Unlikely stalker π§ββοΈ diary: how I met Alice and Joe π¦ #2
Jun 12, 2023 10:36:40 GMT -5
AeroCooper, tomass, and 5 more like this
Post by anaix3l on Jun 12, 2023 10:36:40 GMT -5
#1 was in 2016, which was my first time meeting them.
First of all, the why. Because the music has done a lot for me. Because meeting them for a few seconds once or twice in a lifetime is a fucking big deal for a fan. Because... uh, oh, how do I put this without sounding too doom and gloom? Well, because it was hard not to think this second time was also probably going to be the last chance too. And because a M&G is almost half of what I make in a year.
The how is a lot easier. Once you try to look a bit into how you could meet them, you start seeing patterns. They travel in style and stand out like Christmas trees in July. There's a pattern when it comes to the places they stay at, when it comes to flying, when it comes to local transportation. You can narrow it down really fast. Then there's the internet. There's the fact that most people think they're not giving away any relevant info when they're giving away just about enough to fill in the gaps. And that's how you can pinpoint when they're traveling, track flights, arrivals, where they're staying, what they're doing. I'm not really comfortable with doing the stalking thing. But I will admit that the playing Scooby-Doo part of it, putting clues together... that part is fun. Sorry.
The when was over a couple of days before their show in Bucharest.
Day 1 - meeting Alice!
Decided to go to the hotel in the afternoon together with my Aerosmith-obsessed friend Alex... birds of a feather, you know...
We had no idea how this was going to go. We both met them like this one time before in 2016. But those were different times. We didn't know what the situation would be like this time. Was it still going to be possible to get anywhere near them? Alice didn't do M&Gs in 2021 and in 2022 anymore and the Aerosmith ones in 2022 were... different from 2019, as illustrated below. The M&Gs for Aerosmith now have a "canβt touch band members" small print.
I can understand why, both Alice and Joe are in their 70s and they have a tour to do. From the perspective of a fan, it really sucks huge donkey dicks to see that a show you've spent a ton of money on - ticket, perhaps even travel and accommodation too - gets postponed or even cancelled with little in advance. It has happened to me and I don't wish it on anyone else.
Unfortunately, unlike last time, there's no entrance view from the bar of this hotel, so the initial plan was to sit in front of the entrance like two vagabonds. Alex got there first and called me.
"I have good news and bad news, which do you want to hear first?"
"Don't care, just say it."
"Good news: John Bionelli came out, so we got the right hotel. Bad news: I asked him about Joe coming out tonight and he said not a chance."
Oh, well. I was on my way, so...
I got to the hotel, a sweaty mess, dropped my bags at the base of the statue where Alex was waiting. Was kinda thinking about going in to look around a bit because there's a gym in the hotel and I looked gym-ready enough given my outfit and my bags, but Alex said not to risk it. Took out my booklets and markers to be ready... just in case!
Alex gave me the Helloween pick. The same white model that Weiki threw to me on two different tours and a security guy took away from right under my nose. I had told him about those occurrences and he somehow got one of those picks for me? My heart sank when I saw the email with the pick photo because my first thought was he gave money to some asshole on eBay for it. But he said it's not from eBay.
Didn't take long before Alice and Sheryl showed up in front of the hotel to go out, so we went to them. Markers, booklets... they've been doing this since before we were born... I'm sure it was dead obvious to them what we wanted. I had a pile, an assortment of stuff, about half a dozen booklets for Alice live releases, the second Vampires album booklet (they signed my first in 2016), Paranormal, Joe solo stuff, Aerosmith stuff and one of Tommy's solo album booklets. I don't know what I was thinking taking that many, but he went through all of them and he signed all his stuff. When he got to Joe's solo album, he said Joe will also be coming out. Oh, I also gave him my Vienna 2019 ticket which the Romanian Post kept losing so had to have sent again and told him about it - that's why I want it signed. He laughed.
I asked about bringing his current US tour here and he said next year. He'll be doing solo shows in Europe and Vampires shows in the US in 2024. I've tried not to spoil it for myself, so I haven't checked out much, but from the little I've seen, it looks like a very different show from last year. Seriously, if you like the music and you have the chance to see him, go for it. He's always excellent live.
We also took photos. I had intended to wear something fancier, but it's not like Alice was in stage clothes either, and looking back, I think it's kinda cool we both happened to be wearing stuff with skulls. Super happy about the encounter. While I've heard nothing but good things about the M&Gs at Alice's own solo shows, I know the Hollywood Vampires ones are wave at them, take photo, "get the fuck out of here, next!" style. This was so much better, I couldn't have wanted more. Alice and Sheryl were just lovely, wished us a nice evening before they got in their taxi.
I do wonder what it must have looked like for them. I mean, I was with the bags... Got up, grabbed them, ran with them, dropped them on the ground again. Did it look like I was there straight from the gym? Like maybe my bags were full of even more stuff to sign than I had in my hands? Or was it just the hilariously excited fan image they have seen so many other times over the years?
We kept on waiting, but then it got quite late and cold. And I had a jacket (well, two with the one in my bag), but Alex was dressed for the daytime temperatures and given the difference in size between us, he could only wear my spare one as a... kinda short scarf.
(to be continued)
First of all, the why. Because the music has done a lot for me. Because meeting them for a few seconds once or twice in a lifetime is a fucking big deal for a fan. Because... uh, oh, how do I put this without sounding too doom and gloom? Well, because it was hard not to think this second time was also probably going to be the last chance too. And because a M&G is almost half of what I make in a year.
The how is a lot easier. Once you try to look a bit into how you could meet them, you start seeing patterns. They travel in style and stand out like Christmas trees in July. There's a pattern when it comes to the places they stay at, when it comes to flying, when it comes to local transportation. You can narrow it down really fast. Then there's the internet. There's the fact that most people think they're not giving away any relevant info when they're giving away just about enough to fill in the gaps. And that's how you can pinpoint when they're traveling, track flights, arrivals, where they're staying, what they're doing. I'm not really comfortable with doing the stalking thing. But I will admit that the playing Scooby-Doo part of it, putting clues together... that part is fun. Sorry.
The when was over a couple of days before their show in Bucharest.
Day 1 - meeting Alice!
Decided to go to the hotel in the afternoon together with my Aerosmith-obsessed friend Alex... birds of a feather, you know...
We had no idea how this was going to go. We both met them like this one time before in 2016. But those were different times. We didn't know what the situation would be like this time. Was it still going to be possible to get anywhere near them? Alice didn't do M&Gs in 2021 and in 2022 anymore and the Aerosmith ones in 2022 were... different from 2019, as illustrated below. The M&Gs for Aerosmith now have a "canβt touch band members" small print.
I can understand why, both Alice and Joe are in their 70s and they have a tour to do. From the perspective of a fan, it really sucks huge donkey dicks to see that a show you've spent a ton of money on - ticket, perhaps even travel and accommodation too - gets postponed or even cancelled with little in advance. It has happened to me and I don't wish it on anyone else.
Unfortunately, unlike last time, there's no entrance view from the bar of this hotel, so the initial plan was to sit in front of the entrance like two vagabonds. Alex got there first and called me.
"I have good news and bad news, which do you want to hear first?"
"Don't care, just say it."
"Good news: John Bionelli came out, so we got the right hotel. Bad news: I asked him about Joe coming out tonight and he said not a chance."
Oh, well. I was on my way, so...
I got to the hotel, a sweaty mess, dropped my bags at the base of the statue where Alex was waiting. Was kinda thinking about going in to look around a bit because there's a gym in the hotel and I looked gym-ready enough given my outfit and my bags, but Alex said not to risk it. Took out my booklets and markers to be ready... just in case!
Alex gave me the Helloween pick. The same white model that Weiki threw to me on two different tours and a security guy took away from right under my nose. I had told him about those occurrences and he somehow got one of those picks for me? My heart sank when I saw the email with the pick photo because my first thought was he gave money to some asshole on eBay for it. But he said it's not from eBay.
Didn't take long before Alice and Sheryl showed up in front of the hotel to go out, so we went to them. Markers, booklets... they've been doing this since before we were born... I'm sure it was dead obvious to them what we wanted. I had a pile, an assortment of stuff, about half a dozen booklets for Alice live releases, the second Vampires album booklet (they signed my first in 2016), Paranormal, Joe solo stuff, Aerosmith stuff and one of Tommy's solo album booklets. I don't know what I was thinking taking that many, but he went through all of them and he signed all his stuff. When he got to Joe's solo album, he said Joe will also be coming out. Oh, I also gave him my Vienna 2019 ticket which the Romanian Post kept losing so had to have sent again and told him about it - that's why I want it signed. He laughed.
I asked about bringing his current US tour here and he said next year. He'll be doing solo shows in Europe and Vampires shows in the US in 2024. I've tried not to spoil it for myself, so I haven't checked out much, but from the little I've seen, it looks like a very different show from last year. Seriously, if you like the music and you have the chance to see him, go for it. He's always excellent live.
We also took photos. I had intended to wear something fancier, but it's not like Alice was in stage clothes either, and looking back, I think it's kinda cool we both happened to be wearing stuff with skulls. Super happy about the encounter. While I've heard nothing but good things about the M&Gs at Alice's own solo shows, I know the Hollywood Vampires ones are wave at them, take photo, "get the fuck out of here, next!" style. This was so much better, I couldn't have wanted more. Alice and Sheryl were just lovely, wished us a nice evening before they got in their taxi.
I do wonder what it must have looked like for them. I mean, I was with the bags... Got up, grabbed them, ran with them, dropped them on the ground again. Did it look like I was there straight from the gym? Like maybe my bags were full of even more stuff to sign than I had in my hands? Or was it just the hilariously excited fan image they have seen so many other times over the years?
We kept on waiting, but then it got quite late and cold. And I had a jacket (well, two with the one in my bag), but Alex was dressed for the daytime temperatures and given the difference in size between us, he could only wear my spare one as a... kinda short scarf.
(to be continued)