Have you met your musical idols...was it a good expierence?

[remphish1]

Have you ever met your favorite musician. Did it make you like them more or less or no change? Anything memorable happen?

 

Here are some of my musical idols I have met

Jeff Tweedy met him three times. Collectively talked to him for at least 30 minutes and even helped him find his car once.

Jay Farrar-Asked him for a picture he said no, asked for a request didn't say a word

Bruce Springsteen-Book signing..had 10 seconds of his time but got my question in, some handshakes  and a great picture

Thom Yorke- It was awkward and he gave me an annoyed look still he signed my OK Computer cd rest of the band were super friendly!

Michael Stipe-Met him three times. Never warm or engaging unfortunately. Got my cd signed though

Beck-Nice and friendly.

Damon Albarn- Real nice got to chat with him for a few minutes

Billy Joel- Was friendly and I made a request  for him to play something off Cold Spring harbor and he said no I sound like a chimpmunk on that's album lol

Tom Petty-Nice enough but didn't talk much

Trey Anastasio-Happy guy..

Jonsi (Sigur Ros)-Friendly but VERY SHY!

Gary Louris- Met him multiple times. Great guy.

Tori Amos-Intensely Friendly. Met her at a cd signing. She would only talk to one person at a time on a stage. She gave everyone a hug, asked everyone their name. Everyone had a few minutes of her time

Dave Gahan- Nice.

 

Elliott Smith- Got to talk to him for a few minutes and got a pic with him

Mark Sandman ( Morphine)- Funny, got a pic with him

David Bowie- Not really a musical idol to me but I appreciate him. Shook his hand at a nine inch nails concert was surreal!

[Lammycat]

I (honestly) never really cared to meet them all that much. I've met a few, regardless.

 

Ones that spring to mind: Mike Watt and Nels Cline backstage at break time of a Banyan show at a friend's venue.

 

Meeting Brent Mydland on Bourbon St after a show in New Orleans. Had a couple drinks sitting next to each other in some bar. Pretty funny deal, imo, but will spare you all the details.

 

Met Jorma backstage, too, at a small venue show. Didn't go over well at all.Stupid booze.

 

Chris Thile, who was dating (and later married and divorced) a good friend's daughter. He was over for Thanksgiving dinner. Talker a little baseball is about it.

 

Thye Phish guys at various bars/parties in the late 80s/early 90s.

 

Hung with Vince Welnick a few times at friends bar/venue. He'd always come in hours early of his gig and sit at the bar and drink/chat with everyone. Nice guy.

[Boss_Tweedy]

Peter Buck - He couldn't have been more approachable. He posed for a picture with me, autographed my album cover and got Scott McCaughey to sign as well for me. We talked about R.E.M.'s last album and New Orleans restaurants. One of the coolest celebrities I've ever encountered. 

 

Mike Mills - Also very nice. We talked Atlanta Braves baseball and Dale Murphy (about whom he wrote a song for the Baseball Project). He posed for a picture with my friend and me and signed my ticket stub. 

 

Mavis Staples - Met her by pure luck at the Grammy Museum in Cleveland, MS on the day of her show. She was touring the museum. I got a hug, and we talked about her visit to Dockery Farms, where Pops Staples worked during his youth and learned guitar from Charley Patton. She's wonderful - an absolute treasure. Rarely am I giddy, but I was beaming when I met her. 

 

Doug MacMillan (The Connells) - I actually had a beer with him before a show in Jackson, MS. Very cool guy. We talked music - who he was listening to at the time specifically. 

 

Mike & David Connell (The Connells) - Very nice. Mike is a law school graduate, and when I met him I'd just finished my first year of law school. We talked about surviving that experience. 

[remphish1]

Mills and Buck are great always super friendly!

[jff]

I opened for Mike Watt a couple times.  Only got to talk to him at any length once.  He was nice, and had some funny stories, but I could tell he was tired from the gig so I didn't try to take up much of his time.  His band were cool, and we hung out with them for a good while.  They later accused us in their tour diary of drinking all their beer backstage, but that's really not true. We each drank A beer from the backstage stash, which we thought was being shared among the bands (and refilled if it all got drank).  There definitely was beer left in the cooler when we loaded up and left.

