[Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge, Nov 16]
If one were to experience a near-perfect weekend, how would it go? How 'bout something like this:
Head to an Alter Bridge show at Madison's Barrymore Theatre, a venue so small it seats only ten or so. Find out just seconds before the opening band Another Animal comes on that it is a side-project from three of the four members of Godsmack; Shannon Larkin (drummer extraordinaire), guitarist Tony Rombola, and bassist Robbie Merrill. The other guitar player is Lee Richards, an original member of Godsmack. The lead singer is Whitfield Crane, former lead singer of Ugly Kid Joe (where he played with Shannon Larkin until they broke up in 1997).
[L to R: Lee, Tony, Robbie, Shannon, and Whit]The stage is so small and Another Animal is set up in front of Alter Bridge's equipment, so I am only twenty feet or so in front of drummer Shannon Larkin's set.
I feel faint.
[Shannon of Another Animal and Godsmack]Their set is amazing, and I am thrilled knowing I will be seeing them again in Milwaukee the next night.
Alter Bridge comes on and does not disappoint, despite the lead singer, Myles Kennedy, being sick. The audience--all ten of us--scream our brains out. My sister Sarah spills a very sticky wine cooler all over me. I forgive her.
[Myles in front of Brian]
Afterwards, it is Sarah's goal to meet Myles. It is clear her very life depends upon this encounter. (And it has absolutely nothing to do with how Myles looks in these jeans...) Acting on a tip from Mark Tremonte's guitar tech before the show, we head to the closest bar and wait for a bit. Soon we see Lee Richards and Robbie Merrill from Another Animal stop in. No sign of Alter Bridge.
Heading back to the buses, we find out that Myles is so sick he ran for the bus as soon as he ended the show. Sarah is crushed. We hang out just long enough for me to make a drum joke to Brian Marshall, Alter Bridge's bass player, who takes my idiocy in stride. I am tempted to make a bass comment to drummer Flip when he comes out, but I resist. One of Sarah's friends forces Brian to take Sarah's Riverside passes from 2005 inside the bus for Myles to sign. He is gone for so long we are sure that he has either forgotten us or is busy trying to imitate Myle's signature. Eventually he returns, and we promise to harrass him in Milwaukee.
[Brian]
At the Rave the next night, I am ready for Another Animal. I put one of their new shirts over my Foo Fighter shirt. (Dave would understand.) We stake out a place on the balcony, just a healthy spit down to the stage. Another small venue. I don't know how I'll ever go back to stadium shows. (Only for you, Dave.)
Another Animal comes out and during one of the first songs, lead singer Whit points to me in the balcony and says "Nice shirt." $25 bucks very well spent. At least twice during the show, bassist Robbie points up and nods, either at the shirt or from seeing us at the bar the night before. Or he could have been stretching. Shannon is fucking incredible, as usual, and I am mesmerized by his sticks. My hands throb from drumming on the metal rail in front of us.
The highlight from their set is their cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Fire," during which seven roadies come out and split themselves between two mics to sing the chorus. It was hilarious, and more fun than I've had since Cornell and Seattle.
Alter Bridge comes on and rocks the room. Myles is still not well, but makes a great effort to keep the show going. I try to bring the balcony down with my dancing, but fail. Sarah and Jeff skip out before the encore ends to try and catch Myles when he runs for the bus, but I decide to stay. As soon as they leave, bassist Brian, whom I called the drummer the night before, points up and smiles big at me. He must have a good mind for idiots he's met before. I'm thrilled to be remembered for any reason at all.
[Brian and Mark, Alter Bridge]
When I meet up with Sarah and Jeff after the show, she is crushed again. Sure enough, Myles literally ran from the stage door to the bus after the lights went down. She called out his name and he never even looked over. He jumped on the bus, killed the lights, and that was it. It was pretty clear that if he had stopped for her, he would have been mobbed by the number of fans already milling around outside the venue. No doubt going from the full sweat of the show to 32 degree snow and sleet and stopping to sign several autographs would have sent the poor guy into pneumonia. I did think for a moment that Sarah was going to lie down on the pavement in front of his bus, but she stayed strong.
As we mourned her situation, Robbie Merrill walked right by us. Some big dude stopped him to shake his hand and I jumped right in.
"You can't just sneak past us, Robbie," I told him. "It won't work." Jeff asked if he had time for a picture with Sarah and me, and we were wrapped around him in record time.
"Just a quick one," he said. As opposed to a sloooow photo? Wait, let me just set up my tripod...
I then set a personal record by using the word "awesome" three times in one sentence. It's not something I'm proud of. It went something like this: "Thanks, Robbie! You were awesome tonight and last night; the band is awesome; and of course Godsmack is completely awesome!" Yeah, sometimes I can't hide the writer in me.
