One Step Above Guest List

Decisions We Make

"The next leg of the tour was in Canada" Melvin continued after taking a sip of her tea. "At that time Americans could go through the border without many issues, but border patrol was a little more strict with music tours or maybe just tour groups. The border patrol agents would board the buses and look around for anything illegal or dangerous.

About a mile before the border in NY state, all the buses stopped at a rest stop so a few production assistants could run from bus to bus with garbage bags to collect anything that could stop the tour from reaching our destination at the intended time. I'm not saying it was all illegal drugs because it wasn't. There were fireworks, some paintball guns, paintball ammunition, prescription drugs that were not always for the patient, porn magazines, and porn videos. Now, some of these things could have gotten a pass, but why take the chance? Don't give them any reason for further investigation.

We got through the border with no issue and continued to the venue in Montreal. Once we were settled, we all walked over to craft services to grab a bite. Technically, I wasn't "on tour," but I was with my band, and they stood on either side of me so I wouldn't stick out with my stick on the All Access pass while they were swinging band laminates. As we're getting food, I hear the chef shout, "SPEAK ENGLISH!!! I know we're in Canada, but under this tent, it's America, so NO FRENCH!" I felt bad for the venue employees, but after six months on the road, you get a little touchy.

After eating, we headed to the bus to hang out until the afternoon, when The Best would perform. As we were walking, I saw the door of Ruby Riot's bus opened, and Dillion stepped out. He must have been looking out the bus window because he spotted me immediately and ran toward me. Several girls reached for him, but he swatted them away and grabbed me up in a hug. He asked me to go with him to the food trucks in the center of the venue. I told him I wasn't sure if it was a great idea because he may draw too much attention, and it could be dangerous. He didn't seem to care. Tony asked me if he could come. I asked D if he minded, and he said yes. D grabbed my hand and pulled me away before I had a chance to apologize to Tony. I didn't realize it at the time, but when D was with me, he only wanted to be with me. At the time, I thought he was being a jerk.

We walked toward the gate that led from the buses and backstage area to the center of the festival. It only took one kid to notice D coming through the gate. He shouted D's name, and in seconds, like a herd of zombies, other fans started to follow. We turned and ran back to his bus. At least 20 people were running after us now, him, not me. The gate wasn't locked and easily swung open, so they ran into the backstage area and followed us to the buses. We made it to the bus door and got inside before the crowd reached us. They surrounded us, and the rest of the band looked at us confused as the bus began to shake and the fans shouted, "Dillion, Dillion, Dillion." It didn't take more than five minutes before security arrived. They had closed and locked the gate with a padlock so no one else could get through, but the crowd around the bus remained, shaking it back and forth. Dillion saw one security guard push a girl to the ground, and he lost it. He ran down the steps of the bus and out the door. He ran straight to the girl and picked her up. She looked relieved, but the crowd was angry, turning on the security guards. I ran out of the bus and to his side. I could see that the situation was getting out of control, so I did what I thought was best. One of the buses next to Ruby Riot had unloaded a road case from their trailer. I jumped on top of the case and yelled for everyone to be calm. Surprisingly, I got their attention, and D jumped up on the case next to me. I asked everyone to get into a line and D, and the rest of the band (who had followed me out of the bus) would sign autographs and take pictures if they would head back to the festival directly after. They all agreed, and when they gave the last autograph everyone left, and peace was restored."

"Wow," Sadie said. "That could have easily gotten out of control." Melvin agreed and pictured the hell that was Woodstock 99.

"Give them what they want I guess," Melvin said. "In this case, they just wanted to see D." The rest of the night was uneventful as they often are. I watched Nick's (from The Best) daughter, Matilda, while he was on stage. She was dropped off with us in New York by her mother and would be joining him for the remainder of the tour. She was five, and although I am not a kid person, she was bright, funny, sassy, and adorable. She asked insightful questions like, "where did people come from?" Not like, how they were created in the womb, but where humans originated. He told her he would take her to the natural history museum when they returned to New York City after the tour. She also loved to draw, as I do. Once, when we were backstage during a show, she drew a picture of herself and her father together and insisted on giving it to him when he was on stage. So, when she finished her drawing, I put her safety headphones on and ran to the main stage. I made her wait until they were between songs before I let her go. She ran to her daddy and gave him the drawing to the "Oooooohs and awes" from the audience. Once he took the drawing she ran back to me with a grimace. "I HATE when they do that." As if the crowd was one person. I just told her they loved that she loves her daddy so much. I still have pictures she took of us with a disposable camera. Kids have such a great way of looking at the world. She would be about 25 now. Crazy."