Vol. 18, No. 37	July 22, 1999

Backstage memoriesá

Believe it or not there's one member of UD professional staff who's had the dubious privilege of taking Rod Stewart's clothes to the laundromat and going grocery shopping with Kenny G's cook.

Columbia's Merriweather Post Pavilion holds lots of fond memories for Noel Hart, Greek affairs. Like most teens who grew up in her town, she dreamed of working at the famed concert arena some day. Those dreams came true for three summers when Hart, then a college student, worked as an usher, then head usher and ultimately backstage runner there.

"As a 'woman of all trades,' I basically did what the band managers needed to have done. Some of my job responsibilities included getting Rod Stewart's laundry done and buying a dozen soccer balls for his show," she says. "The problem was the only one-hour laundromat was about 16 miles away, and every time I took one load up, someone would give me another one when I got back. I made four trips to the laundromat that day!"

Helping Kenny G's cook feed her boss, famous for his macrobiotic diet, was another interesting gig. "We went shopping at the local health food store," Hart says.

One of her funniest memories comes from the time she had to pick up the band members for '80s rocker Howard Jones and bring them from their hotel to the pavilion.

"I think they fully expected the star treatment," Hart recalls, "but here was this 18-year-old girl in a ponytail picking them up in an un-air-conditioned 1980 VW Rabbit. On top of that, the fuel injectors had problems so we stalled out at every stoplight. They had so much equipment I had to make two trips; and I think they were all a little resentful."

Her best memory is standing a mere 15 feet away from Peter Gabriel, watching a concert from the wings. "I think my hearing is affected to this day," she says.

The best part of the job, of course, was getting to see so many free concerts.

Her funniest ushering experience: "Seeing 11-year-old girls, who were in love with the Monkees from the television show, realizing that Davy Jones was really a 52-year-old man!"

-Beth Thomas
Photo by Jack Buxbaum