Until I joined Twitter last June, I've not had that many opportunities to interact with some of the most well-known people out there in the world. I did have opportunities back then as a kid: for two instances during the height of the 49ers dynasty years of the 80s-90s, I got to meet Roger Craig at a Fry's Electronics store in 1993 when he signed a fitness video. And on Halloween three years earlier, I went trick or treating and got not only candy but also a football signed by Michael Carter, back when he was residing in my hometown of Milpitas, CA. In middle school, I got to take a picture with the Stanley Cup at a Sharks charity event. And just a few years ago, during a vacation my sis, bro & cousins took to Las Vegas to celebrate a cousins birthday, we got to meet Joey Fatone from Dancing with the Stars and boy band fame when he hosted a show over there. But of all of those celebrity sightings - and those interactions I've had with many an MTV personality over the past 12 months, nothing matches what the celebrity sighting I experienced for myself on December 9, 2004. That was the night I had the tremendous opportunity to meet Linkin Park. Even though I've become a much bigger fan of the entire music scene since then in addition to being a Linkin Park fan, it's still a day I'm so very proud to have been a part of, and still think of it every time I listen to an LP song.
For fans of music and entertainment like me, at one time or another we've imagined that we could meet our favorite celebrities face-to-face. Sure, seeing them from a distance in the bleachers of a red carpet at a premiere or awards show is one thing; but meeting them in a festive yet intimate atmosphere of a meet-and-greet signing is another. It's a unique one-on-one experience that, to me, is only matched by having NBA courtside seats. But even as many stars continue to emerge in this big universe we like to call popular culture, so increases the odds of crossing paths with that one particular star (or stars) that you worship every day. In this instance, only a handful can turn that simple dream into a full-fledged reality. And I was fortunate enough to be part of that handful back on that December day nine years ago.
Those who've been to my social media sites might know that I'm a true music fan and the band I follow most is Linkin Park. I've been a fan of them since I bought Hybrid Theory in 2001, now owning all their albums, DVD's and other things LP. So, once I found out on LinkinPark.com that the Best Buy store in Dublin, CA would be part of a national three-city tour the guys would be going on to sign the book From The Inside: Linkin Park's Meteora just a week beforehand, I knew I wanted to take advantage of being there, especially since I didn't have a class scheduled during that Thursday afternoon timeframe. And because the book signing was open to the entire general public and not just to the LP Underground, this represented the one and only opportunity I can meet the guys without being a fan club member. After a week of persuading my parents and doing some careful planning with them and my sis in providing transportation and having someone to babysit my young brother (since all three of them were working at the time of the signing at 5pm), I was ready to seize the opportunity and take advantage of that one shot to meet them face-to-face.
On December 9th, I arrived in Dublin at 1:15pm after my dad drove a half-hour from my house. I went inside the store and, using money I got from my parents combined with some leftover birthday bucks (I turned 21 three weeks earlier; sorry kids, no drinks), bought From The Inside and Collision Course, which had debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart a day earlier. I also bought some other CD's as well as a battery and film for my camera. After I went to a booth to get a wristband ensuring my book would get autographed, I joined some of you LP fans outside to wait in the afternoon sun in a line that stretched to the Pier 1 imports store next door. We eventually moved inside at 3pm to wait in aisles in the appliance section, adjacent to the signing booth located in the the satellite radio section in the back of the store (the blue circle area for those who regularly visit your nearest Best Buy). I spent the three hours of downtime listening to my CD player and taking pix of the atmosphere inside, not to mention hearing LP songs blare out of the windows of many fans' cars as if I was in the parking lot of Shoreline or HP Pavilion awaiting one of their concerts. I was also the one who answered any strangers' questions of "What's the line for?" and "What's going on here?," since i'm also very knowledgeable about Linkin Park, the music and the artists. I guess listening in my CD player Eminem's "Lose Yourself" seemed to emphasize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of meeting someone famous a few feet away, especially the band I follow on a day-by-day basis.
