The DANDY WARHOLS- The Blackout of '03

    Written by Backstage Bruce    

    It was August 14, 2003, a little after four in the afternoon. I was at work bartending at Siberia, a dive-bar, which had bands and music most nights. Other nights there was comedy. I was on the phone, talking to a musician, when it happened. The blackout struck New York City. At first the boss, Kieran Blake, (legend in the downtown rock club scene) wanted to shut the place down for the night. We were doing a rush clean up so we could get out of there. 

    All the sudden people started coming in. At first one by one they started trickling in then in groups they came. These weren't regulars. I had never seen any of them before. The bar was located on West 40th. Street & 9th. Ave. right across the street from the Port Authority bus station. These people were all coming from over there. All bus service had been suspended during the blackout. 

Courtney Taylor-Taylor and Fathead- Siberia, the night of the blackout. 

    Siberia had no windows, it was always dark and gloomy and that's the way NYC loved it. So to even know what was going on outside I had to actually step outside. There were thousands of people just walking in the middle of the streets. I did ask one guy, walking passed, "Where is everyone walking to?" He just looked at me, threw his hands in the air and shrugged, he was speechless. 

    Suddenly we were packed, people were streaming in. I ran to the local deli and snatched up any supplies I thought we might need: candles, flashlights, batteries, anything. Back at the bar the bags of ice in the refrigerator were starting to melt. I get back to the bar with the supplies and I take all the ice and piled it real high over the cold beer. Since the ice was going to melt away might as well let it melt over the beer and keep it cold all night long. 

    Bring on the blackout. I live very close to the bar so I was able to run home real quickly and gather any more supplies we may need. I had more candles, and flashlights, a portable CD player, and an old Sports Illustrated sneaker phone. It's a promotional item from the '80's. If you ordered a subscription to Sports Illustrated you would receive a free sneaker phone. I went back to the bar. 

Fathead gave me his drumsticks, post-show CBGB. 

    We put the batteries in the CD player and we had music and news updates, yay! Next I try out the phone. Everyone watched in anticipation as I plugged the phone cord into the wall and it worked! We had a dial tone. The crowd cheered. 

    The bar had a cordless phone (electric) that couldn't work without power, likewise a lot of people had cell phones, but no service and no power. No one could make one phone call until I got back with the old, novelty sneaker phone. That Sports Illustrated sneaker phone saved the night for hundreds of people. 

    Immediately there was a line for the phone. They were civilized, where were they going? A buddy walked in, Michael Turlo, (R.I.P.) He worked at NBC at 30 Rock. He tells me he just watched the Dandy Warhols during rehearsals perform 'We Use To Be Friends'. They were going to be Conan's musical guest that night. 

    He says he is on his way to the green room to hang out with them. Conan did his show by candlelight. A few hours later, Michael returned and he was with two members of the band: Courtney Taylor- Taylor (guitarist and singer) and Fathead (the drummer). The bar was packed by now, no real time to stop and socialize, a quick intro. We kept sending beers over to them all night long.

A pair of DW BSP's for Bowery Ballroom

    The streets were loud outside, NYC in the summer: hot, humid, stifling and urine-smelling. People were everywhere. A few bars were open and people were in the streets holding their beer bottles. There were so many people milling about with no place to go. Cooler heads prevailed, things could have gone sideways but everything was calm. 

    Four a.m., the time bars close. We start chasing everyone out. Everybody had to go, except for us and our friends, and the Dandy Warhols and their friends. There was a drum kit already set up downstairs on the stage. A second-hand guitar was hanging from the wall. We rounded up a tambourine and some mariachis. The doors were locked and the steel gates were rolled down. 

    We started off with shots and more beer. There were maybe a dozen of us hanging out, sitting in a circle playing music. One person would play the guitar while someone else played drums. I chimed in with the tambourine and mariachis here and there. Courtney did play 'Sister Golden Hair' by America. I sang the twangy wooooowwww, woooooowww, woooooowwww part. We all had a good time jamming, chilling. At six a.m. the owner called and said "wrap it up". The party was over. 

Courtney & I at Irving Plaza

    We stumbled out into the daylight, all of us reaching for our sunglasses but of course none of us had them, who knew we would be out so late? Everybody dispersed in different directions. The Dandys headed off back to their hotel and I headed back home. What fun guys they were to hang out with all night. NYC made it through the blackout. 

THE GRAMMYS- Madison Square Garden

Written by Backstage Bruce    

    This really happened. 😄

   The Grammy Awards 2003 ceremony was held at Madison Square Garden,       "The World's Most Famous Arena". The award ceremony had been there, in the same building, years earlier, in the downstairs theater, which was named Felt Forum at the time. It has a much smaller capacity maximum. But tonight would be the very first time The Grammys would be held at The Garden, proper and I wanted to go so badly. 

    I started putting out feelers immediately when I heard the news. One friend, John, wrote for 'Country Weekly' and I asked him if he could get a press pass or two. I reached out to a few different people. I really wasn't getting anywhere. My hopes of any contacts helping me out was dwindling. It was fine, it would have been nice to be there, but it was televised live, so I will still get to watch the entire thing. I was good. 

    Night of, absolute no plans to go. Famous last words. It's New York in winter, I'm not going out. I'm so convinced I'm going to sit at home, in a nice-warm apartment, and watch it, that earlier in the day, I stopped and picked up a bottle of red wine from the liquor store to enjoy while I watched the show. 

