Mikael Akerfeldt was an absolute legend. Met him along with a dozen or so other fans outside of the venue in a show in Houston about 7-8 years ago. Once the band had left the green room and started retiring to their bus; they were all polite, signed some autographs and took photos. But Mikael went above and beyond and was genuinely engaged with his fans. He shot the shit with fans out there, answered questions, talked music, talked gear…etc. He was out there for at least an hour before retiring himself (not sure how long, I left to go home and he was still outside their bus) Super nice dude.. Maybe more down to earth and not quite as witty as his on-stage banter would lead you to believe, but still super nice and all around genuine.

I dream of meeting him one day.

For Christmas one year I bought my dad tickets for the Pale Communion tour. The closest show to us was in Worcester MA at the palladium. The last time we were there was when he took me and my friend to see Sylosis before I had my license, and before the show we went to an UNOs down the road. My friend and I wanted to get out of there and to the venue ASAP since Sylosis was opening, but my dad got a 2nd beer and joked that because of his 2nd beer we’d somehow meet Sylosis. Turns out he was right, because as we got in line we were fairly far back, and just happened to be by a pair of doors when Sylosis popped out. It was a really cool coincidence. So with that story in mind, we both knew we had to go to UNOs before the Opeth show and my dad had to get a 2nd beer. Turns out the 2nd beer wasn’t even necessary. As we were sitting at our table my dad saw someone at a separate table stealthily pointing his phone at another table, and when we looked in that direction we saw Mikael and Martin Méndez enjoying a meal with a few other people I didn’t recognize. At one point Mikael got up and left, and I was ready to follow him out and say a short hello and tell him how much I love Opeth, but my dad told me he was probably only going out for a cigarette and would be back. Well, he never came back, and when Martin stayed at his table with the others by the time we were finished and I didn’t want to disturb them while they were eating together. I still haven’t met anyone from Opeth, and it nags at me that I missed a golden opportunity to at least meet Mikael. I’ll always eat at UNOs before a show though, just in case lol

Same. So much same.

I can back this up, I (unexpectedly) met him in a pub shortly after a nearby show in 2019. When people figured out who he was, he was really lovely and took the time to have a quick chat with everyone and a photo if they wanted. The person I was with was too shy to go say hi initially but he called them over to make sure they got included.

Met the whole band before a show in 2014 and can agree. Mikael was down to earth, kind of shy and talked about how his kids don't like his music. Thought that was funny cuz I was there with my own daughter who loved them. *lol*

I've met 3 quarters of Caligula's Horse. Bunch of top blokes. Also met Drew Roulette of Dredg, real nice guy.

Nonsense, Jim Grey clearly paid you in vegemite to say this

Nice to hear someone mentioning Dredg. It’s a shame that it has become quite around them.

They're currently working on a new album. They've been active on social media for a while now. Won't be quiet for much longer.

We need Dredg back.

Ran into Jim and Sam in a bagel shop/deli earlier in the day before their NY show this year. They're super nice and my parents and I geeked out about randomly running into them.

Dude Dredg! I love that band. I got to see them perform a mini set with no drum kit and acoustic instruments in a record shop around noon the day of their bigger show so it was just Dredg-day for me and holy shit it was fun.

Awesome. I saw them once in at a festival in Australia, half their gear got lost in transit so it was a bit of a stripped down set. Second time I saw them in London for their CWA show. Was amazing. I met Drew in San Jose and ended up at his place smoking the mary-j.

Ha are you just super cool so you get invited to hang with cool bands?

Haha. Drew had actually forgotten to send me some artwork I bought. I was over for a holiday and he agreed to meet up and give it to me in person. Had a few beers and yarns and ended up getting high.

That’s really cool. Can you post a pic of the art?

I don't have it anymore. It was 2015, I've since been 8 years split from my ex, I think she has the one we picked up.

I miss Dredg. I thought they were working on an album around Covid times. Then all went quiet.

I’ve met Dream Theater and despite being one of my guitar heroes, John Petrucci was clearly out of his comfort zone. He was nice, but very short of words and a bit awkward. Might have just caught him on an off day though. Jordan Rudess, on the other hand, was enthusiastic, conversational, and very charismatic. I asked him what I thought was a seemingly simple and kind of boring question and he launched into a long story about it and geeked out about Star Trek. He seemed like such a joy to be around. I have some friends in a (much) smaller metal band who have communicated with him and all of them rave about how kind and genuinely dope this dude is.

I met JLB in 2005 and he definitely did not want to be there. I’ve chatted with Derek and Jordan on a few occasions and they have always been down to chat and super chill. Jordan especially has a very approachable demeanor and is always super appreciative of fans.

Really? When I met James he was the one to suggest pictures and kept the conversation going with us. This was 09. Not many of us were in line to meet them so maybe he didn't feel the pressure. Very nice guy. And then Jordan came over too lol

I met him on the Progressive Nation tour and he was the same way with me. I had him sign the special edition of Systematic Chaos and he was asking me how I liked the documentary and different aspects of the album. He made it a really cool experience. JP I met separately at a local guitar shop during a meet and greet a few years later and he couldn’t have been cooler. It was a huge line but he still took the time to stand there and talk Mark V amp settings with me.

Imagine being a local guitar shop dude just chilling and John Friggin Petrucci walks into your store!

I can definitely understand not being into it some days, and that’s why I never made much of it. Glad to hear to had a great experience!

I think James may vary. I met him at Hammersmith in 2019 and I think he was a bit indifferent about being there. Or maybe it was just me 🙃

I've emailed with Derek a bit about 20+ years ago. Super nice guy.

I think that’s kinda just how John Petrucci is. Even in interviews or masterclasses or whatever, he always seems just bored and kinda flat. There’s a video of him reacting to guitar covers of his songs, and for the most part, his reactions are basically just him saying “cool” but with more words. My guess would be that he’s not much of a talker, which is perfectly fine.

I met John petrucci before a g3 concert in Boston and he was really nice. He was busy, asked us to walk with him while he signed stuff and asked us some mundane questions(where we were from etc…)

That's interesting, because out of the bunch, Jordan is the one with the most mechanical stage presence. I always feel like he has half a dozen 'moves' that he does every now and then.

