How Ya Doin'? Got any gum?
These are just some of the more memorable meet and greets and other brushes with minor greatness

Danny Bonaduce (Partridge Family) 1970 Perhaps my earliest brush with greatness was bumping into Danny Bonaduce at the Kings Island Inn gift shop near the Kings Island amusement park. Bonaduce as most know played ’ÄúDanny’Äù on the hit TV series The Partridge Family. We were taking a small family vacation to visit Kings Island and discovered there were virtually no hotel rooms to be found, due to the fact that The Partridge Family was going to be filming an episode at the park. Fans flocked in from all over to see them and filled hotel rooms for miles around the amusement park. I don’Äôt remember how or where we found a room, but once at the park, we found that we could take a shuttle bus over to the Kings Island Inn for lunch, which was a nice break from the chaos at Kings Island. After lunch, we were killing time in a small gift shop/news stand off the main lobby at the hotel when in walks Danny Bonaduce. I of course recognized him and he signed our kid’Äôs menus for us. I remember that he signed with his eyes closed, being the wiseguy that he was. Since he wasn’Äôt wearing any shoes, he was chased away by the manager and told he had to wear shoes in the lobby.

Ace Frehley (KISS / Frehley's Comet) 1987 My best friend in college started doing some journalism for various rock music magazines. On one particular assignment, he was given the opportunity to interview Ace Frehley by telephone and that was followed up by tickets and aftershow passes to see Frehley's Comet at Bogart's in Cincinnati. He invited me to join him and I jumped at the chance, since not only was I a KISS fan, but an Ace Frehley fan in particular. I was excited to see what Ace could do on his own. The show was great and the

KISS (Revenge-era) 1995 In 1995, KISS offered a unique experience to attend one of their Worldwide Conventions, which featured several rooms worth of authentic KISS memorabilia on display, such as original album paintings, various tour costumes, guitars, drums, rare photos, etc. In addition, various KISS memorabilia vendors were there to sell vintage KISS merchandise. Best of all, KISS was on hand to participate in a Q&A session, perform an all acoustic and all request set of KISS classics and to round out the day, they hung out with fans and signed autographs well into the night. The conventions took place in many US cities. It was limited to 200 fans per city and was offered for a price of $125 per person. At this point, KISS was comprised of founding members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, who were joined by guitarist Bruce Kulick and drummer Eric Singer. Eric was the newest member, having replaced the late Eric Carr. Importantly, this was another ground breaking event for KISS, as no other band had tried anything remotely close to this in the past and I don't think anyone has tried it since. It was a very grass roots thing to do and the timing couldn't have been better. In KISS history, it was sandwiched in between the Revenge/Alive III period and the 96-97 Reunion Tour with Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. In fact, the Worldwide Convention tour was the spark that reunited the original KISS for the MTV Unplugged episode. Gene was the most predictable person to meet. He is just consumed by his own persona. Paul, interestingly enough, seemed to be the most distant of the group. He appeared to be the least comfortable with the fans up close, which seems in stark contrast with his front man stage persona. Eric and Bruce were easy to talk to and easily in less demand than Gene and Paul for obvious reasons.

Drew Carey (Televison Comedian) 1996 I had a very unique opportunity to attend the NBA All-Star Game in Cleveland through one of my vendors at work. We had excellent seats in the lower level, which was also the seating locations of many popular television and movie stars, as well as various NBA coaches and other players who were not part of the game. Bill Murray did a prerecorded video spot fo rthe game and he was seated with his family not far from us. Drew Carey and other TV personalities were there to see the game as well. Former Cleveland Cavalier coach Fratello sat directly in front of us. On a chance meeting at the concession stand, I found myself standing in line directly behind Drew Carey. A bunch of kids ran up to him and started asking for autographs while he was trying to order some hot dogs and beer. He signed all their stuff frantically, turned and looked at me, grabbed my ball cap off my head signed it, put it back on my head (crooked) grabbed his tray of food and walked away. That was really cool!

Christa Miller (Televison Actress) 1996 While traveling for business in New York, I happened to be walking in SoHo on m y way to dinner when along comes actress Christa Miller and a friend walking right toward me. At the time, Christa played Drew Carey's friend Kate on the popular television series, The Drew Carey Show.

Union 1999 Union has performed around Indianapolis a number of occasions, typically in association with some sort of KISS Expo event. The shows are usually quite small but intense. John Corabi adds a little bit of star power, having been a one time singer for Motley Crue and The Scream. Add Bruce Kulick, Brent Fitz and Jamie Hunting and it’Äôs a pretty interesting meet and greet. Of course you can usually catch Corabi in a local strip club the night before a show if you want to take a chance.

