#VinniePaul

The 3rd Annual Revolver Magazine Golden God Awards (Apr/2011)

.The 3rd Annual Revolver Magazine Golden God Awards –  Club Nokia Theater – Los Angeles – April 20th

Arrival –

So after some strategic parking we make our way to the sprawling downtown complex that was waaay more over the top than I had anticipated. I grew up in a small town in Texas, so for a city to have multiple arenas is one thing, but to have several on the same block was intense. I’ve been coming to Los Angeles for years but have never made it down to the Staples Center complex. I tried to attend MJ’s funeral a couple of years back so we were seeing all of this for the first time. The show was held over at the Club Nokia Theater and we walk over there and grab our tickets at Will Call. I turn around after not seeing it the first time, to see a full on Red Carpet (or in keeping with the Metal motif, black carpet in this instance) event going on behind us.

Again, I totally underestimated this event, as we see limo after limo pull up, crowds screaming, a full media blitz (the event will air on VH1) the works. In a sea of nothing but old dudes in black I see only three females, but if I could pick any three, these would be my choices: I see my girl Taylor Momsen with Jenna Haze (Holy Shit!) and then turn to see Sasha Grey (Holy Fucking Shit!) who is actually interviewing William Shatner – we are off to a fine start:

 

 

The Show – It starts with another entry into:

Interactions with Dave Grohl in 2011 #3

Dave Grohl starts the night coming out and hitting play on a jukebox, which for some reason played Justin Bieber. And then walked off, and that was his entire contribution to the show. Was hoping he was gonna stick around and rock.

Then the perfect host for the show,  Chris Jericho proceeds to come out and crush the boombox with a baseball bat. Primarily known as a WWE wrestler (and a recent ill-advised stint on Dancing with the Stars) Jericho is known as a devoted fan of all things Metal and he’s great on the mic.

So after he bashes the boombox, does a brief (but awesome) monologue introducing the show before his cover band, Fozzy opens the show with a metal medley (which will air on Vh1)

Setlist:

 Children of the Grave/Black Sabbath
Stand Up and Shout/Dio
Wrathchild/Iron Maiden
No More Tears/Ozzy
For Whom the Bell Tolls/Metallica
Freewheel Burning/Judas Priest
Primal Concrete Sledge/Pantera
God Pounds His Nails/Fozzy
 
After another monologue, Jericho introduced Robb Flynn and Wayne Static to give away the Epiphone Best Guitarist Award:

– WINNERS: Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance (Avenged Sevenfold)

Nominees
– John 5 (Rob Zombie)
– Dan Donegan (Disturbed)
–Gus G (Ozzy Osbourne, Firewind)
– Janick Gers, Dave Murray, and Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden)
– Alexi Laiho (Children of Bodom)

To show what a freaking square I am, and how foreign the Hot Topic generation is to me, I had never even heard of Avenged Sevenfold, and they looked like Emo douchebags so I didn’t really care, but what was intriguing was the groundswell of support. Every freaking kid here was wearing an A7X shirt, and when the nominees list was named everyone gave each nominee a courtesy clap, but when A7X was announced, the place went batshit.

Next up, David Coverdale comes out to award the Comeback of the Year: – It was awesome to hear that guy say the words Faith No More, who of course I was rooting for, if for nothing to see them make an appearance which they surely wouldn’t have even if they had won and I’m quite sure they didn’t know/care they were even nominated.

– Winners: Murderdolls

Nominees
– Accept
– Faith No More
– A Perfect Circle
– Soundgarden
– System of a Down

Right after accepting their award, the band introduced the Alice Cooper Group. I have always wanted to see Alice Cooper live, and have never had the chance to. Now, much like KISS, the music of Alice Cooper will prob not be historically revered, but his live show is something of legend, not to mention, I’ve always thought he was real sharp and I have alot of respect for him so I was pleased to be finally seeing him live, even if it was in such a sterile environment. Obvious fan Rob Zombie joined him for the inevitable School’s Out:

Setlist:

Under My Wheels
Eighteen
Is It My Body
Schools Out (with Rob Zombie)

Rob Zombie presented Alice Cooper with The Golden God Award.

