Coolest metal musicians you have met ?

[Bryant]

1) Ronnie Dio (Dio)..... 100% class. He purposely makes you feel like you were friends for your whole life. Classiest guy I have ever met.

2) Andy B. Frank (Brainstorm and Symphorce).... God has not made a cooler guy than Andy. He is super nice.

3) Urban Breed/Dirk Thurich (Bloodbaound/former Tad Morose and formal Angel Dust respectively) - these two guys were born to be around people. They both are sooo cool, they would be number one if they weren't so forward. I am sure they scare the hell out of shy people.

4) Damon Johnson (former Brother Cane/Alice Cooper) not metal, but this guy quietly makes a killing in the music business, though far from a household name. He is still a quiet, but very friendly Alabama boy though.

5) Doro.... I'm not a big fan of her solo music, but if she needed a liver, I might offer her mine. She is the "Mother Theresa" of metal. She is only about 5'4", but if you removed her heart, she would be 2'8".



Honorable mentions.....


Lemmy !! (Motorhead) I have never met him, but would love to.

Peter Balter (Accept) - Peter IS THE glue that kept Accept together. /He was the only rock star of Accept. However, I can only speak from what I have heard. Never met him.

Yngwie........ YES YNGWIE !!! The guy is a complete dick, but I have met him twice and he honestly appreciates his fans. He hates everyone else, but he honestly is fun to meet. He is still quite conceited, but he does it in a comical way.



Bryant

 

[Hawk]

Ian Gillan [very cool while everyone around him gave us a hard time]
Benedictum [Especially Pete Wells (G), Blackie Sanchez (D) and Jesse Wright (B)]
Raven [John and Mark are great!!]
Mercyful Fate [Especially Timmi Grabber and Michael Denner]
Zero Hour [We have become good friends]
Agent Steel [Bernie]
Steel Prohet [Steve is the coolest]
Symphony X [All of them]
Steve Harris and Paul Dianno [Steve is such a friendly and cool guy]
Accept [Udo, Wolf Hoffman and Peter Baltes are nice chaps!]
Lemmy and Fast Eddy
Heir Apparent [All of them!!]
Blitzrieg [Brian Ross os a really nice guy]
Avenger [Gary Young and Ian Davidson(Swifty) Swift
Helstar [James Riviera]
Laaz Rockit [All of them]
Anthrax [Ian [NOT] Scott
Overkill [Bobby Blitz]
Don Dokken [Nice guy!]
Clammy!! \,,/

And Last but not least:

Sieges Even! Together with Nevermore my favorite band and they are very cool guys!
All of them. carnut and me had a few drinks with them in a bar in Belgium and it was great!

Biggest asshole musician I ever met:

Lars Ulrich

 

[Death Animal]

I haven´t met nobody.
Well I have shake hands with Marko Annala.:Smug:
Yeah how the hell is he.
Singer of Mokoma

 

[Wyvern]

Not many so far, so I will say:

The guys from Tierra Santa. Very down to earth, ready to share and party, educated, and friendly.

Lee Pomeroy: bass player for Rick Wakeman, another nice, friendly guy offstage ready to meet fans and treat them like people.

Rick Wakeman and Damian Wilson: just an autograph from both but

Sasha Gestner: I walk with him and chat a bit after the Helloween gig, not much indeed.

 

[kittybeast]

