My chat with Eddie

Champagne Breakfast

This is one of the stranger things that has ever happened to me.
I debated posting this because its not really my thing to post an encounter like this (nothing against those who do). However I'm interested in response

So Monday afternoon I am walking around after lunch near my office. My father is coming into the city so I was thinking of places him and I would go. To eat, have a drink, etc. On my way back to work I walk past a certain hotel area which I have heard of numerous times but have never actually seen or gone to. I went in to check out the restaurant which has an incredible view and their cocktail lounge thinking that might be a place we can go. So I'm leaving the lobby and going back downstairs to exit and go back outside & back to work. As I get to the exit I go up to the woman at the desk and ask about the bar scene at night. In my rearview I see someone sitting in the chairs I had just walked past and talking to another man. I hear the voice which sounds familiar turn around and its Eddie.

Totally thrown off,.....I had to just say hello. So I waited a second until he finished his conversation, excused myself and said hello. We shook hands and I briefly mentioned that I'm sure he hears it all the time but wanted to thank you for your music and all it has done for me and meant to me. He quietly responds and mentions that he can relate to the feeling because music has the same effect on him too. He then asked if NYC was my town,..I say yes & I will be going to both shows & explained my pops was coming by so I was checking out this bar. We chatted a few seconds longer and somehow I brought up that I myself just completed a few solo shows. Looking me straight in the eyes his face lit up and said ......"You play?" I told him i've been playing a solo version of Light Years. Now here comes the coolest part but also most embarassing......Eddie then dug into his suitcase and told me he was looking for a pic to give me but couldn't find anymore. So he then hands me a red & yellow MR sticker that you see on a few of his guitars and stage props and says ..."take this its a favorite of mine". I was in complete shock. Now being from NYC i do not know much about surfing. I thanked Ed graciously for giving me the sticker but did not know at the time MR stands for Mark Richards and I said "Marky Ramone???" This caused Ed and his friend to laugh a little and say...yea yea yea. Haha I had no idea; nor was I prepared for this. Anyway that was it, I thanked Ed again, told him if my father & I end up going to this bar and he is there first beer is on me (he says "ok. maybe someday," shook hands, and left totally in a headspin.

This wouldn't have been my ideal conversation environment or situation for meeting Ed if I could pick one out, but when you have such a short window and you are really surprised like that, you don't necessarily always say what you think you would if you ever met such a positive influence on your life. It was truly the last thing I would've thought walking in there especially being that there were really no signs of the situation (ie, people waiting outside, no vans, no tour bus, etc). Regardless,...I am still in somewhat of a headspin but it was an absolute honor.

LukinFan

cool, but you didn't ask him about any more future shows?

riffrandall

Cool story.

I'm sure the fact-checkers on the board are currently verifying the whereabouts of all players involved on the date in question.

nfanel

that is awesome! how cool that he gave you one of his favorite stickers. what a guy.

3inputchick

White pants?

Champagne Breakfast

[riffrandall]
"I'm sure the fact-checkers on the board are currently verifying the whereabouts of all players involved on the date in question.[/quote"

thanks.
What do you mean here?

Vedderlution_Baby

Crazy how that stuff happens.

BlackCorduroy

Awesome story, congratulations!

Oz Jammer

Nice story mate!!

riffrandall

Champagne Breakfast wrote:

[riffrandall]
"I'm sure the fact-checkers on the board are currently verifying the whereabouts of all players involved on the date in question.[/quote"

thanks.
What do you mean here?

Just that every time someone posts a cool story about a chance encounter with one of the band members, people on this board seem to go out of their way to discredit the author.

CityMouse

I think it's cool you mentioned that you recognized him by his voice. I was just talking about this the other day. I went to the first boston show with my mom and she was asking if he is the type of "celebrity" that gets recognized everywhere. I said probably a fair amount but probably not as much as 10, 15 years ago and probably only by big fans. but I added that since I am not good with faces I doubt I'd recognize him-unless I heard him talk.

p.s. he really does sound like such a cool guy when you hear stories like that. I usually don't approach people like that, but I have to wonder if I would if I saw EV (or any other PJ members) out and about. Eh, I'd probably be too nervous. (and considering I once made a pretty big fool of myself while attempting to chat with this local musician I'm a fan of...)

justam

That was lucky for you!

mjb

Great story - thanks for posting...its amazing that notwithstanding all the planning many of us try and make to have an opportunity like that, it ends up happening in a completing random setting - not that it is on the same level, but when I was on the west coast seeing some eV shows, my wife and I spend some time trying to catch a glimpse of Ed or Liam before soundcheck - we made sure we were at the back entrance at 3:30 but it never happened...the day after Santa Barbara we were at the hotel in LA and from a distance I see a familiar little hipster dude walking towards me with big 80s Ray Bans on, as he passed I blurted out "Liam?" the guy turns around and came over to me and sure enough it was Liam Finn, we chatted about the shows for a little bit and he gave me a heads up that he was coming to Toronto later in the summer and then took off...he was really cool - happy accidents