Ace Frehley Birthday Bash 2002 What a freakin' disaster this was...I don't think anyone could have predicted how horribly wrong this would ultimately go. Setting the scene, the party was held at a civic center in Hackensack, NJ. About 200 people were admitted and Ace was supposed to be there. Autographs and photo ops were promised, along with live music and other surprises. Well, the civic center, as nice as it was, was still a gymnasium at best and no matter how many party balloons and decorations you display, it's still very obviously a gymnasium. So Ace was complaining about it being a second class event and from his perspective, he probably had a point. Doors opened late, probably because of Frehley's condition - BLASTED! Once everyone was inside, it wasn't long before a bomb threat was phoned in and sent everyone running outside. Now I might not be a genius, but nut jobs who plan to bomb civic buildings probably are not likely to target Ace Frehley or an event in his honor. Nevertheless, we had to wait outside for an hour or two while the bomb sniffing dogs were brought in from another municipality. While outside however, I managed to peer into Ace's personal limo where I saw the inside was littered with empty remains of a case of Heineken and two bottles of champagne, not bad for brunch. Once back inside, I had my opportunity to be photographed with Ace and he signed an old Dynasty tour program for me. He was a wreck. Somebody said he was popping pills in the restroom and I had no reason to doubt that. He was wrangling cash for extra signatures and he was shamelessly hawking guitars and other equipment for cash. Eric Singer was there and played live with a band called SSG. People were leaving and the promoters were doing their best to encourage fans not to leave, because low and behold Gene Simmons walked in carrying Ace's birthday cake. He had a few private words with Frehley that were apparently not well received, then he left as quickly as he entered. His black Mercedes towncar vanished into the darkness. It was extremely exciting and surreal all at the same time. Imagine standing at a party that is being held in a gymnasium. You're thinking to yourself what a disaster the evnt is and wondering what you could be doing at that very moment that would be a better use of your time and the next thing you know, you are unexpectedly standing about three feet from Gene Simmons in street clothes. Wow. After Gene left the building, Ace made his way to the stage and had several words (I presume they were words, it was hard to tell for certain) of protest for Simmons (who was already gone) and anyway it didn't matter, no one could understand a word Frehley was saying anyway. Later I understood that the bottom line was that Simmons was trying to get Frehley back on board for the KISS/Aerosmith tour that was in the planning stages at that time. Frehley's argument was always that the Farewell Tour was supposed to be the Farewell Tour and that it was disingenuous for KISS to go out and do another tour after that with original members and that fans would see that they were only doing it for money - and I have to agree. Despite being wasted and very obviously under nourished, Ace was right.

Sammy Hagar and Mona 2003 I met Sammy Hagar casually enough just before his performance at Battery Park in New York City. The free show was a scheduled benefit to help NY firefighters raise awareness in the Mayor’Äôs office to keep lower Manhattan fire stations open. I was in the right place at the right time when Sammy arrived and he generously signed the only thing I had handy, which was a handbill fo rthe show. Immediately after the show, Sammy’Äôs bass player, Mona, signed the flyer as well.

Rock Fest 2007
Two years running, Cross Canadian Ragweed performed at Rockfest in Cadott, WI. Two years running, the band ends up looking for Album Man (a pillar of the Rockfest community) over at Commish's campsite. (If Album Man is a pillar of the Rockfest community, Commish is it's Mayor). Anyway, Grady Cross and Randy Ragsdale ended up over at the tent for a little post show party. We all hung out for awhile and skipped The Tragically Hip performance. What happened next was completely unexplainable and could have been the result of too much sun or party, but we all got up and headed back to the stage for Chicago. Since we were a bit late, we found ourselves running and someone said, "Are we really running to see Chicago?". Also got to meet the band, Mink after their show.

Gwen Stephanie (No Doubt) & Gavin Rossdale (Bush) 2003 By happenstance, my wife and I were walking through the West Village in New York, when we happened to look up and see Gwen Stephanie and her husband, Gavin Rossdale walking casually down the sidewalk.

Geoff Downes & John Payne (Asia) 2004
Geoff Downes and John Payne are both central figures in a late version of ASIA. They kept the franchise active long after founding members had gone. Downes has a long history in music, from Buggles, YES, and the original ASIA. He also produced the GTR project featuring Steve Hackett and Steve Howe. This particular event brought them to Indianapolis as part of their acoustic trek across America. The shows were promoted by fans and were sometimes very small and intimate, meaning somewhere under 50 people attending. Such was the case in Indianapolis. Everyone got a chance to meet Downes and Payne after their performance.

