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It's only rock 'n' roll, but he likes it

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Contributed by: John Eisel/YourHub.com on 3/17/2008

Editor's note: Visit our Faces of South Metro page, where YourHub.com staff and readers can introduce you to more people who make this part of the metro area what it is.

Kent Shelton counts $20s as groceries roll by March 8. As the King Soopers cashier scans milk, sugar-free Red Bull, bologna and peanut butter Cocoa Puffs, he politely inquiries for free tickets to a concert.

Shelton doesn't mind. As general manager for seven years at the Gothic Theatre, 3263 S. Broadway in Englewood, he's used to fringe friends hitting him up for tickets. And if his friends want tickets, it bodes well for the head count for the concert - but that's not a problem tonight.

Yellowcard is playing and a throng of KTCL-listening teenagers lined up hours before doors opened, just about the time Shelton's job started. When the band shows up, he's there.

He helped Yellowcard members connect to the building's Wi-Fi before directing them down the street to Sweet Pickles for sandwiches. Later, he chauffeured the band's sleepy driver to a hotel so he can safely deliver the band to Kansas City the next day. Shelton also makes runs to the liquor and food stores to meet the band's pre-show demand list.

Typically, the lists consist of what the band will eat for breakfast and lunch the next day and the alcohol they'll consume when they can. Shelton's had weird requests, too.

"Nobody wanted raw ginger root," he said. "Now 50 percent of the bands want it. I don't know what they do with it."

Shelton does what he can to keep the band entertained.

"I end up being a tour guide for Englewood for a lot of these guys," he said.

But he has a limit.

"We have a "Just say no" policy at the Gothic," he said. "We're not about to risk breaking the law, no matter how big a star you are."

Breaking the law could cost the liquor license, which is the real money-maker.
"A lot of people that are drawn to this industry, they think they're working in the world of rock and roll, when they're working in the world of customer service," Shelton said of Gothic employees. "They're just working in a bar with a really big jukebox. Sometimes the jukebox brings in 20 people, sometimes it brings in 1,000."

When the people jam through the doors, Shelton's attention shifts to the theater.
"I try do to everything for the band during the day, because an hour before, that's when I have to take care of our end of the business," he said.

He even gently removes posters from the walls. He deals with inquisitive music officials. He makes sure the Gothic has security, bartenders, music technicians and someone manning the box office.

"And the poor janitors who have to clean it up," he said. They have the toughest job in rock and roll."

Once the concert starts, he becomes peacemaker. He deals with upset fans convinced they're on the guest list, tour managers with money or building questions - and then he can check out the band.

Shelton embraces the whirlwind of duties.

"It is a different set of challenges each day," he said. "Different bands, different genres, different egos. It stays fresh," he said.

[Report this as objectionable content.]

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