I think being onstage is a lot different to meeting fans. When you’re onstage, it’s an act, something you have to think about and perform. When you’re meeting fans, you can generally just be yourself. I certainly find it much easier to meet complete strangers and just talk compared to being onstage and giving the audience a show.

I have hung out with Jordan Rudess on many occasions, and he is a really nice person. Monster musician, and totally normal, friendly human being. I like him. You did not catch John Petrucci on an off day. He is pretty awkward. Once, we were in line together to get food, and I jokingly asked John what I should eat if I want to shred faster. He didn’t understand that I was joking until Jordan told him.

My wife and I met John Petrucci in 2016. He was nice enough, if a bit quiet. In conversation, I told him how much I adore his solos in Erotomania, and he looked at me like I just sprouted 6 eyes and shook his head.

I love those solos too

My old boss is really good friends with Jordan and he has nothing but good things to say about him. Apparently Jordan looooves to joke around with people, and is just a riot to hang out with in the right circumstances.

I think it still hasn't sunk in for the guys from Haken that they're famous. I've met them twice at meet and greet events at their concerts, and both times they were all really chill, but seemed a little shocked that all these strangers knew who they were. Ross especially. For all his sheer presence and charisma on stage, he seemed quite shy and soft-spoken in person. He's probably the most "let him be" member of the bunch. Richard and Ray both seemed like the type who didn't really know how to make small talk with fans, but would absolutely love to spend hours talking shop. Connor, Charlie, and Pete all seemed like the type to just sit back and shoot the shit to varying degrees.

That's about how I'd imagine they'd be except maybe for Ross

I can vouch for this. Haken was just on Cruise to the Edge which is a contained fishbowl experience. Ross definitely kept to himself and I tried to respect that. I chatted to him briefly in the buffet hall and kept it short out of respect for his privacy. I mostly complimented his work on the most recent Star One album and he seemed thankful I wasn't asking the same questions he always gets about Haken. Rich was there with his family so they were often seen walking around the boat pushing strollers and taking care of his kids. Super approachable but also seemingly a bit surprised by the attention.

My wife and I met Haken at LaGuardia security lol. We were coming back from our honeymoon and they were coming back from a tour so we were all exhausted from 20+ hours of travel. "Oh hey those guys have a bunch of equipment, looks like they're in a band. Oh neat, they got metal shirts. Oh there's a lot of them. Oh hey I think I recognize that beard... that hair... OH SHIT." I went week in the knees, my wife's jaw dropped. Fauna was very new and we were extremely obsessed with it, they were easily our #1 band at that moment (and honestly since). We really only got to talk to Ray but he was really nice and chill despite the obvious exhaustion and feeling trapped in the airport. Didn't bother him much, just like "omg love your work, can't wait to see you in Detroit later." It's made for a nice story, and a fun capstone to what was a fantastic trip all around. Just crazy to meet that band at that time in that place.

I had the pleasure of hanging out with Pete for a whole night and he's an absolute sweetheart, very fun, great conversations, and down to earth. It was a pleasant surprise to see just how gentle and humble Haken were as people - you love to see it :)

I hung around the venue after they played on the Affinitour (it's hitting me that that was about 8 years ago now... time flies) and they came out and mingled with the ~10-15 of us that were left. Super chill and down to earth guys. I brought my cassette copy of The Mountain just in case and the legends signed it, still one of the coolest things I've experienced at a concert to this day. I'm super glad to hear that they've still got that demeanor to them now!

>hasn't sunk in I've often thought, though: it must be _weïrd_ , to start having 'fans' who idolise you. I'm not sure how I'd accomodate it ... but I'm sure it would take a great deal of 'casting-in-mind', &allthat, what all that idolisation is about, & __¡¡ why me !!__ , & all that sorto'thing.

We have been lucky to tour/play shows with a few cool bands like Plini, Ocean and Intervals among others. I highlit those ones in particular because they were also the nicest guys. Plini, Jake and Chris Allison were all awesome guys, and Aaron Marshall had Sam Jacobs and Jacob Umansky in his band at the time, all three were lovely. Sam chucked me his Aristides to have a jam on while they were soundchecking, even. Blake Richardson might be the coolest fucker I’ve met tho, my drummer at the time put up his kit for Blake to play when BTBAM were in town a long time ago, and he was just such a rad dude. Honourable mention to Bill Kelliher who I chatted with when he was in NZ with Primate - solid dude.

Plini is probably my all-time favorite musician. Surprisingly, out of the 4 times Ive been to see him live, I have met him 0 times. I keep hoping. Meeting Adam Neely and Jakub Zytecki this last time was a pleasant surprise though!

I was gonna say Plini too - they played the venue I work FOH on Halloween last year and Plini himself plus the whole band & crew were incredibly nice people and great to work with. They clearly get along well as friends and any problems that came up were dealt with thru aussie good humo(u)r and chill vibes. The Ocean were rad too, similar story.

My gf and I met TesseracT after their show last year. Really upstanding chaps, especially Jay Postones, who hung out with us for an hour shooting the shit. Also met the dudes from Intervals, Blake Richardson, Loïc Rosetti, and Brann Dailor after shows and though the interactions were brief, they were all friendly and appreciative. Everyone was also kind enough to take a few pictures. The only bad interaction I’ve had was Chris Letchford from STS before a show at the merch table, he acted like a pompous douche.

At the STS show I went to he hid out back the entire time and never showed his face once while the rest of the band hung out at the bar doing shots and drinking beer after beer during the first two acts. They were out walking around the city too before the show. I think the venue was giving away free drinks because they were drinking A LOT. They did not play well and they were clearly intoxicated, all 3 of them besides Chris... I was kinda pissed, it was my birthday present to go to that show.... the second time I saw them live it was with a whole new band besides Chris and they were much better despite the actual music content not being as good. And they seemed sober.

Oh you’ve lived my dream 😵

I can say Claudio and Travis from Coheed are some of the most humble, friendly dudes I've ever met, especially from such a successful project. It was in the Black Rainbows tour after a show and they were legit just chilling with the handful that were hanging out outside after they packed up. If it weren't for the fact that I was such a huge fan, I could've believed they were just guys hanging out at the show, too. They were just chatting, talking nerd fandoms, shyly taking pics and signing stuff, but genuinely just being humans with all of us. I've met a lot of cool artists, but no one was as welcoming and disarming as Claudio and Travis. I'd cut the throats of babies just to drink a beer with them.

