First off, I wonder if there were any bands or artists who refused to tour certain places because they had no drug contacts, or being so addicted to something they refused to tour for a certain period of time or a certain place – maybe a city too far.
Paul McCartney seemed to carry pot and not even try to hide a ton of it… I thought that’s what roadies were for! I never understood stars carrying stuff.
Do some guys go out on their own? Going into a street or club knowing they’ll find it, or find someone who’ll find it for them? Certain guys knowing they wouldn’t even have to ask before they were offered some?
I’m guessing some bands/artists organized this before touring certain cities, making sure the stuff was available when they got there. But to go back to awful addictions, what if there was a delay, airplane problems… The press agents can say someone is “sick”
Or if you know any interesting stories, please list what you can if you have the time… The Eagles had a close call but I guess Irving Azoff talked to Customs and got them off, because they would have gotten in big trouble. I don’t want to screw up the details, since I only know about it when “The History of the Eagles” was first released.
I understand it was pretty common to have “a guy” in the entourage who’s job it was obtain and to carry the stuff the rock star didn’t want to get caught with. Its a great system until they decide to write a book.
One of my kids was interested in a program CS-Humboldt, which is really out of the way, as I learned when I took her for a campus tour.
Given the remoteness, I was pretty surprised at the list of upcoming artists touring through there, but considering what you can pick up while traveling through, it made more sense.
Well, like water and air, drugs are everywhere. And wherever one is performing, one must work with the local facility staff, so there is interaction with people who know the local area. And local dealers will make their presence known. I mean, a concert with hundreds or even thousands of fans wanting to party? And performers and crew with money in their pockets? If I were a dealer, I might even drive a few hours to get there.
Heck, I’ve always heard that Salt Lake City has some of the wildest concerts in this hemisphere. There was even one that had mass casualties many years ago.
Didn’t realize it was that long ago, but then again, tempus fugit.
I’m going to add that around that time, with 3 kids in college, my dad took a per diem job doing security at the local civic center. After working a number of events, he told our mom, “I can’t believe I ever had an issue with the kids going to rock concerts. I sure am glad they weren’t country music fans.”
The only story that comes to mind right now was that the loudest concert he ever worked at was Nelson, when they were still a hair-band combo.
Around the same time, Metallica was scheduled to play at the Enormodome, where he didn’t work, and the police department sent the riot squad because a few weeks earlier, a Metallica concert kicked off a 3-day riot. (see footnote) My mom worked at the police department at the time, as a transcriptionist, and she said all they had were a few arrests for public intoxication and a couple of fights, which would not be unexpected with 10,000-plus mostly teenage boys and young men. IIRC, the venue also decided not to sell beer that night.
Footnote: Said concert was in Jakarta, Indonesia. At the time, in the early 1990s, I didn’t know they ever had rock concerts in Indonesia!
Is that still the case? I can imagine that might have been true 30 years ago. But surely in this day and age (of legal and medicinal marijuana)) any rock star with anything remotely close to commercial success can get the highest quality weed whenever they want, without going to Humboldt county?
And heck, you’re often going to be working with a local support band. Even if they don’t partake of the same things you’re looking for, they likely know someone who does. I know I’ve gifted weed to the touring act - it was just what I had on me, not enough to bother charging for.
And if you enjoy a good bottle of wine, there is no need to go to the Napa valley, but people still do…
(and Humboldt County is breathtakingly beautiful. A friend of mine, born and raised in Maine, once remarked that the coast of northern California reminded him of the coast of Maine, “except without the awful weather and all the flies”.)
When I saw the Rolling Stones at Day on the Green in the Oakland Collesium on Mick’s 35th (?) birthday with 50,000 of my closest friends in 1978, someone threw a baggie of what sure looked like pot on the stage. Ronnie Woods picked it up, smelled it, raised it high and mouthed “thank you” and then put it in is pocket…
If a guy can’t get weed, he isn’t going to die, like a performer who can’t get his benzos for example. There could be delays, even with a private jet (weather, mechanical problems, etc), and other delays by the “connection”… Alcohol withdrawal can also kill you, but that’s a little easier, but one guy who doesn’t have his opiates could really screw up a show, even if the other guys are healthy.