Next up, Mike Portnoy and Charlie Benante came out to present the Best Live Band award: – Though Avenged Sevenfold was a nominee, and again the fans shook the rafters when their name was mentioned, I think the only thing that prevented them from revolting at their loss was that presenter Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater) filled in on drums on their recent tour.

– Winners: Rammstein

Nominees
– Avenged Sevenfold
– Gwar
– Iron Maiden
– Megadeth
– Sevendust

This was followed by Jamey Jasta coming out to introduce Asking Alexandria who were the epitome of everything I hate right now with popular rock music. This was total mall shit – They were all really young dudes, so I give it up to them for doing their thing, that I’m sure they will grow out of eventually but for now, shitty name, shitty sound, and just all around generic and forgettable.
Early on in the set, the singer actually dropped his mic and if rolled under the drum riser. Dude dodged for it as fast as he could, it was hilarious. They did bring out Sebastian Bach for a rendition of Youth Gone Wild however suffering another embarrassing moment, was they kept missing the opening cue from Bach. When he introduces the song by going “We are the Youth (drum break) – Gone (another drum break) – Wild!! – (song starts) – the drummer wouldn’t respond with the drum break so he could continue the intro and Bach kept looking over at him, and it took like 4 tries to get it right. Luckily for them the show was not airing live.

Setlist: 

The Next Episode
Morte et Dabo
Youth Gone Wild (Skid Row cover w/ Sebastian Bach)

This was followed by a tribute to the fallen heroes of metal, which in turn brought out Wendy Dio and Geezer Butler. This was to be expected, but what followed was kinda confusing/unnecessary. Corey Taylor (Slipknot) just seems like this super likable dude that everyone shoots pool with and is just everywhere. So I guess to have him involved they found him something to do and that was to give The Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement Award to Motley Crue. So Wendy Dio and Geezer Butler came out to introduce someone else to give the award that bears her late husband’s name on it, to them?? – Why couldn’t/wouldn’t they have given it to the Crue themselves? – Taylor’s speech was really great and clearly inspired, I just thought it was unnecessary.

Another example of me underestimating this event was knowing that most of the Crue hate each other, I was thinking like only a single member would be here to accept and which one? Probably Vince since he’s such a famewhore, but as Corey Taylor was doing his speech, I could see all four members lining up behind us, getting ready to take the stage!

Mötley Crüe received the first Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement Award – whose final public appearance was at last year’s ceremony. “It really means a lot to me because Ronnie was one of the biggest influences on my life since I was a kid,” said Crüe singer Vince Neil. “Heaven and Hell was with us last summer in Europe, and every single night I watched, going, ‘Where does that voice come from?'”

Vince Neil always seems to be isolated from the other members of Motley. Nikki, Tommy and Mick showed up together, all dressed in metal black, and looked like had just come from a speakeasy around the corner, where as Vince showed up alone and in a tux, looking a little out of place even for him as someone who is notorious for having zero self-awareness. Erin and I were making bets that the other three guys were pulling a practical joke and told him: “Dude, its an awards show, you gotta wear a tux, we are all wearing ours”. But ultimately we decided that he came to that decision all on his own.

Next up, Max Cavalera introduced Volbeat. We had missed them when we went to Austin to hook up with Clutch and Motorhead on my birthday, as they were the first band. I thought they were pretty cool, not really my thing, but I couldn’t help but stand up and notice when Scott Ian joined them for the last song, an odd cover of Dusty Springfield’s I Only Wanna Be With You. 