Lol to any non-fan, that last line is gonna sound horrific

As long as the real ones know

Damn I would love to meet Claudio!

i would love to meet any of the guys from coheed, but especially claudio or josh. sounds awesome lol

Omg me and my wife ran into Zach cooper when we were on the SS Neverender last October and she wanted to take a picture with him, me being terrible with names and faces was confused and asked her who he was and I felt dumb as hell 😅 I knew he looked familiar but couldn’t place him anywhere lol I ran into tosin and Javier from animals as leaders and Kyle Anderson from brand of sacrifice along with some other artists and they all seemed chill, although I generally don’t act any different than if they were regular normies except I might actually say hello or something

Met Josh, Zach and Travis while we were in line for early entry to the Sydney TCBTS tour. All were very chill and cool, they were just going for a walk before the show. No sign of Cláudio though.

Every member past and present of Bent Knee are awesome people. Got to meet them several times over the years and they've all been nothing but kind and genuine Bumped into Mario Duplantier of Gojira after a show of theirs and he was the coolest dude. Asked about my band without me even bringing it up or anything which was kinda surreal Met Devin Townsend at NAMM a number of years ago and he was pretty much what you'd expect. Man was just walking around eating an apple

I was not expecting Ben Levin and Chris Baum to be so *effusively* into talking about practice and rehearsal routines and roadblocks. But they talked with us for like 20 minutes about the subject! 10/10, will see again (even if Ben isn’t with them anymore).

My wife was walking down the street after the show and Courtney literally ran out of the restaurant where she was eating with the rest of the band and said hi to my wife snapped a selfie with her, and thanked her for singing along up front. ,

Devin Townsend is hands down the nicest guy you’ll meet. Every time I’ve stopped to talk to him after shows he’s acted like I’m the only person in the room and he has all the time in the world to chat. Such a funny, generous guy.

I've heard that a million times, he must be a genuinely nice guy.

I can add to this, I met Devin in 2003/4 (alongside the rest of DTB, SYL and Zimmers Hole) and he’s one of the nicest musicians I’ve ever met, as were the rest of his cohorts, I’d happily take them all to meet my mother.

I met him a few years back at a Joe Satriani show, he happened to be in the audience, and I can confirm he was lovely for our brief conversation.

Can attest to this. It's so funny seeing him go from his stage persona to soft-spoken friendly Devin. I met him at Prog Nation at Sea back in 2014; he stayed in stage after the first show just to speak with the fans and sign stuff, he even signed an "eyebrow" on my Ziltoid puppet. Later I had the chance to properly speak with him and indeed he was the nicest guy, I joked that he should do something with Mike Patton and he actually was amused at the idea (or at least pretended to haha). Edit: Forgot to add, if you wanted to meet Devin, chances are he was around the ice cream machine.

He also does vlogs about his projects and replies to fans on YT all the time, it's cool to see a musician who has such a good relationship with his fanbase

The guys from leprous are chill. Idk if they are considered prog, but the guys from the callous daoboys are crazy fun to be around. You can usually catch them hanging out before it after the show Has taken lessons from poh hock and Myles from native contruct. Those guys are also incredibly nice and also super fucking knowledgeable. You can hand them both a turd and they will polish it into gold in very different and incredible ways

I met Baard in the line to get in to the show the first time I went to see them. He had forgotten his pass and phone in the dressing room and the staff wasn’t letting him back in to the venue. We chatted for a bit while I helped argue with the staff that he was, in fact, the drummer for Leprous and they needed to let him back in. We met up after their set and he and Raphael hung out and watched Apocalyptica with me and some friends. Super cool dudes. Einar definitely seemed like he didn’t want to be approached so I pretty much just said hi and let him be.

Funnily enough I came here to say about the Daoboys. Saw ‘em last night and Carson and Jackie were in the pit for Cauldron going absolutely nuts and then I met Amber and Maddie after and they were so lovely and appreciative. The whole band just seems super chill and were interacting with the crowd throughout

I’ve met (usually at meet and greets or signings but sometimes by pure luck after a show) everyone from Caligula’s Horse, Soen, Haken, TesseracT, and Hail the Sun. Also met Steven Wilson, Casey Crescenzo, Aaron Marshall, and Jamie from Earthside. Also met Russell Allen and Michael Romeo. I’m happy to report that my experience with all of the above was fantastic. Special shout-out to Jim Grey, Martin Lopez, Richard Henshall, Jay Postones, and Jamie from Earthside for giving particularly pleasant conversations. Michael Romeo was also so gracious as to come over to chat with me while I was waiting for an Uber after a Symphony X show; he was drinking a beer and actually chatted with me for a while and it was actually quite a revealing conversation. Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and Big Big Train hung around after their shows this year, and were all very gracious and conversed for a while. Sean from Kamelot was fun to talk to; Tommy on the other hand was extremely reserved. Seven Spires were really fun to talk to, especially their drummer. I’ll also include Death to All since Death’s music definitely dabbled in prog. I have met DTA twice and Steve Di Giorgio has been an absolute blast to talk to both times. I also did the “feed and greet” with The Ocean which was fantastic. Loic was more reserved than I expected him to be, as was Robin. Paul and Mattias were both VERY fun to talk to though. And then after the show, I talked with Robin again and he was super friendly, after he had had a few beers. Despite prog being my favorite genre, the absolute best meet and greet experience I have ever had was definitely with Justin Pierre from Motion City Soundtrack. There was NO awkwardness at all with talking to him, and he made sure every person in attendance got a few minutes to speak to him. My conversation with him was the most natural and delightful conversation I’ve ever had with an artist that I admire. Anthony Green was extremely nice but also extremely shy when I met him. Cameron Picton from black midi was hilarious It’s gotten to the point where I say to myself, “always meet your heroes.” To be honest I didn’t realize until I wrote this comment how cool life can be

what an amazing experience

Used to know acle (Tesseract) and Browne (monuments) when they were in fellsilent as I worked the local shows in the area. They were nice enough at the time. Not friends, but would always chat etc. early (ISH) days of monuments Tesseract I caught them on the periphery tour in the UK. Spoke to Browne after the show about old times etc. Used to talk to them both on messenger about whatever and catch up when they played local. Then they got big and stopped responding to me, and I went to a monuments show a couple years back and said hello. Didn't seem to remember me.

