I had always dreamed of meeting my idol someday. If for no other reason than to just shake his hand. He'd never know how much his music meant to me and there would just never be enough time to stand there and tell him. I always thought that a simple handshake from the guy would suffice. These guys probably heard from fans every day about how great they are and how much their music touched their lives. I figured why bother......if I ever got the chance, I would try to maintain a certain level of dignity and just enjoy the special moment. Because I did not have any personal connections in the music industry, I doubted that I would ever get the chance. In the big scheme of it all, I was just another ordinary fan who dug their music. I figured there had to be millions of fans like me around the world who would like to meet their idol but would never get the opportunity. I accepted that fact and went about my ordinary life as happily as I could. ____________________________________________________________ _____ I came very close to my dream chance in the mid-80's. When Eddie signed his endorsement deal with Kramer guitars, I was one of the first people in my area to purchase one of those guitars with the magical Floyd Rose whammy system. I had a long-standing friendship with the guys who worked at the local music store. They were one of a selected few Kramer dealers who would get an in-store Eddie visit/clinic. The store manager knew how much of an Edward fan I was, and actually offered to make me a "store employee" for the day, just so I could absorb more of the proceedings. Something happened with their management and the clinics ended up being cancelled due to schedule problems or something. The VH people were giving the store 10 tickets and backstage passes to meet Edward, which were to be raffled off at random. I had bought tickets to all 4 of the band's shows at the Worcester Centrum and the store manager told me to meet them at the front entry in case a winner didn't show up on time. The night of the show, one person did not make it. Looks like my luck was working! I was going to finally meet my musical hero, Edward. I was handed a pair of Kramer guitar cases to carry backstage for Eddie to autograph. (The guitars were going to be raffled off for charity at the store later.) We started down the side path into the special entrance and were met by a representative from the band who was handing out the passes to our group. At the last second, the missing winner came running through the door panting "Wow, I almost missed you!" The manager explained why there were 11 of us now, instead of 10 and he told them what a great fan I was of the band, but the rep said that they could only have 10 people and not one extra. You could have dropped an anvil on my head and it probably would not have registered. I handed the guitar cases to the manager and said "oh, well" and I strolled by myself back to the entrance, to catch up with my wife and friends, bumming out more with each step. The show was great, and the manager was able to get my 5150 program signed by Eddie for me. It wasn't the same, and I figured that was my single and best shot if ever there was one. It just wasn't meant to be. Little did I know... ____________________________________________________________ _____ Let this be a good lesson to everyone: if you do good for others expecting nothing in return, good things will happen for you. I always try to help anyone when I can and I never ask for anything. I just feel good knowing that I might be helping someone out. One of the countless people I had helped in the past was about to bestow a wonderful gift upon me. While talking with this pen-pal about shows we would be attending in our area, we discovered that we both had tickets to see Van Halen so we decided to hook up at the show and meet in-person for the first time. A few days before the show, my friend told me that they had a connection with the band, and offered me a backstage pass to meet the new band before the show. I got to the show and met my friend at our pre-determined spot. We went through the backstage entry gate, and we were all led into a tent-covered patio area to wait with many other fans. About 5 minutes later, the band's road manager Scotty appeared, and asked for everyone's attention. He explained "the rules" for meeting the band. "When you are brought over to meet the band, you will have a few minutes to shake hands and chat. When we say 'turn around', we will count "1-2-3" and a photo will be taken of your group with the band. If you aren't ready, there would be no second shot." He then continued with specifics on the guys..."When you talk to Eddie, it is OK to shake his hand, but don't squeeze too hard because he wears rings and could injure his hand easily. Alex will be wearing a neck brace while playing onstage due to a couple of slipped vertebrae in his neck, but he wouldn't have it on backstage, so do not pull on or put your arm around his neck. After the group picture is taken, one person in each group will be handed the disposable camera (decorated with Eddie's famous red-white-black stripes)and the remaining pictures can be taken during the show. Only these special cameras will not be confiscated." We were also told not to ask them for anything and there would be no time for autographs either. Bummer, as I brought the first Guitar Player magazine Eddie was on (about 20 years ago!), as well as photos of the other band members I hoped to get signed for framing later. Then it was time to get in line by the number on our passes. There were about 20 groups of fans. We had to line up, and wait for our group's number to be called. This was it...I was finally going to meet my hero Edward in person!
dont go to my head.