Setlist:

Fallen
Sad Man’s Tongue
I Only Wanna Be With You (Dusty Springfield cover w/ Scott Ian of Anthrax)

Then in another awesome moment Scott Ian was then joined by comedian Brian Posehn, who is known for his love of Metal to present the aforementioned Shatner with the Honorary Headbanger award. Ian had a funny line about the shortage of Canadian Metalheads, when Jericho (who is Canadian) does a lilting refrain, for which Ian simply retorts ” Dancing with the Stars…” 

This was followed by Brendon Small and Dino Cazares introducing Devildriver‘s set. They were awesome, and after doing one original launched into a four-song Black Flag set:

Setlist:

Dead To Rights

Black Flag set: – 

 Rise Above
Nervous Breakdown (with Mike Valley)
Thirsty & Miserable (with Jamey Jasta) 
Six Pack (with Max Cavalera)

Next up, Duff McKagan then presented Best New Band: Of course I was rooting for Taylor Momsen and her band The Pretty Reckless who have just blown me away this year-

but sadly they lost to some total cheesy Nu Metal band they won’t be around next year.

-Winner: Black Veil Brides

Nominees
– Asking Alexandria
– The Damned Things
– The Pretty Reckless
– Times of Grace
– We Are the Fallen

Right after, Mckagan stayed onstage as Dave Navarro came out and introduced Duff McKagan’s band Loaded: who played a quick but cool three song set, ending with a great version of Judas Priests’ Electric Eye where they were joined by Corey Taylor & Steve Jones.

Setlist: 

Executioner’s Song
Dead Skin
Electric Eye (Judas Priest cover w/ Corey Taylor & Steve Jones (Sex Pistols)

Next up, Vinnie Paul presented the Best Drummer Award: And again when Portnoy’s name was listed as the nominee and then eventually the winner, the place was going ape shit – it was almost like they were afraid to not give it to him by their reaction. It was like being at an Avenged Sevenfold concert, with little award interruptions thrown in:

– WINNER: Mike Portnoy

– Tommy Clufetos (Ozzy Osbourne)
– Abe Cunningham (Deftones)
– Joey Jordison (Rob Zombie)
– Roy Mayorga (Stone Sour)
– Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden)

I could see Sebastian Bach & Taylor Momsen lining up behind me to go on as the next presenters to give the award for Best Vocalist:
Didn’t wanna be creepy fanboy, but she was standing literally right next to me, so we chatted briefly while she was waiting for her cue.
Dude, she literally glowed, and looked ridiculously hot – like wildest rock and roll fanboy dreams are made of kinda hot –

They had a fun little rapport making the presentation for Best Male Vocalist –

Of course a member of A7X was nominated, and the singer no less, but was he really gonna win over that list? – Look at the competition – I was then convinced they were afraid to not give him the award for fear of 3k mall kids revolting:

-Winner: M. Shadows (Avenged Sevenfold)

Nominees
– Glenn Danzig (Danzig)
– Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden)
– Chino Moreno (Deftones)
– Ozzy Osbourne
– Corey Taylor (Stone Sour)

So now this made me think I was correct in not taking this event very seriously – I mean cmon on, it was like they were giving the awards to whoever showed up. I also learned that A7X are from here, so they also had that hometown support and the rest of the night just seemed like the Avenged Sevenfold show.

Jerry Cantrell and Mike Inez came out to award the Album of the Year: Guess who won this? If you guessed A7X, you would be correct.

– WINNER: Avenged Sevenfold, Nightmare

Nominees
– Black Label Society, Order of the Black
– Deftones, Diamond Eyes
– Ozzy Osbourne, Scream
– Stone Sour, Audio Secrecy
– Volbeat, Beyond Hell/Above Heaven