Tony Iommi- quiet but makes a great martinini!
Lemmy- what do you say...funny, intelligent, down to earth, just don't call him MR. Kilmister. He remembers Pabla every time we're at the Rainbow I think he has a crush on her (he's got great taste!!!wink wink)
Doug Aldrich- very much a gentleman, kind, sweet, polite
Klaus Meine- I was in awe so not much was said
Mattias Jabs- didn't talk to long
Rudy Schenker- One hell of a funny guy! talked for a couple hours
James Kottak- down to earth, nice, his wife is very nice too
Dio- the Ultimate gentleman
Michael Schenker- not a lot of talk
Francis Bucholz- nice, accomodating
Uli Jon Roth- very softspoken and loves champagne
Bruce Dickinson- just fell from the stage that night- so got a quick autograph
Dave Murray- quiet
Steve Harris- great guy (didn't talk to him much, Pabla was hoggin' him )
Nikko McBain- extrovert LOL funny, loud, down to earth
Neal Schon, Steve Perry great guys, very kind
Evergrey dudes....all are loads of fun if you can keep up w/ the partying
Tesla dudes...great guys some a bit more paranoid than others...
Nevermore dudes... all great to hang with, beware of practical jokes!
Death Angel- met Gus while buying AOD was cool...though didn't see him again to get it signed....maybe next week!
Urban Breed- very kind, sweet, gentleman, loves to talk metal!
THE SYMPHORCE GUYS- OH SO MUCH LOVE FOR THEM!! funny, love to have a good time, drink, joke, fun fun fun weekend!

That's all off the top of my head...I love where I live, keep a camera in the car just incase..you never know who you're going to run into.!!!.someday I'll be able to see MEL!!!!

 

[KMADD]

those fine sludge masters Crowbar! Kirk is one of the most down to earth
motherfuckers i have ever met. Jimmy Bower from Down and Eyehategod
really cool dude ate a little bit of cabbage with him if you know what i mean.
The dudes from Suffocation are really cool. LG Petrov from Entombed was
a super cool dude very intelligent person. Although they are punk rock Lars and Tim
from Rancid are some of the nicest folks i have ever met along with the dudes
from Bad Religon they will go out of there way to talk and interact with thier
fans. Bobby, Evan and Billy from Biohazard straight up down to earth folks
from NYC you can tell when folks have been around the block if you know
what I mean. So many so I will get to the point probably the oddest metal
musician i ever met and i would have never though this guy would fit the
mold is Pete Steele from Type O Negative here is a dude that's like 7 foot
whatever writes songs about killing his ex-girlfriend and dropping prozac and
drinking vodka. But Mr. Steele who i met on the October Rust tour and I
talked for a few minutes and I found out that he is a very polite and well spoken individual
and very and i mean a very intelligent dude we discussed things about how Norse legends
really affect his way of life, how he missed working for the NYC parks dept
and other things. Very nice guy.

Assholes i met who were midgets Danzig, Phil Anselmo.
A cool dude I met who was a midget as well -Dani Filth lol.

 

[Fangface]

1) Ronnie Dio (Dio)..... 100% class. He purposely makes you feel like you were friends for your whole life. Classiest guy I have ever met.

I hate you my friend

Lemmy- what do you say...funny, intelligent, down to earth, just don't call him MR. Kilmister. He remembers Pabla every time we're at the Rainbow I think he has a crush on her (he's got great taste!!!wink wink)

Long live Lemmy!


I don't meet musicians very often myself, but from those I've met the coolest were probably Joey Vera, Kai Hansen and Doro Pesch. Classy, friendly and passionnate musicians.

 

[Hawk]

I remember carnut and me talking about how musicians in general are civilized and friendly. Rude and unfriendly one are an exception to the rule.

Did you hear that Lars!!??

 

[carnut]

From lately I mostly liked the time we spent with Sieges Even (were we ended up in a bar that was in fact closed for gambling and ofcourse recently we met the guys of Benedictum, who are great !!
From the 80's I mostly remember hanging out with Lemmy, Laäz Rockit, Heir Apparent, Savage Grace, Magnum, Napalm Death, Extreme Noise Terror, DBC, DRI, Bodycount (early 90's I think, met IceT, was very cool guy there!)...

