In 35 Years: WE’VE BEEN EVERYWHERE, MAN!
July 16th, 2025
Country artist Hank Snow said it best in 1962 when he adapted “I’ve Been Everywhere, Man” from its original Australian version to represent places in the United States. Snow’s version hit Number 1 and since then the song has been recorded by many artists including Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash. The chorus could be the anthem for the Alpha & Omega Mounted Security Patrol. It goes like this:
I’ve been everywhere, man
I’ve been everywhere, man
Crossed the deserts bare, man
I’ve breathed the mountain air, man
Of travel I’ve a-had my share, man
I’ve been everywhere
Yes, we’ve been everywhere in our 35 years of offering public safety to crowds of people throughout the United States and even in Canada.
Deserts bare? Yep. Specifically at Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.
A&O Troopers have provided mounted security annually since 2009 at the Coachella Music & Arts Festival and at the Stagecoach Country Music Festival. Single appearances saw us at Desert Trip in 2016 where headliners included the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Roger Waters and the Who. The A&O festival patrol also was there for avid fans of hard rock and heavy metal at Power Trip 2023. Featured performers include Guns N Roses, Iron Maiden, ACDC, Judas Priest, Metallica, and Tool. Add a few Phish concerts and you’ll see that we like the desert air, man.
Breathed the mountain air, man? That, too.
Our security work has carried us across international boundaries for the Pemberton Music Festival in British Columbia in 2014 and 2016. Pemberton was a contemporary music festival near the foot of majestic Mt. Currie. Performers for a crowd of 75,000 included Nine Inch Nails, Outkast, Soundgarden, Frank Ocean, Snoop Dogg, The Flaming Lips, Violent Femmes and dozens of other bands.
It may not have mountains, but the air is certainly clear in the Texas Hill Country. Y’all should know that the vibe at the Eclipse Festival in Burnet, Texas, near Austin, was over the moon as it traveled past the sun. Music, astronomy, gastronomy, art and play occupied fans gathered to experience the eclipse of the sun by the moon’s shadow. All were kept safe by A&O Troopers.
Of travel I’ve had my share, man. You bet!
Coast to coast, Alpha & Omega has been there for the nation’s biggest mass gatherings, bringing its special brand of public safety services. Here is just a sampling of our stops throughout the USA.
On the West Coast, we are a familiar site at the Golden Gate Bridge Park for both Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival (since 2008) and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (since 2013). At the Polo Field in Indio, California, we patrolled for Coachella, Stagecoach, Desert Trip, Power Trip, Big Four Metal Concert.
On the Upper West Coast, Troopers traveled to Whiteriver Amphitheater on the historic Muckleshoot Indian Reservation in Washington, home of the 2004 Farm Aid concert. They also provided security for The Gorge in WashingtonIn the Midwest, Troopers patrolled in Michigan (Electric Forest), Indiana (Ruoff Music Center), and Alpine Valley Theatre in Wisconsin.
Alpine Valley Theatre is one of the most revered amphitheaters in the country in part because of the many appearances of The Grateful Dead–a place where they were once banned. A&O was fortunate to work the 2002 weekend festival, after the untimely death of Jerry Garcia, when the remaining members of the band reunited for the first time as The Other Ones for Terrapin Station. With months of strategic planning, the ban was lifted. This wouldn’t be just a normal two shows in a given weekend for anyone. From round-the-clock staff to security check points–only allowing people on the property if they had a ticket in hand–the coordination and staffing would rival some of the biggest festivals around.
Over the years, the A&O Mounted Patrol has welcomed patrons to Chicago’s famed United Center with their parking lot patrols. The United Center, home to the Chicago Blackhawks and Chicago Bulls, is the largest arena in the United States.The South, where our headquarters are in Texas, has figured strongly in our travels since the beginning. Our first concert in the South in 1995 was at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion at The Woodlands near Houston. Troopers, including our CEO Frank Keller and his Number 1 assistant the late Bruce Smith, rode for the Van Halen concert. They secured the gig while attending a planning meeting for the opening of The Woodlands Mall, a client we have had for 30 years. The Woodlands is well known for its neighborhoods, extensive parks, waterways, recreation, golf, corporate headquarters, schools, places of worship, shopping, dining, hospitality, healthcare and much more.
Texas also is where Troopers cut their teeth on Electronic Dance Music (EDM) with the colorful fans at Ubbi Dubbi, Freaky Deaky, and Lights All Night New Year’s Eve. Plus, you don’t want to tap into big events in Texas without participating in the iconic sports extravaganzas. We’ve guarded runners every year since 2011 at Ironman in The Woodlands as they set off for their personal best.
In 1994, the Troopers protected fans of the World Cup Soccer matches at the historic Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Hosted by the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), 24 countries competed in the month-long, multi-city tournament. The total audience created the second largest spectator event in the world with more than 3.6 million people. Officials from Alpha & Omega met with Cotton Bowl planners and FIFA officials for two years for a sort of “security school” in preparation for the event. Special study of profile situations helped Alpha & Omega ready their Troopers for all possible emergencies. In a scorching heat wave, A&O Troopers stood post with other law enforcement from the Dallas Police Department. Troopers’ and horses’ detailed training enabled them to work efficiently around helicopters, ambulances, media trucks, buses of team members, and other potential distractions.
