WHICH ROCKER DID YOU MEET ... Who was Way Cooler than Expected & Who was a Much Bigger Jerk than Expected?

[MetalSludgeCEO]

Ready... Set... Sludge?

$ludge

[GreatWhiteSnake]

I have met, dined and interacted with all of Skid Row except Erik and they were all unfailingly gracious. I also know John Marshall (Metal Church) and Josh Ramos (LeMans, The Storm, Hardline) also all top notch fellows. As part of various NAMM show duties we have had Ernie Isley, Brad Gillis, Tosin Abasi, Johnny the 5th, Aaron Rossi (Prong), Ray Benson (Asleep at the Wheel) and the infamous Al Jourgensen and band in the booth. The only two unpleasant experiences were Tosin Abasi and Al Jourgensen. Tosin was late because of a conflict with an appearance with another vendor and when he did arrive was very stuck up and dressed like a douche. And, of course, as I've told on this and other sites many times good old Uncle Al showed up smashed and took a piss all over our guitar cable wall. Here's some video taken just prior to the pissing...
https://youtu.be/MIcV6PWmxXc?si=RK1B4gxmi3GdMCHJ

If you have any interest in seeing any of my other NAMM vides you can find them here... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjI1ZI2 ... yESoQRQsuL

and here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhncAFI ... Qr6PUYEMIC

As a fan I've met Joe Satriani, Michael Schenker, Vinnie Moore and some others that were all nice as could be...

[VinnieVincentsVag]

While we were recording in Nashville.
We finished one day and all my bandmates, except the other guitarist, thought they would try to go to bars and pick up chicks .
My favorite part of our Nashville trips was hitting the Tower Records.
I talked him in to going after the session.
I found “The making of British Steel” DVD.
Took it up to cashier and he says..,”Rod Halford is right over there” pointing to the old blues section.
Sure as shit, he was.
I went over and spoke with him.
They were in town for Ozzfest.
He was very approachable and gracious.
He signed my DVD and told me not to sell it on eBay.
Much, much shorter than I expected.
Then there is Blackie Lawless….complete opposite

[WolfgangVonPage]

I've met Jesper, Jacob and Laust from D-A-D.
Great fuckin guys. Let us come back stage and drank their beer with them .
Met two of the girls from Thundermother. The lead guitarist Flippa was tiny but kind of dumb.

[DemonFilth2001]

While we were recording in Nashville.
We finished one day and all my bandmates, except the other guitarist, thought they would try to go to bars and pick up chicks .
My favorite part of our Nashville trips was hitting the Tower Records.
I talked him in to going after the session.
I found “The making of British Steel” DVD.
Took it up to cashier and he says..,”Rod Halford is right over there” pointing to the old blues section.
Sure as shit, he was.
I went over and spoke with him.
They were in town for Ozzfest.
He was very approachable and gracious.
He signed my DVD and told me not to sell it on eBay.
Much, much shorter than I expected.
Then there is Blackie Lawless….complete opposite

Was Blackie much taller than you expected?

[cowpins]

Was he white and law abiding?

[VinnieVincentsVag]

While we were recording in Nashville.
We finished one day and all my bandmates, except the other guitarist, thought they would try to go to bars and pick up chicks .
My favorite part of our Nashville trips was hitting the Tower Records.
I talked him in to going after the session.
I found “The making of British Steel” DVD.
Took it up to cashier and he says..,”Rod Halford is right over there” pointing to the old blues section.
Sure as shit, he was.
I went over and spoke with him.
They were in town for Ozzfest.
He was very approachable and gracious.
He signed my DVD and told me not to sell it on eBay.
Much, much shorter than I expected.
Then there is Blackie Lawless….complete opposite

Was Blackie much taller than you expected?

[VinnieVincentsVag]

While we were recording in Nashville.
We finished one day and all my bandmates, except the other guitarist, thought they would try to go to bars and pick up chicks .
My favorite part of our Nashville trips was hitting the Tower Records.
I talked him in to going after the session.
I found “The making of British Steel” DVD.
Took it up to cashier and he says..,”Rod Halford is right over there” pointing to the old blues section.
Sure as shit, he was.
I went over and spoke with him.
They were in town for Ozzfest.
He was very approachable and gracious.
He signed my DVD and told me not to sell it on eBay.
Much, much shorter than I expected.
Then there is Blackie Lawless….complete opposite

Was Blackie much taller than you expected?

Let’s just say his head was humongous

[steviedoes]

The Coolest

Steve Brown
Chip Z'nuff
Jani Lane
Butch Walker

Cool

Robby Takac
Tom Peterson
Johnny Monaco
Rick Steier

Just Kind of "There" (not super cool/friendly but not a jerk)

Rick Nielsen
Robin Zander
Erik Turner
Johnny Rzeznik

Not A Jerk But Seemed To Not Want To Be There

Donnie Vie
Bun E. Carlos

I've met more, but these are the ones who fit the categories I made up.

