of an incident that happened to me and some friends in July 2001.
The group consisted of Dirty Dave, Joe B., John, and I and the
location was Kansas City, MO on July 9, 2001. We were on what was
titled the "Extreme Steel Road Trip 2001," where we traveled from St.
Louis to the Lake of the Ozarks, then to Manhattan, KS, followed by KC
and back to STL. We picked up John (who was actually was a sorry
substitute for our friend Stephen who encountered some trouble with
the parents and had to return home for the week) and headed to Kansas
City for the Extreme Steel concert, which consisted of headliners
Pantera and Slayer (hardcore bands, to sum it up) along with Static-X,
Skrape, and Morbid Angel as the openers. I was, and still am to an
extent, into this type of heavy metal, but I need to be in the right
mood.
The concert rocked hard (it really is a natural wonder to see a
Pantera live, and I pity anyone who never had the chance to
observe, or participate, in one), but this is secondary to the
anecdote at hand.
We were departing the concert after it ended, and as we were exiting,
I spotted a short man with a uniquely shaved crew cut. He also had a
tattoo at the back of his neck; it was the logo of alternative rock
band Alien Ant Farm. I followed him down the concourse a bit and, upon
further facial investigation, realized it was actually THE lead singer
of Alien Ant Farm. (Simple explanation: the Vans Warped Tour was going
on the next day, which AAF was playing. Just wanted to take in a
relaxing show the night before, I assume.)
Dirty Dave (trust me, the description is rather applicable), being the
extrovert that he is, led the charge in approaching Dryden Mitchell
and engaging him in a conversation. As amusing as the story is
already, Mitchell's reaction furthered the experience. Actually, if I
recall the situation correctly, I began by say, "Hey, are you the lead
singer of alien ant farm?" And he responded, startled, "Ye..ye…yes…,"
Basically, the man was frightened out if his mind. I'm assuming,
because he's a stage performer who I wouldn't think would be prone to
shyness except when performing (though I think there are personality
types like that out there), that this dude was probably messed up on
some sort of drug and feared for his life. Heck, I would be scared of
four Pantera fans accosted me and struck up a conversation. The
conversation was brief, but a mention was made of Dave and Joe
attending the Warped Tour when it came through St. Louis in the
following days.
Sure enough, Dave and Joe caught Mitchell's eye at the concert. He
wasn't too f'ed up back in KC, I guess, since he remembered them, and
proceeded to silently offer them a sip of his lukewarm Busch Light.
After thinking about it further, I think maybe Dryden Mitchell is a
little messed up in one way or another. Anyway, it makes for a good
story, right?
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