Must control my jealousy

Everyone is probably right thats its BS of course...but the hopefull side of me can't help but see that side of things and dream of how cool it will be to have some new material.

So here's the full story. It's long winded...but hey i'm bored today.

My first exposure to Baz's music was in 1993 when I saw GNR in Australia and Skid Row opened for them. I remember thinking he was a good front man and that the crowd was into the set but that was about my only impression because at the time I had musical blinkers on and basically wasn't interested in any band who's name isn't spelt GNR. But I was like 15. Over time my tastes have expanded.

So then fast forward to 2006, Axl comes out of hiding and start's hanging out with Baz. Meanwhile Baz comes to Australia to play a solo gig. I decide to check out the gig for the sake of it, and basically just because he knows Axl. (LOL..ok so that's really weird!). Anyway'¦I was BLOWN away. Baz was awesome'¦the small show rocked it's ass off'¦the crowd was going nuts'¦Baz's voice was incredible with the screams and the power yet still in tune'¦I was very close to Jhonny Chromatic and blown away by his chops. I can't explain how great of a time I had'¦when basicly I'd originally gone there out of mild interest.

I was now a fan. I went home and bought all of Baz's albums..from the Skid Row stuff to Frameshift and the other records. And began to rock out to them frequently. When he toured with GNR in 2007 here in Australia I went to both Melbourne shows.

Anyway'¦so he is playing here again tonight, and of course I got a general admission ticket, and I'm looking forward to going especially because it's a small venue..and while he rocked at the GNR venues'¦I think it might be closer to magic of the show I experienced in 2006.

So I'm planning what time to arrive at the venue. And wondering how many support bands will be at the show etc. There was no info on the ticket site or the venue site'¦so I drop into Baz's official site to check it out'¦and happen upon a Baz message board. There is a thread about the upcoming Melbourne show..so I sus it out..and someone has posted something like 'Baz arrives Melbourne at 3.30pm the day before the gig'.  I look up the airline website'¦sure enough there is a flight landing in Melbourne from Sydney (where he played the day before) at that time. I figure:

1.    Its probably BS
2.    Even if its not BS all I Might catch is a glimpse of baz as a bouncer keeps people from annoying him.
3.    Best case would be maybe he is ok to sign a CD or something

The airport is like a 1.5-2 hour drive from my house. But I didn't have too much to do anyway, and figured if it turns out to be BS, well I've given my car battery a bit of a run and I can crank some tunes in the car. So I grab my copy of Angel Down and Skid Row-Skid Row and drive to the airport.

Turned out to be shocking traffic'¦but I finally get there and go inside. The TV screen says the 3.30 flight is cancelled. I begin to wonder what to do. I figure its more than 24 hours before his show and that Baz might decide to get like a flight the next day instead. But then I don't want to leave cos its been a long drive.  I'm pondering going home to beat the afternoon traffic, but don't really want to. A guy in an Angel Down t-shirt comes over to me and asks if I'm there for Baz. I guess wearing my leather jacket, GNR shirt, long hair..and loitering I stuck out in the airport full of business people. I chat to him and he tells me how he's met all kinds of famous people doing this'¦like Ozzy and Alice Cooper and that kind of thing. It reminds me how cool it would be. So I stay.

We go through security and hang out at the gate lounges. A 4pm flight comes in'¦we watch as people come off it. I'm starting to give up hope for that flight as I see a lot of people get off'¦and I'd figured Baz would be toward the front of the plane. Then all of a sudden there he is'¦just walking out through the glass doors.

Some first impressions. He's BIG. Mind you I guess I'm kinda short in that I'm only 5'10' but still'¦it wasn't just the height he seemed kind of bigger in scale. I don't mean fat or anything...more like the way an adult is to a kid! You can see what I mean in the photo. The other thing was the coolness. Sounds dumb but you could just tell he was a celebrity person and it wasn't like he was putting on anything or being a wanker. He just had a kind of an edge that normal people don't. I sound silly saying that - but there was a vibe to him'¦yet when I spoke to him he was very down to earth and friendly.

Anyway'¦I jump up when he comes through and kind of walk towards him slowly to gague his reaction..I'm hesitating a bit because I wasn't sure if there would be security, and also - I figure from his perspective you don't want some assholes grabbing at you when you've just been on a flight and delayed at the airport and shit like that.

He sees us, and comes right over. Now I've met some famous people before (not many) but some and one thing I found before was that usually they are friendly but it's a false friendliness. Like they don't make a lot of eye contact, have fixed grins, and basically can't wait to un-meet you and get the fuck out of there. That's how it was when I met the former prime minister here and some people like that.

But that's not how baz was. The first thing I noticed was that he was actually being genuinely nice. Like he didn't brush us off, and while talking to us he was actually paying attention and being really friendly.

Another thing. He sounds so Canadian/American to me being an Australian. Its funny as I'm used to the accents of TV and stuff..but in real life the accent is so much louder (cos Baz is a vocal guy!! LOL) and stronger. Not a bad thing at all'¦just something I noticed that's all. Like I see someone like baz on tv and his Canadian accent voice sounds '˜normal' to me..but in real life I notice he isn't Australian much more. Weird huh.

So what did we talk about. I know I should have asked him something about like GNR or VR or something fun like that for the people on here. But to be honest'¦I was going 'wow it's really baz' - cos remember I'd only driven there on a '˜tip-off' from an online board I'd never been to before. Wasn't really expecting to have him show up. So I was a smidge star-struck. Also I didn't want to piss him off, by jumping him at the airport then asking him questions about VR or something that might offend him'¦as he was being just so cool to us'¦so we just chatted about normal type stuff. Its all a bit jumbled but I remember:

'¢    He was looking at my Angel Down CD and commenting about how the artwork for the Australian release has been fucked up. (they cut off  the top of the head in one pic). He talked about the inside disc too and how it should be in color. This lead to some general banter about people following instructions etc
'¢    He asked about the shows we'd seen. So we chatted about the GNR/baz shows and his solo gig the year before, and songs we liked etc
'¢    The guy next to me said something to him about a Kiss pinball machine which lead to a quick discussion about that.

He was cool as. He signed both my Angel Down CD and my Skid Row CD, and the guy next to me's Slace to the Grind vinal record. Pretty cool stuff. He let us take some pics of him.

What was also cool was just when it looked like he was going to move on as the other people with him were kinda calling him away'¦he got the rest of the band to come over too and sign my Angel Down cd'¦I was stoked at this as I got to meet Metal Mike and Johnny Chromatic who are impressive guitarists. I felt this was extra nice as he didn't have to do this at all. But it made it great for us, and also I guess fun for the band members too to get some extra recognition maybe.

So yeah'¦that's my story. Now tonight I'm going to the Melbourne gig and I'm sure it will be a blast.

Good News. I'd like to see a revitalised VR that could top the last efforts.

I think maybe scott and the boys styles have always been too different and that new blood could take this band to anotehr level.