    I'm home, I turn the t.v. on. I see the reporters outside of MSG. I'm enthralled, I turned it up to hear it. They were talking about the celebrities and musicians arriving. The light bulb goes off, the show starts in a little over an hour.

    I get the idea that I can run over there and watch the red-carpet arrival, if there was any. Being it was New York in winter there wasn't. I still walked on over to see the scene. I was so 100% convinced that I was returning within the hour, I opened the bottle of wine to let it aerate. 

    I grabbed two albums, one 'The Clash' and one 'Joe Strummer'. Joe had recently passed and there was a big tribute to him planned to kick off the show. I get there and I am holding my two albums up watching all the lucky people arrive. It was kind of fun. "I want to be a part of it, New York, New York." It wasn't bitterly cold, or raining, or snowing, so it could have been a lot worse. 

    I had been milling about for about a half hour or so, I had got my fill. It was time to wrap it up. There was a big clock outside and I saw it was 7:50 p.m. The show was going to start in 10 minutes. I had to leave right then if I wanted to make it home in time to see the opening number. I decided 'it's time to go now'.

    That very moment a big gust of wind blew some trash into the air, flying right past my face, kind of swirling action. There was an 'I Love NY' plastic bag, a used napkin and what looked like a used candy-bar tray. If you have ever had a candy bar in the 70's, you have seen a candy-bar tray. Every time you would open a candy bar it was served on a wax tray inside the wrapper. The sides were always folded up. If you folded the sides down, it looked like a perfect rectangle and that's what this thing flying right in front of me looked like.

    Right then I asked myself "What was that? That was too perfect of a rectangle to be garbage." I watched it land about 20-feet away. I decided to go check it out, I was leaving anyway, my feet were in motion. I'm looking at it and it looks like some sort of advertisement, I think to myself 'whatever it is, it looks like it landed face down'. I continue walking over to it and I see this thing is a ticket in pristine condition. I think that it is probably a used sports ticket from days gone by, either a Knicks basketball ticket or a Rangers hockey ticket. Some people litter. I bent over to pick it up. I turned it around and looked at it.

The miracle

    It was a ticket to The Grammys! And this very moment was another "In a New York Minute" moments. They happen all the time. I could not believe what I was holding. I wanted one. And now I have one and the show starts in five minutes. On the inside I am so excited, screaming for joy, but on the outside I am playing it so cool, like I belong, like I've been here before, I know how to act. I did not want to get on any security guard's radar. All sorts of thoughts start running through my mind "Is this ticket even real? Is it a forgery or fake? Is it real, but already been scanned? I walked away while I cleared my head. 

    I'm coming up with numerous reasons as to why the ticket won't work, then I think "Maybe, just maybe, I got to give it a try." I start to walk right up to the ticket taker. I was walking kind of shyly, not confident at all. I got to the door and handed him my ticket, he took it from me and said "No!" I knew it, I knew it was too good to be true. There was no way I was just going to find a ticket to The Grammys just flying around, in my face, what was I thinking? He then continued "You go that way". 

    I looked over, he was pointing to the doors to the downstairs theater. (The old Felt Forum.) There was a party going on, a celebration to last throughout the year even. American Express had rented the theater out for it's card holders/ members. Instead of a red carpet it was blue carpet for Amex. I walked over to the door he pointed to, I handed my ticket over, it was scanned and it worked. I felt like Charlie from the chocolate factory "I got the golden ticket, I got the golden ticket."

    It was now 7:58 p.m. I was just over the moon. I let out a howl and walked the blue carpet, stopping for pictures, holding up my two albums. I was the only fan carrying albums, so they all snapped photos. My energy was just wow, even for me. That's all I can say is wow. I calmed down after a minute or two after the first visit to the bar.

    There was unlimited food and drinks, top shelf, all comp. I went and got a beer and shot combo immediately. There were numerous large screens to watch all the action that was going on upstairs, I wasn't missing a thing. This party was for the people who were stuck in their seats for the next few hours. Once The Grammys were over, in three hours, then they were going to come downstairs to the party. Some of the food will be gone by then, or at least cold. When they get here there will be lines to the bar, but not now. I got a second beer. 

"The World's Most Famous Arena" written right on a BSP for The Garden

    It was so much better being down there, unlimited food and drink, room to just wander around and no lines for the bathroom. I found a backstage pass laying on the ground because of course I did. It was dated two days prior, again some people litter. 

    Whoopi Goldberg was the host that evening. We would watch her on the big screens. During the commercial breaks she would come downstairs and host the party too. She would take the stage and have some fun interactions with the people, very informally, like checking in with us. One time she asked if anyone would like to go with her upstairs to watch The Grammys live. She said there are a few open seats and if anyone wants to, just come forward and then you can walk upstairs with her. 

    No takers! Nobody wanted to go upstairs to that stuffy situation. They wanted to stay right where the food, drink and restrooms were. Finally one small group went. One girl looked like she begrudgingly dragged her two friends with her, she wanted to go upstairs, them not so much, at least that's what it looked like. 

    There was a stage set up with musical equipment because a band was going to play the after-party. 

    It was Coldplay. They were being introduced to the world. 'This is Coldplay and they are next to be famous', which they were. Tremendous, it was their moment and they shined. After four hours I was done. I had enough food, drink, Grammys, concert, etc... It was now time to take my albums, my ticket, my backstage pass and depart. 

    I got home, recorked the wine and called it a night.