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Famous musicians you've ALMOST met

#41
The almost met him... Neil Finn of Crowded House.

In the late 90's, in an era before everyone had cell phones, I went to see his solo show down in San Diego. Me and my best friend are HUGE Finn fans. We have spent many evenings driving around on the freeway singing harmonies to various Crowded House albums. I'm sure anyone who has passed us on one of our adventures though we looked ridiculous!

After the show, we all went to a local pub just down the street for a beer. We had things to do, so we couldn't stick around too long. We left after one drink. Our cars were parked in different locations, so I took a left, and he took a right. Hid path led him past the rear door of the venue, and Neil Finn was standing right there just hanging out. I'm sure my friend turned to jelly, and while I had a mundane walk back to my car, my friend got a couple of autographs on napkins and sent one to me.

Oh well. I have had the pleasure of hanging with Dave Wakeling from English Beat, and Bob Schneider from... Bob Schneider!
 
#42
Waspinators said:
There's a ton of threads on meeting famous people, but none on those close calls that leave you unable to say anything but "So... close..." Who have you been inches away from meeting at a gig?

Any stories?
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Both Phil Lesh and Bob Weir at the 2010 Furthur Festival in Angels Camp, CA. Both of them were apparently "just chillin'" outside one of the buildings, chatting with whoever after the shows were done for the night. Missed both of them by about 5 minutes (I'd headed back to my tent to pass out by then).

I had a copy of Phil's book with me too hoping I might be able to pursuade him to sign it. It remains unsigned.

Also ALMOST met Aston Barrett when the Wailers visited Santa Cruz recently. Too crowded near the stage and he was finishing packing up his gear getting ready to leave, so I basically said F-it. Maybe next time...
 
#43
I was working with Duff McKagan's tour manager to arrange a meet-and-greet for me in Oklahoma City a couple years ago. He told me we should be able to do it tomorrow, but never confirmed or gave me a time frame. My next message from him was at 10am the next day that said meet up at noon at a certain spot. Unfortunately, I live three hours away from Oklahoma City and when I got up to town they were busy and didn't answer :(
 
#44
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I walked right behind him and his girl as they headed for their hotel, but lacked the nerve to call out: "Hey, Jalacey!"

ED: Also met David Byrne in a hotel elevator, but we spoke briefly, so it doesn't count here.
 
#45
Eric Clapton. Back when. A friend and I went to Central Park in NYC on Easter for a 'Be In'. My friend and I went our own ways for a while. He came back and said that he just jammed with Eric Clapton. I always wondered if it was true. Last week reading Claptons Bio he says that was in NYC and went to the be in in Central Park!
Going into a Byrds concert there was a guy in front of us that did not have a ticket and he was telling them they HAD to let him in - he was with the band. It was David Crosby.
 
#49
Rocker949 said:
Almost met the Allman Brothers, but was delayed due to the antics of my looney girlfriend. Evidently, it was a full moon that night.
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Bummer! I did meet them a couple years ago, all except Butch and Derek. A bandmate of mine got me back stage passes!
 
#51
In the spring of 1982, I was flying from Oakland, CA to Boston. I had my bass (a '63 Gibson EB2D) with me and the airline told me I could carry it on. Everything was fine until I reached the gate when they insisted on taking it from me. I was standing around feeling used and frustrated when I saw a bunch of musicians carrying their cases with them approach the gate and go through the same hassle. One of the guys looked really familiar, but I couldn't quite place him. When I saw that his case said SVT on it, I realized that it was Jack Casady. Randomly, on the airplane we ended next to each for a moment watching TV on the video screens. I was too star struck to say anything, though. To this day, I wish I had.

A few years ago, I was flying from California to Colorado and realized that Herbie Hancock was on the flight. Afterwards we ended up shoulder to shoulder at the video screens trying to figure out what gates our connecting flights were at, but again, I didn't say a word. I gotta get over this shyness.

On another level, in early October of 1991, a friend of my band set up a meeting with Bill Graham in the first week of November to see about working with him. In the interim, his helicopter crashed. I know he wasn't a musician, but he was equally influential.

