January 31, 1998
Yet after another tiring day at the NAMM show, I have re-couped and am ready to report! We were aware that both Gene and Ace were going to be at the convention on Saturday, and we knew what time Gene was scheduled to appear, so the first thing we did was get to the Gibson booth and see what time Ace was designated to autograph. Gene was at 2:00, and Ace was at 2:30.

So I was thinking, "cool, I'll have a chance to meet both of them". After that we went to the booth that Gene was having his photo-op at, and someone mentions that it was going to be a photo opportunity only....No autographs. Well I was a little disappointed because I had brought my SPIN covers that I won from the SPIN Magazine contest, and I was going to have Gene and Ace sign theirs respectively. (This rumor turned out not to be true, Gene was signing things right and left.) So Kathy and I got in line to wait for Gene. It was twenty minutes until 2:00, but the line was still very huge.

So at the end of the line, we wanted to make sure that we were in the RIGHT line afterall so we asked the girl in front of us, "who are you waiting for?" and she says to us, as she points inside on the window to the booth that we were standing next to, "the man himself". There was Gene right in front of us inside the booth on the phone! So anyway Kathy and I watched for a second (literally a second) and then she pulled out the prototype of the KAOL 2 CD cover and held it to the window for him to see. He was still on the phone, but looked at the CD. I know that no one has seen the cover yet but it's very similar to the "Creatures of the Night" cover, but with a unique KAOL twist (secret!) So Gene is looking at it thinking that it is probably "Creatures of the Night" but he keeps looking and realizes that there was something different with this cover. So then he notices that it's KAOL, and motions for Kathy to throw it over the top of the booth. So Kathy throws it over and it bounces off Gene's hand and it hits some VIP guy in a suit right on the head and falls apart!

So Gene puts the disc, cover, and Eric Carr stickers back together and looks at the front for a little bit and then motions to Kathy saying "Do you want me to sign it?", so she nods, and Gene signs the cover of the prototype. Meanwhile Kathy reaches into her bag and pulls out the personalized yarmulke she had made for him with KAOL on it. (It was an inside joke from the a previous phone conversation she had with him). She held that up to the window and Gene smiled, holding his hand up to his head verifying it was the yarmulke. So Kathy threw it over the wall for him and his assistant caught it. Gene pointed to the CD cover showing the KAOL, and then pointed to the yarmulke with the KAOL letters on it, explaining it to him. Although he was right in front of us, we couldn't hear him thru the glass.

So then I got out the "Kosher Camera" (remember from yesterday's NAMM report??) and showed it to Gene through the window and pointed to the "Mazel Tov" on the camera, so he would make sure to see it. So he smiled, pointed at the camera, and said to the roadie "See?" (I read his lips) as if he was confirming the yarmulke story. So I took his picture through the window, he threw the newly autographed KAOL CD back over the wall, and then he walked off to start his autograph session.

A few minutes later the line didn't appear to be moving, so I went to the head of the line to take some photos of Gene. I got a bunch, but still had to wait our turn if I wanted an autograph. So we waited for an hour to get my SPIN covers signed and then Gene mysteriously left!! We heard reports that he was coming back, but we had already got to communicate with him, give him his gift, and get photos and an autograph.

So it was 3:00 and we figured that we had missed Ace also, so we walked around the convention for a long time. We went to the Pearl booth and talked to Eric Singer. We saw people like Tod Howarth walking around , but since I'm not really a Frehley's Comet fan I didn't approach him. So as we walked around we decided to go to the Gibson booth afterall just to see if maybe Ace was still there because we had heard that people frequently show up late. Lo and behold Ace was there! It was total chaos in the Gibson booth though, and it appeared that everyone was cutting in line to get autographs and there was no organization to the whole thing. I saw people there just drooling at the opportunity to get to Ace so I just went to the front of the line, took a bunch of photos and left. I am not one for liking crowds, so I didn't want to bother with getting my SPIN cover signed. Ace looked sick and tired. Although I didn't hear him talking at all, he appeared to be out of it.

So after our adventures with KISS, we were pretty tired, and there were a LOT MORE people there than the day before, so the place was hectic. Among the celebrities I saw on Saturday were George Lynch (Dokken), Bob Weir (Grateful Dead), and Michael Anthony (Van Halen). Michael was at the booth with Gene, and signed autographs right before Gene. I saw him through the window of the booth too, and he kept making funny faces at me. LOL I also saw the drummer of Alice and Chains (I've forgotten his name) and Chris Robinson (Black Crowes).

It was a fun day after sharing a moment with Gene and then finally getting to see Ace. Too bad I didn't get my SPIN covers signed, but I am not disappointed with the outcome at all. So I wonder who's gonna be there next year??????? ;P

January 30, 1998
Well Kathy and I finally got back from our first day at the NAMM Convention. It was a great time, and man am I exhausted from such an eventful day....

It all started when we arrived at the convention. We went and looked at some of the exhibits and watched some of the demonstrations of all the latest in musical equipment. It was really interesting, but reminded me of just how much money I DON'T have. (LOL!!) The event isn't open to the public, just industry people and celebrity endorsements and Kathy was nice enough to score me a badge to get in with her.

When we finally made our way to the South Wing of the LA Convention Center, we noticed that it seemed to be the crux of the whole event. All the major dealers were in that wing including Gibson, Ludwig, Fender, Ibanez, Crate, and coincidentally enough, ESP Guitars....