It should also be noted that every member of Iron Maiden, including all three guitarists were nominated for awards and didn’t take home any.
Then, in an another pointless appearance, but yet still awesome and cool, was right after A7X won the big award and went backstage to gear up for their show ending set, suddenly I see Lars Ulrich and Robert Trujillo (Metallica) –
It seemed their only purpose was to announce that A7X was about to come out and play a set – but I was still impressed that this event got these two heavyweights out here. Not to mention, I was thinking of my friend Ryan, who thinks of Metallica as more of a religion than a band, and how excited he would be for this moment.
Lars says: “In 2005, I heard a song on the radio called Bat Country that blew me away and I found out later that the band was Avenged Sevenfold” –
Then A7X took the stage and the place just fucking exploded –
They looked kinda douchy and the singer was still wearing Aviator shades indoors and kinda moved like Axl Rose if Axl was the manager of a Hot Topic at a mall somewhere in southern California. But I was totally getting off on the crowd and how super into it they were. I was really enjoying these two young dudes next to us, both about 15, and both clad in A7X t-shirts, just going for it. You could tell also that this band was their gateway to something, and being someone that has spent plenty of time making sure he is fully aware of the bands that the girls wanna fuck, I could relate and envied their excitement.
Clearly the Guns N Roses influence wasn’t too far off as on the third song here comes Duff Mckgan out to do It’s So Easy with them.
I thought this was a cool choice of song –
I finally leaned over to one of them and said, “Who ARE these guys?” – and he gave me a brief summary without missing a beat of rocking. Then one of my hometown heroes, Vinnie Paul (Pantera) came out to play drums on a track. This was winning me over, and I thought it was cool that the singer acknowledged how tired playing Walk has become, so he insisted on changing it up and they played Mouth For War and the crowd responded in kind. I did as well as seeing Vinnie play a Pantera song again was excellent. I leaned back over to the dude and said “I know THIS song” – and we exchanged high-fives as nerds are prone to do.
They also played the song Bat Country that Lars mentioned that was six years old and I’m just hearing it for the first time, but he was right, the song kicked ass and the guitarist played a solo that melted me and Erin’s faces off, so by the end of the set I was into it.
I seriously doubt I will ever be a member of the tribe, but it was fun to get such a crash course and live no less. I always say that the crowd is more interesting than the band, and this was a genuine, die-hard fanbase.Setlist:

– Nightmare
– Beast and the Harlot
– It’s So Easy (Guns N Roses cover w/ Duff Mcgakan)
– Bat Country
– Mouth For War (Pantera cover w/ Vinnie Paul)
– Almost Easy

Ok, so Jericho returns to say goodnight,signaling the end of the evening, and that closes the show. We stick around for just a bit, but keep in mind we had flown all day and basically came straight here, so we wanted to eat before hitting the after-party.

After-Party

I hadn’t heard of any official announcement of an after-party but with all of these people in town, we were certain their had to be a few happening somewhere regardless that it was a Wednesday night. I figured the Rainbow Bar & Grill would be the best place to go. They ironically had held the press conference there regarding the Awards show, just a few weeks back.
After grabbing a quick bite and dealing with the impossible mission that is parking on Sunset Blvd, we get out in front of the Whiskey-A-Go-Go,

But then we had some competition as we were approaching the Rainbow, out front Vince Neil was stealing the show. I didn’t even see it at first, she did and got my attention and pointed. I was so happy cause I’ve been to the Rainbow on nights where Lemmy is there and it looks MTV 1984, and other nights where their is more action at the Applebee’s around the corner, so on her first time here, I wanted it to be outrageous, and here is Vince Neil making a huge spectacle in front of a ridiculous car, with two blondes that looked like Super Heroes.

 

We make it inside and the place is rawking pretty hard but since it was close to 1am it was also starting to die down, as we realized that Vince was actually making his exit instead of his entrance. Regardless we had a good time sitting on the patio and me showing her the place and telling her stories till closing. Finally we headed back to the hotel, after a long day of traveling and rawking. Not bad for the first day eh? And we had actual weeks to go.

Photos –

Roy Turner
Justin Borucki
Mario Anzuoni
L. Paul Mann
Frazer Harrison

The NAMM Show 2011

The NAMM Show – Anaheim Convention Center – Anaheim, CA – January 14th-15th

I had a massive undertaking of meetings all day, and performances all night. I was greatly excited for this as this was my first NAMM Show, and felt it was the next logical step in the evolution of my business, not to mention getting to see and do alot of really cool shit.

