Just For You-An Exclusive Look Backstage At Kicks 99’s Guitar Pull
We are just about a month away from the 2023 Kicks 99 Guitar Pull. Every year there are so many things you don’t see. Our day will start at the James Brown Arena around 8:30 a.m. The night ends around 11:30ish. The sound company arrives around 6 a.m. and their night ends much later. Let’s take an exclusive look at backstage at Guitar Pull!
I get on site early and then Charlie and Alex, our staff engineers, arrive. They set up the broadcast site where I do my show live from 10 to 3. I do my show live, then my day is over. Not really, I will help out basically where needed at that point. I spend most of that time making sure the artists are where they need to be – their dressing rooms, make sure they know where to go for sound check, and take care of any needs they may have.
The Things You Don’t See
This is a big show and we work on it pretty much all year long. The week before the show our promotions staff will start by stuffing the goody bags that you see on your chair. That’s just one of the things you don’t see.
- The Sound Crew arrives around 6 a.m.
- We have breakfast and coffee on-site backstage around 8 a.m.
- The Kicks 99 staff start hanging banners and decorating dressing rooms around 10 a.m.
- I keep a cooler of Diet Coke backstage.
- The artists come in and out during the day from their bus to the showers.
- We have a big lunch for all the staff working including the sound crew and the arena folks.
- We all change into our professional clothes around 4 p.m. We say goodbye to our shirts and t-shirts.
- The dinner for everyone is generally ready to go by 6 p.m. for everyone working.
Once the doors open, it’s game on and we start having the same fun you have.
Here are some pictures from behind the scenes of The Kicks 99 Guitar Pull from over the years:
