Quote:
Originally Posted by TheBang
I hope you hung around the side entrance, today, Rioja. There were lots of opportunities to meet them before and after the show as they came and went.
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I did, yes! Actually, I parked right around 6p and walked over to the side entrance and was told they had just left after soundcheck. This was a bummer because I spent some time discovering a cheaper parking lot and thought then I had blown the chance to meet them just to shave off a meager $6 on parking.
So I then went into the bar, had a bit to drink, then got in line for floor access/wristbands. I had been told that I was not to leave the bar area lest I give up my place "in line", and that once the gig started there could be no venue re-entries.
Hence, the next time I had the opportunity to visit the side entrance was not until after the gig. Actually considered waiting in the venue in front of the stage to see if R and/or K would perhaps be coming out there to meet/greet, but that option was quickly nixed by security urging everyone to exit.
So, I walked outside, around the theater to the back because I thought R/K would be exiting that way, if they hadn't already. I waited there until about 12:20a after no one left through that door except a couple security staff.
Then I went back around to the side entrance where there were just 6 or 7 people hanging around the open door. At that point, I didn't know what they were waiting for, but I didn't want to seem like a creep and/or clueless by asking, "Heyyy.. are you guys waiting for the band?"
But then someone mentioned that R/K would be coming out that way, so my ears definitely perked up at that point. And an Australian with whom I had a short conversation said that the two had shown up at the door, then turned around to go back inside for an unknown reason.
Were they tired and therefore wanted to leave some other way to avoid being asked for photos, signing, and the like? I had no idea.
But I didn't wonder long because it seemed right as I thought that, there they were! Rick was beaming and seemed very happy to meet people and Karl was a bit more reserved I think under a hoodie which was almost too big for his head.
He was just a bit tired, which of course is to be expected from someone who has just danced his ass off for nearly 2 hours. I would be absolutely done, physically, if I could even do that at all, which I doubt. But Karl does it full-on and he's nearly 20 years older than I! No idea how he does that.
So I almost instantly chatted up Rick, who for some reason or another I thought might have a bit more reserved personality than Karl, but damn if I didn't turn out to be wrong! For 5 - 10 minutes, we had a great conversation, and he didn't seem at all put off by my typically intense demeanor, which can throw people off a bit when they first meet me.
We talked about Wales, Pearls Girl (I'd always wanted to know what synth it was that made that amazing, filtered bass line, and now I know: a Nord 1), sampling, creating as an artist even when you feel like that's the last thing you want to do (but you've got to do it), why sometimes making record can be a miserable experience, his recommendation of the book "Steal Like An Artist", staring down the dole office and thinking there's no way you're going to make it... and then having the support of someone you love somehow helping you find a way. (In Rick's case, that person was his wife, without whom he said he'd likely never have found the strength to press on.)
He was amazing: very appreciative, genuine, and complimentary. And I absolutely could not believe that I was standing there, talking to my hero. (In fact, there's just one other famous musician with whom a conversation was such a pleasure, and that was -- believe it or not -- Ogre from Skinny Puppy. (I say "believe it or not" since, you know, with a stage name like "Ogre", you expect at least a bit of animosity. Not true at all in that guy's case though.))
Seeing as it was time to be going, I asked Rick for a photo and, again, being very gracious, he was more than willing to do that, as well. After I thanked him again, I looked over at Karl and, seeing that he was totally exhausted, simply said "Karl, thank you for everything." He nodded, smiled very genuinely, and said "thank you" back. Though I think he was a bit thrown off by this lanky, intense-looking, 6' 3" guy with, I suppose, substantial amounts of ink, some might say. (It seemed a bit like Karl was thinking, "Is this guy going to attack me or thank me?")
But there again, I could not believe that I was standing a couple feet away from my 2 favorite musicians of the past 20 years. It was such a wonderfully surreal experience, one that would be impossible to repeat. And I'm grateful for that because I I'd like nothing more than the memory of that evening to live on forever.
(Photo of Rick and I coming up soon...)
And even after I'd left the side entrance and gone around to the front of the theater, I walked back over to the side once more to hug the guy that took the photo of Rick and I. I had no one else with me that night and so I remain crazy grateful to that person for taking the pic. In fact, I appreciate it more than I can say, but sadly I don't even know his name...