
I had a sudden burst of repairing bits and bobs a few weeks ago. After adding vintage style flex to two old 50s table lamps, and replacing a loo seat (then replacing it again as it was rubbish), I tackled these backstage passes. They’ve sat in a wallet for years now and I figured while they often look a bit dull on their own, put together in a frame they might look good. I’d no sooner done that when I found a few more, so had to get another frame! I use those ready made album sleeve frames, they’re not the cheapest but make up for that by being easy to use (and reuse). Once the layout looked OK, I hoped the pressure of the acrylic would hold them in position but it didn’t, so I resorted to a sliver of double sided tape to keep them in place. They now cheer up a bit of wall space and remind us of 35 years of reunion gigs, from the reunion in 1985 up to their Infinite album tour. I should point out that they are not all my own passes, I rarely used to get such things on the night, but many were donated by other fans. The rarest is probably the flashy one bottom right for the reunion announcement press conference in America, which Lori sent me at the time. A number came from Bernadette’s collection which ended up at the DPAS and are a nice reminder of a dedicated fan we remember with fondness.
I’ll be waiting for the call from The Repair Shop.
Like a numpty, I realise I have not included our Knebworth passes, so will have to rejig everything when I find those. I’m not sure I have ever related our Knebworth pass story and hopefully enough time has now passed. So…
While the management were sniffy, well downright hostile to the DPAS at the reunion, my contacts at Polydor were much more friendly. We had bought tickets for Knebworth but they kindly sent me two passes for the stage side viewing area a few days before the concert. The problem was that we were going with my sister and brother, and had arranged to meet up with a couple more fans.
I was working then a few days a week at a printers and had a mad idea. I took the passes in and showed the boss the crack-back paper and put the question. He managed to get some off the paper rep the next day and I copied the design using the professional flat bed repro camera. I made a metal plate from the negative and my mate on the small press mixed up the correct ink colour, and we ran a dozen or so sheet off. When they’d dried and I’d cut them down I couldn’t tell the difference, so everyone we knew was handed one and we spent the afternoon in relative discomfort amongst a bundle of hay bales sheltering under a massive oak tree. I’m sure many in the immediate crowd got better views but we didn’t have to worry about being sucked into the swamp all day which was a huge blessing!