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Authenticity is Everything
ZZ TOP Vs QUEEN
Hunting down Icons is something that I really enjoy and this month the 25th was gonna be a tricky one as 2 great acts were on stage at the same time on the same day and miles apart.
This is were experience comes in and how you decide to carry out the hunt and limit your loses and turn them to success .
I have met Brian May of queen over a 100 times in the last 12 years he is everywhere in uk every single award you can imagine and various other campaigns from gigs to charity etc.
So this was more of a simple task , For example the majority of the IN PERSON hunters will know that he usually signs going into a venue but he makes a Runner on the way out like many acts in the rock industry Kiss , Gary Moore etc .
So when they come of stage they are gone before the doors open for the public to leave the building. I remember Gary Moore used to depart while the music was still been played , Blackie Lawless and Kiss walk out while dipping sweat with a towel over their heads.
Luckily I was right Brian arrived at the venue just after 17:00 and he started to joke and sign for people, Its always best to get him in a big crowd because he is a little tough one on one he loves to sign 1 per person, So in a crowd with maybe glasses double colour jackets a couple of caps you can try in and out and get 3 or 4 etc.
He loves to complain (This is not my job , I have a job ) This is one of his favourite lines, But give him credit he still signs for people.
On the way out he left approx. 22:00 and like I said he was gone like lightning. I went to the hotel the following morning and manage to get him again checking out at 13;00 but because there was only 4 people there he only signed 1 per as I mentioned before.
Now here was the challenge, In All the years I have done this I have never ever heard of a single person in the world saying he has actually got all 3 members of zz top.
You see the odd item selling here and there but the origins are always kinda sketchy.
I have met the ZZ gang 5 or 6 times in last decade and have always manage to Get only Billy Gibbons on either Vinyl or photos but never Dusty or Frank, For the people who don't know they never ever travel together they always have a coach each so 3 massive coaches even for small taxi runs so getting them is tough also they never stay in same hotels and they travel over night and to random cities , Getting ZZ TOP takes loads of Luck and a lot of time wasting , Gambling is all you do as you need to gamble all your free time.
Also doing them on the way in is a waste of time , Billy arrives earlyish and will sign a handful the other 2 arrive 40 minute before they go on stage usually 10 minutes before support act walks of the stage.
So way in is no good as you got almost 20% chance if that.
Anyway it was time now 23:00 First came out Frank put his head done and started to walk past everyone while walking in the centre of at list 12 security guards he did not sign a single thing and jumped on to his coach.
2nd was Dusty he came out and signed maybe 3 or 4 autographs for the 100 strong crowd and he was in his Limousine in less than 1 minute his driver put his foot down and he vanished in 60 seconds.
Finally we all knew Billy was gonna save the day which he did , He came out and took photos with the majority of the fans and signed almost everything that was put in front of him but the guards were trying to make sure you only got one so a lot of hat changing was required for getting a few in different areas as the minute you get one you need to move out and away and re charge for another hit.
He then left and we realised that Frank was still in his double decker coach and approx 01;00 his bus started to move so we decided to follow and which we did all the way to the airport were we manage to get him , For the first time in over a decade I managed to actually get 2 members of this super tough band hopefully in the next 10 years I will complete the sets but for now am happy with all the single rare 70s shots I manage to get also apart from the other band stuff.
I spend the whole next day at the airport hopping I might see them again but never did , We found out they took they transports separate and went to Dublin instead of Cork were they were suppose to go, The gig was in Cork and they stayed in Dublin serious miles between the two, Heard from locals there they got no one but Billy most never saw the other 2 outside the stage were they performed !!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by 2si9gjw9em85g on
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Good story just like all of your stories....Here's my ZZ Top CD. They all signed it - J&R Music was the location. Where are your pics??????
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Many people have got all 3 members of ZZ Top in person, myself included. Maybe its a London thing.
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Permalink Reply by Jason Thanos on
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It's not a London thing actually I leave in Manchester but not seen anyone in whole UK with a set. And not only I know hunters in Paris , Germany , niece , Berlin , Munich , Vancoover , Toronto , Osaka , Tokyo they have only ever got Billy . For you two all I can say is I guess you were lucky .
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Jason, ZZ Top held a signing of La Futura last year at J&R Music. J&R gets a large number of high profile artist that do signings. If you happen to pre-order it in on Aug 25 you got a wrist band that allowed you to meet the band and get signatures on Sept 11. Nice promo for people who have been fans of ZZ.
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Nice nice , I love looking at real items In our Industry the % of real signatures is so tiny that you choose to ignore to look anymore.
Had a tough 2 days with Johnny Rotten yesterday and this morning but still manage to get some items done his guy Rambo is a pain on any chasers arse !!
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Like to hear your story or stories on Johnny Rotten...Does he sign Johnny Rotten, John Lydon, or will he sign either way? Is he as difficult a human as the sotries that surround him make him out to be? I guess I'm asking what your take on him and your interaction with him has been like.
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The famous saying someone s trash is someone's gold
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Your zz top is like oasis , stone roses and Brian may for me
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No sorry did not mean trash as in rubbbish , tried to say like not important enough that's all :-)
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May can be hard though he does love the 1 per , but not sure he does many trips too often I mean he is British so this is why we see him . But at the end of the day he is still an icon so worth some ££
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Permalink Reply by Innuendo on
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Ya he's great, but anybody who is still alive and signs as much as he does (with plenty of genuine sigs in circulation) brings the value down considerably. If he signed 3 sigs a year, I'd be willling to pay more. And of course when he passes away (knock on wood he will be around for a long time), the value of his sig goes up as with anyone else. There are literally 100,000s of genuine BM sigs in the Queen fandom floating around. That's not to say he isnt awesome, but as with any other celeb out there, a very common sig isn't usually a very expensive one. His is incredibly common. But he is still a total badass musician, and totally one of my favs as far as guitar players go. You cn expect his sigs to go up in value when he moves on the great gig in the sky. That's why its always a good idea to stalk up on anyone's sigs while they r common and lower in price and demand. Ive got a few BM. That way, I can always have at least one of his sigs in my collection while still selling and trading.
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Permalink Reply by Richard Booth on
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Mercury Man - Just sent you a friend request, Can we talk about the ZZ signed items?
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