This week we asked OurStage artists to share their most memorable career moment. From butterflies at first gigs to backing Chuck Berry, every musician has their fair share of moments they hold near and dear. Let’s see what they had to say:
Eric Roberts
The most memorable moment of my career came in 1982 when I played bass with Chuck Berry.
It was an outdoor concert in Miami and the agent, Peter Graves (trombonist and leader of the infamous Jaco Pastorious Big Band) gave all of the band members a tape to listen to of many of Chuck Berry’s greatest hits. We studiously learned them and then, when it came to concert time, no set list, no order, just flying by the seat of our pants! Our ears had to be wide open on this gig, but it was still a blast and one I’ll never forget.
Our debut performance at the New York State Pavilion at the 1964 Worlds Fair. We were The Teemates. New Yorks answer to The Beatles. We expected a crowd but were nowhere prepared for the pandemonim that took place once we hit the Stage at 5PM. At first there were only 100 people in attendance. But once the announcement over the Parks system that New Yorks answer to the Beatles were performing they came by the hundreds until there was standing room only. Screaming and rushing the stage as we did “I wanna Hold you’re Hand.”Then Security could no longer contain them and the stage was mobbed. Uniforms torn luckily we were not injured as our handlers got us off the stage.
Bobby Polhemus of The Teemates
Working with Monica years ago when she first went on tour. I met her at The Apollo Theater in Harlem, NY. A friend of mine was her Body Guard/Production Manager and we haven’t seen each other in years. He came in with her while we were taping Showtime at The Apollo and I saw him and jump in his arms to see if he was going to catch me, after that she was checking out my new shoes. Her manager at the time asked me if I wanted to go on tour with her and I said “Oh Yes!”. I served as her Light Director/designer and tech – it was a great tour!
James Carter, Big Fish Productions
Julie Anne
The most memorable moment for me is going onto stage and performing my songs live and seeing people really like my music. I remember my first gig as a support act and performing live at a pub with almost 80 to 100 people in this venue in Essessdon. I performed four songs from my new album, its was great! I started playing my first song on my keyboard and singing the words, within 10sec the dance floor was full of people dancing to my song “WERE GONNA HAVE A PARTY”. They love it! When i finished my performance, everyone cheered on with support. I had about 35 people come-up to me, asking if they could buy my CD.
