Having always wondered what sort of preparations went into the making of a concert, I jumped at the chance to go behind the scenes at The Big X Summer Ball, promoted by the X radio station WQXA, and observe first-hand the ins and outs of the concert business. After several phone calls, I found myself wandering into the backstage area of the Star Pavilion, intern Natalie Khouri trailing faithfully behind me. Controlled chaos was the name of the day as the stage was erected to house the five bands participating in the Summer Ball. Mark Bodenhorn swept down upon us, walkie talkie in hand with his faithful intern, Brad Czuday, trailing behind him. (It was a trailing intern kinda day.) Mark informed me that he had lined up audiences for me with many of that day’s controlling presences for which I thanked him profusely. We started off by tracking down Ron Bleecher, Promotions Director of the X and media coordinator of that day’s event. Ron was kind enough to take a little time and talk to me about the origins of The Big X Summer Ball. Ron stated that they had been talking to Electric Factory (EFC) Concerts for a year or so about doing a special promotion in the summer. One day in April, EFC called him and said that the Mighty Mighty Bosstones would be available on May 28th and asked if they wanted to do the summer special this year. The X folk talked it over and decided to go with it. And so a festival was born. Several other acts including Cherry Poppin’ Daddies and Samiam were added to the roster. Then, Ron says, “I got a phone call that Green Day was to be in the York area that day, but the show was unconfirmed. So, we put in a call to their publicist and next thing we knew, Green Day was on the schedule. Then it was just a matter of selling sponsorships, contacting vendors, of which we have twenty-five, and promoting the event like crazy.”

When I asked him what the day of the concert had entailed for him, Ron stated that he had gotten to the site at about 9:30 (the concert was set to begin at 4:00) and had been coordinating the promotion staff, the set-up of their booth and broadcast station, the decorations and the banners for their sponsors, as well as interviewing the artists and coordinating the on-air talent that would be making the announcements at the concert. Feeling his attention wander to all the things he had yet to do, I thanked Ron and got out of his busy way.

Next on my list of interviews was Gary Ferenchak of Electric Factory Concerts. He was the calmest and most laidback person in the area which was weird considering he was also one of the busiest. Sporting a battered fishing-guy hat minus the ubiquitous lures, Gary very nicely took time out to talk to us about his contribution to the Ball. He stated his job had started about six weeks ago when the scheduling department of EFC had handed him the Summer X Ball and said “make it happen”. Gary stated that he has been on the phone ever since; determining the amount of labor needed to set up the concert then making sure it got there and knew what to do, figuring out who would do the catering, and contacting the publicists of the bands. Through the latter series of phone calls, he determined the requirements of the bands as to dressing rooms, catering and set-up. When I asked him if most bands’ needs are difficult to meet, he shrugged and said, “No. Most bands are very easy to deal with and you have no major problems. When they agree to do a festival like this, they all understand that there are compromises that have to be made when it comes to the set-up, lights and sound equipment. That is provided by the venue. They generally even share drum sets. You just have to make sure that such things as their catering requirements are met. You know, if they have vegetarians or diabetics in their entourage.” Somewhat vaguely disappointed, as I had expected to hear that most bands are difficult to deal with (the eagerly bruited about tales of the lead singer who won’t go on unless they have chilled Yoo Hoo and quails eggs or whatever waiting for them backstage), I gave up trying to get him to give me any juicy details. It seems that all the bands at the Summer X Ball were very polite. Go figure.

Gary did go on to say, however, that if something goes wrong, it’s his job to make sure it’s put right as quickly as possible. He related a story about a concert in Philadelphia where right before the bands started to play, the power went out. Gary immediately sent people off to Home Depot to buy a bunch of battery powered-lamps and had them set up around the stage. Luckily, one band was primarily a brass band and another drums, so he had them play without any amplification. Then, ten minutes before the headliners were due to play, the lights came back on.

We fervently wished Gary a day without a major power outage and we let him go his sauntering way. I next moved onto a quick conversation with John Tshudy, Maintenance Manager. He couldn’t answer my one burning question, ‘how many rolls of toilet paper would they go through at an event like this’, but he did inform me that in the course of a season, Hersheypark used more than 200,000 garbage bags. That’s a lot of garbage, folks.