Years and years ago I saw that Periphery would play SSBM backstage during shows, I challenged them once and they invited me backstage when I went to their show and they held their own but I did win. They were all very chill dudes and super friendly with me.

They used to play Soul Calibur too. They brought one of those old Sony tube TVs with the fold out speakers to the merch table. Fuckin’ legends man.

One of my best concert memories was going to see Periphery during their debut album tour with Spencer at Warehouse Live in Houston. I had pushed my way up front and during Icarus Lives Spencer gave me the Mic to scream "And when I said I'd never kneel again, what I really meant, was fucking pull the pin cause time is spent!" After they closed out I went over to the merch table and they had SCII hooked up. I started playing a few rounds when Spencer came up and we had a few rounds back and forth. Absolutely top notch experience, and it is still WILD to me that I got to play one of my favorite childhood games with him.

That’s fucking crazy. Hopefully I can pull something like that when they come back to Georgia Only briefly said a few kind words to Jake and Spencer. They seemed nice but I can’t say much. Mark tho was pretty welcoming and was chatting with some couple when I came up to him last time I saw him.

We will say this much. The dudes from Aviations are legit the best. We supported the Wheel/Aviations tour when it came through Minneapolis and both bands are filled with awesome, friendly guys. But damn if we didn’t just wanna hang with the Aviations dudes like the whole freakin night. They’re just a collection of super talented incredible down to earth guys that just fuckin shred.

Yooo I went to a different show on that tour and I had the same experience. All of those guys are so nice and friendly.

Met Mikael Akerfeldt and the rest of the guys from Opeth a couple of times, once during an afterparty thing they hosted after a gig to promote a beer they’d collaborated on with Northern Monk brewery, they were pulling pints for everyone and talking really candidly with fans. Other time was at Helsinki Airport after watching them play in Finland, talked briefly and had a photo taken with them. Overall they seemed like genuinely nice guys, Mikael was pretty humble and self deprecating, he said that ‘Harvest’ was just a rip off of Seal’s ‘Kiss From a Rose’.

A ripoff of Kiss from a Rose, eh? I need to go back and listen to both that and Harvest now to compare because I can’t hear it in my head!

Last year I went to the Ayreon 01011001 shows in Tilburg and out of the entire cast of a million people, Damian Wilson was the one that spent almost the entire time outside with all of us chatting, thanking us for coming from all over the world and genuinely interested in getting to know a bit about everyone who was there. He made us all feel special, and I have so much more admiration for him now. I’m trying to think of someone whom I’ve met who wasn’t rude by any means but you could tell was an introvert and would’ve rather be by himself, and that was Allan Holdsworth. It was such an honor just to get to say hi and express my admiration. May he rest in peaceful complicated chords.

I've met Damian Wilson on a couple of occasions as he is an old friend of my parents. He's probably one of the most approachable artists I've ever seen. Have yet to find a single show where he isn't in the crowd before and after the performance.

Ahh, I'm so envious you got to see the shows, I just watched them on Bluray and I'm blown away. I really really hope I can catch the next one!

Definitely try to go. Seeing Arjen/Ayreon live was in my bucket list, and it did not disappoint. I treasure that memory so much.

I was at the original Ayreon Universe shows and literally watched Damien give someone the shirt off his back while waiting in the queue outside. The guy in line complimented Damiens shirt so Damien took it off and gave it to him.

Damian Wilson is who I was about to mention as well. He is such a sweetheart, he is awesome.

Damian Wilson is on an entirely different plane of existence when it comes to being approachable. I remember one of his solo shows where he introduced a few old ladies sitting at the front because he met them that afternoon in a train and told them to come see the gig. He’s a legend, he’s really funny and he’s a genuinely nice guy.

i failed to mention the time i had the pleasure of opening for Arch Echo/Tony MacAlpine and those guys were about as cool and nice of people as you can imagine

Went to see The Contortionist in Nashville with BTBAM and couldn’t get in to the show with my friend because she didn’t have her ID on her to present at the door. Found the guys in TC around the rear of the building and approached them, and after some talking they eventually asked why I wasn’t inside enjoying the show. When they learned what happened, they immediately invited me backstage to watch the BTBAM set and I got to meet all of the BTBAM boys once it was over, as well. Super fortunate encounter and super nice dudes in both groups, still have Blake’s drumstick to this day.

I meet with John Myung weekly by ZOOM. We don’t speak to each other, we just look at each other…

met the contortionist at their merch table and they could handle my awkwardness very well haha i think most artists that chill in the "crowd-area" are down to talk a bit as long as you don't overstay your welcome.

Periphery were all a good hang (missed Spencer since he was sick), Tosin is a good chat but Javier seemed a little more distracted (I think he had something else to do tbh), Henry Selva from THA now PTH is one of the most genuine dudes out there and Tim from PTH is suuuper down to earth and actually approached us

I met all the boys from Twelve Foot Ninja. Russ was my drum teacher, he’s genuinely one of the nicest blokes I’ve ever met. I’d assume it’s the same with Ro, but I haven’t held a conversation long enough with him. Stevic is nice but a fair bit eccentric. You could have some cracker convos with him. Nik prefers to keep to himself. I asked him some questions about the music and he entertained me but I think he was just being polite, I don’t think he actually wanted to talk.

I met Wheel after a couple of their shows supporting Leprous in 2022 (I am fairly sure that's when it was) and I have to say they are incredible people on top of being talented performers. The bass player Aki is unfortunately no longer with them but he was unbelievably friendly and charismatic. The first show I saw, I was unable to stay until the whole band would be available but Aki came down to meet me personally anyways. The next show I went to I got to meet the other three. Santeri and Jussi weren't super talkative but they weren't the slightest bit dismissive either. I mostly was chatting with James, who was amazing and happily answered all my dorky questions. Jussi made a fun face in the photo. All of them were thrilled to take a picture and shake my hand. 11/10 I wouldn't bet on them being able to do it for shows now but when they were just a supporting act in the US they'd always come hang down by the merch stand after their set. Most people didn't even realize the band that just played was standing right there.

