Thumbs Up with Celebrities

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Jeff Ross, January 2015

January 2015 is a guess on my part here. I met the Roast Master himself at a secret gig he did at the Buzz Mill during their Buzzkill Comedy Night. I was just about to leave when they brought Ross on stage for what ended up being a pretty solid set. He was testing out material for an upcoming special (which ended up being Jeff Ross Roasts Criminals: Live at Brazos County Jail) and put in the appearance unannounced.

I managed to snag this photo with him in the parking lot shortly after. No idea who the guy in the picture next to him is. I guess just another fan. Oddly enough, I ended up meeting Ross again a few months later during South by Southwest. A friend of mine from Houston was in town and had been jealous of my meeting Ross. By total coincidence, we ran into Ross standing outside of Alamo Drafthouse Ritz on 6th St. one night. My friend got his own picture with Ross, got a free roast from the Roast Master because he was so drunk, and awkwardly tried to stand around talking to Ross longer before I dragged him away. Fun night.

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Cedric Bixler-Zavala (At the Drive-In, The Mars Volta, Antemasque), August 2014

In 2014, with The Mars Volta and At the Drive-In both broken up, Cedric and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez formed a new band called Antemasque. It’s now known that this was a sort of a lead-up to Cedric and Omar reforming At the Drive-In, getting back to their punk roots. Either way, it was a new band from my favorite musicians, so of course I traveled all over Texas catching their first three shows ever in San Antonio, Austin, and Houston. I planned to also go to Dallas, but I was running out of energy and funds by then, so I skipped it.

This photo was taken in Austin at the Mohawk during the opening set by Le Butcherettes. Cedric, bassist Marfred Rodriguez-Lopez, and drummer Dave Elitch were all hanging out on the upstairs balcony, watching the show. I talked to Cedric briefly and we took this update picture since we both felt we were looking a lot better than we did when we took our first photo together at At the Drive-In’s reunion show in 2012 (covered here). I feel like I’m looking a hell of a lot better than this now, and probably the same for Cedric, but at least we’re getting better throughout the years.

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Johnny Plague, February 2017

Winds of Plague is one of those bands that has just stuck with me for years and years and years. I got into Decimate the Weak along with all my other friends when I was a teenager. It may not be cool to love them or anything, and god knows nothing they’ve put out since is worth your time, but that album will always be a go-to for me and I’ll still go see them every time they play just to get in the pit for their classics.

This was at a show in Austin at Come and Take It Live where they opened for Devildriver and Death Angel. It was a solid metal show and Winds of Plague was as good as ever. I was dating the chick in the picture at the time and she was too scared to approach Johnny Plague, so I went right up to him and asked if he’d take this picture with us. It was a great night. Things didn’t turn out so hot with her, but Johnny was a stand-up guy and this picture is a forever memory.

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Ted Leo, October 2017

Ted Leo is always the coolest guy. After seven years without releasing a solo album, he finally put out The Hanged Man this year and it’s one of my favorite records. I think it might be his best work yet. Of course, a new record meant his first major tour in seven years too.

Unfortunately, I missed his headlining show at the Mohawk because it was on a Saturday night and those are the nights I make most of my money (service industry) so I couldn’t take off. Sunday morning, I happened to be off and checking my Twitter when I saw him mention that he was playing an in-store at Waterloo Records. I was thrilled because I would get a chance to see him play, even if it wasn’t a full on show.

The set was fantastic and Ted was nice enough to take an update picture with me. We haven’t aged a bit in seven years, have we? We grabbed the “used punk” tag to match the original photo together, and also because we’re both used up punk rockers.

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Jacob Bannon (Converge), November 2017

I had previously met Jacob Bannon in 2010 at a show in Austin at the old Emo’s downtown location (covered here). When I heard he was doing an art signing/pop-up at Waterloo Records, I knew I had to go. The only problem was the timing. It was on a Thursday, and early Tuesday that week I had found out Jay-Z was doing a show in Houston on Wednesday night. For this to all work, I would have to work a double on Tuesday, head to Houston on Wednesday morning, go to see Jay-Z that night, then come back to Austin early Thursday morning and head straight to Waterloo.

