So I venture and wait. Not being in NYC it is wonderful to only be 3 people at the railing. Myself, one Master, and one music grapher. The music grapher was especially useful as he knew who all these people were.
The event also took over all nearby parking. I found an illegal spot down the street. So I stood across the street from the railings and watched my car like a hawk, then whenever a car pulls up I run to the railing. With only 3 people, you don't have to guard a railing spot so I was able to do that. In hindsight that turned out to be smart cause I paid $0 for parking.
Sadly as we found out Joe Walsh cancelled the event. This was crushing cause he was my reason to be here at all.
Got a total of 7 photo ops, one of which was a repeat (Cee Lo Green). And Samuel L Jackson begrudgingly did come over and signed one a piece. The music grapher was given one 8x10 to get done (since he doesn't care about Sam Jackson) and Sam commented "oh, same printer" (it was also the exact same picture, so esems he realized what was going on). Then I asked him to sign my Phantom Manace VHS boxset in a specific spot using my gold and he complied with that. Wow how nice it is to just be 3 people. In a chaotic setting no way I could have pulled that off. Since he had a hat on I had zero reason to ask for a photo op as it would have been a downgrade, though when he was asked for a photo op he just ignored that request.
One notable rejection was teenage country star Tegan Marie. I actually wanted a photo op in case she does blow up, though everyone seems to doubt she will. I could have come back after the show but I didn't want to put more time.
Though I always prioritize photo ops over autograph, the only haul I care about here was my Sam Jackson autograph, since I am not a fan of anyone I got a photo op with. But without Joe Walsh I had to take whatever scraps I could pick up.
Full list of photo ops
Phantom Manace boxset
Next day there was a concert featuring the original lead singer of Queensryche Geoff Tate, the lead singer of Iron Maiden from 1994-1999 Blaze Bayley, and Tim Owens who was the lead singer of Judas Priest from 1996-2003. My main want from those three was Blaze Bayley because I'm a huge Iron Maiden fan and I also enjoyed the album X-Factor even though it was not well received critically.
Additionally, I was originally going to go for them at the venue where I caused the scene with Gordon Lightfoot. But a tour date was added which not only cut my driving time by over 50% but also meant that the venue won't be seeing my face for the foreseeable future (which hopefully means they will completely forget me).
So I arrive and wait for the concert to break. A lot of times they hold meet and greets inside that venue so I had to mooch my way inside as I did in the past. From people leaving I managed to get the proper "insignia" to look like I was inside. Then I looked through the glass door and didn't look like any of the three were at the merch table. To boot, I would find out that they were selling paid meet and greets! $60 per person or $100 for a couple. So I aborted the mooching mission and simply stood by where they were going to come out. In hindsight that was a brilliant move cause they were kicking out people that actually paid for the show but had no meet and greet tickets.
Two such people would join me in the wait, and their only real goal was Blaze Bayley. As opposed to me who wants to milk every bit I can from the time and effort I put into things.
First they spot is Tim Owens who would have passed right by me. He is nice as can be and does photo ops. Wait some more and we finally spot Blaze. He says he would put his stuff in the bus and come back. True to his word he did, but sadly he put an eskimo hat on. He was nice as can be, telling life stories, signing, and doing photo ops.
My main goal was accomplished now it was time to wait for Geoff. The other two were satisfied and left, so I was now alone. Luckilly I had the brilliant foresight to view some m&g photo ops from pepole leaving so I knew exactly how Geoff looked like (he has a beard unlike the photos that come up on google images so would have likely walked by me if I didn't know that).
Wait some more and he shows up. I ask for a photo op and like Blaze he says he would come back after putting his stuff in the bus. So I wait and the bassist in the band (who isn't valid) comes down from the bus and asks what I'm waiting for. I say that Geoff said he would come out. He said he'd remind him but thought he'd come say hi. Since he did come down just for me I took a photo op with him so he doens't feel left out. He then shook my hand as he went back in the bus.
True to his word Geoff comes out, and nice as can be. Shook my hand, asked my name, did a photo op no problem. Wow how refreshing. I can see why
goes for all the lower tier music names he does as they are normally so happy to do combos. Though I should add that Geoff, even though not my main reason for doing this, is no small name as he was the lead singer of Queensryche for 30 years from 1982-2012 (and will forever be their only valid lead singer). Full list of photo ops
Blaze Bayley
Geoff Tate
Signed X-Factor CD
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