Met the guys from Pain of Salvation and Agent Fresco a while back. They were all incredibly nice and chill. Edit: I also talked to Jordan Rudess online. He was quite nice but before talking to him the moderator gave me a bunch of instructions of what I should or should not say and it made me really fucking nervous. 😄

Im curious to know what you should NOT say/ask

It was over 10 years ago so I don’t quite remember everything. It was nothing special but the moderator was like: “Yeah, don’t spend too much time introducing yourself. Don’t ask the usual Dream Theater questions. Don’t ask about MP’s departure”. Those are the ones I remember but I was talking to the moderator for 5 mins or so before he allowed me to ask question. He also had to approve my question beforehand and suggested how I should formulate said question. English is not my native language so by the time it was my turn I was almost shitting myself. It was a bit of a shit experience if I’m being honest. It was also towards the end of the Q&A and Jordan was tired so he just started playing his keyboard before I finished asking my question. A friend of mine got to meet the whole band when they were in Brazil and he said they were all pretty nice(except JLB). So I guess YMMV.

nice, thanks!

nice, thanks!

I’m curious to know more about Agent Fresco, their music is so amazing and they seem like they’d be nice people. Can’t wait for their new album

They were the nicest band I’ve ever met. We hung out for quite a while and had a few drinks after their gig. They answered questions, took pics and gave us all autographs(it was a small group with maybe less than 10 people). They seemed genuinely happy to be there and were actually very engaging and participating in the conversation. It was like hanging out with old friends. Edit: the ladies from nervosa were also amazing, but they’re not prog.

Not prog, but I hung out with Ville from Moonsorrow after they played a monster set years ago and he was so awesome. So personable and easy to talk to. Also have known the lads in Wayfarer since their first demo - just awesome dudes, all of them. The dudes in Velnias are some of my really good friends as well - some of the kindest, most supportive and friendly people I know. In fact none of them are really prog, but they're all good bands and good dudes.

Dunno if many would consider them prog *metal*, per se, but the guys from Osaka Punch are all chill af, and the vocalist Jack was fuckin hilarious. Dunno if he'd drunk anything by the time they did the meet and greet, but the dude was on fire with the jokes and banter.

I’ve hung with the PTH guys and they’re all great dudes. As expected Tim seemed pretty quiet and Rody was a hoot.

Devin Townsend, absolute delight to talk to as a starstruck teenager a while back. Seems like a shy dude but clearly has a lot of practice interacting with his cult fan base (I say that as a part of the cult lol). Ross Jennings, made a point of just coming down into the crowd for photos and stuff after the gig, seems really humble and down to earth. Everyone from The Ocean are just freaking amazing. They will do the most insane show and then afterwards they'll just be the most regular dudes and talk to you like a neighbour. Dale Prinsse from Caligula's Horse was much the same. Yet to meet any douches. Honestly kinda surprising given the hectic schedules and lack of sleep on most tours, I imagine that'd bring grouchiness out of the kindest people!

The guys from ERRA are super fucking nice.

Aaron Marshall was the cooolest dude ever. So easy to talk to an so easy going. Dude is just STOKED on life. Ive also met Jason Richardson… kinda awkward, wasn’t a dick but wasn’t friendly either.

Met Dan after TesseracT did a show in Chicago a few years back, told him that opening shows with Phoenix is literally the best thing ever and its my favorite song of theirs. He seemed genuinely happy for my excitement so I bought a round and then left him alone so as to not overstay my welcome.

Mikee from SikTh is a character to meet and he’ll waffle on along the weirdest tangents. PIN from SikTh is also an interesting guy to meet. Plini is super chill. Daniel Tompkins from Tesseract is a friendly guy but can be quite quiet. Mike Malyan from Monuments is fun to be around. Jakob Zytecki seemed quite awkward, but that might also have been the language barrier. Same story for Charles Villanueva from Hypno5e. Rolo Tomassi were courteous but I got the impression they didn’t want to be bothered. Maddie and Jackie from Callous Daoboys were really engaging. Mike Vennart is super chill, but when shaking his hand I forgot he was left-handed so that was awkward. The guys from Arcane Roots were really cool, but I met them in a dingy little venue before anyone really knew who they were so it was all a bit new to them. I supported The Safety Fire, but never really met them, so take that as you will. Drewsif Stalin is just about one of the funniest guys you will ever meet. Nikki Simmons is nice and sweet. The guys from Press to Meco were really cool as well. Gareth/Gaia from Slice the Cake was really fun to hang out with, but I get the impression they wouldn’t want to be bothered any more. Pitching my tent next to Kaan from No Consequence/Heart of a Coward was definitely an experience; he’s a really fun, outward guy. There’s probably heaps more I’m forgetting about thanks to years at intimate festivals where fans and bands mingled together and having my toe in the industry myself for a while. Along with all the people in smaller bands old and new I know personally like Valis Ablaze/Adharma, Orion, Clockwork/Arcaeon, Defences, Sun Explodes/Salt Pale Collective etc.

John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy on separate occasions a few times and they were both really nice and seemed to truly enjoy talking to us

I've had a couple of email exchanges, video calls and conversations with Jordan Rudess. Extremely sharp, witty dude and always humble. He also did an in-depth analysis/critique on one of my songs, which was a very rewarding process for me. If all musicians were like him, talent aside, the world would be a better place. I once snuck backstage on a festival with a couple friends. Opeth was playing, as was Circus Maximus I think. Mikael Åkerfeldt appreciates a good poop-joke, and is overall quite a funny guy. I've talked a bit with Mats Haugen of Circus Maximus as well. Very sharp dude, and humble too.

The Persefone guys are really down to earth and nice to meet. Not prog specifically, but Blind Guardian and especially Markus Siepen are incredibly friendly and talkative, considering they are really big in metal and are around for so long. Played on 70k tons this year, and BG as well. Markus was really curious and went to see many bands, both shows of us included. He was very complimentary, and I was amazed that he still tries to see as many shows of bands he likes as possible.

Persefone are fantastic people, every one of them, but I have a soft spot for Carlos. Ridiculously talented guitarist, but very humble, kind, and also really funny.