 

I spent two weeks on the road opening for Superchunk many years ago. We hit it off nicely with Jon Wurster and Jim Wilbur. Those two are funny as hell. Laura Balance was super nice, but always seemed to be surrounded by friends in each town, so I didn't get to spend a lot of time with her. But to her credit, there have been several times when we've seen each other at shows and she recognizes me and takes time for a quick hello. Mac was aloof and overly businesslike. Not jerky, just seemed preoccupied with other things.

 

I hung out with Ed fROMOHIO (Ed Crawford from fIREHOSE) backstage at Liberty Lunch in Austin after one of the Superchunk shows.  Awesome dude. Would hang with again. 10/10.

[Knight Rider]

A friend once told me "trust the art; not the artist."  Largely been true in my experience...

 

1.  Mellencamp:  I worked at the local music venue in the 90's delivering food backstage, so I met quite a few.  He was an asshole.  Loved his music at the time and I was 18, so I was crushed.

 

2.  Pat Sansone:  A buddies girlfriend who plays in a Chicago band got us backstage at the Wilco residency shows in 07 I think.  My buddy went up to him to thank him and he totally blew us off once he realized my buddies sister wasn't there.

 

3.  Jay Farrar:  Contrary to what I've heard over and over again he was really nice.  He's shy and you could tell he wasn't interested in any deep mind blowing conversations, but he was polite and personable.

 

4.  Gary Louris:  Met him on the street outside Lincoln Hall this spring.  Really nice.

 

5.  Ace Frehley:  was whacked out of his mind, but isn't that what you'd be expecting when you meet Ace.

[Shug]

 

Meeting Brent Mydland on Bourbon St after a show in New Orleans. Had a couple drinks sitting next to each other in some bar. Pretty funny deal, imo, but will spare you all the details.

 

You can't NOT tell us Deadheads now with a teaser like that!!!  Even if its not flattering to Brent I still wanna hear it.

[Shug]

In 1992 or so, after he had sat in with the Dead a couple times, a lot of Deadheads went to see Branford Marsalis at Yoshi's in Berkeley.  He was doing two shows a night and in between shows he was hanging out at the bar meeting fans, about a dozen lined up to see him.  He talked with every fan lined up, one at a time, for several minutes each, what a cool guy.  He was very gracious in accepting the praise the Deadheads showered him with and was also happy to talk about what it was like to play with the Dead even at his own show.

[Lammycat]

You can't NOT tell us Deadheads now with a teaser like that!!!  Even if its not flattering to Brent I still wanna hear it.

I think I've over-told it but here ya go:

 

Fall 88 mini deep-south tour ((Miami that we missed) 2St.Petes->New Orleans->Houston->Dallas. 

 

After the New Orleans show (at which The Bangles came out to play the encore with them) we, as was every other head) were bumbling along Bourbon St. after the show and one of my buddies pointed out Brent and some other dude walking across the street. Being a huge Brent guy, I followed. they walked into a bar and I was right behind and took the empty seat, at the bar, right next to Brent. It was pretty crowded so as we waited a few minuted for the bartender to get to us, I turned to him and asked "you get into the show tonight?" He got a kick out of that and laughed and it broke the ice for hanging out for a couple rounds (in which he asked ME to borrow a few dollars!!).

 

He got recognized pretty quickly but people left him alone for the most part.

 

Since he, technically, owed me money I went into the show early in Houston for the next show and he was fucking around on his keys with the house lights still on and I shouted out, behind him, something like "hey man, you got that 5 bucks??!" to which I got another friendly chuckle and smile and hand wave.

 

Not much of a story but it was fun for me and a night etched in my head. He was really pleasant to talk to, funny, and shy. He sat at the bar kinda slouched in his chair whith his knees touching the bar most of the time.

[PopTodd]

Richard Lloyd (Television)—I interviewed him when I was writing for a local music rag in college. I wouldn't call him "friendly" per se, but he was very, very talkative and more than willing to answer all my questions in his thick Brooklyn accent. Told some really great stories, including one about the night that he got decked by Jimi Hendrix.

 

Exene Cervenka (X)—Popped her head into the room to say "hi" when I was interviewing another band for the same music rag. Only talked for a few seconds but she was bubbly, effervescent, and just came off as a total sweetheart.

 

Neil Schon (Journey)—I saw him at the NAMM show when I was 15 and he basically blew me off in the most asshole-ish way possible. 