Day 1 – January 14th

Ok so I wake up and head out to Anaheim, it was a perfect day for a long drive and I felt a bit guilty as it was January and gorgeous here while all my friends are freezing their asses off back home, and I’m literally going to Disneyland. The parking situation was kind of a nightmare, but once I got that squared away, I was on my way. The girl who parked next to me was very nice and had some great tips that proved very helpful. The convention center was about 400 yards away and once I got sight of it, I turned a corner and the first person I see (apparently leaving the site) is Henry Rollins. A helpful local and Hank the Tank? Not a a bad start:

So my first meeting of the day was with Ampeg Amps, and I was very excited to learn that one of my all-time favorite bands, King’s X was showcasing for them in their booth. They were doing two performances, and sadly by the time I got there, the first one was at capacity, so I made sure I was able to make the next one. Even in such a sterile, corporate environment, their music is still so powerful.

 

 

 

So I firmly believe in both of their talents and them as people, so obviously I want to help them in anyway that I can. They both started jamming with this guy and a drummer just a few weeks ago to form the band, and were now coming to out here to perform at the NAMM Show and already had financial backing from a management firm. Cool I thought, so since I was gonna be here too, we had discussed pooling our resources to get the band in front of as many of the right people as possible. I had even booked them several high-profile gigs around town, to showcase them in the right environment, and to take advantage of such a large percentage of the music industry all being in town at once.
So Neil and the singer come over to the Ampeg booth were King’s X is wrapping up and Neil introduces me to him and I learn that his name is Remington. We proceeded to head over to meet up with the rest of the band/management so I could meet them all and coordinate a strategy of stuff that they had already set up along with things I can contribute. Along the way we run into a girl they had all met earlier that day, that joins our group. I quickly learn that she is very talented in her own right. She can sing, dance, as well as an exceptional graphic artist, she is drop-dead gorgeous and her father is a name producer, with an impressive resume.
I’m introduced to their manager and her associate, and I immediately learn that their manager is Remington’s mother..
We quickly discuss a strategy before the band has to head back to L.A. for a gig at the Viper Room.They leave for their show in L.A. and I stay behind as my day was really just getting started. After a dizzying series of meetings that culminated with meeting with Taylor Guitars, whom was one of the companies I was after to get an endorsement for Neil, it ended with a performance by Night Ranger. Now here is the interesting thing about this band – this band should be and often is the butt of the rock and roll joke. A band so dramatic, silly, and overproduced, and responsible for one of the worst, dated, cliques of the genre, the power ballad, sung by the drummer, staple with Sister Christian. That was almost thirty years ago so what the fuck were they doing here?
Here is the reality: – This band is firing on all cylinders – a fact that was clearly on display when we saw them at Rockalhoma in 2009.
I was never a dedicated Night Ranger fan and have no real nostalgic value for the band, but that night in Tulsa while most of the rest of their peers performing that weekend were in pieces, they put on the strongest, most consistent and perfectly executed performance during the whole thing. I was totally impressed.
Here we are now two years later in this small, hopelessly corporate environment in the middle of the day and nothing has changed. They were just as consistent and impressive.

I’m not a big drinker but their was free alcohol it seemed in every meeting I attended and I didn’t wanna be rude but I hadn’t eaten lunch yet so while waiting for the band to setup I could tell I was good and buzzed. I was impressed that this group of young geeks standing next to me:
a) Knew who Night Ranger was and was exciting to see them instead of mere curiosity
b) They had girls with them who had just as much if not more of an invested excitement.One of them asked me what time it was, and I responded that I didn’t have a watch (and my phone had died) the girl standing closest to me, gave off this vibe that she thought I was a creeper for even speaking. She was cute, nerdy, and was actually quite sexy in a way (or maybe I was more buzzed than I thought haha) and maybe out of spite, boredom or drunkenness but I couldn’t help fucking with her relentlessly. She gave it right back and it seemed like she was equally angry/turned on by the whole thing. Like any second we were gonna come to blows, or start making out. Neither happened and that was that.Back to Night Ranger –  So again, in this little room, that was only designed to showcase the equipment would they really turn on the skating rink themes? And if they do isn’t it gonna be as embarrassing as the songs themselves? They did and it wasn’t, and the reason  is the great divide between total and utter lack of self-awareness, and being completely in-tune with who/what you are, what you represent, your place and being not only ok with it, but totally own it and excited to perpetuate it. When you see anyone own who they are they always impress. Having said that I still didn’t think they would/should do Sister Christian in such an atmosphere but they did believe it or not, and it was great. The easy camaraderie amongst the guys was infectious and if you can’t sing along to Rock in America than you have no soul.

