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They used to exist. Here's proof:





Those are the guys from Autograph backstage in the VIP around the 30:00 mark.

At 31:39 is that Sting? Perhaps looking incognito in a Van Halen Tour jacket?

Lol, that does look like Sting! Must have been one hell of a backstage party...

bleys21 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 01, 2022 11:07 pm Lol, that does look like Sting! Must have been one hell of a backstage party...

I had never seen the unedited backstage footage of the VIP party room until now. Truly, it is a goldmine of documentation of the culture the early/mid 80s . . . the hairstyles, the cloths, the overall sensibility. This was the evening of April 5th, 1984, in Detroit. There are moments that feel like the scene in Wayne's World 2 where only the desperate people are in the room, the groupies and hangers on.

Alex Van Halen entered that room like a rock star! He has such an aura and mystique, a supreme coolness that I never fully recognized before. Alex seems tall, and his features are so much more Indo-Eurasian than Eddie's, lending him an exotic appearance. It must have been tough for him being the brother of Ed, the most famous guitarist in world, while being himself so accomplished on the drums. I find it telling that Alex is the one who makes the scene and mingles at the VIP party. Where's Eddie, with Val? And how about Mike and Dave?

Regarding "Sting," The Police played the last date of their 9 month long Synchronicity Tour in Melbourne, Australia on March 4, 1984. So it is chronologically plausible that Sting could have been in Detroit at that date and time. Personally, I get the impression that Sting, after having just quit The Police, was game for anything. A big MTV broadcast may have been irresistible to him. There's all kind of footage of Sting around that time collaborating with other artists, performing at The Prince's Trust Concert, on the single "Do They Know It's Christmas?", and showing up at any other gathering of famous rock stars.

It could be Sting, but so hard to tell. The Police were so popular then that every non-hard rock/metal guy was dressed and had his hair done to look like Sting!

As for Eddie, I thought I saw him wander through the room really early in the video. It looked like he was ducking down, and passing through from far side of room, past the camera to the right. Never saw him again...

The funny thing I saw was the dress of the various women in the room. Vintage 80's, almost to the point of being a stereotype. Like, if you wanted to make a video today that was based in the 80's, it would look just like those girls lol.

What was weird was there were no metal chicks anywhere to be found...all the girls looked like they came right out of a Duran Duran concert.