
eight years old, Oh yeah, yeah, I love Big Time Rush. Well,
I come home. I have two six year old granddaughters
(18:32):
that are two months apart, and I said, hey, have
you heard of Big Time Rush? They started singing their songs.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Yeah, that's when you know you got it.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
I had people calling me up, can you give me
tickets for my kids?
Speaker 1 (18:47):
So yeah, Big Time Rush was a fun concert to
work because I remember standing at the doors that just
opened in all these little girls were coming up, staying
right at the fence to look backstage. I remember one
of the members of Big Time Rush headed up to
we have it's kind of like a porta Potti on steroids.
(19:08):
It's a big trailer up there, but that's what it is.
And one of the members of Big Time Rush was
walking into that and the girls like, they're so and so,
what do you think he's doing? And I looked at
the momb she smiled, she knew exactly, and I said,
I think it's just freshening up for the show. Okay,
that's really cool. But it was just but they were
just at that age just seeing her face. I mean
(19:31):
that for her made the whole night because she got
a glimpse of him that nobody else saw before he
was and it was just it was exciting. And I
remember I took them down to took one of the
Big Time Rush down to the local YMCA to work
out before the show, and there was a swim beat
and we did great walking into the YMCA until one
(19:51):
little female swimmer spotted one.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
That's all it takes. That's all.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
And the next thing I know, we're like we're surrounded
by like four screaming girls and their moms, all leading pictures.
And I remember looking at the guy and said, hey,
I can get you out of here if you want.
He's like, nope, this is fine. He stayed there in
post for every picture and with all those girls. So
it was a great experience. And obviously, again we talk
about the fair about is about creating memories, and they
(20:19):
created a lot of memories for a lot of people there.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
And they were the only band that I know they
did this. Only three of them showed up and they
got on a car and I think I think it
was the sheriff drove them down the midway in that
girls were chasing them all the way through. I mean,
it was hilarious, good memories.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Charlie Whitell, the man behind all the concerts at the
Allen County Fair, thanks for coming into a c F
four and one for our podcast, the very first episode
from the Allen County Fair.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Thank you for having me russ I really appreciate this,
all right, And
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Coming up next we're going to have the King and
Queen will be here just a couple of minutes on
ACF four o one one from the Allen County Fair
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