I've been a massive fan of Megadeth for about 18 years now, ever since that first time when I was 14 and I put SFSGSW into my stereo and heard the first few riffs of 'Into The Lungs of Hell' blasting out. When I found out I would actually be meeting the band I was jumping up and down and punching the air like a mad man.
On the day of the show I went to pick up my pass, only to be told on three separate occasions by the Box Office people that they hadn't received them yet. I was starting to panic a bit, wondering if it had been cancelled. Of course it hadn't, things were just running a bit late. After picking it up I gathered with the other 'Meet n Greet' attendees. We were led to a private room in the venue, where a few minutes later our guide told us the band wanted to meet us at an area nearer to backstage. So off we all went to the new meeting place.
After a short space of time the band came out together. First to shake hands and introduce himself to me was Shawn, then Chris and we chatted for a bit. Chris told me the tour was going great, but the band had been a bit jet-lagged the first couple of nights.
Then Dave came up to me, shook my hand and asked how I was. Seeing Dave onstage, and now seeing him standing a few inches away towering above me (I'm all of 5'8") is a very different experience I can tell you lol! I didn't know what to say. He asked me if I had anything I wanted him to sign so I pulled out my U.A. CD booklet. He asked me how I spelled my name then wrote a personalized autograph - nice touch. I then told him I had been waiting a long time to meet him and he said something back, but I can??t remember what. I then asked if it was ok to get a pic with him and he said 'yeah, sure'.
I then went to Chris and Shawn for autographs and a pic, and then to James for the same and a bit of a chat. Then some of us fans got a pic taken with all the band.
And then it was time to say goodbye. It seemed to have flown by. The guys were warm, friendly people, really down to earth - no 'Big Rock Star' pretensions at all. I hope Megadeth enjoyed their time with us Droogies, I certainly enjoyed my time with them. And the show from the three bands - Testament, Megadeth and Judas Priest was pretty damn good too!
All in all it was an awesome night, and I thank Megadeth and everyone involved for a truly amazing experience!
