Glenn: What can be said to you that hasn't already been said? Not only were you a very nice guy to meet, but the show was even BETTER than I anticipated (and believe me I was fucking hyped for this one). I met you briefly late, late Saturday night when we hung out with Jon and immediately began begging you for a gold badge 
Seriously though, thank you SO MUCH for your tireless devotion to this. It was the best weekend I've had yet in my almost 30 years on Earth.
My new friends: Holy shit, where do I begin with this? I met SO MANY freaking people, and I can honestly say I feel like I have friends that I can keep in touch with over the years. I sure hope so at least! Let's see, in no particular order, BEAR (you rock star), Mark the Leprechaun, Henry (you're in Imagika?), Shelli (sp? - how 'bout I just call you Tarja), Jason & Scott from Illadelphia, of course JayKeeley & Metal Thailand (my brothers from different mothers), Junnie & Kyoko (our lovely Japanese ladyfriends!), Adam & Ronnie (yes Adam, I DO love you man!), the lunatics in 317 (Don, Franco & Jarrett), General Zod (you da man), Dustin & Sheri (excellent people, truly, and yes Dustin, my voice is completely crapped out), Axeman (Allen) & Jeff from Buffalo (dude, the Bills still suck!), Lisa full of Jacksonville sass, and seriously everyone else that I'm sure I'm forgetting.
The fans: Just a general comment, and one I made numerous times over the course of the weekend. All too often, metalheads get a bad rap. All I can say is that I've not yet met a better group of people in my life. I was shocked to not meet a single bad seed in the bunch, and YOU ALL helped make the weekend as great as it was.
The bands: Jeez, they were ok I guess. I don't so much mean the music, hell, we all KNEW how good that would be. I mean how awesome they were to meet & talk & hang with. I feel so lucky to be able to say that I got to really hang out quite a bit with Edguy & the fellas from Angra & Gamma Ray. I mean, seriously, I realize I'm still gushing like a fanboy, but dammit, I am one! I will NEVER forget going out to dinner with Angra and ordering Edu's Muffaletta sandwich...LOL. I'll never forget Eggi from Edguy balancing beers on his head like a drunken fool, or just shooting the breeze with Jens & Toby like they were old college pals or something. Boys, anytime you want a personal tour of NYC, let me know! And I'll also never forget meeting Kai & Henjo from Gamma Ray; they're personal heroes of mine and for the first time all weekend, I was pretty much speechless. And I can't possibly forget Mike & Tom of Evergrey. They were just so cool and down-to-earth it was fantastic.
Jon Schaeffer: A special thanks to Jon, who for some unknown reason let me get completely hammered in his hotel room until 7 AM on back-2-back nights. And he even let me hug him. Four times or so. If you could only have heard the conversations that were going on in that room...sigh...I'd tell you about them but Jon swore me to secrecy unless I wanted a boot up my ass.
The venue: Fantastic. 'nuff said.
The bartender in the venue: Don't say which one, you all know damned well which one!
The End Records/Century Media: It was great fun to actually meet people like Tomer and Heather. Nice to know that superb companies/mailorders have superb people actually running the show & working for them. Thanks for some great shopping options!
I'm sure I've left a bajillion other things out, but my brain is really hazy (I only got home a few hours ago). I have no voice & my nose is running non-stop. And I wouldn't trade it for the world. If I fucked up any details or misspelled names or just forgot that I met you, cut me some slack. I drank about 342 beers over the course of the weekend.
Party on Wayne, party on Garth. See all you kids next year for sure (and hopefully some of you sooner than that).
Cheers gang,
Mark (from NYC/NJ)
Seriously though, thank you SO MUCH for your tireless devotion to this. It was the best weekend I've had yet in my almost 30 years on Earth.My new friends: Holy shit, where do I begin with this? I met SO MANY freaking people, and I can honestly say I feel like I have friends that I can keep in touch with over the years. I sure hope so at least! Let's see, in no particular order, BEAR (you rock star), Mark the Leprechaun, Henry (you're in Imagika?), Shelli (sp? - how 'bout I just call you Tarja
), Jason & Scott from Illadelphia, of course JayKeeley & Metal Thailand (my brothers from different mothers), Junnie & Kyoko (our lovely Japanese ladyfriends!), Adam & Ronnie (yes Adam, I DO love you man!), the lunatics in 317 (Don, Franco & Jarrett), General Zod (you da man), Dustin & Sheri (excellent people, truly, and yes Dustin, my voice is completely crapped out), Axeman (Allen) & Jeff from Buffalo (dude, the Bills still suck!), Lisa full of Jacksonville sass, and seriously everyone else that I'm sure I'm forgetting.The fans: Just a general comment, and one I made numerous times over the course of the weekend. All too often, metalheads get a bad rap. All I can say is that I've not yet met a better group of people in my life. I was shocked to not meet a single bad seed in the bunch, and YOU ALL helped make the weekend as great as it was.
The bands: Jeez, they were ok I guess.
I don't so much mean the music, hell, we all KNEW how good that would be. I mean how awesome they were to meet & talk & hang with. I feel so lucky to be able to say that I got to really hang out quite a bit with Edguy & the fellas from Angra & Gamma Ray. I mean, seriously, I realize I'm still gushing like a fanboy, but dammit, I am one! I will NEVER forget going out to dinner with Angra and ordering Edu's Muffaletta sandwich...LOL. I'll never forget Eggi from Edguy balancing beers on his head like a drunken fool, or just shooting the breeze with Jens & Toby like they were old college pals or something. Boys, anytime you want a personal tour of NYC, let me know! And I'll also never forget meeting Kai & Henjo from Gamma Ray; they're personal heroes of mine and for the first time all weekend, I was pretty much speechless. And I can't possibly forget Mike & Tom of Evergrey. They were just so cool and down-to-earth it was fantastic.Jon Schaeffer: A special thanks to Jon, who for some unknown reason let me get completely hammered in his hotel room until 7 AM on back-2-back nights. And he even let me hug him. Four times or so.
If you could only have heard the conversations that were going on in that room...sigh...I'd tell you about them but Jon swore me to secrecy unless I wanted a boot up my ass.The venue: Fantastic. 'nuff said.
The bartender in the venue: Don't say which one, you all know damned well which one!
The End Records/Century Media: It was great fun to actually meet people like Tomer and Heather. Nice to know that superb companies/mailorders have superb people actually running the show & working for them. Thanks for some great shopping options!
I'm sure I've left a bajillion other things out, but my brain is really hazy (I only got home a few hours ago). I have no voice & my nose is running non-stop. And I wouldn't trade it for the world. If I fucked up any details or misspelled names or just forgot that I met you, cut me some slack. I drank about 342 beers over the course of the weekend.
Party on Wayne, party on Garth. See all you kids next year for sure (and hopefully some of you sooner than that).
Cheers gang,
Mark (from NYC/NJ)