Being completely insane, I, of course, did it. I had already missed Jay-Z at Austin City Limits a few months earlier, and I was determined not to miss another chance to cross one of his shows off my bucket list. So, needless to say, I was pretty damn dead tired and running off nothing but caffeine and cigarettes by the time I hit Waterloo.

Bannon was just as awesome as ever. Such a great guy who has no problem discussing his music and art with his fan in depth. I unfortunately couldn’t obtain a copy of their wildly amazing newest record The Dusk in Us by the time of the pop-up, so I grabbed their Unloved and Weeded Out rarities compilation for him to sign instead. It now hangs on my wall and is one of my prized possessions.

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Fred Armisen, April 2014

I felt so bad for this one, because I'm sure Fred just wanted to eat his breakfast tacos, but I felt like I couldn't pass up the opportunity. He was in town for the Moontower Comedy Festival, which unfortunately was far too expensive for me to attend. Plus, I had seen Cloud Nothings the previous night at the same time as his set. I'm sure it would have been an awesome time though. He's a really funny guy, and Portlandia is great. I had a chance to get one with the Kids in the Hall the previous day, but they were in a sit down restaurant and I couldn't bring myself to be that much of a dick. Maybe some other time.

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Astronautalis, September 2013

Another where my thumb got cropped, but I felt like it was worth posting as a sequel to the earlier picture of myself with Astronautalis. We both look so much older! I'm seriously so happy for him too, because this was among a massive crowd at the Mohawk, and they were all singing along to his songs. I may not enjoy his music as much these days, but I'm glad that he's done so well for himself. He was opening for Why?, but I daresay many of them were there just for him. Great show, and a great night. It was also the first time I finally got to see Why? (aside from a brief set marred by technical issues at SXSW in 2012), which was fantastic. I had waited a long time for that, and it was awesome.

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Mayor Annise Parker, June 2013

Annise Parker is the mayor of Houston, and is noteworthy for being one of the first openly gay mayors in the country. That's pretty damn cool, although I haven't always been supportive of her policies otherwise. She attended Free Press Summer Festival that year and introduced Mavis Staples to the audience. This was during Mavis' set. I felt sort of bad interrupting the mayor's dancing, but she was happy to take the picture. My wrist was broken in this picture, which happened in a Dillinger Escape Plan pit a week earlier. Luckily, my thumb still worked.

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Yo La Tengo, May 2013

This was another fantastic in-store at End of an Ear. I unfortunately couldn't afford a ticket to their show later that night, so I just went to this instead. It was a great time, and they performed a long set of fan requests. I asked for "Here to Fall" and it was granted. That song is definitely my favorite of theirs, and this was an exceptional performance of it. Afterwards, they were super cool about posing for a picture with me. I just my hair didn't look so awful in it. I swear I'm not going that bald (yet), it's just the angle.

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Anthony Fantano (The Needle Drop), March 2013

Oh no, where's my thumb? Unfortunately, it got cropped, but I decided to post this one anyway. I've been a long time fan of Fantano's video music review series on YouTube and at his website, TheNeedleDrop.com. He's a hilarious guy, and was cool to meet in person. He's also one of the few music critics whose opinions I respect. Anyway, enough ass-kissing, this was at South By Southwest, where Anthony had his own event and was here trying to catch Marnie Stern and Cloud Nothings at the Mohawk. I couldn't get in without a badge, so I got wasted and listened to them outside. Obstructed viewing pleasure.

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Andrew WK, March 2013

I went to a show Andrew was doing at SXSW that year. It was supposed to be RSVP only, but I never got the website to work and they just let me in. When I walked in, AWK was just hanging out, taking pictures with fans, so I decided to go for a second round. He was just as cool as last time, and it was a little better show, I think. I got sloshed because they had free liquor all night at the venue.

