At least twice I have had the pleasure of meeting idols. The first was when I was a younger man. I grew up in Saginaw Michigan for a time period. Well before every tour Rush would rent our local civic center for a week and practice for their tour. My uncle was a police officer and he would work overtime as security. He use to sneak me in and I would sit high up in the seats and listen to the band practice. I made sure I wouldn't bother anyone. One week it was the third night in a row and the band finished a song. Geddy looked up at me and said Hey you, what do you think of our new song? I looked around like he was talking to someone else. He said Yes you, you have been listening for 3 nights and I want to know what you think of our new music. Come down here. I was really embarrassed. I walked down and he said we have closed practices why are you here? I said I was sorry, I don't want to bother anyone, I am a huge fan and you are a great inspiration to me. I also said that I never talk to anyone about being here. He started laughing and said it's okay now tell us what you think about our new music. I told them it was totally amazing. They had just played spirit of the radio. I never went back.
The second time was dinner with John Entwistle. It was 1999 and my Dead cover band got contracted to play at the High Times Magazine Whee 3 festival or the freedom fighters festival. The show was at the Buckeye Lake Music Center. I rolled in back stage to set up camp for the week. A huge bus parked right next to me and Melvin Seals jumped out with the girls from the Gerry Garcia Band. On the bill this weekend were so many idols of mine. Andrew Tosh, Mearl Saunders,Jefferson Starship, Rick Danko, Richie Havens, Country Joe McDonald, The John Entwistle Band and many more. We had the worse time slot scheduled to play Sunday morning at 11:00 but I was just honored to be on the bill. So Saturday I was in the food tent to get some dinner and ran into John. I told him how much I admired his playing and how it inspired and challenged me to be a better bassist. He invited me to sit with him and chat. Later that night I was standing in front of him watching him play Boris the Spider.