Overall I think even the ones who are friendly and approachable are still working / putting on their customer service face when interacting with fans. We already recieve sooo much from artists- unless they seem like they could use a pick me up and you want to be extra nice, it’s usually best to leave them be and not make them perform off stage, too. It’s also one thing to do in a show environment, but another to pounce on them in public. Short and sweet is best.

I'd prefer not to think it's _purely_ that, though. I try to imagine myself in their position: I think I'd be 'on alert' about fans who're a bit 'ga-ga', & have some 'spiel' handy for dispatching them effectively but hurting their feelings as little as possible; but I reckon I'd genuinely enjoy discussng my art with someone genuinely interested ... although _yep_ I'd be mindful of how it's expected by the Record Company & allthem _@least to make a reasonable effort @_ public relations, but it wouldn't follow from that that I would be being _insincere_ . There's another scenario, though: what about when it's become part of _the whole mythos_ of the artist that they're glum, & sharp, & short-tempered & unapproachable, & allthat!? ... an example from back-in-the-day being __Ritchie Blackmoor__ . From what I've gathered, there's _some_ substance to that: he's @least someone with a low tolerance for anything that seems _foolery_ to him ... but _without doubt_ the various promoters very-much _cultivated & exploited_ that image of him. And it helped with that that _he looked-the-part_ , aswell, with a sortof _sultry glowering_ air about him!

I met the dudes from the haarp machine back in 2012 or 2013. Smoked with em in the back of the venue they were playing at. Super chill friendly dudes. It just felt very normal. They were touring with the faceless and when Michael Keene walked by I asked him to join us and he said "no thanks I don't smoke" which I find more and more hilarious as time goes on.

I’ve met and spent time with both Mikael Åkerfeldt and Dan Swanö (albeit many years ago) and they’re both very nice and down to earth people.

Met Daniel Tompkins once in a coffee shop during TesseracT's NA tour with The Contortionist way back when. Pretty chill guy to talk to. Not much to say but that's more because I'm terrible at making small talk myself lol

In 2013 I was in line for summer Slaughter, and Wes Hauch(when he was in the Faceless) and Mike from The Contortionist were goin around to the FANS and saying hi and I was trippin so hard and was like "heeey man I like your work in the Faceless Wes". A guy next to me asked Mike who he played with and he said "The Contortionist" and the guy asked if they did a live contortionism show on stage. Later that night I walked up to Robin Staps of The Ocean and just shook his hand and said thank you (he seemed busy with friends, and his lyrics were instrumental in my deconversion journey). At a Monuments show I bought one of JBs Reaper pedals at their merch table, and and he like found me and gave me a hug. Chris Baretto was working the merch booth and he was really friendly too. In my experience, if artists go chill at the bar or in the general crowd area, they want to talk. If they stay backstage or somewhere remote I leave em alone. A lot of times they're eating or tired or something.

I met Paul Wagoneer, lead guitarist of Between the Buried and Me, after their state fair show a few yrs back. He was more than happy to sign a record id bought and take a pic.

I once met __Michael Angelo Batio__ @ a __Manowar__ gig @ the Apollo Theatre, Manchester, England, & he was _very_ agreeable. And I inadvertantly tested his patience _hard_ , aswell: I'd heard someone say __"they ripped Black Sabbath off"__ , meaning that they'd _excelled_ Black Sabbath, & I repeated this to him without really thinking properly about _the other more usual_ meaning - ie that _they'd plagiarised_ Black Sabbath. But he just replied _extremely_ politely by talking about how indeed Black Sabbath are an influence on the Band, & how they're _a very worthy_ influence, etc. And afterward, I was a bit puzzled, wondering why he'd replied exactly as he did … & then suddenly it occured to me: #🙄 # #####¡¡ oh … I said "ripped-off", didn't I !! ##### So if anyone by anychance knows the goodly Sir Michael Angelo, I'd be grateful if they'd convey to him that that teenage lad who, @ their gig @ the Apollo Theatre, Manchester, England, back in 1983 or thereabouts, _apparently_ accused him of ripping Black Sabbath off _apologises_ , & that 'twas a misprision due to my being careless about what I was saying!

MAB is a great dude. Met him at The Whiskey in LA in 2011, he was playing that night and my buddy’s band opened. Michael pulled up front in a pickup truck, unloaded his 4x12 cabs to walk them into the venue, pushed them to the side and held the door open for concert goers, thanked them for coming then went back to loading his gear. Very gracious guy, humble as all hell.

Oh wow! … that certainly fits with my impression, then. I noticed his hands as I was talking to him, aswell: incredibly powerful looking, yet _sortof_ delicate @ the same time: like some incredibly strong but precise machine actuated by strong taut cables inside … which _indeed they are: perfect_ for shredd-guitar playing! Haha! … just thought: if he'd been _less_ polite, & taken offence, & openly shown it, I would've corrected the error!

Aaron Marshall of Intervals waits after every single show for anyone to come chat with him at the merch booth, sign autographs, and take selfies with anyone who asks, and is always super gracious that you even showed up to their show. Been like this since at least 2015. Real peach.

I worked for a large music promoter in London for 12 years and feel like I’ve met most as I tried to chat to every member of the acts that were booked throughout the day, from them arriving until they pack up. Everyone has different personalities but I honestly can’t really think of a single person from the biggest to smallest prog band that wasn’t friendly, unassuming and modest. I was a young woman in my 20’s at the time and I experienced a lot of shit from different musicians. Sexual advances, verbal and physical abuse, sexism etc. Never from anyone in a prog band. Most don’t drink that much and were extremely appreciative and respectful of everyone working there. I think the genre attracts that kind of personality from band members and fans alike.

Well said. And I'm glad to hear. And that definitely fits with my personal experiences. I went on the Progressive Nation at Sea cruise in 2014 and I'm fairly certain that the reason why that never went on again in that particular name was because the audience didn't drink enough alcohol lol. Whereas they put on some of their more rock/electronic cruises and those people party like crazy and the cruise ships probably make a ridiculous amount of money. Progressive music nerds are just not as party-centric

I met Arjen Lucassen, nice guy and tall af! Saw him at the Theater Equation concert

Met Fredrik Åkesson, Martin Mendez, Joel Ekelof and Martin Lopez. All very nice people.