NickyLibs

Thats amazing. I completly know what you mean by "headspin" and can completely relate. I work in Grand Central terminal in NYC and met Robert Plant about a month or so ago. I had a short conversation with him and afterward felt like I was on another planet. I haven't been lucky enough to meet Eddie, but hopefully I'll get that chance in the near future. I'm really happy you got to meet him, its definately something that you'll remember for a long time.

halszka123

Wow


You're story lighted up this evening, my friend

Jeanwah

LOVE your story, thanks so much for sharing!

smarchee

cool story

thanks for posting it

yahamita

I would have died of embarrassment if he would have laughed at me...

Rjonesrm20

dude, i thought it was Marky Ramone too, I know Mark Richards is a bad ass surfer but never ever thought of that.


so cool to run into Eddie, hope i meet him in Chicago.

Gonzo1977

Awesome story
Thanks for sharing

anotherclone

3inputchick wrote:

White pants?

HAHAHA!!!!

Seriously, that's really cool though. I'm sure we all have this idea of what we'd say given the opportunity. Mostly I'd just stammer and sound like some sort of jack ass. Nicely done on your part.

LukinFan

BeerBaron wrote:

lol, before clicking on this thread I had a feeling that this would be the first reply!

To the original poster: COOL STORY!!!

haha- that's what we want to know!

Allie

Champagne,
When did you move to Jersey?!
I LOVE this story and I'm so excited for you that this happened to cool people and my fellow Yankees fan! What a great story!

And good for you for having the ability to speak in that situation. I would have been like :eek: and rendered speechless. I don't know if I even would have had the guts to approach him like you did! Good for you!

and I wouldn't have known what MR meant either, no worries.


Thanks for sharing your story Champagne.

I met John Rzeznik 2 yrs ago and I had the same head spin for days I know what you mean. And all I could get out of my mouth was "OMG, I love you" before I was finally able to utter another sentence about his music. So again I'm excited for you that you were able to stay so chill and talk about your music.

Do you play anywhere in the city?

small town beck

Awesome story

patrickredeyes

Champagne Breakfast wrote:

This is one of the stranger things that has ever happened to me.
I debated posting this because its not really my thing to post an encounter like this (nothing against those who do). However I'm interested in response

So Monday afternoon I am walking around after lunch near my office. My father is coming into the city so I was thinking of places him and I would go. To eat, have a drink, etc. On my way back to work I walk past a certain hotel area which I have heard of numerous times but have never actually seen or gone to. I went in to check out the restaurant which has an incredible view and their cocktail lounge thinking that might be a place we can go. So I'm leaving the lobby and going back downstairs to exit and go back outside & back to work. As I get to the exit I go up to the woman at the desk and ask about the bar scene at night. In my rearview I see someone sitting in the chairs I had just walked past and talking to another man. I hear the voice which sounds familiar turn around and its Eddie.

Totally thrown off,.....I had to just say hello. So I waited a second until he finished his conversation, excused myself and said hello. We shook hands and I briefly mentioned that I'm sure he hears it all the time but wanted to thank you for your music and all it has done for me and meant to me. He quietly responds and mentions that he can relate to the feeling because music has the same effect on him too. He then asked if NYC was my town,..I say yes & I will be going to both shows & explained my pops was coming by so I was checking out this bar. We chatted a few seconds longer and somehow I brought up that I myself just completed a few solo shows. Looking me straight in the eyes his face lit up and said ......"You play?" I told him i've been playing a solo version of Light Years. Now here comes the coolest part but also most embarassing......Eddie then dug into his suitcase and told me he was looking for a pic to give me but couldn't find anymore. So he then hands me a red & yellow MR sticker that you see on a few of his guitars and stage props and says ..."take this its a favorite of mine". I was in complete shock. Now being from NYC i do not know much about surfing. I thanked Ed graciously for giving me the sticker but did not know at the time MR stands for Mark Richards and I said "Marky Ramone???" This caused Ed and his friend to laugh a little and say...yea yea yea. Haha I had no idea; nor was I prepared for this. Anyway that was it, I thanked Ed again, told him if my father & I end up going to this bar and he is there first beer is on me (he says "ok. maybe someday," shook hands, and left totally in a headspin.

This wouldn't have been my ideal conversation environment or situation for meeting Ed if I could pick one out, but when you have such a short window and you are really surprised like that, you don't necessarily always say what you think you would if you ever met such a positive influence on your life. It was truly the last thing I would've thought walking in there especially being that there were really no signs of the situation (ie, people waiting outside, no vans, no tour bus, etc). Regardless,...I am still in somewhat of a headspin but it was an absolute honor.