 

Steve Morse (Dixie Dregs/Deep Purple/Kansas)—Not 5 minutes after I was blown off by Neil Schon, I ran into Steve Morse. I was a huge fan at the time and had pretty much the opposite experience that I had with Schon. He asked me my name, seemed genuinely interested in how long I'd been playing guitar. And then asked me to walk around the show with him a little bit and gave me some pretty excellent advice about playing. (Always practice with a metronome.) An impossibly nice person.

 

Jonathan Richman—The first person I ever interviewed and it was a disaster. He was very standoffish, and surprisingly difficult to get anything from. In his defense, I was woefully unprepared.

 

Neutral Milk Hotel—Met them at an in-store performance. They took my request for "Song Against Sex" and talked to everyone after they played. Jeff was quiet, but nice. I talked to Scott for a little while and he was just a really nice, normal guy.

[uncool2pillow]

Bob Mould - He is consistently gracious to fans. I've spoken with him after many shows. Always very generous with his time and attention.

 

Richard Thompson - Pretty much the same as Bob.

 

Old 97s - Murry, Philip, and Kenneth are very laid back. Rhett was decent enough, but he seemed to spend time with fans begrudgingly.

[mountain bed]

I think I've over-told it but here ya go:

 

Fall 88 mini deep-south tour ((Miami that we missed) 2St.Petes->New Orleans->Houston->Dallas. 

 

After the New Orleans show (at which The Bangles came out to play the encore with them) we, as was every other head) were bumbling along Bourbon St. after the show and one of my buddies pointed out Brent and some other dude walking across the street. Being a huge Brent guy, I followed. they walked into a bar and I was right behind and took the empty seat, at the bar, right next to Brent. It was pretty crowded so as we waited a few minuted for the bartender to get to us, I turned to him and asked "you get into the show tonight?" He got a kick out of that and laughed and it broke the ice for hanging out for a couple rounds (in which he asked ME to borrow a few dollars!!).

 

He got recognized pretty quickly but people left him alone for the most part.

 

Since he, technically, owed me money I went into the show early in Houston for the next show and he was fucking around on his keys with the house lights still on and I shouted out, behind him, something like "hey man, you got that 5 bucks??!" to which I got another friendly chuckle and smile and hand wave.

 

Not much of a story but it was fun for me and a night etched in my head. He was really pleasant to talk to, funny, and shy. He sat at the bar kinda slouched in his chair whith his knees touching the bar most of the time.

LOVE this story! 

 

I've met quite a few people over the years, but easily the best was dinner with the David Nelson Band at a private home in December 2002. After the meal a few of us retired to a sunroom/porch for an after dinner smoke. I was able to talk at length with David - I mentioned NOTHING about Garcia, NRPS, or even music. We discussed a few of his passions - comic books (he has an astounding collection, apparently), and The Civil War, of which he is a huge buff. Very engaging, wicked smart, well read guy. Just like you would hope for.

[Shug]

I think I've over-told it but here ya go:

 

Fall 88 mini deep-south tour ((Miami that we missed) 2St.Petes->New Orleans->Houston->Dallas. 

 

After the New Orleans show (at which The Bangles came out to play the encore with them) we, as was every other head) were bumbling along Bourbon St. after the show and one of my buddies pointed out Brent and some other dude walking across the street. Being a huge Brent guy, I followed. they walked into a bar and I was right behind and took the empty seat, at the bar, right next to Brent. It was pretty crowded so as we waited a few minuted for the bartender to get to us, I turned to him and asked "you get into the show tonight?" He got a kick out of that and laughed and it broke the ice for hanging out for a couple rounds (in which he asked ME to borrow a few dollars!!).

 

He got recognized pretty quickly but people left him alone for the most part.

 

Since he, technically, owed me money I went into the show early in Houston for the next show and he was fucking around on his keys with the house lights still on and I shouted out, behind him, something like "hey man, you got that 5 bucks??!" to which I got another friendly chuckle and smile and hand wave.

 

Not much of a story but it was fun for me and a night etched in my head. He was really pleasant to talk to, funny, and shy. He sat at the bar kinda slouched in his chair whith his knees touching the bar most of the time.

Thanks, Lammy.  Sounds like a fun time, I'd have enjoyed having a drink or two with Brent as well, I think.  And in New Orleans, no less!