On the flipside, I was backstage at Cervantes in Denver during a multi band extravaganza. I was talking to some guy for about 30 minutes about random stuff, traffic in Boston, traveling, staying healthy on the road, classical music, etc. I finally introduced myself and he introduced himself "I'm Bernie." Bernie Worrell, that is. It didn't even occur to me, but once he said that, I felt pretty dumb, having seen him a bunch of times over the years with Talking Heads, P-Funk, Bootsy, etc.
 
#52
I was walking through a John Lennon exhibit at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame years ago. I heard a buzz of excitement in the crowd and turned to find Steven Tyler standing right next to me. He was escorted by a really BIG bodyguard and he was looking right at me like he was waiting for me to say something. I couldn't think of anything to say that he hasn't already heard a million times. What was I going to say? "Hey my garage band does some crappy covers of Aerosmith songs!". So I just locked up and said nothing, he moved on, and the moment passed.
 
#53
iridiumrocks said:
I was walking through a John Lennon exhibit at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame years ago. I heard a buzz of excitement in the crowd and turned to find Steven Tyler standing right next to me. He was escorted by a really BIG bodyguard and he was looking right at me like he was waiting for me to say something. I couldn't think of anything to say that he hasn't already heard a million times. What was I going to say? "Hey my garage band does some crappy covers of Aerosmith songs!". So I just locked up and said nothing, he moved on, and the moment passed.
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I got stuck next to him in a traffic jam coming back from Cape Cod one afternoon. My wife and I thought about trying to commiserate with him about the traffic but he was looking pretty hassled in his limo and was busy giving his driver a hard time.

One of my college roommates was walking down Newbury St. in Boston with a friend of his and they walked by Steven Tyler. His friend thought it was just a wannabe so he yelled out "Steven Tyler lives!" as he pumped his fist in the air. He felt like a jerk when my roommate informed him that it was Tyler but we all enjoyed the laugh.
 
#56
iridiumrocks said:
I was walking through a John Lennon exhibit at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame years ago. I heard a buzz of excitement in the crowd and turned to find Steven Tyler standing right next to me. He was escorted by a really BIG bodyguard and he was looking right at me like he was waiting for me to say something. I couldn't think of anything to say that he hasn't already heard a million times. What was I going to say? "Hey my garage band does some crappy covers of Aerosmith songs!". So I just locked up and said nothing, he moved on, and the moment passed.
Click to expand...

Hahahaha!
 
#57
I always let celebs walk on by, unless it's after a show and the opportunity arises. Here are famous people I walked past and never bothered when I lived in NYC:

Kevin Spacey
David Cross
Christina Ricci
Nicole Kidman
Mariska Hargitay
David Morse
Sam Waterston
Joe Pesci
Rosie Perez
Moby
Frank Whaley
Peter Gallagher
Natasha Lyonne
Conan O'Brien
Sebastian Bach
Jon Bon Jovi
Liev Schrieber
Ryan Adams
Parker Posey

I did have some interaction with the last two (they came together into the record store where I worked, and I rang them up), but I didn't act like I knew them--I just treated them like any other customer. Ryan bought a Smiths bootleg, and Parker stood there looking severely pissed off about something (probably having to do with trolling around crappy record shops with her boyfriend).
 
#58
I was at a Who show during the last Quadrophenia tour. The friend I was with who got us the tickets shut his cell phone off for the show. He gets home, checks his voice mails and there are a bunch of messages saying "Where are you? PICK UP! Don't use the backstage passes, we're invited to go back to the Four Seasons to hang with Entwhistle after the show!"

It really would have been better if he had just never told me.
 
#59
I almost met Orlando "Cachaito" Lopez in Havanna. I went home to him and met his daughter (he was not home) She was very friendly and asked me if i wanted to come inside and write something to him.
 
#60
One time Arlo Guthrie played local branch of a nearby college. I enjoyed the show, ( City of New Orleans notably, he skipped Alices Resturant ), then walked right up to him.
Asked if we could walk him to the bus, he said yeah. He was pretty old already, didn't say alot, but it was still pretty cool.

Also one time I won a radio contest and got to get onstage with INXS. Suicide Blonde Tour. We had to crouch down and shine flashlights on each of the members during the show. But before the show we got to meet them backstage and eat thier food and drink thier beer. Good time.
 

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