In the spring of 1992 I received a call from Jeri Heiden, the head of the Warner Bros. Records art department in Burbank, CA. Even though she was the creative director at the world's largest record company Jeri had a very laid back way of speaking. No matter what she was talking about it always sounded - la di da. She casually asked me if I was interested in photographing the next Van Halen album. It was going to be a 'Live' album recorded at an upcoming show in Fresno, CA. I think I mumbled something like, 'um, sure'. Here's the thing that was going through my head...I had never shot a live concert before, not even once! Quite frankly, I was being asked to enter into a project with a huge band in which I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. It took every ounce of mind bending discipline not to blurt that fact out to Jeri while on the phone with her.
The shoot was scheduled for 2 days in Fresno because the concert album was also going to be filmed for a video release and Fresno was a location that wasn't too far from LA where the film crew would travel from. When I arrived at the arena the afternoon of the first day of shooting I was greeted by the LA film director who earnestly shook my hand and said in a deadpan voice - 'love your work'. I didn't know what to say - I HAD NO WORK - I had never done this before! I tried my best to act cool and nonchalant, but I was practically sick to my stomach because I felt like I was doomed to screw up a great opportunity. No other photographers were allowed in the 15,000 capacity arena for the concert filming, the job was all mine - sink or swim.
On the second night of filming the LA film director came up to me before the show and told me that during the song 'Panama' he wanted me to go on stage and get some shots of the guys playing up close. WHAT??? You want me up there in front of 15,000 screaming fans taking photos on stage??? I almost soiled my pants at the thought of that. Later that night a tech guy grabbed me and led me to side of the stage. As the first notes of 'Panama' hit my ears they basically pushed me on stage as I yelled at them that I didn't think this was a good idea. The last words I heard from the wings as I staggered on stage were....'Don't Trip Eddie!'