We approached the ESP booth, under the impression that Bruce Kulick was scheduled to be there the next day. But upon arriving, we caught our sites on none other than John Corabi! He was talking to some fans and fluttering around the booth. He appeared to be a really nice guy in listening to him talk. However just then as we were admiring the site of John, I turned my eyes to the table in the middle of the booth, and sitting at the table was Bruce!! I said to Kathy, "Look it's Bruce!" (imaginative, eh?) and we checked to make sure he wasn't busy and then after seeing that he was meeting and greeting other fans, we approached him.

Kathy introduced herself to him and being that she is putting together the "KAOL 2: Creatures of the Net" CD he recognized her immediately and shook her hand. She has been in contact with him and most recently sent him an advanced tape of 4 songs from the tribute CD last week. He said to her, "I got your tape!". They talked for a bit about the songs that she sent him and he mentioned that he had played them for none other than Paul Stanley!! Paul told Bruce that he liked Kathy's rendition of "Jungle" (he said it sounded like the Hawaii 5-0 Theme Song with the horn blasts....LOL!!) but Bruce emphasized that Paul's REAL favorite of course, was the Partridge Family Tribute Band's version of "Shout it Out Loud"! He had heard it before when Bob Ezrin played it for him and Gene. Bruce said that Paul especially likes the little part at the end where they add their own lyrics to the song with "Cmon Get Happy". Then Kathy showed Bruce a template of the artwork for the CD and he really liked the stickers of Eric Carr that are to be included inside.

So after getting the KAOL talk aside, we wanted to get our pictures taken with Bruce! So we broke out our disposable camera, and the flash was flyin! Interesting side note: We bought this "Jewish" camera that says "Mazel Tov" on it for when we meet up with Gene, (Kathy thought it would be funny in regards to a conversation she had on the phone with him a while back). The camera is normally used for Jewish weddings and other photo-op events, so I guess it fit right in. LOL!! It comes into play of the story later, so remember the "Kosher Camera". (LOL!!!)

Just after we finished the photo session with Bruce (and yes, he thought the camera was funny) I look over and I see none other than Gerri Miller from Metal Edge Magazine! It was easy to recognize her because I have been reading Metal Edge for years, and her picture is always with the "stars" on the editor's page. She talked to Bruce for a minute and then we said hi and introduced ourselves to her. Not only has she been kind to KAOL with exposure, she has just written the extensive 2 page liner notes for the CD booklet of "Creatures of The Net". So she immediately knew Kathy. Kathy and Gerri talked and I was standing back taking it all in when I notice another person come up behind Gerri Miller.....It was Bruce's brother Bob Kulick! He was busy talking to Bruce and John Corabi, so I didn't nudge in their way to bother him. So then after watching the 3 of them talking, Kathy talking to Gerri, I started looking around some more when I see this little crowd of people walk up. It was Eric Singer, Gilby Clarke, and Karl Cochran! I was thinking to myself...."wow, I am getting hit all at once with this!!" In the meantime, Kathy is now taking pictures for Bruce and other fans with their cameras, and then grabs John Corabi and has me take a shot with her, John, Bruce, and Bob all at once. When it was all over, I asked Eric Singer for a photo with me (he was eating chocolate frozen yogurt, BTW). He said "sure" and then he saw the "Kosher Camera"! He began to laugh and he said to me "that's a joke, right?" and I said "no, it's a real Jewish camera, we bought it at a Jewish store" and he took it from me and showed his friend Derek someone (?) and said "Look Derek, a Kosher Camera!! Oy Vay!!" and he laughed and gave it back. So Kathy snapped the photo of the two of us, and then he left.

So bemused at being innundated with all the happenings, Kathy and I walked off to see the rest of the convention going on. I don't think we know what hit us because it all happened so fast: John, Bruce, Gerri, Bob, Eric, Gilby, and Karl. It was like killing two birds with one stone. Meeting everyone all at once at the ESP booth and not having to hunt them down! (LOL) So as we were walking around, I recognized other celebrities in attendence like Tico Torres (drummer of Bon Jovi), Paul Gilbert (awesome Satriani-like solo guitar player), and Carmine Appice (who is a legendary session drummer and has played with Alice Cooper, Rod Stewart and many others). They were all just walking around, taking in all the exhibits.

As we made our way to the Gibson booth, we remembered that Ace Frehley is supposed to perform in the Gibson show, so we wanted to see if he was at the booth. No luck however we did see a cutout standup of him and his signature model guitar hanging on display at the booth. Then we turned around and saw a line forming for autographs. It was Tony Iommi (guitarist for Black Sabbath). So Kathy got his autograph and we left the Gibson booth.

When we finally made it to the Fender Guitars booth there was a HUGE crowd gathering outside the room that it was being held in. I looked through the crowd and noticed Slash at the center of attention signing autographs for fans. Never being much of a Guns N Roses fan, I didn't stay to get one, but it was cool to see him in person. We passed by the Ludwig booth and got an autograph from Bun E. Carlos (drummer, Cheap Trick), went to Ibanez and scored an autograph from George Benson (jazz guitarist....Kathy LOVES him, go figure) and went to the Charvel/Jackson booth and saw Scott Ian from Anthrax signing autographs. Once again, I passed at the opportunity, but it was cool to see him.

So that was pretty much our eventful day. We are going back again tomorrow and possibly on Sunday (which is the last day of the event). Other celebrities that were announced to be in attendence, but we didn't see were: Blas Elias (drummer, Slaughter), Joe Satriani (solo guitar player), and Duff McKagan (bassist, Guns N Roses).

And as soon as we get the Kosher Camera developed, we'll share some of our photos here exclusively on the KISS ASYLUM!!!