I may have been standing next to Mark St. John at the Kiss Farewell show at the Pond Arena in Anaheim, California. I remember jockying for space with someone in the front row and in hindsight it may have been Mark . I know he was at that show. I vaguely remember someone saying"Do you know who that is ?"
I'd shit if Uncle Kev or Sandimas were there. I also went to the Las Vegas show on that tour as well as a lot of shows in my neck of the woods.
Each time I met with Ace or Peter, they were always worried about people selling their autographs. Stupid millionaires always with smart-ass comments.
They'll sign a $15.00 CD but not a guitar worth thousands. The bigger fans ALWAYS get the shaft. I get autographs for personal reasons ,not to sell them. It's funny to realize whose autograph you wouldn't bother getting if you knew how they were going to act.
The Invasion were very cool as was s-LAUGHTER. Paul and Gene have been cool. One of the coolest times meeting Paul was at the last after party charity auction for The Phantom Of The Opera in Toronto. His parents and family(his first wife and Evan-he played guitar for the party) were their and I spoke briefly with his folks .
I had to put Gene in his place once on the Psycho Circus tour in Grand Rapids , Michigan. (December 30).I snuck backstage with my Washburn 2000B guitar and got Paul ,Ace, Peter , and even Doc to sign it. Then all of us were told the meet and greet was over.
My friend and I waited outside the venue next to a car that we KNEW was Gene's ride because he rarely travels with the band. After standing outside in the cold winter night for approximately 20 minutes, Gene walks outside passed the five people that were braving the cold and says something along the lines of, "SORRY but it's too cold ,I've got to go". He gets in the car and the door is closing when I reminded Gene of a song that is on the Psycho Circus album. I quickly said,"Remember Gene, We Are One". A song he wrote about the fans and Kiss. The door slams shut but within seconds the window rolls down and Gene says, "Just the guitar ".
That second of braveness rewarded me with a guitar signed by the original Kiss members.
death you prick...cock smoker aka - Matthew Tripp, aka Frank Feranda)
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