You Guys Are Gonna Be On A Record

I got an e-mail from a friend who was reminiscing about the time that her band played the same venue as Nick Lowe. It wasn't at the same time or bill, nor were the shows on the same stage. Nick played at an outdoor section of the rambling bar/entertainment complex, while my friend's band played in "a garret that holds about thirty people." It's still a point of pride that she can make this claim.
I followed this line of logic, and became impressed by the number of artists with whom I have shared a venue. When I was in Pep Band in high school, we were invited to play at a Nuggets game in Denver's McNichols Arena. This is the place I saw my first rock and roll show: Elton John. The Pep Band played a lot of interesting charts, but there was no "Crocodile Rock" the night we played. Still, I can say that I played the same arena as Bruce Springsteen, Black Sabbath, The Police, and the Electric Light Orchestra, just to name a few. If one ignores the time portion of the space/time continuum, I shared the stage with a whole lot of big acts.
If we extrapolate still further, as a member of the marching band, I played the same stadium as the Eagles, the Who, and Ted Nugent. I would love to tell you that we rocked the place harder than any of those groups, but we were a marching band after all. That doesn't keep me from feeling a link to Mile High Stadium, where we once played the National Anthem before a Broncos game. This allows me to connect with the Beach Boys and Chuck Berry, not to mention John Elway. Stretching still further, I can say that since the new Mile High Stadium was constructed on the site of the old McNichols Arena, I can even lay claim to some sort of karmic bond with Peyton Manning.
But this is really just an extrapolation of the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game. My real claim to fame is that I appear on Steve Martin's second album, "Wild And Crazy Guy." I'm the guy on side two, recorded at Red Rocks Amphitheater, shouting "All Right!" from the crowd. It sort of figures that I would make my debut on a comedy record.