This is gonna be pretty long, drawn out and boring to some, so unless you're interested, surf on... For the daring and curious, please, read on...
Chapter 2: Backstage Tour
So here is where the grand journey begins, spring 1990. David began working with Walt Disney's newest theme park, The Disney/MGM Studios, in operations at The Monster Sound Show/Epic Theater/Star Tours, (cattle herding, traffic coordination, guest relations, pick up some trash to look busy...stuff like that), but tardiness put an end to that job about the time that Ron started working for The Backstage Tour as a guide. It was there that he met Doug Morris, Eric "Thumper" Rollins, Jeff Jacobson, and Dave Van Houtte, a group of co-workers that decided to put a band together for the love of playing... (yeah, right. It was to pick up chicks).
They were calling themselves Backstage Tour with the idea that they would take an audience on a tour of different musical genres. They talked to Ron and he immediately called Dave to accompany him to an audition in Doug's small condo bedroom. After demonstrating some amount of talent (which was the norm for this crew), they were in, and, after some really good rehearsals in an old mobile home (with no air, and no running water), they began to form something good. It was the first time Ron and Dave felt really good about playing in a group, and it was a lot of fun. This band had potential with a very versitle line-up. Members would often switch instruments and with four very distict vocalists, Ron included, they could play anything and often did. Eventually, the band moved from the mobile home to Steve's house, a friend and possibly the only true fan of the band. He liked to play porno tapes while the band worked on new music. These sessions were very educational for a young Ron and Dave...musically, that is.
Key gigs for the group included a Disney annual employee picnic and a fund-raising charity event. (Interesting note: Backstage Tour was playing "Sweet Home Chicago" on stage roughly about the same time Eric Clapton invited Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Jimmy Vaughn, and Stevie Ray Vaughn on stage to play the same song. It was Stevie Ray's last performance. Right after the show, his helicopter crashed. That was August 27, 1990.)
Despite the fun and promise this band showed, they never got professional work. They spent some time sneaking underage Dave into clubs for auditions, but before they even gave themselves a chance, the band had a messy break-up over internal differences. Ron was furious in a quiet sort of way. Both he and Dave felt that this band was the one to put them on the scene, but it never happened. September 22, 1990 was the last day of Backstage Tour.
