By Shelly Whitehead
NKyTribune Contributor
It’s usually just a small piece of paper or plastic, but to the avid fan of any renowned musical performer or group, the backstage concert pass may be one of the most sacred things on earth.
After all, with one of these specially designed billets, the bearer is granted exclusive access to the artists and parties and sometimes-very-wild-fun that goes on behind the scenes of live concerts. Then, if the holder of said pass does not lose it amidst all that “fun,” he or she might just have a very valuable collector’s item in the future.
In fact, passes to some of history’s most renowned performances — like those early 1980s Grateful Dead concerts — can be worth hundreds of dollars today. As a result, a healthy black market industry has emerged to produce not only counterfeit vintage backstage passes, but also fake passes for current performances that might afford the less-than-desirable fan close-up access to some very big-name stars.
And that is why – along with the early brilliance of former Campbell County Commissioner and Bellevue business owner, Dave Otto — the backstage pass industry was born. Otto was the first to notice – way back in the 1970s while working at both his dad’s printing business and the old Riverfront Coliseum – that hugely famous rock music groups were leaving themselves open to lost concert revenue and potential security risks by using concert tickets and backstage passes that were insanely easy to counterfeit.
That one astute observation before a 1974 concert with the rock group, Boston, back in 1974, gave birth to today’s entire global backstage pass industry.
“When I got to Riverfront Coliseum they were using badges that said, ‘Hello, my name is…’” recalls Otto, who is now president of Otto Printing in Bellevue.
“Boston at the time — they had an album that was an upside-down guitar that looked like a spaceship … and we took that album cover and devised a backstage pass system that they could use on their world tour.
“They loved the product and loved what we did for them. And we convinced them that we would charge them for two-color design versus a four-color design, if they allowed us to put our name, address and phone number on the back of every pass. So, as they went from city to city, and country to country, the backstage pass was born.”
Today, this Bellevue business handles entire ticketing systems for thousands of superstar artists, bands and renowned venues worldwide, as well as events like the Kentucky Derby and political conventions.
Breakfast with McCartney and the need for better security
Today, the passes Otto Printing creates are much more sophisticated, with holographic features and specially printed security “bubbles” to prevent fakes from passing through the system. As Dave Otto explains, artists today are as concerned about letting the wrong element get too close, as they are about preventing counterfeiting.
“I remember I had breakfast with Paul McCartney in New York one time – this is right after John Lennon had passed away — and Paul, I remember his comment saying, ‘Well, I don’t want the same thing that happened to John Lennon to happen to me.’
“He was then looking at … us and he was looking at a company in England to do the passes, but they chose us.”
As far as having the good fortune to get one of these coveted passes, you pretty much have to know somebody, be somebody, or at the very least, plunk down a boatload of cash for a limited access V-I-P pass that some performers now offer.
And in the heady world of rock and country music stars, Dave Otto just happens to know a whole lot of “somebodies,” as well as being somebody himself. In fact, he has met and mingled with some of the hottest stars in music.
That fact is actually kind of funny when you hear stories like the one that follows and consider that at the time it occurred, the honorable Mr. Otto was also a Campbell County Commissioner.
“I guess the most memorable day I’ve had was when I took care of Axel Rose with Guns n’ Roses,” he recalls with a smile.
“And when I mean I took care of – the tour manager at the time, asked me if I’d go out with (Rose) and make sure he didn’t drink and make sure he didn’t get into any trouble. So we did that all day.
“I took him to an athletic club and then he got a massage and it was all good stuff. … And I’ve gone golfing with Huey Lewis and Alice Cooper. It’s been fun over the years.”
‘Who is this Springsteen person?’
Judging by the somewhat sly smile on Otto’s face, it’s clear that we may not be given a “pass” to some of his best stories from his earlier days. Perhaps, one day, there will be a book?
In the meantime, we will have to be satisfied with some of the tamer, but still fun stories like the one from some time back when Otto Printing handled the ticketing and passes for a Bruce Springsteen concert in Cincinnati. Dave and his father, Jack Otto, who started the printing business, went to the after-party for the renowned performer, where Dave recalls this little encounter between his father and Springsteen.
“Bruce sat down next to my dad and my dad looked at him and said ‘So, who is this Springsteen person?’ You know, he didn’t have any idea who he was.
So I went, ‘Dad, this is Bruce Springsteen.”
Clearly, being a politician has lent itself to Mr. Otto’s business success, too.
* * *
Dave Otto’s story is being told in the latest episode of INSIDE NORTHERN KENTUCKY on KET, produced the The NKyTribune with Prosper Media. The show also includes features on Reality Tuesday, Judi Gerding and The Point ARC and Mike Battaglia — along with a bit of a “history break” with Paul Tenkotte.
Here are the remaining show dates for January:
KETKY: Sunday, January 24 at 6:00 AM ET
KETKY: Tuesday, January 26 at 11:00 AM ET
KET: Saturday, January 30 at 4:30 AM ET/em>
Awesome! I want to collect all this OTTO passes!