I was at the target of my dreams. I asked Shaggy asked to take a photo and began a very short (about 5 minutes) talk. But then we were interrupted because Shaggy started with the concert. He promised me I could come backstage again after the gig!
Now I enjoyed the concert. It was fantastic....in Shaggy´s words: Boombastic! After the last song, I went to the stage door, hoping to get back to the rear. But the more than strict bouncers, which were provided by the venue, didn´t let me pass. I was yelled at and refer to the courts. Between about 200 other fans waiting, hoping to see Shaggy, my salvation came after about 5 minutes: Kue !! He advised the Security to let me in because I am a personal guest of Shaggy.
Under vociferous cries of other hordes of fans who waited even at the stage door (and under attack by beverage cups) I came backstage again. But Shaggy was not there yet. I took advantage of the time and made interesting conversations with Paul, Kue, GC and Samira. Every member of the Ranch familiy is warm, tender and really nice. As an evidence for this claim I have some screenshots with feedback from these people about our meeting on Instagram:
And suddenly Shaggy appeared again and we were about 1.5 hours backstage. I could ask him everything which is interesting for me, for you or even the page. He did photos with me and signed a couple of things. I also asked him to make a jingle for the fanpage (you can find it on the start-page).
On top of that, Shaggy is following me now on Instagram!! A huge, big honour!
Shaggy about his work ethic: Go hard or go home broke! Don´t be mad when you see my people´s winning. Up early for every morning show, go hard straight til 2 am supporting them radio shows then get on a plane and doin it all again. You can have 90 % talent and 10 % work ethics and never buss and have 10 % talent and 90 % work ethics and be the biggest star the world has ever seen. I´ve seen this way too often.
A question which I also asked Shaggy: Is "Only Love" the second single from the upcoming album"? , and he said yes and asked me if I've heard the song (at that time the song wasn´t published yet). As I said no, he took his Iphone and a portable speakerbox and played the song for us all. His parts he was singing for himself as the video to right shows.
As he finished the performance of "Only Love", I´ve asked Shaggy if more unreleased songs were on his cell phone? He said yes and immediately he began to present us a few of the. I get goosebumps. Will I really hear now some unreleased projects of him??? OMG!! Some of them will appear later this year, others may never! I was such a great honour to be part of this moment! It´s almost impossible as a Shaggy fan to expect more from an evening with him. Shaggy is an affable, charming, cute, interesting conversationalist and I have enjoyed every minute!
THANK YOU Shaggy!
So we did. We could not miss such an opportunity. We also enjoyed the buffet in the backstage area.
As Paul Rossi set up the merchandising corner, we mentioned, that if we run the shop, the revenue would increase by 30 %. He smiled a us and said: Ok, please do! And suddenly we ran the merch-shop for about 45 minutes. The trust in us honours us very much!
After we were replaced at the shop, Rossi said to us that Shaggy arrived a few minutes ago but he will stay in the tourbus for a while. To our great surprise we were allowed to enter the tourbus and Shaggy was pleased to see us again. We talked about everything we want to know and he presented us new tracks which will be released in autumn or winter 2017 or maybe never. A dream come true.
Take 3: On 14.07.2018 I was pleased to meet Shaggy again!
At 4.30 pm Sissi (@sissiluvsreggae) and I hit the venue. Paul "Rossi" Lee was waiting for us outside to give us our green "Guest Stickers" for the backstage area. Arriving there, we first saw the rear view of an impressive stage, a breathtaking buffet (see photos) and last but not least Sting, who had a leisurely snack.
Take 4: On July 3rd, 2022, after a looooooong break due to Corona, I was happy to meet Shaggy again - this time in Cologne!
At 2:00 p.m. I reached the venue - the SummerJam Festival. I tried to contact Paul "Rossi" Lee. It worked after a while, but he had bad news: "I'm out of AA passports (All access). I don't know how to get you in!". A world collapsed. But Rossi wouldn't be Rossi if he didn't have some sort of solution. After a while he sent me a location via iphone and said "Be there in 20 minutes". I went straight away and after about 25 minutes a black sedan pulled up. The windows were heavily tinted. I only recognized Rossi in the driver's seat. I wanted to get in on the passenger side, but he gestured for me to sit in the back. As I sat in the back, I realized who was in the passenger seat: Shaggy, who was just being brought onto the area! We chatted right away, I handed out some small gifts (Shaggy-branded Manner-Waffers and plexiglass standee). Afterwards, as always, there was a cozy get-together in the backstage area. When it was time for him to take the stage, a question came up: where can I be during the concert? His answer: "Com on Stage, Bro!". The joy was of course huge and I was able to follow the gig in front of 15,000 visitors from the stage. Another unforgettable day with Shaggy! Many thanks to Shaggy, Paul and everyone else who keeps making this possible for me!!!!
