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Anyone who grew up going to rock concerts in the Pittsburgh area after 1970 probably has some idea who Rich Engler is.

Engler — on his own and also as a member of the powerhouse promotions duo DiCesare Engler Productions with partner Pat DiCesare — promoted most of the major rock concerts and festivals in the Tri-State for half a century.

During his 53 years in the entertainment business, Engler said he has promoted more than 6,000 concerts and events. They include the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Marley and Billy Joel.

To say that during those five decades Engler has had his share of ups and downs is an understatement.

“Am I a producer, a music promoter? No. What I am is a big-time gambler,” Engler said. “That’s what a promoter is. A promoter has to take an idea and make a deal with an attraction, make a deal with a facility, a venue, and put the tickets on sale, set up all the advertising, set up all the production, hire the stage hands, six, eight months to a year, year-and-a-half before the show and put it on sale — and pray that you’re going to, at least, break even.”

Engler hasn’t always broken even. Big-name acts are sometimes guaranteed up to $2 million or $3 million or 90% to 95% of the gross, whichever is greater, after expenses. Engler puts up his own money and takes all the risk.

It can be very ugly.

Engler once lost $400,000 in one afternoon at Three Rivers Stadium. It was 1988’s Monsters of Rock event featuring Van Halen, Metallica, The Scorpions and others.

“I needed 40,000 people to break even. I got 32,000 people. Anything that does 32,000 people, everybody should be jumping up and down clapping and having a good time. Except me,” Engler said. “I was $400,000 short.”

Engler said he learned to take the ups and downs in stride.

“To have a major win, they don’t really exist,” Engler said. “You really can only make (5%) or, if you’re lucky, 10%.

”You make a couple of bad decisions, and you’re out of business. I never celebrated the wins, and I never cried over the losses. That’s why I never had stomach ulcers and I still have most of my hair.”

The life of a promoter produces enough stories to fill a book, and Engler did just that when he wrote his autobiography “Behind the Stage Door: A Promoter’s Life Behind the Scenes.”

The book led to the production of a documentary called “Behind the Stage Door.” The movie makes its cinematic debut Oct. 1 and will be shown again at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 15 at the Rangos Giant Cinema at Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh.

The film already has been released on Apple TV, iTunes, Direct TV, Verizon FIOS and Frontier Communications.

Engler has certainly made a good living promoting concerts, but he said that’s not what it’s been about for him, especially in the beginning.

“When I started booking bands locally in 1969, I had a chance to book Johnny Winter, Edgar Winter, Blue Oyster Cult, Yes, David Bowie, King Crimson and all these other bands. I was trying to spread the news that my generation was peace and love and spread the music to the world,” Engler said. “I was putting stuff out there that I liked.

“Everybody wanted to hear these new bands and there was no MTV. If you wanted to see a band that you liked, you had to go to a concert,” he said. “So, it was a big, new frontier out there, and we were writing the rules.

“I’ve lived a fantasy, unbelievable, fun life. I never worked a day in my life.”

Part of the fun for Engler was being able to work with some of the people he idolized as a kid growing up in East Deer’s Creighton neighborhood and performing in various bands.

“I played some brass instruments in (East Deer) high school and switched over to drums because The Beatles came out in ’64 and I thought, ‘Oh, jeez, I’m playing the trumpet?’ So, I dropped that immediately, and I started playing drums,” said Engler, who now resides in Sewickley Heights.

Engler became part of a rock band called The Grains of Sand. They had a hit song in Canada called “Passing Through the Night.” But eventually, Engler realized that in order to stay in the business, he was better suited to working behind the scenes.

“I really felt the music business was where I needed to be,” Engler said. “That’s when I quit college (Carnegie Mellon University) and started my first company in 1969.

“I booked many of the local attractions — Joe Grushecky had a band and Donnie Iris had the Jaggerz — and all these bands started depending on me because I had a knack for negotiation,” he said. “I grew up in a mill town, and unless you worked at Pittsburgh Plate Glass or at the steel mill, you weren’t (squat).

“I was able to hone my skills dealing with these crooks that owned some of these clubs. They’d take the shoes off of you if they could. I learned how to outsmart these guys through negotiation, and that’s why everybody wanted me to book their bands.”

Eventually, national agents started calling Engler about booking acts like Fleetwood Mac and Johnny Winter.

By February 1990, he was working with Paul McCartney, booking him for back-to-back shows at the Civic Arena.

“It was a wonderful experience working with Paul. He was a great guy, very friendly. Couldn’t have been nicer backstage,” Engler said. “He had a rough voice but ended up doing the two shows. He didn’t forget about Cindy (Engler’s wife of 50 years) and me.

“At the end of his tour, he sent us a personal invitation to his last show at Soldier Field in Chicago and to party with him and Linda after the show. How great is that?”

Engler also came close to bringing John Lennon to Pittsburgh after the release of his “Double Fantasy” album in 1980. Lennon was planning a limited tour, and there were discussions about making Pittsburgh one of the stops. Engler had dates reserved at the Syria Mosque. But a short time later, Lennon was assassinated in New York.

There also were some big-name acts that left Engler with some unsavory memories.

“I made a lot of money on Aerosmith over the years, but on this one show at Three Rivers Stadium they didn’t like something. I had Winnebago (trailers) rented for their dressing rooms,” Engler said. “I come around the corner of the stage, and I see a chair coming through the windshield of the first Winnebago. I look at the other Winnebago, and I see mustard and ketchup splattered everywhere inside of it.

“The manager runs over and starts pounding me on the chest and says, ‘This band will never, ever, ever work for you again.’ ”

Engler gave them the wrong color towels.

And despite the manager’s threat, Engler still was able to book more Aerosmith shows.

One would think that after his long rock ’n’ roll roller-coaster ride, Engler, 76, would be ready to retire. But he still is producing shows, including a concert featuring the Marshall Tucker Band on Oct. 22 at the Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall in Munhall. Engler plans on signing copies of his book at the show.

“I jokingly tell my wife, ‘I’m either going to die on stage or behind stage,’” he said. “I’m never quitting. I love what I do.”

To view the trailer or purchase the book, visit www.richengler.com.

Paul Guggenheimer is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paul at pguggenheimer@triblive.com.

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