10/9/11 Durham, NC

[TMBJon]

Awesome, man! Glad you got to meet Al. Would love to hear your backstage story, and how the conversation with Al went.

[Alinite27]

Well, the pic's at the bus...so not really backstage. I bet you're I happy I wasn't there...or Al probably wouldn't have met...unless you count the time in Charlotte, er Montgomery, er Mobile, er...etc...

[RyanHippFTW]

Was that your first time meeting them?

Yep.

Would love to hear your backstage story, and how the conversation with Al went.

Here is how my case of "Al induced haze" worked: there were two specific things I wanted to ask him about. They were whether or not he met Stan Bush or the guys from Survivor back in the '80s when they were all on Scotti Bros. and about a story a teacher of mine has told me about a very interesting encounter her husband had with Al back in the '80s. I also wanted to say what my name was and ask for a handshake or hug (preferably hug). When I finally went up to him, I was calm and casual, didn't freak out or anything, but I forgot about all those things except Stan/Survivor.

When I went up to him and handed him my copy of The Compleat Al to sign, he said "haven't seen one of these in a while". I asked if a DVD release is likely and his response was something like "someone else just asked me that, I don't really have any control over that sort of thing". I asked about Stan/Survivor, and he mentioned meeting Stan back in 2009 at BotCon and seeing him do a concert. I asked what he thought of the show, and he said he thought it was good, which was pretty cool to hear. After that, got a picture, and when I left and thanked him, he said "nice seeing you". I assume he tells everybody at meet and greets something along those lines, but it was a very warm and friendly thing for him to say nonetheless, and it felt pretty good hearing that. Very nice guy, hope to meet him again sometime.

Before Al came out, Steve was coming down the line chatting with people, getting pictures, signing stuff, and selling some of his CDs. Talked to him for a few minutes, and he was also really great.

[algonacchick]

Glad you got to meet Al and talk to Steve briefly. They are great guys. Regardless of whether you were actually backstage or by the bus, you met them both after a show. That is what counts.

[Yankomaniac]

AND you got to hear You Make Me, so you had one hell of an evening!

[Alinite27]

Have to love You Make Me! I had seats right in front of Jim at the Hard Rock and that offered an amazing view of the awesome guitar playing during that song. Definitely one of my favorites to see him play. If I had been able to go to this show, this would have broke the 4-4 tie for Franks-You Make Me from my southern tourchase.

[TMBJon]

Well, the pic's at the bus...so not really backstage.

Why in the world do you have to rain on someone else's parade? Okay we get it, you're better than Ryan, and a better fan than all of us because you've gone backstage and Ryan's only gotten to go to his bus. I mean do you have any idea how arrogant and condescending you sound?

Glad you got to meet Al, Ryan! Don't worry, you'll get to ask him the other stuff next time. I always forget to bring up one or two things I'd meant to say.

[Alinite27]

Eh, it is what it is. But, yeah, on the topic of forgetting things that you want to talk with Al about, it even happens to me sometimes. I will mainly touch on every topic that I want to, but I'll always leave out one aspect that I wanted to mention about the subject.

[Killingsworth]

Great to hear how your experience meeting Al went, Ryan! That's kind of the reason I didn't think to ask him anything (partly because I knew he wouldn't have that much time after the show to chat with a line of fans). I just wanted to tell him what a fan he was and thank him for putting on such an amazing show. I also liked how your picture turned out. I'm tempted to say it's a little better than mine.

[golfpro827]

When I was leaving I saw the bus(es) and saw people waiting and I almost turned around but I thought (yeah, he'll probably wave at people and be gone.

Gonna call that a bad decision.

Oh well, now I know.