NORTH LITTLE ROCK — It all started under a different name with the opening bombast of “Also sprach Zarathustra” and a minor league hockey game. Not a game of legendary skaters, but a game where a now-forgotten forward by the name of Brendan Concannon could score two goals, and lead the South Carolina Stingrays to a 4-3 victory over the Arkansas RiverBlades before an announced crowd of 10,660 in what was then Alltel Arena’s opening night in October 1999.

Twenty-four hours later, Elton John electrified a near-capacity crowd, christening the arena with rousing renditions of “Your Song,” “Honkey Cat” and “Rocket Man.”

Ten years later, Alltel Arena has signs proclaiming its new name — Verizon Arena — and there’s a lot of memories soaked into the wall and floors (which still look new thanks to renovations), and absorbed in the beams and rafters. But there’s also a lot of memories locked into the minds of Verizon Arena general manager Michael Marion, who began work at the arena two years before its opening, and director of marketing Jana DeGeorge, who started work a few weeks after the arena’s opening.

Memories such as Southern California-brushed country rock band Eagles requesting the perfect egg in their tour rider when the act visited last September with their Long Road Out of Eden Tour.

“I’d heard about the tour riders of the ’70s and ’80s, but I’ve never really seen any of that,” DeGeorge said. “But I think one of the strangest requests was the Eagles asking for hard-boiled eggs without the middle being gray. How do you do that? I’m no cook.”

“How do you even test for that?” Marion said. “These days, bands put things like that in there to make sure people are actually reading the tour riders. The biggest problem with the riders now is the lawyers have gotten hold of it, and it’s 30 pages of legal mess.”

While Marion scans the riders, it’s DeGeorge’s responsibility to ensure each rider’s requirements are met. And even stranger requests than perfectly boiled eggs have surfaced.

“I forget who it was, but one band asked for a pack of underwear,” DeGeorge said. “I don’t know why, but we got them underwear.”

And the requests placed upon arena staff are not always contained in tour riders. Neil Diamond was so impressed with a purple, leather chair in one of the building’s six, backstage dressing rooms that he offered to purchase it.

“I told his people I had the catalogue where we got it from, but they were like, ‘No, he wants that chair,’” Marion said.

Not all bands enjoy the comfortable furnishings of the spacious dressing rooms: Each member of the country trio Dixie Chicks decorated their backstage dressing rooms with their own specific flair, from couches to chairs to rugs to candles. (The non-female members of the Dixie Chicks were also responsible for a memorable cake fight following a meet and greet.) Other acts transform rooms underneath the seats of Verizon Arena into their own private relaxation areas, such as country superstar Kenny Chesney and his vibe room, complete with lights, tiki torches and the like.

“When Kenny Chesney first played here, [the vibe room] was a box of junk with broken Christmas lights,” DeGeorge said. “But things in the box have gotten a lot nicer [as Chesney has gotten bigger]. So now, it’s really, really nice. At first, it was horrible.”

And on Taylor Swift’s recent visit to Verizon Arena, the pop country sensation transformed a storage room — it was selected by her staff over several other more spacious and better looking backstage rooms — into her own private tea party room.

“Some of the artists like to have a place where they can kick back, and some get in the car and leave,” Marion said. “[Swift] was real sweet.”

Each item an act brings in, from sponsored-approved accessories for meet-and-greet rooms to specially decorated dressing rooms — and not to mention stages and musical equipment — involves trucks. In the case of Robin Williams’ recent visit, one truck that DeGeorge and Marion joked contained only a stool, or, as with The Rolling Stones, 26 trucks. In fact, The Rolling Stones’ North Little Rock visit was so large, catering for stagehands and others spilled over into one of Verizon Arena’s large meeting rooms.

“We can tell the size of a show by a few different parameters, and one of them is the number of trucks,” Marion said. “The Rolling Stones took over the place.”

A drawback of operating Arkansas’ premier entertainment arena is DeGeorge and Marion usually don’t get an opportunity to hobnob with the musical acts they bring in (Marion failed to meet his musical heroes Eric Clapton and Bruce Springsteen when they visited), or watch much of the shows. The two are usually busy while the crowds are entertained.

“I usually see very little of the show,” Marion said. “I’m usually back [in my office], working and settling up and tired. By the time we get them here and on stage, it’s time to ... send them off.”

But DeGeorge and Marion said each act they’ve met has been gracious, from R. Kelly and Kid Rock (“Kid Rock is a very nice guy,” Marion said.) to Cher, and the job — with its hard work and 18-hour days — is the best job either has ever had.

“This is a great place,” Marion said. “My mom always said it’s our secret that I would do this for free.”

Sidebar: Verizon Arena tidbits

• Groundbreaking took place Aug. 21, 1997.

• Country megastar George Strait holds the attendance record for the building, with 18,004 fans comfortably crammed into the arena, thanks to a smaller, round stage in the center of the arena floor.

• Ten of Verizon Arena’s concert posters, including posters for acts such as Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Van Halen and Robin Williams, have been designed by Mississippi State University art professor and graphic design emphasis coordinator Jamie Burwell Mixon. Mixon’s Rolling Stones poster placed second in the 2007 National Pollstar Concert Industry Awards Poster Competition in Los Angeles. General manager Michael Marion is also a MSU alumnus as well.

• Verizon Arena is home to around 120 events a year, from about 20 concerts with acts such as KISS to basketball and arena football games to Brother Paul’s All You Can Eat Fish and Fowl Dinner, and Rotary luncheons.

• Booking bands at Verizon Arena is a combination of hard work and luck. Bands Marion gets asked most often by community members to attract include Jimmy Buffet, Tom Petty and Bon Jovi. Other acts Marion has tried but failed to bring to Verizon Arena recently include Coldplay and Kings of Leon, while acts such as Beyonce and Stevie Wonder are on a large wish list.

• Both Marion and Verizon Arena director of marketing Jana DeGeorge agree the loudest roar from a Verizon Arena audience they’ve heard was when Conway native and American Idol season eight winner Kris Allen walked on stage as part of the American Idols Live! Tour.

• Marion tries to avoid scheduling concerts on the same days as Arkansas Razorbacks football games in either Little Rock or Fayetteville.