During Summer Slam weekend I was scheduled for a Black Sabbath m&g. This included a photo op with Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, and Geezer Butler. Since this was the last ever tour and none of them are getting any younger (and Tony in particular fighting cancer), I figure this was now or never to get a photo op with them.
Soundcheck was part of the VIP experience, and I got to watch the band play Iron Man. Aside from the photo op, this was the best part of the VIP experience. Wow it was incredible watching them play in a fairly intimate setting.
It came time for the photo op. My main concern was the fact that they used no flash outside. And sadly my concern was a valid one. The photo ops did not come out very good. It's not overly horrid but for that fuck money it should have been MUCH better. To boot, Joresky who went just after me got a better shot than me. Joresky's shot is still not as good as it should have or could have been, but it's better than mine. This is truly disappointing. To use the "baby" analogy, I hired the best doctors to make sure I get a healthy birth, turns out the doctors don't even have a medical degree and the babies were born with disabilities
I will present the photos in full rez:
Take 1
Take 2
Take 2 after some adjustments in photoshop
For comparison, Joresky's shot in full rez
Despite this upsetting result, I am glad I finally got a shot with them. Since I got Bill Ward before this means I now have all original members of Sabbath. The only other former member of Sabbath I would have liked to meet is sadly dead (Ronnie James Dio). To make matters worse he was apparently a Chiller guarantee if you saw him.
However, I have now sworn off all concert meet and greets due to the upsetting results in terms of photo quality. And as we saw with Joresky's ZZ Top m&g (horrid no flash quality and missing Frank Beard) my concerns are fully justified. In paid settings one should not be taking a gamble. That should only be reserved for street meets.
Fast forward to September and I was done with Intervention 7 after getting Jon St John.
I go to the spot where AC/DC are staying. Sadly no indication that Axl Rose is around.
Couple of hours pass the cars go in the garage and as expected all the cars leave the garage.
So I come back after the concert ends. This time the crowd is sadly bigger due to a twitter leak. In terms of combo hunters we are only about 7 but there are a ton of "normal" fans. Unfortunately Cliff Williams comes in and those idiotic fans didn't call him over. However by all reports he doesn't stop so it may not have mattered.
Finally Angus Young arrives and a guy comes over and says he's going to do everybody but we have to be orderly or he will stop. And only one item per person. Holy crap! So everyone lines up. If you were in that line a combo with Angus Young magically became a Chiller guarantee. I got to Angus and got my combo. I couldn't believe it. After the fact I was on my knees holding my camera to the sky and looking up to the heavens thanking the lord as I saw my perfectly crisp and valid photo op! It was a moment I never thought would happen yet here it was!
By all indications Axl wasn't staying here. But one combo hunter decided to stick it out and because of that I did as well. The reason being if I left and heard he got it I would be beside myself. But time passes and he finally gives up (as do I). Evidence suggested that Axl drove directly from the venue to Philly.
Photo op
Autograph
Lining up for Angus Young combos
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