Van Halen 2004 Michael Anthony, Sammy Hagar and Alex Van Halen were enthusiastic and happy to meet a group of fans at soundcheck, but Eddie Van Halen was feeling less than friendly. Eddie arrived on stage with 2 bottles of wine, one in each hand. He set those on the drum riser and grabbed his guitar. Everybody did their brief soundcheck thing and it was pretty cool listening to Eddie warm up on some non-traditional VH licks, especially some Jimmy Page-esque licks and some really jazzy stuff too. Once everybody was dialed in, Eddie remained aloof while the others hung out with us and signed autographs. The band was genuinely appreciative, except for Ed who couldn't have cared less. He openly told people if they asked for his autograph to go talk to the other guy, referring to Hagar. I was surprised to find Alex Van Halen as personable as he was and very nice to talk to. Later that evening during the show, it was no surprise that Eddie's solo segment of the show crashed on the rocks, with Eddie making the statement, "I done run outta gas."

Steve Howe (YES / Asia / GTR) 2006
Steve Howe of YES, GTR and ASIA played a one man show here in Indianapolis at The Vogue theater. After a lengthy break following his set, he joined fans in the bar for a few autographs. Steve wasn’Äôt particularly talkative, but agreeable to sign a few items.

Ted Nugent 2004 From what I understand, Ted Nugent used to be a real fan friendly type of guy if you met him before or after a show. At this particular event, he was selling opportunities to shake his hand and get an autograph for a $20 donation to his kids camp. As I write this piece (2008), Nugent is currently selling a meet & greet experience on his web page. When Ted comes to your city to play, you can meet him before the show for $600 per person or a mere $1,000 per couple.

Eric Singer & Friends (a.k.a. Alice Cooper's Band) 2005
Also in association with KISS Expo promoters, Eric Singer & Friends performed two Hurricane Katrina benefit show in Indianapolis. Eric Singer was on tour with Alice Cooper at the time, so ES & Friends was essentially Alice Cooper’Äôs touring band: Damon Johnson, Ryan Roxie, Chuck Garric and Eric Singer. During the meet & greet, former Brother Cane guitarist, Damon Johnson, commented on my Eddie Van Halen work shirt and said he had one just like it from when Brother Cane wa son tour with Van Halen many years prior. Everybody was happy to sign autographs and snap pictures with fans.

Jon Anderson (YES) 2005 Jon Anderson of YES played a one man show at The Music Mill here in Indianapolis. The show included many facets of Jon’Äôs career including pieces from his many projects with Vangelis, his solo work and of course YES. After the show, Jon and his lovely wife greeted fans. He’Äôs a very positive and inviting person who was happy to chat with people and sign a few autographs. Many long time YES fans stayed for a chance to meet Jon and take a photo with him.

Robin Trower & Davey Pattison 2008
Robin Trower was in Indianapolis on his (1st) Farewell Tour. Vocalist Davey Pattison is also part of the current band. Robin Trower is of course a guitarist’Äôs guitarist for the 70’Äôs and largely associated as a Hendrix protˆ©gˆ©, even though that really sells Trower far short of his own accomplishments. Davey Pattison has been a long time vocalist for Trower, but also made records with Ronnie Montrose in a group called Gamma. Pattison’Äôs eyes lit up at the first Gamma album, when I handed it to him to sign. He said, ’ÄúMate, you’Äôre showin’Äô your age, ha ha!’Äù Robin Trower met fans around back of the venue. He sat comfortably in a sport utility while fans were permitted to approach the car two or three at a time.

Carl Palmer (ELP / Asia) 2006 Carl Palmer brought his solo project to Indianapolis, which consisted largely of classic ELP music  reworked from keyboard, bass and drum to guitar, bass and drum. It was a very interesting show and Carl stuck around after to meet fans and sign autographs. He’Äôs a very upbeat and energetic guy, who’Äôs genuainely happy to talk to fans. He signed a few things for me, notably a booklet from The Power of Three, a not often seen release that he and Keith Emerson did with vovalist John Berry back in the 80’Äôs.

Rock Fest 2006
I met Jeff LaBar in a tattoo vendor’Äôs tent at Rockfest 2006 in Cadott, WI. Jeff and his lady friend were doing a bit of shopping at the show and he generously signed my Cinderella Once Upon A’Ķ CD. I also met the band Warrant. I have to say that Gregg Rolie, founding member of both Santana and Journey, was very nice and easy to talk to. He signed a few things for me from both Santana and The Storm. George Thorogood signed a copy of his new CD for me as well.