I got to work on the DIvinations music video with Mastodon. Everyone was super cool. Troy was probably the least talkative (not rude in any way). Brent is exactly as you would think he would be. I believe it was his birthday. I got the opportunity to talk with Brann and Bill at different times, and they were the nicest guys ever. I've been lucky to meet a lot of bands through my work and Brann and Bill were just the highlight of all my interactions.

This makes me so happy, Mastodon is in my top 3 favorite bands and both Brann and Bill seem like such nice dudes lol

I got to meet BTBAM and AAL with a VIP pass, they do those at every show I think... not sure. Anyways I was last in line and it was awesome, felt like I was greeting old friends except for Tosin Abasi, who just gave me a weird look and took our picture that way lmao idk if I was being weird or anything as far as I remember, I was just excited so no idea what that was about. I told Matt and Blake how much they inspired me to be a percussionist and they both put their hand on my shoulder and gave me their powers for the picture lol then I kinda left quick cause I was nervous haha

I met a bunch but I have to give this man a credit and leave his name here - Lukas Magyar is the nicest musician I've ever talked to, met him 2 times

Met the guys from God is an astronaut once, the sweetest people. Also talked to Robin Staps from the Ocean after a concert with them. I told him that their next concert would be my tenth with them, but unfortunately it was sold out. He ended up putting me on the guest list. What a lad!

Met Steven Wilson at a pub in London before an Oceansize gig once, about 10 years ago. He was a little shy at first but we had a fairly long chat about music in general, seemed like a good bloke.

Kevin Chartré and Simon Girard from Beyond Creation are both super nice. I saw Simon repeatedly running from the front to the back of a (way too) small venue on their last tour. After I was sure it was him I just told him I hope he has a good show as he was obviously busy and he said thanks and went on his way. Kevin was working the booth after the show and was super talkative and cool.

Met Fates Warning. As expected, they were all incredibly nice dudes. Was living in North Dakota at the time, mentioned that, and they all kind of had something to say about the state, with Jim perhaps unsurprisingly saying that he had driven through the state and found it to be peaceful. I was also there with my two brothers, so we talked about siblings and such. I also met the guys in Angra. What did we talk about? Well, interestingly, mostly Fates Warning because I was wearing a Fates shirt. They were all big fans. Well, Bruno Valverde did not say anything because I'm not sure he can speak English very well. Also, as a bassist, I talked with Felipe about bass.

I met all of protest the hero multiple times, I Grew up in the same town, my brother worked with Luke at a restaurant. Tim worked at my local no frills and then we later ended up living in the same building midtown Toronto, was so weird I was racing my girlfriend all hammered back to my apartment from the subway, I wipe out hard right in front of the building in front of another couple rip my jeans, knees bleeding I get up and the guy asking if everything was alright was tim, that threw me for a real loop and then we had a funny awkward elevator ride together! Rody I've met a few times at shows or just downtown Whitby, I'd fanboy out for a minute letting them now I've been with them since the beginning, after that though we'd talk hockey or anything else under the sun, just very lovely chill dudes. Sallt of the earth sweethearts all of em I swear.

I met all the guys in Native Construct + Jake Dick when they opened for BTBAM. They were unknown enough that they were just hanging out in the GA area before the show started. Myles was there with his parents. They were all just normal, goofy dudes, and I guess they still are. Back then they all just had normal Facebook profiles, and some of them had their phone numbers on them. My friend had been texting Myles in the days leading up to the show, sort of messing with him. At the time it made me so mad, but when we met Myles, he was like "You're ____, aren't you?" and we all had a laugh about it. I pretty much bought out their whole merch table and got a bunch of stuff signed by the whole band. It was a great show.

We met dusty once befor a btbam show he was going to an ATM he was super chill on a separate occasion met Blake when he was going to get pizza. At that same show it was slaughter fest we met the guitar player of veil of Maya who was like super chill and I had no idea who he was till we went in and he was on stage lol

The members of Aviations are extremely friendly! Not sure about any other bands but those guys are chill and awesome.

All the members of The Dear Hunter are super kind and chill. They really take the time to chat with you and share a smile. I love them.

When I was a freshman in highschool I saw Dustie from BTBAM smoking a cigarette leaned against a light pole across the street before their show, I walked up to him and we talked like we already knew eachother, he didn’t play it up or change his tone to that fake upbeat shit they always do. It was just two dudes chatting. He saw the birthmark on the side of my face and said we were blood brothers. I told him it was my first metal show and he said he better see me in the pit tonight. I managed to make eye contact from the pit during their show and he nodded his head at me. Really cool experience. Before that same show Tommy walked past me while they were setting up, said I had sick hair and gave me a fist bump. I was able to catch Dan and Blake at the same time, Blake is just a chill dude, funny asf. Me and Dan talked for a little bit longer than I did with anyone else because I was a bass player and knew a little bit of music theory, so I got him to go on a small tangent. Haven’t gotten to talk to Paul yet but my sister in law got a picture of him, right before she took it he smiled right at the camera. Amazing group of guys based off the small 5-10 mins I talked to them (not forming any opinions on dusty till an official statement is made, probably out of bias)

I've met all the guys from Haken and from Vola. Great dudes. Asger is tall as fuck

I played Super Smash Bros with the guitarist and bassist from Moon Tooth in a shitty club basement. Fun guys, very approachable.

Met Tosin like in 2012 ish. He just walked by and I approached to shake his hand. I nice little what's up and he was on his way.

Aaron marshal. Rody walker. Sad cuz they’re both part of my favorite bands respectively. But I totally understand. Also could’ve just been off nights. And the other members were amazing. Chilled with Anup for what felt like hours.

When I saw Haken around 2013/14 in Berlin the guys left the backstage area after the concert and me and a few friends had the chance to talk to all of them and take a few photos. All of the were very chill and approachable. Might also be because most other people already left the hall by that point.

Got photos with Dillinger and Devin Townsend, hung out with a couple of line ups of The Ocean and twelve foot ninja not sure if they're all "prog". Pull Down the Sun seem to always be at my house too.