Night 1

Ok so after Night Ranger, the festival was wrapping up for the day. That means I had a few hours before the after-parties started. Like any good music conference, they take advantage of everyone being here to put on some great one-of-a-kind type performances while hawking their wares. It creates a frenzy amongst everyone, to hear about the parties, where they are, how to get in etc.
We were a co-sponsor of easily the biggest one of the night for Dean Guitars –

So I had time to eat, find out how to get over there, and relax for a bit before a night of madness started. Ironically, when I was walking to the car to put all of my stuff up, the girl parked next to me was walking back to, and I thanked her for the helpful tips and gave her some cds of the bands I’m working with. I found a place to eat, and got directions while I was there. It was just a little over a mile away, which meant it was too far to walk and too close to call a cab. I hate cabs and it was a beautiful night to walk around so I made the trek over to the Grove of Anaheim.
When I get there, I’m impressed as I heard this was a cool place for a long time and was excited to finally be seeing a show here. Apparently I wasn’t the only one as their was line wrapped twice around the building.
Thankfully I was able to bypass all that – as I walked in Hell Yeah were already on stage. Now being from Texas, I do feel a responsibility to represent whenever I’m not in Texas and tonight was no exception, however this band is really not that good. I’m glad that Vinnie Paul is still kicking ass and continuing to do music and happy living his life doing what he loves, but even without the inevitable Pantera comparisons, the band is just so generic, and at times, embarrassingly so.

     Up next was a fashion show/burlesque act by one of the sponsors – Coffin Cases.  A company that creates coffin shaped guitar cases and related products with a macabre theme. The company is owned by Jonny Coffin, a member of the band The Death Riders. If this all sounds rather douchy than you would be right. Coffin shaped guitar cases made by a guy named Jonny Coffin sounds like a complete and utter lack of self-awareness marketed as toys for the Hot Topic rock set.

One thing that was a little strange, was that I had been in this corporate bubble all day (and now night) and this show was not open to the public, so they had these tables setup reserved for the sponsors, that gave it like a school talent show feel, which was simultaneously charming/weird.

Now it was time for the main event, with Megadeth set to rock the fuck out of this place. I went backstage and was welcomed by the Dean Guitars people very warmly. They are also a brand I’m interested in having Neil endorse, so I wanted some face-to-face time.
After a short while I find myself sitting in a small room with just one other person when Megadeth leader Dave Mustaine walks in and sits down across from me. Here we go I thought as we have all heard the tales of his legendary asshole-ness and I have met him a few times in passing but nothing as intimate as this. I was prepared for the worst, but it actually never came and we had a nice, candid conversation. Guess my man is mellowing out, but only offstage, because when they came on, they fucking killed. 

The snarl returned instantly, as Mustaine’s first address to the crowd was: ” When I walked in here just now I saw a line of people still wrapped around the building, so to the all the people that are still outside…”- and now you think he’s gonna say something nice like “sorry you are not here” – but the real Mustaine had returned and he finishes the sentiment in his most dickish taunting chuckle “heh heh heh…suckers”. It was totally unexpected and perfect.Setlist:

Holy Wars… The Punishment Due
Hangar 18
Wake Up Dead
In My Darkest Hour
She-Wolf
How the Story Ends
Head Crusher
Symphony of Destruction
Peace Sells (with Holy Wars Reprise)

So after all I had done today, drove 2 hrs to Anaheim (and would soon be driving back to LA, only to drive back here tomorrow) been at the NAMM Show all day and the NAMM Jamm at night, you would think I would be done right? – Wrong – As Hunter S. Thompson would say, “Once you get locked into something seriously, the tendency is to take it as far as I can.” So what’s next? How about a reputable Van Halen tribute band called Hot For Teacher playing a late night party at the Hilton across from the convention center? Ok, let’s go!