Awesome story thanks for sharing it.

writersu

Champagne Breakfast wrote:

This is one of the stranger things that has ever happened to me.
I debated posting this because its not really my thing to post an encounter like this (nothing against those who do). However I'm interested in response

So Monday afternoon I am walking around after lunch near my office. My father is coming into the city so I was thinking of places him and I would go. To eat, have a drink, etc. On my way back to work I walk past a certain hotel area which I have heard of numerous times but have never actually seen or gone to. I went in to check out the restaurant which has an incredible view and their cocktail lounge thinking that might be a place we can go. So I'm leaving the lobby and going back downstairs to exit and go back outside & back to work. As I get to the exit I go up to the woman at the desk and ask about the bar scene at night. In my rearview I see someone sitting in the chairs I had just walked past and talking to another man. I hear the voice which sounds familiar turn around and its Eddie.

Totally thrown off,.....I had to just say hello. So I waited a second until he finished his conversation, excused myself and said hello. We shook hands and I briefly mentioned that I'm sure he hears it all the time but wanted to thank you for your music and all it has done for me and meant to me. He quietly responds and mentions that he can relate to the feeling because music has the same effect on him too. He then asked if NYC was my town,..I say yes & I will be going to both shows & explained my pops was coming by so I was checking out this bar. We chatted a few seconds longer and somehow I brought up that I myself just completed a few solo shows. Looking me straight in the eyes his face lit up and said ......"You play?" I told him i've been playing a solo version of Light Years. Now here comes the coolest part but also most embarassing......Eddie then dug into his suitcase and told me he was looking for a pic to give me but couldn't find anymore. So he then hands me a red & yellow MR sticker that you see on a few of his guitars and stage props and says ..."take this its a favorite of mine". I was in complete shock. Now being from NYC i do not know much about surfing. I thanked Ed graciously for giving me the sticker but did not know at the time MR stands for Mark Richards and I said "Marky Ramone???" This caused Ed and his friend to laugh a little and say...yea yea yea. Haha I had no idea; nor was I prepared for this. Anyway that was it, I thanked Ed again, told him if my father & I end up going to this bar and he is there first beer is on me (he says "ok. maybe someday," shook hands, and left totally in a headspin.

This wouldn't have been my ideal conversation environment or situation for meeting Ed if I could pick one out, but when you have such a short window and you are really surprised like that, you don't necessarily always say what you think you would if you ever met such a positive influence on your life. It was truly the last thing I would've thought walking in there especially being that there were really no signs of the situation (ie, people waiting outside, no vans, no tour bus, etc). Regardless,...I am still in somewhat of a headspin but it was an absolute honor.

it sounds so awesome. and you handled it perfectly. you didn't come off like an ass, trying to impress him by being too cool or whatever, my hat is off to you, really.
and you also were respectful to him and that had to give a good impression as well. I think it would be hard to truly take someone serious when they were like stalking you, drunk, slurring and acting strange.

I don't know what I would do if I ever got to meet him; prolly make an ass out of myself, so I doubt I will get the chance.
But more like me, and my luck, I would think it was him but not have the nerve to say so just in case I was wrong. Then for the rest of my life I would say, "damn I wish I would have talked to him."

mnicole22

great story. I would have been too chicken-shit to talk to him. (Then I would have beaten myself up about for the rest of my life)

Champagne Breakfast

Allie wrote:

Champagne,
When did you move to Jersey?!
I LOVE this story and I'm so excited for you that this happened to cool people and my fellow Yankees fan! What a great story!

And good for you for having the ability to speak in that situation. I would have been like :eek: and rendered speechless. I don't know if I even would have had the guts to approach him like you did! Good for you!

and I wouldn't have known what MR meant either, no worries.


Thanks for sharing your story Champagne.

I met John Rzeznik 2 yrs ago and I had the same head spin for days I know what you mean. And all I could get out of my mouth was "OMG, I love you" before I was finally able to utter another sentence about his music. So again I'm excited for you that you were able to stay so chill and talk about your music.

Do you play anywhere in the city?

I'm from NJ. But moved to NYC years ago.
I do play out in nyc. I will post next time I do incase anyone is ever interested.
Thanks for all the positive responses! I didn't know what to expect or feel about this!

UpSideDown

yahamita wrote:

I would have died of embarrassment if he would have laughed at me...

lol


very good story.........Ed's the man.

NCBRI

Champagne Breakfast wrote:

I'm from NJ. But moved to NYC years ago.
I do play out in nyc. I will post next time I do incase anyone is ever interested.
Thanks for all the positive responses! I didn't know what to expect or feel about this!

That is a great story man. Any of your music on line for those of us who don't live in the NYC area?

Dark Grin

Very cool story. I always wonder what I would say if I met a member of the band. I don't imagine I'd be as cool as you were.