 

[Hawk]

From lately I mostly liked the time we spent with Sieges Even (were we ended up in a bar that was in fact closed for gambling and ofcourse recently we met the guys of Benedictum, who are great !!
From the 80's I mostly remember hanging out with Lemmy, Laäz Rockit, Heir Apparent, Savage Grace, Magnum, Napalm Death, Extreme Noise Terror, DBC, DRI, Bodycount (early 90's I think, met IceT, was very cool guy there!)...

Cool list carnut! I didn't know you met all those people!

 

[carnut]

Cool list carnut! I didn't know you met all those people!

I guess I must have met more, becouse I was writing for some Metal Magazines (Metal Eruption & Sucks)back than. But those are the most memorable I guess ...

 

[War_Blade]

iv'e meet Nikko McBain at a joe satriani concert, he is a really cool guy. and i shook hands with eric johnson and said hi to him, but i didn't really meet him.

and thats about it... pretty lame list...

 

[carnut]

Forgot Lips from Anvil. Met him last november at a club gig in Belgium. He's there in the top five of nicest "famous" people I ever met !!

 

[Wyvern]

He remembers Pabla every time we're at the Rainbow I think he has a crush on her

If Lemmy is God and Pabla is the Devil...

 

[J-Dubya 777]

In no order at all:

Iron Maidien - NotB lineup - Though obviosly jet lagged these guys were
an absolute riot, and very down to earth. Steve Harris was the only one missing for whatever reason.... Cool guys!

Steve Vai - up until the ZPZ show, I'd have said polite, quiet & shy, but he was so gregarious and wanting to talk when we ran into him before the ZPZ show in Chicago, he went up a thousand points in my book.

Mike Keneally - God couldn't create a nicer, cooler, funnier human being. He's a riot, and I'm happy to consider him a long distance friend.

UFO - Mechanix era - Nice guys, Pete Way was hammered.....

Saxon (original lineup) - Biff was very gracious to the fans hanging out in the parking lot by the bus. rest of the band followed suit......

Urban Breed - see Bryant's post

Dirk from AD - He's hilarious, hung out with him at a Prog Power room party, he was teaching me German toasts!

Jorn Lande - Had a serious post 9-11 discussion with him outside the Granada. nice enough guy, very upfront.

Thomen from BG - My smoking buddy at PP3! Cool guy, funny! Was bummed out that you can't smoke ANYWHERE indoors in CA...... lol

Gamma Ray - Kai, Henjo, & Dirk - Very cool, polite, and Dirk knows how to cut down a complete stranger. I chuckled when he was talking to a Japanese girl at PP, and told her he's getting old, and to not be offended if he forgot her name by the time they got to Japan. After hearing me chuckle, he turned around and looked me over and said "You don't look young, how old are YOU?"

Rick Mythysian (sp???) Steel Prophet - (on wwhatever he was on) Prog Power room party, was OUT OF HIS MIND, but absolutely hilarious, and semed pretty nice.

John K from Biomechanical - Fun guy to hang around with, VERY funny.

Eldritch dudes - All very appreciative of the American fans, even though the turnout wasn't great.

Jag Panzer - Just plain ol' cool guys all around!

Ralf Schepers of Primal Fear, Gamma Ray, Tyran Pace - nice guy, spoke better english than the rest of the Primal Fear guys. Didn't seem to have an ego at all....

Krokus - Vices era - All we're really nice, pretty much all I remember...

Metal Church (The Dark lineup) - Another bunch of fun loving dudes.

Ozzy - Met at a record signing that drew a HUGE amount of people around the time Tribute came out. At one point one of his care takers said he was just shaking hands, but he thanked me for my kind thoughts about Randy Rhoads, and signed for me anyway. I swear, he looked so terrible & sickly, that I thought he'd be dead in a year.....

Andy from Symphorce/Brainstorm - THE power metal frontman, and one helluva nice guy.

Biggest Dickheads in the business (IMHF'nO)
(in no order, a dickhead is a dickhead)

Randy Coven - It's not 1982 anymore, you're not the hot property you once were. Stop acting like a douche bag.....