[DemonFilth2001]

The Coolest

Steve Brown
Chip Z'nuff
Jani Lane
Butch Walker

Cool

Robby Takac
Tom Peterson
Johnny Monaco
Rick Steier

Just Kind of "There" (not super cool/friendly but not a jerk)

Rick Nielsen
Robin Zander
Erik Turner
Johnny Rzeznik

Not A Jerk But Seemed To Not Want To Be There

Donnie Vie
Bun E. Carlos

I've met more, but these are the ones who fit the categories I made up.

No total assholes???

[BootyDaddy69]

Met Rachel, Rob and Scotti from Skid Row in 1990 walking down Pitt St in Sydney, was the 2nd night of Motley Crue in Sydney on the Dr Feelgood tour, my mate noticed them so we went up to them and started talking and went to a nearby games arcade and hung out with them for 30 min or so, they were all cool, sadly no photos or autographs but just a cool memory

[steviedoes]

The Coolest

Steve Brown
Chip Z'nuff
Jani Lane
Butch Walker

Cool

Robby Takac
Tom Peterson
Johnny Monaco
Rick Steier

Just Kind of "There" (not super cool/friendly but not a jerk)

Rick Nielsen
Robin Zander
Erik Turner
Johnny Rzeznik

Not A Jerk But Seemed To Not Want To Be There

Donnie Vie
Bun E. Carlos

I've met more, but these are the ones who fit the categories I made up.

No total assholes???

Stephan Jenkins was a total asshole, but I didn't really "meet" him, because of his total assholeness. He just walked by the whole 5-10 of us outside the tour bus and said "we've got to work on the video" and didn't say hi to anyone or sign anything.

[TooOldToCare]

Not many. And I’m not one to bother celebs.

Peter Criss - 1984 - he was super social and gracious. Can you imagine?

Jani Lane - outside venue near bus. Dog Eat Dog tour. Super fucking friendly Ohio boy. Had a quick chat and an autograph, and he was awesome.

The kids from Classless Act - very gracious and friendly.

Sam Bam Kulton - when playing with Dorothy. Dude was kind, humble, laid back.

Joe C (from Kid Rock) - a little full of himself with a big posse. I was moseying around a festival and here comes Joe and his entourage. As I walked by I said “What’s up Joe C?”, and he high-fived me and I kept on walking.

Slash - was Grammy week around 2006 or so. I was crossing Hollywood Blvd and he cruised by with his car window down. Called his name and got a wave and grin. Probably trashed. Same trip I had a drink at Skybar with Keifer Sutherland. Quiet but friendly.

No big encounters and no assholes. All good.

[Love_Industry]

Cooler than expected:
Geoff Tate 1995
Vinnie Vincent 1996
Joey DeMaio 1993

Jerks:
Peter Criss 1994
Vivian Campbell 1993
Tony Martin 1990

[Bono Nettencourt]

Not many. And I’m not one to bother celebs.

No big encounters and no assholes. All good.

Same. I usedta frequent the Chestnut Cabaret, which was the Philly rock club where all the national touring acts played in the 80s/early 90s. Met Bill Bruford, Eric Johnson, and Steve Morse there. All were cool. Also climbed on the monitor and slapped Paul Gilbert five at Mr. Bigs show. All I got.

[Shredderpete]

I’ve spent a lot of time with Duff through work and he’s the nicest dude to everyone whether he’s in public or one-on-one. Just absolutely lovely guy.

Worked with Mustaine and he was great, really respectful and asked a lot of questions, deferred to other peoples’ knowledge and experience. Yeah I know, I didn’t expect that either.

Zakk Wylde: I went from having posters of him on my wall when I was 14 to having him prank call me in a Mrs Doubtfire voice and call me Father Pete. Coolest fkn guy (once he sobered up).

Steve Lukather: cool as shit.

Jerks: can’t really think of any firsthand experiences but I know a lot of people who have been treated absolutely horribly by a certain singer/guitarist whose initials are LF and who has real ‘are you off the meds or on too many’ energy.

[Psychobolia.com]

... I know a lot of people who have been treated absolutely horribly by a certain singer/guitarist whose initials are LF and who has real ‘are you off the meds or on too many’ energy.

Took me a minute...Lita Ford!

