I took BART into the city so I wouldn't have to
deal with the hassles of traffic. Went to the venue and found Wolf
signing autographs and Stephen carrying on a never-ending conversation with
some crazy woman (though I don't know which one of them is crazier). I couldn't
even introduce myself they kept going back and forth. Then Mark came out of the
bus and I asked him if he recognized me and he did. He signed stuff for some
fans and we chatted. He had to go so I headed to Tommy's Joynt for the best
turkey sandwich ever.
After that I hung out in the merchandise area. I
went down front and stayed there for the first half. Every song was spot-on.
Super tight showmanship and because of the limited time, Mark did not really
talk between songs. This means it was one lashing after another until they had
the audience bleeding. I love these kinds of shows! I will add Shadow Soldiers
started with a different vibe and I wasn't sure about it being in this set
until they sang the choruses- they were so strong! One of the highlights
indeed. In fact, the new songs were really the highlights. It was also great
that BttW was stripped down to it's core (finally!).
So as mentioned, I was standing next to Frank
at the soundboard for the second half and during BttW, Frank waves his hand
high in the air as a challenge to Peter. Next thing something hits me on
the chest and on the ground is Peter's pick! A 30 yard shot all the way to the
back of the hall!
So I said hi to Frank and said I would see him
out back. I hung around with the simple intention of saying hello to
everyone and not even bothering with autographs. Then Frank opens the bus door
and calls me over to invite me aboard! I step in and Peter's waiting for me. I
took a seat on the couch and we talked about San Francisco (I went to culinary
school a block away), politics, the state of the music industry as well as the
state of our youth. Wolf popped in and it finally clicked who I was once I
asked about the thank you posters we made last year. His is hanging in his
studio. Mark then came in and joined the conversation. Then Morgan and her
husband came in to do an interview consisting of fan submitted questions. She
had some good ones until she dared ask "The Question!" I warned
"Don't go there" just as Peter and Wolf refused to answer. After she
was done I added a couple of my own- ones that I keep meaning to ask:
To Wolf, who were your influences growing up? He
answered Ritchie Blackmore, Uli Jon Roth, Queen, Michael Shenker, AC/DC, Status
Quo, Uriah Heep and a few others.
To Peter, do you still go to concerts anymore? Short
answer is no and we all discussed why. They both put it that as professional
musicians, they get bored very quickly watching other bands. Wolf said he can
mabye watch 2 songs at a festival and then feels the need to move on. I guess
watching your contempories just is not the same as the fan-musician
relationship.
So after an hour and a half we called it a
night. I will say that Accept and crew are still very appreciative of
all their fans. We are all fortunate for having each other. They are very hard
working men. I did not put this together until I realized, when they are not
doing Accept, which in the last 3 years was nearly impossible, they are
very busy doing all kinds of things! As
for me, I would like to express my deepest thanks for their hospitality. Your
music has been the soundtrack of my life for 28 years and it makes me very
happy to call you friends.