Though I hate cabs I wasn’t walking the 1.5 miles back so I grabbed one with a nice couple that were going there anyway, perfect.
We get there and the band is all already onstage and kicking serious ass. To know me is to know that Van Halen is my all-time favorite band and this was clearly the David Lee Roth version of the band.

It was such a party atmosphere as the show was literally in the lobby of the hotel and everyone was there. The band didn’t do much in the way of trying to look too much like VH but they sure did a good job of sounding like them. To enforce this as well as their legitimacy, they were joined for a few songs by one time David Lee Roth bassist/all around bass badass Billy Sheehan, who quipped after he played that “this seemed so real, I expected you to yell at me afterwords” pointing at the singer, obviously referencing his time with DLR.

This was a good time, and it was wild and a perfect end to such an incredible, unforgettable day, and now I had a long drive back just to get up and do it all over again tomorrow.

Day 2 – January 15th

 Ok so on only just a few hours sleep I head back to Anaheim from L.A. for (my) Day 2 of the NAMM show. I had only one meeting in the first part of the day and after I was finished with that I went over to speak with my rep from Sonor and right next to that was a booth for Lanikai, a Hawaiian guitar manufacturer, when I spot Cherie Currie, the fucking Cherry Bomb herself, and nearly shit myself. If I had to list the top people I’ve admired my entire life that I’ve always wanted to meet, Cherie ranks very high on the list. Their are other people that have influenced me deeply, but some of those people you really don’t wanna meet, but I’ve always thought she was smart and someone I would love to have a conversation with. My Sonor rep, clearly noticing my distraction, says “Hey do you know Cherie?” and I shook my head no, and he says “We work together cmon and I’ll introduce you”. My heart about exploded out of my fucking chest haha, and it felt so good to be a fan again. Speaking of fans, I was so grateful to see that she had a line about 200 deep to meet her. I’m sure the recent The Runaways movie helped boost this number as I saw alot of Twilight shirts in that line (Kristin Stewart and Dakota Fanning from those shitty movies, play Joan and Cherie in the movie…and well I might add). But hey as long as they were getting exposed to her awesomeness, all the better. She was taking a quick break when Sonor guy gets her attention and introduces us. I kept it brief and she told me she’s getting back into music (with the help of Matt Sorum apparently) which is great news. I was cool and she was the fucking coolest, but I had to get a picture (I NEVER do this so fuck it).

 

 After that ended I had some time to kill so it was time to be a fan again. I wanted to check out Mick Mars, one of my all-time faves in Rock N Roll. I know my man has been having a hard time with his health so I wanted to go say hi. Thought it was going to be a demonstration based on the size of his insane line that I was grateful for him for, but when I realized it was just a signing appearance, I just snapped a quick photo for posterity and got out of his way:

Felt a little silly about it but I wanted a first-hand update of his health, and I must admit that my man looked pretty rough and I applaud his courage for getting up there. Even sillier was behind me I recognized this 4 foot tall hot mess:

Went over to speak with Aaron (P-Nut) from 311 who I met and became friends with last summer, but I had just missed him. Now for the  final meeting of the day I went over to the drum room to meet with Vic Firth (sticks) and Bosphorus (cymbals) to secure endorsements for one of my clients. I identify as a drummer so this was the part I was looking forward to the most and when I got to the showroom it was percussion heaven. Between meetings I spotted a little pow wow worth mentioning – imagine the scene of Mike Bordin (Faith No More) and Rikki Rockett (Poison) nerding out together over a new line of drums – (just goes to show you kids, once your in the game, your a member, regardless of how the press plays it).