Apparently Robbie likes the word awesome, though, because he broke out in smiles and said to me, "So you heard us playing and said, 'Fuck, yeah!" Well, something like that, Robbie. Flattery works even on veteran rockers, it would appear. Good information to know!
I have spent a lot of time thinking about the thrill I get from live music (and musicians--let's be honest) and I haven't figured it out completely yet. I believe it has something to do with their ability, as total strangers, to melt my granite walls completely with their music. For as long as the amps are pounding, I feel entirely free, at peace, and indescribably exhilarated. After much thought, I could think of only one other situation where I experience this feeling: when galloping my horses.
Accordingly, I went to the barn today to see Julian, who was more wired than hard-partying Shannon before a show. It took 45 minutes of longing to get on his back (Julian's, not Shannon's) and then, we ran. And there it was again.
A lot of smiles for one weekend. My subconscious still managed to throw in a nightmare (Same one: I was still married and had to convince him again I wanted out) but it may have been because we used to see Alter Bridge together. Just working the memories out. If I see them enough on my own, they become mine, not ours. Making friends with the band(s) most certainly helps!
See you boys in Rockford on December 7!
[Madison, Nov. 16]
At the Rave the next night, I am ready for Another Animal. I put one of their new shirts over my Foo Fighter shirt. (Dave would understand.) We stake out a place on the balcony, just a healthy spit down to the stage. Another small venue. I don't know how I'll ever go back to stadium shows. (Only for you, Dave.)
Another Animal comes out and during one of the first songs, lead singer Whit points to me in the balcony and says "Nice shirt." $25 bucks very well spent. At least twice during the show, bassist Robbie points up and nods, either at the shirt or from seeing us at the bar the night before. Or he could have been stretching. Shannon is fucking incredible, as usual, and I am mesmerized by his sticks. My hands throb from drumming on the metal rail in front of us.The highlight from their set is their cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Fire," during which seven roadies come out and split themselves between two mics to sing the chorus. It was hilarious, and more fun than I've had since Cornell and Seattle.
Alter Bridge comes on and rocks the room. Myles is still not well, but makes a great effort to keep the show going. I try to bring the balcony down with my dancing, but fail. Sarah and Jeff skip out before the encore ends to try and catch Myles when he runs for the bus, but I decide to stay. As soon as they leave, bassist Brian, whom I called the drummer the night before, points up and smiles big at me. He must have a good mind for idiots he's met before. I'm thrilled to be remembered for any reason at all.
[Brian and Mark, Alter Bridge]When I meet up with Sarah and Jeff after the show, she is crushed again. Sure enough, Myles literally ran from the stage door to the bus after the lights went down. She called out his name and he never even looked over. He jumped on the bus, killed the lights, and that was it. It was pretty clear that if he had stopped for her, he would have been mobbed by the number of fans already milling around outside the venue. No doubt going from the full sweat of the show to 32 degree snow and sleet and stopping to sign several autographs would have sent the poor guy into pneumonia. I did think for a moment that Sarah was going to lie down on the pavement in front of his bus, but she stayed strong.
As we mourned her situation, Robbie Merrill walked right by us. Some big dude stopped him to shake his hand and I jumped right in.
"You can't just sneak past us, Robbie," I told him. "It won't work." Jeff asked if he had time for a picture with Sarah and me, and we were wrapped around him in record time.
"Just a quick one," he said. As opposed to a sloooow photo? Wait, let me just set up my tripod...
I then set a personal record by using the word "awesome" three times in one sentence. It's not something I'm proud of. It went something like this: "Thanks, Robbie! You were awesome tonight and last night; the band is awesome; and of course Godsmack is completely awesome!" Yeah, sometimes I can't hide the writer in me.
Apparently Robbie likes the word awesome, though, because he broke out in smiles and said to me, "So you heard us playing and said, 'Fuck, yeah!" Well, something like that, Robbie. Flattery works even on veteran rockers, it would appear. Good information to know!
I have spent a lot of time thinking about the thrill I get from live music (and musicians--let's be honest) and I haven't figured it out completely yet. I believe it has something to do with their ability, as total strangers, to melt my granite walls completely with their music. For as long as the amps are pounding, I feel entirely free, at peace, and indescribably exhilarated. After much thought, I could think of only one other situation where I experience this feeling: when galloping my horses.
Accordingly, I went to the barn today to see Julian, who was more wired than hard-partying Shannon before a show. It took 45 minutes of longing to get on his back (Julian's, not Shannon's) and then, we ran. And there it was again.
A lot of smiles for one weekend. My subconscious still managed to throw in a nightmare (Same one: I was still married and had to convince him again I wanted out) but it may have been because we used to see Alter Bridge together. Just working the memories out. If I see them enough on my own, they become mine, not ours. Making friends with the band(s) most certainly helps!
See you boys in Rockford on December 7!
[Madison, Nov. 16]
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