[Tommy]

The Coolest

Steve Brown
Chip Z'nuff
Jani Lane
Butch Walker

Cool

Robby Takac
Tom Peterson
Johnny Monaco
Rick Steier

Just Kind of "There" (not super cool/friendly but not a jerk)

Rick Nielsen
Robin Zander
Erik Turner
Johnny Rzeznik

Not A Jerk But Seemed To Not Want To Be There

Donnie Vie
Bun E. Carlos

I've met more, but these are the ones who fit the categories I made up.

No total assholes???

Stephan Jenkins was a total asshole, but I didn't really "meet" him, because of his total assholeness. He just walked by the whole 5-10 of us outside the tour bus and said "we've got to work on the video" and didn't say hi to anyone or sign anything.

I've heard this about him too and not really sure where he thinks he ranks in the grand scheme of things.

[Tommy2Tone84]

Cooler than expected was Chip Z’Nuff. He could not have been nicer

Biggest jerk was Alice Cooper. A grumpy old dick

[DrumminAway]

No total assholes???

Stephan Jenkins was a total asshole, but I didn't really "meet" him, because of his total assholeness. He just walked by the whole 5-10 of us outside the tour bus and said "we've got to work on the video" and didn't say hi to anyone or sign anything.

I've heard this about him too and not really sure where he thinks he ranks in the grand scheme of things.

Jenkins should learn to sing on key before he has a right to be an asshole to anyone.

[kwf]

Gene Simmons cool, Joe Satriani dick

[AlexVonHaig]

Another vote for Chip Znuff. He texts my wife about shows. Offered to play at our lake house (logistics didn't work out). Chat about friends from the hood, as he puts it, Tony Lavato. Side note, we go to see Mest and bring up Chip to Tony. Tony says, oh yeah, he's over on Maple.

[Kerry67]

Dicks - Ace Frehley, Peter Criss, George Lynch

Cool - Joe Perry, Tommy Thayer, John Corabi, Frankie Banalli, Michael Schenker, Jeff Pilson

There are more for each catagory but this is what is jumping to front of my mind.

[BDG135]

I had one guy from a Christian band be a jerk, but I kinda deserved it as a young fanboy. I tried to get him to sign my shirt while I was still wearing it. The other guys in the band were nice about it. You likely haven't heard of him since he wasn't in Stryper.

[SterileEyes1]

No one wants to hear it, but, Dave Grohl. Cooler than expected and already expected him to be cool.

Charlie Benante was cool in August. My buddy is an even bigger Pantera fan than I am, a drummer, and had to miss the show we were going to because of his business. He had to forfeit his plane ticket and show ticket and everything. Happened to spot Charlie and he was kind enough to do a 10 second video to my friend, “Sorry you can’t be here, see you next year” sort of thing.

Edited to concur with someone else about Zakk. Met him briefly last month. You can just tell, he’s a legit warm and genuine human.


No one’s been an outright dick to me. The only times anyone was standoffish towards me were back in my younger days when I was still of the delusional belief that passing your demo along to a successful musician would get you anywhere, even if they wanted to help you. To that end, my favorite thing to say to my musician friends who still think like that is, “Did you know Kirk Hammett released a solo album last year? The most famous musicians out there can’t even help themselves, what the fuck are they gonna do for you??”

[Marshall_Stackhouse]

THE COOLEST:
Lemmy
Zakk
Lukather

Very Cool:
Paul Gilbert
Jani Lane
Phil Collen
Slash
Lynch
Portnoy

Very Un-Cool:
Eddie Trunk
Paul Stanley
Paul Reed Smith
Satriani

[kytepunches]

Chris Jericho who i've "known" for 30 years is super cool , nice and a really good dude. Know being that i have a very good friend who grew up with him . So i get to be in the group from time to time.

CC Deville and Alice Cooper were both awesome the multiple times we met.

I got into a fight with the singer of DRI - Kurt Brecht . He was a total cunt.

[eddie lee roth]

Not a rocker but still big time would be Garth Brooks. Dealt with him several times when I worked at this private airport that he would fly in and out of. Extremely nice country boy who had a great way of showing his appreciation for us by always handing out twenty dollar bills. Huge fat head though.

I also met Henry Wrinkler in the late 70’s during his Fonzie heyday. He put his forehead to my forehead and said some BS about how if I wished upon a star everything was possible. So he was a great guy but obviously was a lying bastard.

[maninblack]

The nicest rock star I ever met, and it was on their Ace of spades tour was LEMMY.

[Playboyliquor59]

Dicks- tommy lee and Travis barker come to mind.
Coolest- Beyoncé, Tom petty, axl surprisingly.
Billie Joe Armstrong was the best on tour. Let us use his gear, shared catering, trailer space, the list goes on. He also would rent out movie theatre's on days off, bowling alleys, go cart tracks with tons of free food and drinks on him etc