Frederick catered to rockers ranging from Bob Dylan to the Eagles and has the backstage passes to prove it (photo: Matt Cooper, University Communications)
1) What’s your background as a caterer and event coordinator for rock bands?
I was basically on the road from 2006 to 2023, my role was catering and backstage event planning and coordination. I worked with Neil Diamond, the Fray, Zac Brown Band, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Mumford and Sons, Bruno Mars, the Eagles, Queen, Melissa Etheridge, Brandi Carlile, Keith Urban and Kings of Leon. I also worked with WWE, “Glee” and “Star Wars in Concert.” I shopped for lunch and dinner for the crew and the band. For most of the bands, I would spend $3,000 to $7,000 a day on meals for five to 12 people.
2) Did bands make ridiculous requests like “remove all the red M&M’s” from the candy bowl?
I only had one band that was terrible. They were a difficult band for many reasons, here’s just one example: They had to have Michelob Ultra. We were in Canada and they don’t sell that in Canada. They made a bus driver drive over the border into the United States to get them this beer. They couldn’t have another beer? Really?
3) What’s the story on playing baseball with Bob Dylan?
That tour, it was Bob Dylan and John Mellencamp and we were in Missoula, Montana, and we had days off so they rented out a baseball field and it was the John Mellencamp band and crew against the Bob Dylan band and crew and we played baseball and had kegs in the dugout and then afterwards they took us all out to barbecue. Bob didn’t play because he’s very private. That was so fun — you work all these hard hours but you just cannot replace those kinds of memories.
4) You help with commencement — what’s the difference between commencement and an Eagles show?
For commencement I support Sarah Rivas, director of major student events — she’s the driving force behind commencement as a whole, while I’m the driving force behind volunteers. There’s no difference between commencement and an Eagles show: There’s transportation, volunteers, logistics, schedules, vendors and all of the other pieces that have to come together. You have to know how much electricity you need, what the staging will be, you have to have first aid, you have to have water, you have to have trash cans.
5) Your last tour was Queen — how was it?
I was a fan of Queen and we were in rehearsals in New Jersey and I remember thinking, I’m sitting here in rehearsals listening to Queen. I had never “fan girled” out before — you have to be professional. It was just in my heart. Los Angeles was our final show and I took pictures with the artists. It was bittersweet. It wasn’t just my last show with Queen, it was my last show ever. It was really my swan song to touring after all those years.
—Matt Cooper, University Communications