“What’s It Like To Go Backstage?” By Dan Markus

That’s the one question I get most often, second only to “What stars have you met?”

Going backstage before or after a concert never gets old or tedious, because every single backstage visit is different-as different as each band or individual who’s putting on the show. Only once in a while do I know what to expect, and that’s only those times when I’ve met that particular performer before.

Most performers, if they know you’re coming, are welcoming and cordial. If you surprise them, break their routine, they can be understandably irritated that I barged in.

The single most important thing to remember: Backstage is the performer’s domain. I’m their guest. Keep that in mind and everything should go smoothly.

I seldom go backstage to visit. I’m almost always there with a purpose that, ideally, benefits both the performer and me (example, a quick interview that will go on the radio or my podcast). Sometimes I’ve been invited backstage by the venue just to welcome the audience from the stage, to make announcements of upcoming performances, mention the night’s sponsors, etc. That invariably leads to a meeting with the headliner.

I’ve taken multiple guitars backstage for an autograph. After several such autographs, the guitars are either donated to charities for fundraisers, or used as an on-air giveaway. After doing that with maybe a dozen different guitars, I finally started taking my personal guitar (a Fender Stratocaster) with me (lugging two guitars to a concert is fatiguing). It’s now one of my most-prized possessions, signed by The Turtles, Jan and Dean, The Beach Boys, Graham Nash, The Guess Who, The Ides of March, Davy Jones, members of Jefferson Airplane, The Buckinghams, Gordon Lightfoot, Three Dog Night, The Grass Roots, and even Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys. I had to buy another one to play, ‘Cuz I ain’t scratching that one up with a guitar pick! It sits majestically mounted on the wall outside my home studio. Every single time I walk past it, I’m reminded of the charmed life I’ve led meeting my musical heroes. That’s not something I’ll ever take for granted.