That feeling that strikes right to the bones, makes the body tremble, the pulse skip and the heart race. That unmistakable chill that enwraps one’s soul when confronted with something so terrifying, so bizarre, the mind literally goes into mental palpitations as it tries to explain the unexplainable. Yeah, we’re well familiar with fear.

That’s because we’ve been dealing with fear our entire professional lives. Even back in 1931 when our founder, Festus Pollstar, launched the Web site that changed the world, fear was an important factor behind the scenes of Pollstar.com. Fear of missing a date for Bing Crosby or Rudy Vallee. Fear of Frank Sinatra, his “made” friends and equine heads in the bedroom. Fear with a capital F.

Flash forward to 2005 and you’ll find that fear plays an integral part of the daily operations at Pollstar.com. Fear of artist managers walking into our offices and bludgeoning anyone who screws up a date for Cowboy Troy or Howie Day. Fear of promoters, those wily entrepreneurs who take no prisoners, often pack heat, and aren’t afraid to use it if we don’t post their shows for Switchfoot, Tegan and Sara and Eighteen Visions as quickly as they demand. Fear of booking agents for Ann Peebles and Supagroup if we don’t bow and scrape before them as custom dictates. Yes, fear is a powerful force, the ultimate force in the tour data biz.

But we’ve learned to control our fear. Year after year of dealing with tour managers for U2, publicists for the Eagles and Duran Duran, and record label execs for Brooks & Dunn, Big & Rich and Loggins & Messina have made us quite familiar with fear. So much so, in fact, that we no longer tremble when REO Speedwagon’s agent calls and screams obscenities at us, or when Ted Nugent’s manager drives by and shoots out our windows. No, we never let them see us sweat, but take our word for it, we’re trembling inside.

So, after all these years, you’d think that we would have come to grips with fear, that we’d learn to live with fear as we pursue concert schedules for the Steve Miller Band, Journey and Nine Inch Nails. And you know something? Up until yesterday you would be right. Up until yesterday we’d look fear in the face and laugh. Yes, laugh and guffaw, joke and heckle. We’d stare fear in the eyes, and never, ever blink. That is, up until yesterday.

For it was yesterday when we first saw that picture of Phil Spector sitting in the courtroom. Click here if you dare. But don’t say we didn’t warn you.