One Step Above Guest List

"The next leg of the tour was in Canada," Melvin continued after sipping 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 New York 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 prevent 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? We didn't want to give them any reason for further investigation.

We got through the border with no issue and continued to the venue in Montréal. 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 guys from The Best, 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 catering laminates. As we're getting food, I hear the chef shout, "SPEAK ENGLISH!!! I know we're in Montréal, 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 open, 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 ran by them 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 get crazy. He didn't seem to care. Tony asked me if he could come. I asked D, my nickname for him, 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.

"I love that!" squealed Sadie.

We walked toward the gate that led from the buses and backstage area to the entrance to 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. For some reason the person who should have been guarding the gate wasn't there, so they followed us into the backstage area and to the buses. We made it to the bus door and got inside before the crowd reached us. They surrounded the bus, and the rest of the band looked at us confused as the bus began to shake and the fans shouted, "Dillion, Dillion, Dillion." It only took a few 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 told D to jump up on the case with me. We screamed for everyone's attention. 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. Large crowds could easily get out of control. 

"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 helped watch over Nick's 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 we 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 "OH's and awes" from the audience. Once he took the drawing she ran back to me with a grimace. "I HATE when they do that." she said 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."