nmagcorn wrote: And it was great meeting "Newbonafan" at the hotel before the show. Always nice to meet others from the forum.
I wanted to wait until I had a proper keyboard to respond but it was great meeting you and Phil as well, it kinda felt like I was meeting forum royalty! I hope your travels back home were safe and uneventful.
We just got back and all I can do is try to relive what a spectacular weekend it was, wishing we had done both nights but Saturday was a special treat, starting with the meet and greet, what a surreal moment meeting Joe. He was as down to earth and humble as you would expect. I had no idea what I was going to say but I had brought along my JB Epiphone Goldtop and my Marshall amp boxset of Tour de Force for him to sign. This is my recollections of how it all went down:
We lined up just outside The Spanish Room just before 5:00 and waited seemingly forever and then finally the doors opened and one of Joe's people came out and gave us instructions on what to expect, what to do (and what not!) and then we were lead through the door. I placed my case on the table as instructed and took the guitar out and my wife Lisa proceeded to the line.
Again, after what seemed like forever, in walks Joe....be cool I tell myself. He looks very different without the trade mark sunglasses, suit, and slicked back hair. At 38 he looks young. I walk up and he shakes our hand and asks "which guitar is this" as I hold it up and then " oh yeah, the Goldtop, nice example" he says. I then tell him I don't play but will be taking lessons and have been agonizing on where to have him sign it, wanting a more complete signature I had originally wanted the body signed but told him I knew he didn't like signing them there, to which he replied " signing a guitar there basically ruins it" and I say if you'll give me a more complete signature, you can have the pick guard . I held the guitar up for him to sign and watched as he really took his time and I got a great autograph. The box set was next and a quick photo from Chad and it was off you go...
My wife walks off first and says to a guy " if you only knew how special this was to my husband, he's Joe's biggest fan" and when I came down I said to my wife "Lisa i'd like you to meet Roy Weinstein, Joe's manager and the R in J & R Adventures" to which Roy replied " now this is a guy who knows whats going on" gracious and funny, we talked another minute or so and off we went to collect my case and out the door from a too quickly over but amazing meet and greet. I also got four signed photos to give as Christmas presets but one i'll keep for myself!
We then ran across the street to our hotel and had dinner, twenty minutes late from our 5:45 reservation time but they still honored it. I told them a meet and greet had run long and I suppose thought a crazed looking guy with a guitar case wasn't kidding. We talked Lisa's sister and her husband into going to the show with us so I was super excited for them to join us. I kept checking my watch and hoped dinner didn't run long, I was prepared to pay and leave early if need be but we had plenty of time.
7:50 and in our seats, second row behind the pit, awesome seats for meet and greet tickets but slightly behind the fourth row pit seats I had sold for Friday's show but at least I gave two bonavirgins an awesome experience, his Facebook post saying it all "Joe making the clouds rain inside The Fox during Going Down" and that he did again Saturday night!
The show starts, a rip roaring "Spanish Boots", a song I had never heard live, yes this is going to be good. Third song in he gets the bona byrd and as The River begins to flow out of that beautiful instrument and those talented fingers so do the tears from my eyes, and then "Burning Hell", simply two incredible slide performances and it simply did not let up from there. I am still working through the set list but each song seemed better than the last. Joe's new band just gelled, everyone in complete sync, from Anton's precision, Michael's command of the bass, and Reese, to Lee and Paul's horn section, just marvelous! And then, just like that, it was over, the last notes ringing in my head as we headed for the exits.
I asked my sister-in-law and her husband what they thought, his first words were "incredible, if only that guy could learn to play the guitar then it would have been even better" Ha! such a kidder, him smiling as he said it. I think they were very impressed with the band, especially Reese, as he kept saying that he was as good as Joe, high praise indeed. I asked them to come up and see our room, see the city from the roof of our hotel, and check out the guitar to let traffic die down a bit before leaving.
We walked them down and I wanted some photos with me and the guitar in front of The Fox so I grabbed the case as we headed down. Once downstairs I realized the lights were down at the entrance and I thought better than to run around Atlanta at midnight with what is now a priceless guitar and settled for the lobby. I hadn't intended to become such a spectacle but more people who had gone to the show were still milling around the lobby and I got many complements and two women asked if they could take pictures of it, an older guy even high fived me. It was quite the experience.
Natasha and Phil even walked through the lobby, once again it was a pleasure meeting you both and thanks for letting me go on and on about all things Joe and I hope you enjoyed Atlanta and The Fabulous Fox Theater.
And it was great meeting "Newbonafan" at the hotel before the show. Always nice to meet others from the forum.
Just a little over month til Hagerstown 