Night # 2

Ok so like last night, I had a few hours to chill before heading back to the Grove for Night 2 of the private performances. I was really excited as tonight was the Schecter Guitar party that Cheap Trick was headlining. I was taking Steve and Neil to this one as I didn’t want them to have to play this evening and have a night to schmooze and make contacts. They were staying across the street so I went to meet them for dinner first. When I get to their hotel I immediately spot an older, 50-ish gentlemen in their room wearing a Cheap Trick hat and he is equally staring at the CT laminate around my neck. He’s is an off-duty cop from Dallas working “security” for stage-mom. Hey, he was cool enough, and he liked Cheap Trick obviously and I assumed the extra pass was for him so I gave him one and I’m into his excitement.
I’m then introduced to another one of the students- an attractive singer from South Africa named Jordana (and professionally that’s all she goes by-as in Elvis/Madonna/Prince– or in today’s market of Pink/Rhianna/Usher )– she was really cool, funny (alot of the pictures you are enjoying are hers) And like a better looking Griswold’s‘, we all head to dinner.

We are easily the most obnoxious people here but apparently not as much as they were the previous night as our entry was debatable on the forgiving nature of the management. Good times regardless – we get back to the hotel – Neil decided he just wants to chill and explore the new pedal he just received (this is why he’s so good) So its Steve and I, the cop and Billy the drummer and we head to the Grove for free booze and Cheap Trick.

This was a good time – I never drink but we were all getting loaded off the free booze and man I fucking love Cheap Trick. I had just seen them about a month ago in Fort Worth, and they came out and fucking ruled:

Setlist:Way of the World
California Man (The Move cover)
Hot Love
On Top of the World
I Want You to Want Me
She’s Tight
High Roller
These Days
The House Is Rockin’ (With Domestic Problems)
Ballad of TV Violence
Baby Loves To Rock
Sick Man of Europe
Closer, The Ballad of Burt and Linda
SurrenderEncore:

Clock Strikes Ten
Dream Police
Gonna Raise Hell
Goodnight No

Like last night, you would think this would all have been more than enough – and it was but we kept going. We as in Steve and I, as Billy and the cop called it a night after Cheap Trick played, but Steve, bless him, had other plans for us, which was fine by me as finally somebody else was leading the charge. We ran into this band that he was in back in the 90’s (that they played with at the Viper Room on Friday and who’s drumset I needed to secure for a gig I had them booked at tomorrow night at Kim Fowley’s place downtown) ,  then these dudes he’s knows from the band Julian K, and The Last Vegas (who just put out a record produced by Nikki Sixx) who had a freaking limo waiting outside. I never indulge in that kinda rock star shit, but fuck it man, we were in California, I had been working my ass off, I thought it would be piss take if nothing else.
Where were we going? – to a benefit for Chi Cheng (Deftones bassist) out in Fullerton (about 20 mins away) that was supposedly gonna feature some surprise sets from some pretty big names.

I went to find the crew as P.O.D. was starting – Now I normally could give two shits about this band, but I could certainly appreciate that this band normally plays for big money in places 20 times this size and never out in the sticks like this, so the specialness of it was not lost on me. It was for a good cause and I enjoyed the show.

The place closes and we all pile back into the limo and all good and buzzed. Their’s like 20 of us and it becomes the who’s getting dropped off in what order game (complete with shouting and opposing opinions). We get to the hotel nearest to Steve’s and I suggest a cab for the rest of the way. We finally get to Steve’s room and my man who is normally not a big drinker like me is fucking wasted haha. I get him to his room, its after 3am, I still have half a mile to get to my car and then drive back to L.A. It should have been easy to find my rental car as I’m sure at this hour I was the only one left, but so much time (and events and drinks) had happened that I couldn’t find it to the point I was convinced and in sheer panic it had been towed or something. I literally walked around this thing across 5 levels for 45 mins (I’m not kidding) until almost in fucking tears I finally found it. Got back to L.A. after 6am and ka-rashed.
Danced with a porn star and rode around in a limo after getting shitfaced on free booze at a private Cheap Trick show – Good freaking times.

Photos –

Roy Turner
Rick Kosick
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