May 28, 1996: My friend James and I went up to see Al perform in New Haven, CT. After the show, we hung around, and the band came out and was greeting fans. We got to meet and take pictures with Steve and talk a few minutes with him. I'll never forget waiting in line after the show for some Al merchandise and turning around and seeing Steve Jay standing right behind me. I don't know what he was waiting in line for, but I got a big kick out of it that he was.
September 14, 1996: The next time I met Steve was after the concert in New Brunswick, NJ. Literally days before the concert I was looking through the international section of my music store and came across Africa: Drum, Chant and Instrumental Music and purchased it. After the show, I talked at length with Steve about his stay in Africa. That was interesting, because I've always wanted to travel to Africa, and it was nice to hear from someone who was there, that it is indeed even more beautiful than I had ever imagined.
July 22, 1997: The third time that I met Steve was after a concert in Westbury, NY. I didn't get to talk to Steve at all because I was busy chatting with other Al fans and Bermuda, but I did manage to take a picture of Steve relaxing on the tour bus. Did you ever wonder what the band does on the tour bus? Well Steve Jay watches "Das Boot," or at least that's what he was doing that day! He later came out to sign autographs and while I didn't get one, he did sign my friend Brian's T-shirt.
July 26, 1999: The very next time that I met Steve was in Red Bank, NJ. It was right after Al had come and gone and my friends and I were saying goodbye to Jon and about to head out for some dinner and a trip home. Steve showed up and I went over and introduced myself. This was the longest time I've spent with Steve and that story and the story of how I got my Steve Jay tattoo is available on my Steve Jay tattoo page. It's a good read, and I won't repeat the information here, so check it out.
August 1, 1999: I talked to Steve again a week later in Stanhope, NJ. He was having a great time posing for pictures with people and talking to the fans. He offered my friends and I some drinks and talked for a few minutes. He was happy to sign a picture for me and pose for a few photos. Steve was all over the backstage staging area and we ran into each other a couple of times.
August 3, 1999: A few days later, I saw Steve again in Westbury, NY. It was a brief encounter, less than a few seconds and hardly worth mentioning if it weren't for Steve being such a gentleman. For most of the night he was talking with record execs and VIPs so I didn't want to go interrupt him. Jon and I were about to leave the area to get away from the fans that had waited patiently for Al and that had just been brought back to see Al. As I walked by, Steve stopped whatever he was doing and practically grabbed me to call attention to me from and said "Hi Dave! How are you doing!" I've always maintained that Steve is a nice guy, but I'll never forget that moment because it showed that he really cares about his fans. Most people probably would have said nothing, but Steve took recognition of me, especially while there was so much going on around him and lots of people vying for his attention.
October 25, 1999: I saw Steve again in Hamilton, Ontario. I had been looking for him the night before in Toronto because I wanted to show him the tour shirt that I made. I made up a tour shirt for a fictional "Tangled Strings World Tour" using names and places mentioned in his songs as the tour dates. When he didn't show up in the backstage area, I went out into the hallway to see if I could find him or someone who could find him for me. There he was, walking down the hallway with his black blazer on and dark sunglasses. He looked great and I almost laughed at how funny the scene was! I asked him to come see the shirt and he happily said okay and came into the backstage greeting area. He seemed to enjoy the shirt and spent some time talking with fans and of course signed whatever they asked him to. I gave Steve a piece of cake that I had bought for Rubén and he really liked that. Rubén wasn't allowed to have the cake for personal reasons, but politely thanked me anyway, so I gave it to Steve. Steve asked if he could have my shirt, so I said I'd make him a shirt of his own.
October 26, 1999: My next encounter with Steve was the following night in Kitchener, Ontario. Again, it was brief and hardly worth mentioning except Steve was so nice to my friend and I. There was a little mix-up with the after show passes, but Steve came to our rescue and told the guy that we were with him and took us on our way down to the room. He told us to help ourselves to what was left of the food, which, basically, were a few bananas. Again, he didn't have to do that, but he did anyway. Every time I meet this man, I am more impressed by how gentle and kind he is.
February 5, 2000: I saw Steve again after the second Easton, PA show. Steve was hanging around on the stage packing up things, when I called him over. He came over and I showed him my portrait tattoo. He said "Awesome!" and we chatted for a little bit. We compared hand sizes and Steve has very large hands. He hung around for a bit and then headed off.
February 6, 2000: The following night in New York City, Steve came out after the show. There were a lot of friends and business associates in the audience so he spent some time talking to them, but he did talk to me and say hello. He also posed for a picture and signed autographs for whoever asked.
May 11, 2000: I met up with Steve again after the Hartford, CT concert. This was a pretty hectic show for me since I had a cameraperson following me around. MSNBC was doing a piece on tattoos and a feature on my "Weird Al" tattoo. We were supposed to meet up with Al after the show to do a quick interview. After the show we were brought onstage by the stage manager to await further instructions. Steve walked by, stopped and noticed me, and came over and said, "What are you doing here?" We talked a little bit while the cameraperson and the tour manager worked out a few minor last minute details. Soon it became apparent that we were in the way of the stage crew, so Steve brought me down to the staging area where I was to do the interview with Al. Steve couldn't hang around, but he made sure we were taken care of. Again, a nice sweet gesture from a nice sweet man.
May 12, 2000: The following night I saw Steve again briefly in Asbury Park, NJ. After the show he was busy chatting with a few fans so we didn't want to interrupt him. He told me to hang by so that he could talk to me. He had to run off and get a few T-shirts for the fans he was talking to. Well, he disappeared for a really long time and I had other obligations, so I didn't wait around to see if he ever came back.
May 13, 2000: Again, I saw Steve briefly in Glenside, PA after the second show. He was again busy chatting with a few fans so we didn't want to interrupt him. He did say hi to me though when he saw me. We didn't hang around long because we had hoped to meet up with Jon.
May 14, 2000: The following night in Wilmington, DE I saw him once again, and this time I got to talk to him at great length. Steve gave me a business card and then showed me a photo of a man in Africa that he had ripped out of the newspaper. This poor man walked for 3 days with his 3 kids on his back for 2 bags of grain. On the first night, one of his kids died and he hand dug a grave and buried the kid. On the second night, the second child died and he hand dug a grave for that child too. On the third night, the third child died and he had to bury that child as well. Finally, he got to where he could get the grain, and then he had to walk back with the grain for three days, each day passing another of his child's graves. It was very sad to hear, but it touched me, and it really made me think how fortunate I am. I won't forget that story. Steve then posed for a picture with me and the rest of the band, minus Al. As I was leaving, I ran into Steve again outside. Steve saw me walk by carrying a box and he came over and asked me what is in the box. He was in a weird mood and starting making all these farting references. We talked for a long time. I talked to Steve about his African CDs. He told me that they are re-re-releasing the African stuff again. That's really cool, since no one has really even attempted to record any African stuff since Steve did in the late 1970s.
July 6, 2000: I saw Steve briefly again in Hampton Beach, NH after the show. He was busy chatting with a few fans so I didn't get to interact with him much. He hung around for a pretty long time and tried on my hat. I was happy that he did that for me. He was the last one to get onto the bus, as they were threatening to leave without him.
So those are my adventures with Steve. I hope you realize why I admire this man so much. I'm looking forward to meeting up with Steve again in the (hopefully near) future!!!