After the show, I headed straight for the stage door. There were about 30-40 people, about a quarter of which were really pushy and obnoxious dealers. The dealers were exceptionally annoying, all blocking the real fans out with their enormous drumheads and stacks of vinyl records.
About 15 minutes after I got out there, Dj Ashba comes out, takes a bunch of pics, and signs a ton of autographs including mine. Really nice guy, cracked jokes and really tried to talk to people and everything. Just an awesome guy.
Richard Fortus (rhythm guitar) came out next. He was in a huge hurry. Only signed a few autographs, took one or two pictures, and sped off. This was where the dealers annoyed me most. Richard is my favorite member of the band, and I don't think he signed an autograph for a single real fan. Really frustrated by that.
Bumblefoot was next. He is a stunning human being. The man was in a car wreck last year that left him with serious chronic back problems, and can barely walk when his pain pills aren't working. He missed a bunch of songs and was visibly in pain for most of the show. All of the real fans outside agreed that we weren't going to ask for anything, just applaud and thank him. He heads straight over and starts signing. He signed every item, took every picture, talked to every person, shook every hand, went above and beyond to show us the love. He's a hero. Incredible artist, and so appreciative of his fans. We love him right back. Just an awesome dude. Already had my pic with him from inside, but got him to sign my band photo.
Bassist Tommy Stinson, piano player Dizzy Reed, and drummer Frank Ferrer sped right by. Frank was the only one to stop, and even he (again) only got dealers. It was definitely frustrating that between the 3 of them they couldn't stop for 2 minutes, but it was ok - they're kind of everyone's least favorite members anyway :p
And then, there was one man left. The big one. The question mark. He was in a great mood inside, but would the elusive W. Axl Rose stop for us? Would he come out and wave before running off? Would he accuse us all of being eBay hawks and leave? Would he sneak out another door and leave us high and dry? Everyone decided the risk of wasting our time was WELL worth sticking around, lest we find out we'd missed the once in a lifetime chance the next day reading online. We all decide to stick it out and see what happens.
After about half an hour or 45 minutes, Axl's assistant Fernando came out. He said something like "We're not gonna do individual pictures, but we'll do one group shot, and we won't be able to get everyone, but we'll do one at a time and get as many as possible" and went back inside while security cleared out as many eBay a-holes as possible. The shock slowly began to sink in: this was about to happen. Our two hours of standing in the cold after a 3 hour show and many hours in line beforehand were all about to pay off. We were about to meet Axl Rose.
About 5 minutes later, Axl's manager Beta and assistant Vanessa came out, followed by Fernando and, finally, the man himself. Axl was gracious as all hell. Talked the whole time he was signing stuff. Definitely was rushing to get everyone in before he had to leave, but it was in an effort to be accommodating, not his alleged hatred of fans. Everyone felt like we were walking on egg shells, didn't want to spook him. The guy is an IMPOSSIBLE autograph to get, notoriously bipolar and hard to catch in a good mood. He could not have been happier. He and I exchanged words briefly as he signed my photo, but you could tell that every brief exchange he had, he was totally invested in. Just an unbelievable experience. I had waited 10 years to see this band, one of my all-time favorites. A night I will never, ever forget.
Photo signed by Dj Ashba, Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal, and W. Axl Rose:
Me and Ron
Me and Dj
Axl making his way down the line:
