Closest You Have Been To A Prog Great

I've had a few very nice encounters with some Prog Greats, yeah...

[confession]Some of the best:

 Jon Anderson gave me a nice hug backstage after his show in Rotterdam with Yes during the "90125"-tour; met the other guys as well, apart from Chris Squire who I happen to like the most, meh;

Got meself an autograph of both Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson in Calgary, Canada, during their "Presto"-tour; Alex, especially, is a very nice and cheerful guy, and even addressed me in a few Dutch words;

Bumped into Fish a few years ago in Utrecht - he made inquiries about where to buy pot;

Spock's Beard, on several occasions - used to be a great fan of the band, so visited their concerts when nobody knew them, which made it very easy for me to shake hands with them;

Got several nice hugs from Anathema's various Cavanagh-brothers. Great, funny guys, very friendly to their fans - I got the opportunity to chat for half an hour with Vinnie Cavanagh while Porcupine Tree was playing their set in Amsterdam, April 2005; and the next day, Danny Cavanagh invited me to visit a pub in Tilburg with him after their concert with Porcupine Tree and even bought me several drinks, the dear guy;

The day before in Amsterdam, me and my friends entered a pub in Amsterdam after having enjoyed Anathema and Porcupine Tree - and Lo and Behold, who entered that same pub that same night? *ALL* both band's members, purely by accident, I ensure you...

The complete line-up of Anekdoten, before and after their lovely concert in De Boerderij, Zoetermeer a few years ago;

Arjen Anthony Lucassen, aka Ayreon - several occasions... great friendly guy, even a bit shy![/confession]

Oops, I sound like a real groupie here! Don't worry, I'm to old for that!

 

 

I have met and talked with and usually obtained autographs from.

• all of Marillion(both Fish and H lineups)several times each
• all of IQ and Anglagaard  at a beach party
• Geddy Lee
• Bill Bruford(funny guy, one of the best autographs ever! After getting CTTE, Seconds Out and his first solo album signed, I asked him to sign my copy of the Fainting in Coils bootleg, he looked at it for aminute and said "why do you guys buy this "and then signed with the quote"Bill Bruford has been ripped off, Again' Awesome)
• Steve Morse( nicest guy ever)
• Neal Morse
• Vinnie Colaiuta and Ike Willis(funny story maybe I'll tell you sometime)
• Rod Morgenstern
• Allan Holdsworth
• Billy Sheehan

non prog

• Les Paul
• John Entwhistle
• Robbie Krieger
• Leslie West
• Frank Marino
• Mick Taylor
• Johnny Winter
• Nancy Wilson
• Viv Campbell
• Michael Anthony
• Eddie Van Halen
• Buddy Guy
• Midge Ure
• Ted Nugent
• Buck Dharma
• George Lynch
• Chris Dreja
• Paul Samwell-Smith
• Rory Gallagher
• Phil Mogg
• Michael schenker
• Lemmy
• BB King
• Clarence Clemons
• Dick Dale
• Pat Thrall

and lots more than come to mind at the moment.

Well, I have met a bunch of my favorite musicians, but none of them are prog. I did, though, way back around '82 or so, write Kate Bush a letter. And, imagine how surprised I was when she wrote back! Wish I still had that letter, but I sold it when I really needed the money long ago (made a copy, but lost that).

My mom used to be a groupi in England in the ´70, and she is not quite sure if I´m the son of either Robert Fripp or Roger Waters...either ways Im a big tool who doesn´t like people and remains in the shadows...

hehehehe, nooooooooooooooooo...and Bob Fripp is no tool!!!

Talked to Dave Brock of Hawkwind once, before one of their concerts, when he walked out of the dressing room to have a look at the audience.
Saw Holger Czukay of Can shopping several times, but never talked to him.
Not prog: Wolfgang Niedecken, the singer of BAP, a band which is very popular in Germany, especially in Cologne, where they are from and where I live, was a frequent guest in a cafe I also was a guest of, and we talked several times. I even had the feeling he wanted to make a pass at me (I was not bald back then), but I made a remark about my sexual orientation which stopped him in his track.

     In 1980, I was living in the small college town of Arcata, California.
Captain Beefheart lived (I think still does) in Trinidad, a beautiful coastal
town 12 miles north. His band played at a run-down bowling alley in Arcata
that had been revamped into a run-down club called the Red Pepper. Before
they came on, I was taking a piss in the public men's room, when I realized
that the guy pissing next to me was none other than Don Van Vliet. We
chatted & joked a bit during the blatter emptying, and shortly thereafter I
enjoyed a whacked-out, electrifying show. Little did I realize at the time, the
Captain would soon cease to perform music forever...he was such a totally
normal guy (at least by Northern California standards of the time, which
were pretty nuts), it didn't occur to me that I was speaking with a timeless
legend.

I was in the front row for a Devin Townsend Band/Opeth show. Devin was a ton of fun to be at the front for, he interacted with us a lot. I was kind of squished against the stage during Opeth, but at least I was really close .

I stood next to Bill Bruford at the bar in a local arts centre where the Earthworks were playing. I didn't know what he looked like at the time, and didn't realise who he was until he sat behind the drums at the gig, 30 minutes later...

I grunted a 'Hi' at Harvey Bainbridge of Hawkwind once at a HW gig. He grunted a vague greeting back at me.

I shook Dumpys (Dumpys Rusty Nuts) hand at a festival. He was scary, and he smelt funny.

I also met Andrew Eldritch of 'The Sisters of Mercy' he was an arsehole.

..oh and Wayne Hussey of 'The Mission' at a Cure concert back in the 80's. He was very pleasant.

angegabriel wrote: Fish also stood on my table during their 1st tour for the Script album in Montreal. However, I've got a much more memorable one. It was 1987 at the Montreal Forum. Me and a friend decided at the last minute to head down to the Peter Gabriel concert and pick up a couple of tickets from our favorite ticket scalper who used to work the street before big shows. We lucked out more than we could have imagined. 2nd row on the floor, dead centre !!!  During the show, Peter performed "Lay Your Hands On Me" and allowed himself to fall into the audience. Me and my friend had him right in our grasp for what seemed like a good half-minute. There we were, holding Peter Gabriel above our heads. A very memorable moment indeed ......

That is a great story angegabriel. I too saw Peter Gabriel in 1987, I had floor seats but I was 20-30 rows back. Also I had about 4 or 5 giant guys in front of me blocking my view of the show, they were only there to hear "sledgehammer". I didn't get anywhere near Gabriel.

It was still a great show though.

The closest I ever came to prog greatness was in 1987 when I saw Marillion on the "Clutching At Straws" tour at a little dinner theater in San Clemente California called "The Coach House".

My wife and I were early and were waiting in front of the club with about 15 other people when Fish, Steven, Peter, Mark and Ian walked right by us just inches from my wife and I to enter the club and do a soundcheck. It happened so fast I didn't realize it was happening until the band had entered the club. 

My wife and I were able to score killer seats right up in front near the stage since I slipped the doorman a $20. Mariilion blew us all away, Fish even stood on top of the table that my wife and I were sitting at and danced while singing just inches from us, Totally unreal.

This was one of my all time greatest concert experiences that I will never forget.