Michael Anthony (Van Halen) 2007 Michael Anthony's side project called Mad Anthony Xpress appeared at the Cabo Wabo Cantina in Lake Tahoe, primarily as a consolation for fans who were stuck with tickets to Sammy Hagar's cancelled performances for Cinco de Mayo. Sammy was reportedly ill and could not sing, so three consecutive performances were scrapped and many out of towners were stuck in Tahow with nothing to do.Early May in Tahoe is too late for skiing and too early for summer sports. Sammy's son, Aaron, runs the Cabo Wabo Tahoe Cantina and arrangements were soon made for a bunch of Redheads to see Michael Anthony's new trio, Mad Anthony Xpress. The band consisted of Anthony on bass and vocals, Victor Johnson on guitar and background vocals and JD on drums. The night before the show, I talked to Aaron and showed him a shirt that had a "No ED" emblem on it and he made arrangements for me to have Michael Anthony sign it. The history of this shirt actually goes back to Rockfest in Cadott, WI 2006, when my pal Shane managed to launch the shirt onto the stage directly in front of Sammy Hagar. Hagar picked the shirt up and showed it to the audience and the whole scene was captured on the JumboTrons on either side of the stage. There had been quite a lot of ugly press between the two former factions of Van Halen, Eddie and brother Alex were openly feuding with former singer Hagar and by then, apparently former bassist Michael Anthony. During that show, Sammy held the shirt out for Michael to see and thy both shared a good laugh. Sammy wore it on his head for a while before signing it and throwing back to us. So I took the shirt to Tahoe. Before the Mad Anthony show, sure enough and true to his word, Aaron hooked me up with Michael Anthony who said that I was a bad, bad boy for making that shirt, but he signed it happily anyway. Also hung out with guitarist Victor Johnson for awhile before showtime. I showed Vic a rather rare CD I found with him playing guitar in a band called Total Eclipse and he freaked as though he hadn't seen one of these in a long, long time.

Melodic Rock Fest 2007
This was a very obscure situation. The owner of a popular music news web page out of Australia decided to hold his website's 10th Anniversary Concert in South Bend, IN. It featured several acts, but the headline was called Scrap Metal, a group primarily comprised of the Nelson boys (you know, the double mint twins of 80's hair metal fame), Mark Slaughter from Slaughter, Kelly Keagy from Night Ranger and former Mr. Big vocalist, Eric Martin. In addition, a number of other guest vocalists were invited to perform with Scrap Metal including former Rainbow singer, Joe Lynn Turner, Jack Blades from Night Ranger, Jim Peterik and Jimi Jamison from Survivor and vocalist Jeff Scott Soto. Jeff was an original singer for Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force, Talisman, and Soul Sirkus with Neal Schon of Journey. Throughout the course of the day I met several of the guys and collected some autographs. I met Eric Martin, Jim Peterik, Mark Slaughter and Jeff Scott Soto. In addition, I met vocalist Kevin Chalfant and guitarist Josh Ramos, who worked together in a Journey spin-off group called The Storm with Journey alumni Steve Smith, Gregg Rolie and Ross Valory. Ramos and Chalfant also worked together in a project called Two Fires. There were some new bands there as well. I met the guys in the Martie Peters Group and everybody in Goodbye Thrill. Everyone was really loose and having fun at the event.

Cody Canada (Cross Canadian Ragweed) 2007 Following a Cross Canadian Ragweed show at The Vogue in December, Cody Canada hung out behind the venue and talked with fans. It was a small gathering and the topic was primarily the state of country music today, the down sides of it being over produced and over commercialized, and the artists who are trying to keep it real. The gathering took on a street corner ministry type of feel, but Cody always has ana opinion about something to share and he was generous with fans as they got their photo taken with him.

Larry Carlton & Robben Ford 2008
Having met Larry Carlton a couple of times before, I knew him to be a friendly person who enjoyed meeting fans. He signed a few items for me, but to my surprise, declined to sign my Steely Dan box set, on which he contributed so much throughout the peak years of their recording history. Nevertheless, he is a very kind and interesting person. I didn't really care for Robben Ford's personality.

Tesla 2008 I met the guys in Tesla at Piere’Äôs in Fort Wayne, IN. This was part of the Tesla VIP program, so I enjoyed soundcheck and a preshow meet and greet with the entire band. They were a great bunch of guys, particularly Jeff Keith and Frank Hannon. I merely mentioned one of Jeff’Äôs side projects, Bar 7, and he immediately broke into verse. Everybody hung out and spent a lot of one on one time with the VIP group. Very cool.