A band with an unforgettable name was pulling into town and were riding high from their latest radio hit "1985". Of course I'm talking about the power pop punk band Bowling for Soup. This was a good opportunity to meet a great band and I wasn't about to take this opportunity for granted.
I was pretty busy on this particular day, which forced me to try for their autographs after the concert. I arrived on the scene about a good 30 minutes before they left the stage. During this time I was able to listen to some of the concert and it sounded like they gave everyone their money's worth.
One of the cover songs they did was none other than Britney Spears "Baby One More Time", which I didn't expect to hear. They did a good job of turning it into a pop punk song and they really do have a great sense of humor. The show finally came to an end and fans started joining me in the quest for BFS signatures. The first person I met was actually someone from the opening band Riddlin' Kids, but I'll leave that for their section. I returned to the backstage area and continued to wait with the rest of the fans by BFS's tour bus. It was a long wait in the cold, but the first member of BFS finally came out and signed.
It was bassist Erik Chandler and he really started off the night on a high note. He signed for everyone there and took pictures with fans as well. I was one of the last to meet him and as a result had a chance to chat with him for a bit, which was cool. I have some family in BFS's hometown so that really opened up conversation and we talked until guitarist Chris Burney joined the signing party. Burney was also a very down to earth bloke and couldn't have been any more accommodating to the many fans that waited to meet them.
Next came drummer Gary Wiseman, who walked up to the small crowd to take care of requests. I thanked Chris for signing and quickly walked up to Gary Wiseman to get an autograph and picture as well. It seemed the guys were coming out of the woodworks and sure enough lead singer Jaret Reddick walked out before I could even settle down. I chatted with Jaret for a little bit as well as getting a picture with him and autographs. All of the guys were accommodating to fans requests and were very personable.
It all happened so quickly and before I knew it I had met the entire band, sweet. The lead singer of American Hi Fi came over to us (of course I got his autograph/pic) and asked the guys if they wanted to head over to a local club, which they did. I hope they had a great night at the club, us fans sure did. There is little doubt in my mind that this band will surely end up on my best signer's list at the end of the year, great guys!
