I stop a potentially dangerous situation at a Taylor Swift concert and she invites me back stage to 'thank' me.
"Hey, I'll wave to you guys tonight." I laughed as we took off to our assigned ushering stations.
"Yeah, yeah. Rub it in. For once you get a prime location, on the floor in front of the stage."
"Who's ass did you have to kiss to get that?"
I shrugged my shoulders. "I have no idea how it happened. I've been up in the nosebleed zone with you guys for, what, five years? This was a surprise to me."
"I heard Tom Watson had a car wreck and will be out for a while. He's been manning that station since the arena opened."
I shook my head. "Yeah, I heard about that. But why did they reassign me there instead of one of you? You've all been here longer than I have."
"Maybe they heard you were a big Taylor Swift fan."
I laughed. "I'd rather be down there for a basketball or hockey game. These concerts can get kind of loud close to the stage. Good thing I carry earplugs."
I've been ushering at the arena for five years. It's interesting work. You get to meet a lot of people. It's a good gig to make a little, okay very little, extra money for the five or six times each of us works each month. Believe me we don't do it for the ten bucks an hour we make for a few hours a night. I like the upper deck sections for the sports events because if the game isn't a sellout I get a chance to actually watch some of the game. The high vantage point gives a good view of the court or the ice. If you're ever at my arena you can find the ushers by the red shirts we wear.
Downstairs was new to me, and was very busy. Occasionally I had to ask someone to leave if they had taken someone else's seat closer to the stage 'by mistake'. Yeah, right. Out you go.
Concertgoers continued to stream in during the opening act and part of my job was to hold them back until a set was over. There was an intermission between the acts and the few empty seats in front of the stage filled in with latecomers for Taylor.
In preparation for the concert I had listened to a bit of Taylor so I would have an idea what to expect - what songs were likely to get more enthusiastic response from the crowd and might require some crowd control.
Part of my job was to keep people away from the stage. There was a certain amount of movement allowed, but we were to discourage any unruly behavior. By and large the Taylor fans were, while loud and enthusiastic, well behaved. As I led people to their seats I was struck by the diversity of the crowd. Not only were there the expected teenage girls, but even their fathers and grandparents. There were young and old, all colors and ethnicities. I've done a number of pop and country concerts but her fan base seemed to be by far the broadest. She also did a great job of relating to them all. Her banter with the audience was lively and it seemed she genuinely cared that she gave her fans their money's worth. I could tell you about some other big names who looked like they were sleepwalking through their sets.
During the first few numbers I noticed a big guy on an aisle seat near the front on my side of the floor. He seemed to be acting a bit odd. I caught the eye of one of Taylor's yellow-shirted security detail and motioned toward him with my head. He caught my drift and nodded that he'd keep an eye on the guy as well.
About mid-way through the concert she even added some extra lyrics that mentioned the city where we were. The fans were on their feet - swaying, singing, clapping - really getting into it. Taylor worked the stage, prancing from one side to the other, her backup dancers swirling behind her.
She came all the way down to my end of the stage, right up to the front edge, and fans reached up toward her. All of a sudden the big guy lunged forward and made a beeline for the stage, with his eyes fixed on Taylor. As he did so he reached into his pocket and I saw him take out something black. I flew after him and launched myself to tackle him high while I chopped at his arm. He pitched forward onto the floor right in front of the stage at the feet of some other fans and the black object fell beside him. He grabbed for it but I swiped it away from him. He tried to get up, but my brother wrestled in high school and taught me some moves, so when he struggled to get up I put a move on him and face planted him on the floor. By then we were surrounded with yellow shirts. They pinned his arms behind him and propelled him away from the stage and out into the corridor. I picked up the black object before it was lost amongst the stomping feet of the crowd. It sort of looked like a small hand-held video camera, but there was something not quite right with it. It seemed that the 'camera' had no lens, and the whole thing didn't feel right.
Taylor kept right on singing as if nothing had happened, although she had to have seen the whole thing happening ten feet in front of her. Only a few audience members in the immediate area actually saw what transpired, since all eyes were fixed on the action on stage.
I took the 'camera' out to where a uniformed police officer was taking charge of the suspect. Another officer interviewed the security detail and me and took the suspect aside for questioning. The 'camera' was placed in a sealed plastic bag. Before long the suspect was loaded onto a patrol car and whisked away.
After the finale the happy crowd spilled out of the arena, and I started off to report to the usher supervisor before leaving. A nicely dressed young woman caught my arm and told me Taylor had requested that I come back stage and meet with her. After making my report I fought my way back through the crowds toward the stage. The young woman met me and led me through the various 'checkpoints' to Taylor's dressing room. She knocked and we were admitted, although the young woman immediately disappeared.
Inside I saw the two burly security guys who had helped subdue and secure the suspect until the police arrived, and several other people. Taylor was engrossed in a conversation with someone and one of the security guys came over to me.
"Thought I'd let you know that you were right. It wasn't a real camera. It had some sort of mechanism inside to spray a liquid or gas or something through the lens opening. The police are analyzing it now. Thanks for your quick reaction. We were thirty feet away and couldn't have gotten to him as fast as you did."
"There was something odd about him from the get-go. He wasn't paying attention to the concert but seemed to be studying Taylor. I thought he could be a stalker."
He shook his head. "Maybe he was. I guess we'll all be interviewed in more depth tomorrow as part of the investigation."
Taylor's phone rang and everyone seemed to think the call was expected and she'd want some privacy, as they all left the room. I started to follow them out but she motioned with her hand for me to sit on a couch situated along one wall. She stood over in an opposite corner and spoke softly into the phone, so I couldn't hear the conversation. I looked around at the vases of flowers, racks of clothes, makeup items and such. A star's concert dressing room is an interesting place.
She seemed real pleased with the call at first, but then her face darkened. She began to pace the room as she listened, getting angrier and angrier. Finally she shouted into the phone "I've got something to tell you, too. YOU CAN TAKE THAT TEN INCH DICK OF YOURS AND GO FUCK YOURELF!"
She tossed the phone onto the dressing table and it knocked a water bottle to the floor. Fortunately the cap was on.
She stormed around the room, muttering. I instinctively stood and wrapped my arms around her. When I felt her body stiffen I knew I'd made a mistake. I stepped back and held my hands up in front of me.
"Sorry, Ms. Swift. It was just instinct. I forgot for a moment where I was and who I was with. You just looked like you needed a hug."
She gave me a hard look that gradually softened and her eyes mosted. "Yeah, I guess I do."
She moved toward me and I wrapped my arms around her once again. She leaned her head down onto my shoulder. I had never considered just how tall she was until that moment. I'm five-eight and with her heels she had to be at least six-two. She reached under my arms and up behind me to grip my shoulders. We stood like that for a minute or two.
When she stepped back she took a deep breath and studied me.
"So I have you to thank for saving me from some sort of assault tonight."
"I just thought the guy looked suspicious, then I worried that he just wanted to take a picture and I had caused a commotion for nothing."
"Bullshit. I saw the whole thing. It was right in front of me. He was coming right at me. You jumped him and kept him from either coming up onto the stage or squirting me with something. Rob and Darryl told me all about the fake camera. They'd been watching him too, from the doorway. You were able to identify the threat and take swift action. I owe you thanks."
She motioned for me to sit on the couch again, and sat next to me with her arms crossed over her chest.
There was a knock on the door and a voice "You okay in there, Taylor?"