Delivered into our clutches next was Scott Mullen, General Manager for Hersheypark. He stated that his preparations had also started weeks ago with scheduling the event and working up the estimated costs. He then had to handle the logistics of the vendor booths, making sure that everyone had a space and electrical power. He also coordinated the selling of the tickets, estimating the supplies needed for the concessions (which are run by Hersheypark) and made sure there are enough employees on hand for security, set-up and tear down. He stated that “it’s also my job to see that nothing falls through the cracks. Which, is probably the easiest part since we do this so often we could do it in our sleep.” I asked him if the glamour had gone out of the job for him and he replied, “There’s no difference talking to you than talking to Gloria Estefan. I try not to act like a groupie.” (Personally, I was thrilled to be likened to Gloria Estefan as I was sure that dragging around in the heat all day six months pregnant had NOT done a thing for my looks.)

Anyway, our next victim was Tim Shellenberger, Security Manager for the park, who, I must say, looked every bit the epitome of the security officer; tall, muscular and steely-eyed. Not someone I’d be likely to cross anytime soon. I asked Tim about the security arrangements, seeing that they had barricades set up to keep a walkway open in front of the stage. Tim stated that the walkway was for his security guards and the buffer zone would allow them to pull to safety any people in danger of being smashed up against the stage by the weight of the crowd. I asked him if they expected trouble since some of Green Day’s concerts sometimes got out of hand. He said, “I’m more concerned about the heat. We’ve set up the sprinklers and have hauled in plenty of water for both the bands and the audience. There’s also first aid attendants on hand to deal with anyone feeling the sun’s effects.” I asked him languishing rockers were a usual occurrence and he said it was typically more of a problem later in the year. “The kids get here and get themselves all worked up jumping around and underestimate the toll of the weather on their bodies. Fortunately, they’re mostly young, healthy kids so all they need is to sit in the shade and get some water into them.” Tim went on to say that weather, not the audience, is generally their biggest concern. They have lightning detectors and when an electrical storm gets within three miles they have procedures that protect both the audience and the bands, who just happen to be standing on stage in the midst of LOTS of metal. Tim stated that most people will listen to their broadcast warnings, “but there’s always some that we have to physically remove for their own safety. Although they don’t appreciate it very much, we’re trying to make sure they don’t get hurt.” Geez. Some people don’t even know enough to come in out of the rain.

When asked how the security detail prepares for a concert, Tim grinned and said, “We watch MTV, of course. That way we get an idea of what has happened in the past at similar venues.” I thanked Tim for his information and resisted the urge to salute him as his military bearing kept urging me to do.

We admired the activity around us for awhile, reminiscent of an anthill kicked by a passing child and then managed to catch Mark Bodenhorn on the fly between one of his innumerable tasks. He stated that his day had started at 8:30 with making changes to the schedule as another performer, Corey Glover, had been added that week. He had to make sure everyone was aware of the change in line-up for that afternoon. He then had to coordinate the vendor set-up; parking for the bands, press and various other interesting personnel (us); and see that the press passes are distributed to the right people as well as making sure the banners were hung by the chimney with care. Their sponsors (Heineken for the summer concert series) had to be given their just due, of course. It was also Mark’s job to make sure that there was no confusion as to what went where when (whew). Mark stated that “there’s not nearly the work there used to be since the stage is now permanent and we don’t have to reinvent the wheel everytime.”

When asked about the worst thing that could go wrong on concert day, Mark reiterated Tim’s response and stated that the weather was always their overriding concern. “We can, and do, control everything else and it’s totally disappointing and horribly frustrating when the weather doesn’t cooperate. We just keep hoping the clouds are going to blow anywhere but here.” Just then, someone showed Mark a lovely sign that had been made for the concert, but it was, of course, laid out horizontally instead of vertically and a new home had to be found for it in all its’ different dimensions. Mark excused himself to take care of the problem. Such is the life of a Marketing Manager on concert day.

Having looked high and low and ascertained there was no one else to pounce on for an interview, we hooked up with our other intrepid MODE reporters on the scene and wandered off to interview the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies.

And, that, my friends, is that. Never knew so much went in to the planning and execution of a concert, did you. It’s amazing when you think about it. All that effort just so us shmucks can have some fun. Geez. I feel privileged. And so should you.

So, the next time you go to a concert, take off your hat and hold it solemnly in your hand and have a moment of appreciative silence for all those hardworking individuals behind the scenes that made your toe-tapping, beer-drinking, body-slamming, mosh pit happening evening a success.