At 5:10pm, the LP boys came out of the back door where Best Buy installs the car stereos, and you can sense "Bedlem at Best Buy" (as I like to call it), with the fans screamin' and flashbulbs poppin' in the relative "madhouse" atmosphere (as one Best Buy employee described it, hearing it through my own ears). I did remain calm unlike most of that crowd. After all of that, I then moved through the line, even taking a picture of a fan's T-shirt that spelled Joe Hahn's last name wrong, reading "HANH" instead of "HAHN." When I saw the band at the table, I felt the standard chills and goosebumps inside me, saying to myself, "This is not TV or a magazine, DC. This is real, this is live, and this is happening in front of your own two eyes." I also had the same first impression of the band as the 1,000 people that were there: they're nice and friendly to their fans, reflecting their down-to-earth attitude offstage, even if they're one of the most aggressive bands out there onstage. When my turn to walk to the signing table finally arrived, I handed my copy of From The Inside to one of their two bodyguards for him to lay it down at the table. The big moment was when after I took Chester's picture of him showing off that mugshot killer smile for my camera (warning: the following may sound corny to you, so bear with me hardcore fans), this was what happened next:
- Me: "Hey, Chester? My name, Dexter, rhymes with your name."
- Chester, as if he was part of my one of my high school cliques, then looks at me and says, "Dexter."
- Phoenix - a.k.a. "bass player man" (circa Meteora World Premiere on radio) - does likewise and goes, "Dexter!"
Never in my life had I felt starstruck then that moment when Chester and Phoenix uttered out my two-sylabled, six-lettered name, which is probably the only two-sylabled name that rhymes with the tattooed man LOL. Further on down the table - as D12's "My Band" was blaring out on the speakers, the guys signed the foreword pages of my copy of From The Inside (a spur-of-the-moment thing in page selection since I didn't get bookmark the page I wanted to them to sign - the page with their photos from the Meteora liner notes), while I was taking pix of them. Lastly, after Mike signed my page at the end of the table, I asked him which copy of the book was mine since there was plenty of them on the table. Mike told me which one it was and he & the other bodyguard pointed a couple of times to it, and then I gave them thanks. After I walked out of the signing area, I paniced a little bit in double-checked my book, but I found the Foreword page where the guys autographed the book and things were alright, except that I was a little overwhelmed in having met the band face-to-face and getting recognized by them, too.
After all of that - and even rejecting a fan's request to have my wristband, I found my sister in the parking lot waiting for me after she got off from work nearby at the Ford place in Pleasanton. What's funny is that she asked me afterwards if the people we screaming "We love you Chester!" or "We love you, Justin!". I was quick to explain that it was "Chester" that the fans were chanting, given that there's a strong appeal of Linkin Park among the teen audience, even if I would estimate the ratio of the Dublin crowd to be just about a 50-50 male/female.
In the nine years since that December 2004 night, my passion for Linkin Park became even stronger afterwards. And although it's cooled off as of late as I've become interested in the broader musical scene (I'm a true music fan after all), that still remains. Besides buying their next three albums Minutes to Midnight, A Thousand Suns and Living Things, I kept for my records photos I took and a journal with the flyer, other pix of the meet-and-greet I got from fansites, the yellow wristband that I wore, even the sales reciepts from what I bought there. I've burned onto CD some of their concerts and radio interviews. I also have an LP wristband, t-shirt and the LIVE-8 DVD with their performance with Jay-Z in front of a million people in Philly*. And, I enjoyed the Fort Minor CD - it was really cool. And of course, the next time Linkin Park (or the side projects Chester and/or Mike have aside from LP) comes to the Bay Area for a concert, I will make an attempt to be in that audience.
Summing this up, it was an awesome pleasure to meet Linkin Park in 2004. I still look back at it as if was yesterday, most especially when I pass by the Best Buy on the way to my sister's house or whenever I watch LP perform or hear their songs. It was one of the most memorable experiences I've ever had and it's hard to believe it's been exactly a year since I experienced those five hours. In the long line of biggest moments in my life, it's only second to graduating Milpitas High in 2001 but definitely my biggest moment since that day in June 2001. For those few hours in the twilight of December 9, 2004, I was living in a dream that fans of music and entertainment like myself have always imagined in our minds but only a handful can have that dream realized: that would be meeting your favorite artist in the most-intimate of atmospheres - a meet and greet signing booth at a high-profile signing event. Having the band's tattooed frontman and bassist call out your name? That for me, in itself, is definitely something to behold.
