Jack Johnson is a rock star. Part surfer. Part filmmaker. Part heartthrob. He sells out venues around the country and is the object of a lot of affection.
We met him last night, and I am pleased to report that he is a very cool guy. He’s running his current tour on biodiesel (100% when he can get it), and we were invited to Cary to fill up his tour.
A bunch of us went along. Evan and I did most of the work. We filled up buses. We filled up transport trucks. We pumped 1000 gallons off the back of our tank truck. It was enough fuel to see them on their way, and they were glad to have a source.
Rachel and I ventured up to the stage while we waited for “accounting” to settle up for the fuel purchase. Jack and his band were practicing at the time, so we watched them find their groove.
This was the second time we have been “Fuel Attendants to the Stars.” The first was when we filled up Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan in Zebulon. They took 450 gallons across 6 buses.
I sometimes joke with the gang about how I always wanted to better myself. I was the CEO of an Internet company, but because I was interested in bettering my lot in life, I went down to the Community College where they sometime stretch a sign out by the road, which reads: Your Future Starts Here.
I went down to the College to improve my lot in life, and just look at me now: I became the fuel attendant to the stars!
Willie Nelson got off the bus. He was genuine and friendly and let us take his picture by our tank truck. Bob Dylan failed to meet his fuel attendants. It was almost as if he could not have cared less. But Jack Johnsonóthat’s another story.
He not only left the stage, and thanked us for filling up his tour, but he also asked about the biodiesel coop. He cared. He knows biodiesel. He knows sustainability. He’s not some rock star green washing his touróhe believes in it, and he gets it. The bottled water that was being provided to the buses was wrapped in containers made of cornstarch. The t-shirts at his booth are made of organic cotton and come from T.S. Designs.
It’s not just that 1% of his proceeds go to the planet. It’s that he means it. I saw his roadies unloading bicycles to get around the concert venue. We were provided with a handful of passes to see the show, and the guy who cleared us, the fleet manager, was on a bicycle.
You can buy local beer at a Jack Johnson concert.
I didn’t know many of the songs he played. And the screams of teenage girls were deafening. He just came on in his flip-flops, as if it were a cool summer night in his native Hawaii, and rocked the place. Both of my daughters are Jack Johnson fans, and I secured autographs for each.
All in all it was a wonderful evening. We sold some fuel, we hobnobbed with the rich and famous, and we took in a show. I have to say that we have done worse than our Fuel Attendants to the Stars gigs. In fact they are exhilarating each time they occur.
And today we were able to get back to work.
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