I'll never forget going
to a club gig with Cheap Trick the night before they released their new
CD this summer and hearing Robin Zander say "This is the first song off
our new album" just as he did in Budakon so many years ago. The crowd
went nuts!
I'll never forget standing
in the pit at Lilith Fair this summer and not knowing what to expect of
the next act - the Dixie Chicks. Not really being into country music,
I had heard they were more like a cross-over band but I was pretty indifferent.
The next thing I know, these three little fire balls appear on the stage
in an explosion of color and sound, brimming over with stage presence,
harmonies and musicianship. I stood there with my mouth hanging open
for a second, totally unaware of the camera around my neck, and I turned
to the audience to see the majority of them with the same empty headed
looks on their faces. After the initial shock to the mostly rock
and pop crowd, the set totally rocked! Definitely the surprise of
the tour.
I'll never forget being
totally jazzed about photographing one of my favorite bands of all time
- Motley Crue. There
I was, standing just below Nikki Sixx, making eye contact and feeling pretty
good about the fact that I was getting some decent shots. I thought,
okay, this is good, we're bonding . . . I think he smiled at me . . . what's
he doing? He was smiling all right, as he picked up a big cup of
water and flung it at me! I managed to lift $3,000 worth of camera
equipment out of the way in time to save it from ruin, but I spent the
rest
of the night freezing my tail off as an unwilling participant in one of
Nikki's wet t-shirt contests. I think he likes me . . .
I'll never forget being
totally stoked about photographing Megadeth because I have such respect
for their guitar work. I was intently shooting Dave Mustaine as he
chopped wood and I turned to Marty Friedman just as he was really winding
up and I heard my camera start to rewind! Sometimes musicians are
really cool and they will play to you so you can get an extra nice shot.
Its just their way of saying "Here, I won't make you work for this one"
and you are always thankful when this happens. I'm at the end of
my three songs in the pit and Marty steps over to me and kinda motions
to me like "Watch this!" and he proceeds to arch backwards and peel off
a solo that makes metal heads like me want to weep. The lighting
was perfect, his hair was splaying wildly about his shoulders, he caressed
the guitar, his face awash in ecstasy and I stood at his feet with no more
film . . . I'm sure that shot would have looked like the almighty himself
coming down from heaven with a guitar in his hands . . . What could I do
but show him respect and gratitude by pretending I still had film in my
camera? Marty, I'll catch you next time buddy. It will never
happen again - promise!
I'll never forget standing
in the wings of a Cher/Cyndi Lauper concert as Cher's finale was happening.
I was there to cover Cyndi Lauper and had interviewed her tour
manager for a behind the scenes type article. I was standing next
to Cyndi, who is an absolutely wonderful person and a serious and talented
musician. She had just put her little son to bed and came out to
catch the act for a few minutes. All of the sudden, these men came
flying down from the rafters at the corners of the stage on bungee cords!
Cyndi and I turned to look at each other at the same time and we both had
the funniest looks on our faces . . . no words were exchanged, but I don't
think either one of us could have come up with any.
I'll never forget interviewing
Leigh Nash of Sixpence None The Richer in the back of their tour bus.
I was very impressed with how down to earth they all were, acting just
like a big family of brothers and a sister, but Leigh is just as sweet
and gentle as her voice. When I processed my photos from that night,
I really expected to see a halo over her head.
I'll never forget covering
the Sugar Ray concert on July 17th and hearing Mark McGrath dedicate a
song to JFK Jr., who (at that time) was missing and presumed dead.
He offered his support and hopes that the passengers in John Kennedy's
plane would be found alive.
I'll never forget
seeing Robby Takac of the Goo Goo Dolls riding down the halls on a bicycle
back stage, nor the fact that I was never able to stop grinning when I
was in his vicinity. I remember talking to him about their trip to
Bosnia before Christmas and hearing how excited he was that they were collecting
toys to take to children in
orphanages there. He was genuinely concerned about how those kids
must be feeling. I also remember that on December 19th, the day I
knew they were going to be in Bosnia doing this nice thing, I felt good
all day just knowing that they were doing what they had set out to do.
But the thing I remember most about this whole thread was waking up the
next morning and seeing the headlines on the iMusic web site "Goo Goo Dolls
Survive
Plane Mishap." All I could think of was how glad I was to see the
word "survive" and that sometimes bad things happen to good people.
I know that Robby is on the net all the time, and Robby - if you are out
there, you're the bomb dude. Keep doing good things and passing on
that silly grin of yours . . .
.
