I’ve met the majority of my big influences and a ton of others (like
@Bruce Sokolovic showed, NAMM can get nuts) that the only person I’d be excited about meeting now is Gilmour. I never even remember them all when I try to list them, especially after going to NAMM.
Highlights-
Steve Vai- he was the first and it was when I was 16 or 17, at the height of my Vai fanboyism on the Ultra Zone tour. I was waiting outside Irving Plaza and a cab pulled up, I saw a bunch of red and brown hair and then he popped out, I squeaked like a schoolgirl and did the punisher thing; ran up to him immediately just gushing. Ugh. I had a setlist (which he wasn’t exactly thrilled to see) but no pen, so he said “Don’t worry, I’ll pop out in a bit.” About 30 minutes later he was in the lobby and I walked in to get a picture with him (had a pen at that point). I thought he was going to be so much taller than he was! I said “I’m standing next to God right now!”, he chuckled and said quietly, “No no, that’s not me.” That was a really important day for me because I realized how human he was and the whole adoration for celebrities vanished for me after that. More importantly, it made me realize he was just another dude who played like he does because that’s what he set out to do, not because he’s some mythical being with special powers. That was rather profound.
All the Dream Theater guys; I went to both Roseland shows on the SFAM tour and met them before and after the gig standing behind the venue. I was the last guy standing outside the bus when Portnoy was getting ready to turn in for the night when he looked around and saw me, goes “Hey man, you have a ride home?” (I was 17) I still wonder now what he would have said if I told him “No”.
Dug Pinnick at NAMM- I was at the Dean NAMM Jam getting drinks before the doors opened at The Grove, I turned around and there was Dug. My ex had no clue who he was, but she had been rocking the Dogman cd for months at that point. SUCH A NICE DUDE!! I bought him a couple drinks (Dug likes LIT’s) and we shot the shit for a few minutes, cracking some jokes about my age and his as I’m just under half his age. We said our goodbyes and then as we were waiting for the show to start he came right up to me and said “Oh, we’re gonna watch the show together!”. I was pretty lit at that point and I was a big fan of Hellyeah’s first album (it WAS my party days after all) so I was screaming along with every word not giving a shit, Dug was cracking up and when I apologized for it he said “No no! You’re all good!” I ran into him the next night at the Hilton and he asked how my throat was that day.
Saturday night of NAMM weekend at the Hilton is a crazy experience, one of the most surreal experiences of my life. You’re just drinking with all the attendees like it’s nothin’.
Devin Townsend- Met him before he was going for a jog and he’s just such a great dude. Told him where some plant-based restaurants were in the area and we talked about setting deadlines to help battle never-ending mixing/recording sessions. He was just so casual and friendly.
Brann and Troy from Mastodon- I first met Brann in Boston a few months prior, he was at the merch booth just shaking fan’s hands and he was BEAT. His eyes were barely open and not cuz he just got high, you could tell he was just tired as hell. Really, really nice dude. Walking out of the Ibanez booth at NAMM he was standing right there so I started talking to him and told him I noticed how tired he was in Boston and thanked him for putting that much effort into his job, he apologized! After 5-10 minutes of talking, it was hitting that awkrward point where you don’t know what to say anymore so I told him “Well man, I’m sure you’ve got plenty of things to do…..” and he cheerfully said “Nope! I’m just hangin out, you come to these often?” and just kept the conversation going. Such a cool fuckin’ dude. I was on the same smoking schedule as Troy and talked to him quite a bit behind the Expo center, funny dude and very courteous. I ran into Bill looking at some kid’s guitars and I jokingly said “Looking for a new endorsement?”, he thought I was serious, turned to me and very solemnly said “No, I’m with Gibson already.” I laughed and told him I was aware of that and I was a fan, not someone trying to sell him something. He seemed a bit quiet so I didn’t spend much time with him.
Kenny G. spilled my beer rushing past me and didn’t even stop to apologize. I stood there kind of perplexed that someone would just do that without at least turning to say “Sorry!”, the woman next to me goes “DO YOU KNOW WHO THAT WAS?!”, I shook my head, “KENNY G! I CAN’T BELIEVE HE JUST WALKED PAST ME!”, not being the biggest fan of his music or that ‘interaction’, I just said “Kenny G owes me a fuckin’ beer” and walked away.
That NAMM weekend really kind of wiped my memory after meeting so many people, I have to look at pictures now to remember them all. When I was in high school the venue everyone played at in Lewiston, ME was a 3 minute walk from my apartment, so I used to hang out hours before the show and after to meet people as they were coming off/getting on their busses. My biggest regret was not hanging out after a Pantera concert. I walked around the busses for a minute after, saw Phil walking around so I stood by the bus but he never came out. Never even saw Dime/Vinnie’s bus open up. Really wish I waited that night. 3 years later Dime was gone. Buckethead was a funny one; he was coming out of the venue as Maine was getting it’s first snowfall, I ran up to him “BUCKETHEAD! BUCKETHEAD! BUCKETHEAD!” and turned the corner of the bus with just enough time for the door to close in my face.
After the 2001 Boston G3 show a bunch of people were putting road cones at the exit of the venue, a dick move really, but it got Satch to come out and take pics with all of us. They were watching porn on the bus.
