It is hard to explain the sheer energy of playing a major coliseum, where every seat is sold and every ticket holder is on his feet screaming as the house lights go dim and the elaborate stage lighting truss begins to flash every color of the rainbow, utilizing the highest technology of the day. Laser beams pierce the air and smoke rises up from stage in a cloud as the band begins to play. Then…… with an explosion of pyrotechnic fireworks from each side of the stage, “The Act” suddenly appears on stage and there is pandemonium in the audience as they begin to sing hit after hit.

This is an elaborate stage that encompasses a walk around ramp so the act can run up and over the drums and perform to the crowd that is seated behind the stage. There is also a platform on each side so that individual members can climb up and sing right into the faces of those who sit to the left and to the right.

Before the show, there were literally hundreds of people backstage to wade through. Press. Record label executives. Radio disc jockeys from several stations. Contest winners. Local VIP’s, including politicians from both parties. Friends of friends of friends, who claim to know someone in the entourage, as well as TV crews from all of the local TV stations wanting a sound bite from “The Act.”

For the performers, hitting the stage is a relief because they have dealt with a crowd most of the day. When the busses and semi’s pulled into town early that morning, there were several hundred people holding up signs of welcome in the hotel parking lot. These folks had to be greeted before the act could even get to their room and have some morning coffee. Then, more than likely, there would be an afternoon press conference, phone interviews, and a few big decisions to be made. And that might all take place long before sound check.

But, ah, that moment. Hitting the stage. What a rush! This is the stuff that dreams are made of. Little kids lie in the darkness of their rooms at night and wonder if something like this could ever happen to them. They sing in front of a mirror using a dust mop as a microphone stand and a small oblong lampshade as a mic and picture themselves singing on a stage like this. Big sound, lights swirling, people cheering and yelling and lighting their lighters and holding them up high above their heads…… all for you and your singing partners and brothers!

I could be describing the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, or Garth Brooks but this narrative is all about The Oak Ridge Boys in the early eighties, when for three straight years, be it a state fair or a major coliseum, we never performed to an empty seat. THIS…… was THE COOKIN’ TOUR!

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