A&O assembled the largest private peace time cavalry ever organized in Manchester, Tennessee, for Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival annually from its inaugural concert in 2002 to 2023. Troopers helped to make Bonnaroo one of the safest music events in the country. In its June 24, 2004, edition, Rolling Stone named the festival as one of the “50 moments that changed the history of Rock & Roll.” The music and camping extravaganza draws more than 90,000 fans to a Woodstock-like setting.
At the international 2004 G-8 Summit in Savannah, Georgia, Alpha & Omega instructors were honored to serve as training specialists in Sea Island for the largest gathering of diplomatic and consular officials outside of Washington D.C. or New York. The Summit became a magnet for all manner of protestors from around the world. Frank Keller, founder and president of A&O, and his highly trained instructors designed an intensive class for the law enforcement professionals responsible for protecting the high-profile government officials from eight countries. Six mounted police units working the Summit in mutual aid from throughout the Southeast joined the Savannah Police Department for the in-depth training.
Click right and Open Hyperlink to view 2004 G-8 Summit photos
Also in Georgia we patrolled TomorrowWorld (2013) at a 3-mile venue along a scenic waterfront locale on the banks of the Chattahoochee River. The festival featured dozens of the world’s top electronica entertainers.
Further Southeast in Florida the patrol has protected fans at Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival and Langarado Music Festival.
On the East Coast, we have worked at some of our favorite venues, The Alpha & Omega Mounted Patrol participated in one of the milestone music events of all time. Billed as the 25th anniversary of the original Woodstock Music Festival, the Woodstock ’94 Arts and Music Festival was staged on the same grounds as the original, the 843-acre Winston farm in Saugerties, New York, August 12 to 14, 1994. The festival featured 30 bands and an estimated 350,000 people in attendance. The Woodstock site created the third largest “city” in New York during the festival weekend. Because of unwelcome rainfall, it was nicknamed “MudStock”. Alpha & Omega Troopers joined the New York State Police and several private security firms to manage the sizeable crowd (the first time ever for a private Mounted Patrol to be contracted for a music festival.) A strong relationship was forged with the New York State Police, a bond that continues today. Troopers were responsible for traffic management, parking patrols, opening passageways for band members and VIPs, clearing landing zones for helicopters, and monitoring crowd movement and behavior.
A&O was proud to be a part of Mysteryland’s inaugural U.S. event in 2014. Mysteryland has been a leading pioneer of the dance festival scene in Europe and the US since 1993 and has inspired numerous other organizers and events. It is the first music festival to return to the hallowed grounds where Woodstock took place. Mysteryland has had a tremendous impact on the music world, and it is the logical festival to follow in the footsteps of the original ground-breaking music event Woodstock.
In 2004, Troopers participated in one of their most meaningful and moving appearances in Washington D.C. Riders joined police units from across the nation to honor their fallen colleagues. The Police Memorial Ride, hosted by the United States Park Police Horse Mounted Unit, is an annual salute to honor those officers who died in the line of duty during the prior year. Some 250 mounted police units from across the United States paraded in front of the Capitol. Alpha & Omega is the only private mounted security company ever invited to participate in the memorial tribute. Senior A&O commanders from five states joined Frank Keller, founder and CEO of Alpha & Omega. Kelle rode Nap, the 24-year-old Clydesdale who he rode when he first founded the company in the early eighties. This became Nap’s retirement ride. On the day prior, the mounted units we escorted by the Park Police on a mounted tour ride of the Capitol, the National Mall, the Monuments and the White House. This was a highly unusual opportunity to see Washington D.C. from a vantage point where few are allowed.
In 2016, we added The Pavilion amphitheater at Bethel Woods in upstate New York to our music clientele. Bethel Woods Pavilion is situated on a 37-acre field that is part of the 600-acre site of the original Woodstock festival that attracted almost half a million fans in August of 1969. The amphitheater opened to the public on July 4, 2006, with a performance by the New York Philharmonic. Since then, Bethel Woods has presented a wide variety of musical genres and performers including Bob Dylan, Elton John, Phish, The Eagles, Zac Brown Band, James Taylor, and Jimmy Buffett among countless others.
Finally, we want to celebrate our long association with Phish all across the USA since 1996. A&O joined Phish at the:
- Clifford Ball, 1996, Plattsburgh Air Force Base, NY,
- Great Went, 1997, Limestone, ME,
- LemonWheel, 1998, Limestone, ME,
- New Year’s Eve, 1999, Big Cypress Indian Reservation, FL,
- Camp Oswego, 1999, Volney, NY,
- IT, 2003, Limestone, ME,
- Coventry. 2004, Coventry, VT,
- Festival 8, 2009, Indio, CA,
- Super Ball IX, 2011, Watkins Glen, NY,
- Magnaball, 2015, Watkins Glen, NY.
The appearance at Coventry in Vermont represented a “full circle” of sorts for the mounted enforcement unit and Phish. A&O began its concert division with Woodstock 94 where Phish band members first encountered them. They were invited by Phish to the Clifford Ball concert in 1996. This classic Phish music festival launched what became an annual summer concert tour for A&O elite riders.