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Cedric Bixler-Zavala (The Mars Volta, At the Drive-In, De Facto, Antemasque), April 2012

This one had been a long, long time coming. The Mars Volta and At the Drive-In are my two favorite bands and I had seen them many times up to that point, but never actually met the guys. When At the Drive-In reunited and announced their first show back at Red 7 in Austin, I of course snatched up tickets immediately. Good thing, because it sold out fast. The whole band was hanging around outside, going in and out of the venue and their tour bus. I wish I had gotten the other guys in a picture, but oh well. I was glad to finally get one with Cedric, and talk to him. He's a shy, soft-spoken dude, but very nice and appreciative towards his fans. My big regret here is that I looked awful at the time. I decided to grow long hair for god knows what reason, and I had put on a lot of weight late the previous year while recovering from a broken foot. Definitely not my finest moment. I'll have to get a do-over with him sometime.

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Tony the Tiger, April 2012

I don't remember much about this, except that I guess Kellogg's was doing a promotional event in Houston and I knew I had to get a picture with the cereal icon.

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Boba Fett, March 2012

This guy is a fixture of the South By Southwest festival in Austin every March. Not much to say, other than he doesn't speak under the mask, but he likes taking pictures with fans.

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Tommy Wiseau (The Room), January 2011

The Room is one of my all time favorite films, and if you ever get a chance to see it in a theater, don't miss it. It's like a Rocky Horror Picture Show thing, although I think it's a lot more fun. Tommy and Greg Sestero showed up to this screening at River Oaks Theater in Houston as a special event. It was a ton of fun, but Tommy is definitely one of the strangest people I've ever met. He seemed drunk, but I've been told that's just how he is sober. He took a lot of cajoling to take this picture, and a subsequent video where we exchanged "oh hi's." He didn't seem to remember how many times he had said that in the film, or why I wanted to say it. Having read some of Sestero's book on filming the movie, this was how Tommy was on set about his directions too. I probably spent five minutes explaining before he understood it at all. In any case, it was cool meeting the man behind one of the best things I've ever seen (intentionally or otherwise), and he was very nice despite his weirdness. He definitely appreciates the fandom of the film, and he seemed to really enjoy the adulation. One way or another, he got what he wanted out of the movie.

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Wayne Coyne (The Flaming Lips), June 2010

Wayne is one of my favorite singers and is just an amazingly cool dude. I got to do an interview with him a few years later that went on for almost an hour because he's such a talker. This was taken at Free Press Summer Festival, which that year was only 25 dollars. Kind of amazing, and the lineup was fantastic. The Lips closed it down with a huge career spanning set. By that time, I was suffering from heat exhaustion, plus I had a cold already before the festival even started. It was worth it though for the experience. It wasn't raining, by the way. Wayne and I were just sweating that much. My favorite thing was that when I walked up to him and asked to take the picture, he hugged me, and then he said, "whoa! You are hairy! You're like the Wolfman!" Coming from him, that was a compliment.

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Andrew WK, July 2010

This one was taken at Van's Warped Tour in Houston's Sam Houston Race Park. I still think that was the best place to have the festival, although the bands there don't do anything for me anymore. This year was a good one though, at least for me. Andrew WK, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Emmure, Parkway Drive, Suicide Silence, Enter Shikari, and Whitechapel. That was the first time I had seen Dillinger Escape Plan and they completely blew my mind. Unfortunately, Andrew WK had to go on after them and he couldn't even approach their energy. He still rocked it though. I was surprised this picture survived because it was raining like hell all day and my phone was ruined. It never worked right again, and the blurriness is actually water inside the camera. I think it came out sort of cool though, like an Instagram filter. I had slipped and cut my hand earlier and I was soaked from head to toe by the rain. I asked Andrew if he had any party tips for me and he ran those facts down and told me that I was well on my way to a great party.