| CHAPTER FOUR: 9 April 1999I drug my friends Erica and Katie along with me this time. Having learned from the crowds of the previous night, we decided to get an early start on the hour to hour and a half long drive to Austin. We ended up leaving San Antonio at like 3pm, cause we had some stuff to do in Austin before the show. We finally made it to Austin Music Hall at around 6:15 p.m. to get in line. There were maybe 20-30 people in front of us. All of the people we could see were Offspring fans, so we talked about DGeneration frequently and loudly. While we were waiting, we could see some of the stage crew, as well as Joe (drummer) standing outside. |
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| They let us in around 7:10, and the stage crew guy with red/black hair and lots of tattoos (who, since I don’t know his name, I will now refer to as, "tattoo boy") was passing out flyers. We got in and were right in front of Danny’s mic, stage left, right on the fence. We talked to the security guards, who were askin’ who DGen were. They’d seen my shirt and figured I could answer their questions. Then the lights cut out and we saw it all start. The show KICKED ASS (need I even say that?). The crowd was a LOT better than in San Antonio - they actually responded to the music. Jesse talked between some of the songs about stuff like the internet, computers, holidays, and school. He also talked about how much their record label sucked and wouldn't publicize the album at all. The set list for the show was the same as the night before. I sang along to everything, just like the night before, and was making more of an attempt to get Danny’s attention, but he still didn’t notice me til over halfway through. I don’t know what it was about his face, but you could always tell the very first time he’d notice me. He threw a pick my way and Erica gave it to me. |
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| As soon as DGen finished their set, tattoo boy came out and handed me a set list. We tried to get his attention so he could give a note to Danny for me, but he left. Then another stage crew guy (Ace) came over and gave me three guitar picks while sayin, "Didja get any picks?" I handed him Danny’s letter. Then he grabbed a set list and handed it to me. One of the security guards noticed this activity going on. "They keep givin’ you stuff, eh?" I told him I knew Danny. Soon after, we got lifted out of the crowd and walked to the left side of the stage where there were a bunch of tables set up behind a wall. I could see Danny in there but he couldn’t see me. He came out a bit later (during the Living End) and walked over to watch the band, so I stood a bit behind him. When he turned to walk behind me, he almost ran into me. "Woah, I didn’t see you there!" He asked how I liked the show and I grinned and nodded (I was starting to lose my voice a little by this point). He asked which show I’d liked better and I said tonight’s. He agreed, and then had to go. We tried to keep track of everyone in the band, but we couldn’t, so we stood by the wall (next to the entrance to backstage) for a bit. I saw Ace hand Danny my letter, and then moved back from the doorway a bit so that I could watch the Living End. A bit later, Danny walked by again, and mouthed something to me and smiled and then waved bye as he walked toward the back of the place |
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| We tried to keep track of everyone, but we couldn’t, so we walked over to the merch. booth and saw Jesse and Howie. Erica got a shirt, Katie a 7", and me a 7" for Ted (which I decided to keep for myself since I had it personally signed). We had Jesse sign ‘em and we ended up hanging out there a lot. The merch. guy was great - he kept sellin’ DGen cds. He’d wave em around and yell, "Get your cds & get em autographed by the band right over here!" I was pretty impressed - he was selling a lot. We stuck around there for a long time, just watching everyone and watching Jesse & Howie interact with all the fans. Joe walked by a few times - then they all took off back to the opposite side (offspring was playing now). I didn’t really feel like watching Offspring again, so we just sorta’ milled about in the back of the place and walked around. We looked up and saw Jesse and Howie walking towards the back (towards the doors), but we didn’t want to go outside and not be able to get back in. Then we saw the 2nd guitarist (Jim) walk to the back and leave. I’d hoped to talk to Danny again, and I figured he would be outside with the others, but I didn’t know what Erica and Katie wanted to do. We all went to the outside balcony (where you could go outside and come back inside) and figured out which bus was theirs. While we were waiting, paramedics came and took out 2 kids in an ambulance. |
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| I decided to go outside for good while Erica & Katie watched more of the Offspring (since they hadn’t seen their show yet). I went and stood kinda’ near the tour bus. Joe walked by a couple of times, and then finally, on one pass, stopped said he really appreciated my shirt (I was wearing my white DGen shirt) and it was nice to see their fans out and he loved the support. He asked if I was from TX and I said I was from IN but went to school in San Antonio; I told him how we’d seen ‘em play in San Antonio and then here tonight and we were tryin to work out Houston, but it was sold out. He asked how far the drive was - I told him that it was 4 hours. He had to leave about then, but he said thanks again and bye.
I stood around and a little while later, he came back by and said thanks / bye again. I stopped him to ask if he could tell Danny I said bye. "Sure, what’s your name?" I told him. "Erin? Ok, I’ll tell him." He disappeared for a bit; Erica and Katie came back.
A bit later, Joe came back to tell me he couldn’t find Danny, but that he’d be sure to tell him later. I thanked him a lot… It was 11:30 at this point, and the Offspring concert had just let out. Erica was tired so she went to the car. Katie and I continued to stand around. A bit later, Ace came up and stopped me to say that he’d given Danny’s tour manager the letter but he wasn’t sure if he’d read it yet. I thanked him, too… A bit after THAT, Joe was over by the bus and a group of kids came over to get him to sign stuff. He went into the bus and grabbed the stack of promo photos that Jesse had been passin’ out the night before and started signing them for people. I had him sign my 7" - he laughed at what Howie had written and then signed it for himself. |
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| I walked back over to Katie and stood around with her for a bit longer. Pretty soon the tour manager (Tom) walked up and said somethin about how he assumed we were DGen fans (cause of my shirt). I said I was... We talked about all of the albums and what we liked the best. He asked if I’d ever seen ‘em live before, and I said last night and then 2 years ago in OH… he asked where, and when I told him Cleveland, he said, "I was there! I did that tour… I was the guy who took out the guy that started a fight with Danny…" Of course I remembered THAT… We got into a discussion about Fluffy (the opening band on the "No Lunch" tour) and how much we hated them. Tom talked about the other bands that he works with and told us stories about tours. For a while, there was a circle of people listening. Joe was one of them, and he asked if I needed a copy of the promo photo he’d been signing (before he gave them all away). We kept talking to Tom about
everything - Jesse & Danny, Jesse’s clubs in NYC, Sunken Gardens, and a bunch of other stuff.
At one point, Tom had asked if we were going to the next night’s show in Houston, but we told him that it was sold out. He asked if we would still make the drive if we had tickets (of course we would). He tried to remember how many names they were allowed to put on the guest list, but then just ended up pulling out a business card for us to write our names down on. He said to show up to the box office a bit before the doors opened, and our tickets would be there. I didn’t even know what to say - I couldn’t believe I was actually getting to go to Houston. We talked a bit longer, and Katie gave their bus driver directions to the theater in Houston, and then everyone got on the bus. By now it was 12:30 am. We thanked Tom again.
"See ya tomorrow," was the last thing we heard him say as we walked to the car... |
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