Triumph - Met them during the allied forces tour, Thought all of them were assholes, especially the bass player, Mike Levine, I think........

Cinderella - Pampered Cali pretty boys with an attitude to match.
ALMOST as dickhead-ish as Triumph.

Whew....that's about all I can remember while at work.......


J-Dubya

 

[Platinum Maze]

Eric Carr (June 1986 - he was checking out tennis racquets in a sporting goods store in the mall)
Russell Allen (twice, and hung backstage at Lamour with Symphony X, but only really spoke to Russell - I work with his wife's cousin)
Jason Rullo (at his drum clinic)
George Lynch (Robert Mason and A. Esposito from Lynch Mob also)
Akira Takasaki (bumped into him on 48th street in NYC before they slayed BB King's)
Dave Mustaine (in-store appearance on KIMB tour - he was hammered)
Rob Dukes of Exodus (local boy)
Mike Portnoy
Andy Galeon from Death Angel
Tim Roth from Into Eternity
Billy Milano (yippee, haha)
Alan Tecchio (Hades, Watchtower, Seven Witches)
Steve Evetts from American Angel (recorded our demo in 1994)
Matt Barlow (ex-Iced Earth)

also, don't really remember who I "met" from each, but the band I was in - Out Of Darkness - opened for the following:

Pantera
Overkill
Danzig
Candlemass
DBC
Wrathchild America
Toxik
Wargasm
Meanstreak


***I'm really surprised to hear that about Triumph!

 

[ElectricWiz]

Slayer - Kerry King was Mr. cool, in a bad way. Tom was really funny....Dave Lombardo was very nice. Jeff stayed on the bus. This was South of Heaven tour...

Flotsam and Jetsam, D.R.I., Kreator - All very nice.

Ace Frehley - Aloof.

Ian Anderson - Nice.

Mikeal Akerfeldt - Totally normal person.

Metallica - All very nice. I requested Disposable Heroes and they played it....

....some more...have to think....

 

[J-Dubya 777]

before I get my ass handed to me, I forgot to add Sy-X to my list, completely awesome individuals. Proud to be associated with them in my minor capacity.......

Evergrey - ALWAYS cool to their fans. Tom's hilarious!

ANNNND I forgot to list people I look forward to meeting:

Mattias IA Eklundh & Freak Kitchen - I've been a raving Freak Kitchen lunatic since around 99-2000, and have been somewhat of an e-mail pal of IA's since 2001. I've been tirelessly campaigning for a Prog Power FK show, and finally this year, it's happening. I was going to produce a free Freak Guitar clinic to kick off the weekend, but sadly, it appears that scheduling will prevent this from happening. I can not wait to finally meet these guys after being a fan for so long, when they were almost completely unknown in the USA.

Piet from Iron Savior & Savage Circus - Just looking forward to meeting him.




As for Triumph, I was really shocked by their bahavior/attiude. Perhaps it was a bad day, but they really shouldn't take it out on their fans.


J-DUbya

 

[Mxgonzo]

David Wayne and Metal Church guys- all really cool.
Nick Bowcott(sp?) from Grim Reaper- Got to talk about guitars and amps with him. Super cool!!
Steve Moorse- Gave me a guitar pick.
and even though I never cared for his band or songs Chip 'Znuff. He is a local guy. Always friendly every time I ran into him

 

[Wheezer]

I remember carnut and me talking about how musicians in general are civilized and friendly. Rude and unfriendly one are an exception to the rule.

Agreed. That's why everyone I've met have been the coolest. Although Tom Englund and Russell Allen were a bit standoffish, I wrote it off as the exception rather than the rule for them based on what other people had said about them.

Some others:
Alice Cooper -- Very cool for a legend.
Queensryche -- all very cool, Geoff is a bit arrogant and Eddie Jackson likes to talk sports.
Symphorce
Vanden Plas -- especially Gunther
Henrik and Jonas from Evergrey
Urban Breed