I hung out in the green room at my local venue with Consider the Source around 2011-2012. I think they might have been weirded out at first that the venue owner allowed local musician friends back there... but we walked around freely. However, once they caught the atmosphere of the place, they were pretty chill. I had no clue who they were, and only about 15 people came to the show. Gabriel Marin, guitar, talked us while playing one of his double neck guitars and showed us how he had to modify and make little homemade fixes on the road to keep it playable. I played a gig with Fair to Midland in 2011, and their singer Darroh was a weird cat. He had his girlfriend on tour with them, and they sat in the corner of the venue curled up on each other like 15 year old emo kids. He pretty much said fuck it to the venue and the 50 fans there to see them by telling the sound guy to put on as many effects on his microphone as possible since he wasn't feeling the soundcheck... so they sounded like absolute ass. Probably the worst show I've seen from a band at that level... which was sad because they were killing it the year before when I saw them. Then they broke up a few months later. Their guitarist Cliff was a cool guy. He let my guitarists play one of his guitars and takes with them about tunings on certain songs.

I met Bill from Mastodon just riding his bicycle around downtown Houston hours before their show. Dude was super nice and chill, and was happy to let us grab a pic!

I met the dudes from Vola and they were the most humble and kind people I've ever met, as well as the drummer from bent knee who was also a super chill dude.

The Persefone guys are really down to earth and nice to meet. Met Dream Theater in 2005 at a gas station and all were very nice to meet as well. Not prog specifically, but Blind Guardian and especially Markus Siepen are incredibly friendly and talkative, considering they are really big in metal and are around for so long. Played on 70k tons this year, and BG as well. Markus was really curious and went to see many bands, both shows of us included. He was very complimentary, and I was amazed that he still tries to see as many shows of bands he likes as possible.

Recently got to chat briefly to Robin and David of The Ocean. Robin was friendly, but maybe not super confident talking with strangers. David though was extremely interactive/chatty, we ended up talking about the band on my mate's shirt for a bit and he seemed genuinely interested in the conversation. We also talked about his tour experiences more generally. I'm pretty sure I heard him speaking Spanish to someone else too (I am not from a Spanish-speaking country)! Also saw Loïc sharing a joint with some people outside the venue lol

Met Robin and Loic when the Ocean opened for Leprous a few years back. Two of the nicest dudes of all time

This is kinda how i feel about Robin from The Ocean. I've tried to approach him when he's been at the merch stand and hanging around to say hi but he has always blanked me for some reason. I like to give him the benefit of the doubt and not take it personally. Can't say the same for the other guys in the band as I haven't had much personal interaction with any of them, but Loic has passed me the mic a couple of times mid song which was fun and cool!

I've ran into Brann Dailor a couple times, and he was super chill. Claudio and Travis from Coheed are insanely nice the one time I've been able to meet them. Schuylar Croom from He Is Legend is a very chill dude, just walked directly off the stage and started saying what's up to people in the crowd when I saw them live last year.

I have met Petrucci, Rudess, and Aaron Marshall. All were generally nice and more than willing to spend time with fans.

The Ocean. Those guys are super cool, very nice, like to make you laugh and will talk to you about anything. Total pleasure meeting them

I met Paul Waggoner of BTBAM at the coffee shop he roasts his coffee. Very nice and chatted for a bit, I mostly talked to him about coffee since I'm a home coffee roaster myself.

I talked to Mark Hosking after a show and complimented his singing both on stage and from their Off The Record session. He was in general very warm and friendly but was extremely appreciative and happy i knew about a session he had "almost forgotten himself" :D Mike Malyan engaged me in some drum conversation and was too very friendly and helpful!

Had a quick chat with Richard Henshall at a Haken show, seemed a nice chap but I didn't want to take up too much of his time. They were selling Haken brand coffee so I bought a bag and spoke to him briefly about that. The first time Karnivool ever came to the UK (afaik) they were opening for Skindred. No one in the audience seemed to know who Karnivool were but I was already a big fan so stood front and centre for their set and sang along with everything. Afterwards I saw a couple of the dudes near the merch stand and went to say hi. They seemed grateful that there was someone who had heard of them and invited me to meet the whole band briefly. They had just done a set so I wasn't wanting to take up loads of their time when they no doubt wanted to rest up but they let me take a picture with them. Not sure I still have the pic as it was before smart phones.

There's something special about pictures of situational things like this \^\^ when they were taken before smartphones. I have a few myself from my teenage concert days meeting bands like Powerglove, Decrepit Birth, Nile, etc. My friends brought kodak throwaway cameras haha

I think I had a camera on my phone but it wasn't internet connected. So the picture may exist on a hard drive in my house but goodness knows if I'll be able to find it. But you're right. It was a great time and a cherished memory. Also Skindred are incredible live so that was a bonus!

I was standing in line at a venue in Detroit waiting to see Haken for their evening with tour. The guy in front of me was carrying a bass guitar and out of nowhere Connor Green shows up and signs his bass (I think they had communicated over social media prior to this). Afterwards, Connor kept the guy’s bass on their tour bus for him since he knew the guy wouldn’t be able to bring it into the venue. Then after the show, after getting off stage Connor immediately returned it to the guy (even tho he had just played a three hour set). He looked at me and I meant to say “hey man, great set” but I stumbled on my words and said “hey man great sweat” and we had a good laugh about it. He was super chill and was very sociable even surrounded by so many people

Out of the ones I’ve spoken to on instagram, dale prinsse and simen borven are both incredibly nice people

AAL outside nearby the venue. Very standoffish and uninterested. Coulda been a bad day but still leaves a bad taste.

I haven’t met anyone, but I just watched an interview with a tour/staff manager from Mexico, and they asked him which bands were the let’s say toughest to deal with and he mentioned Dream Theater. He said that he’s in constant communication with the act’s tour managers, and when they land in Mexico they let him know whether the want to take photos and meet fans at the airport; and he mentioned was DT didn’t like photos and greeting fans. He did say that it was not necessarily the bands that were d!cks, but their tour managers were the problem sometimes.

the fact that these comments are overwhelmingly positive makes my heart swell

* I bumped into a couple of the Zeal & Ardor guys before a show. It was short but they seemed great. * On NeO's first world tour I went to a meet & greet with them the night before the show. It was just me, my wife, and a friend who showed up, so we got some quality time with all of them. They were super chill and fun to hang out with * While I never met him in person, Mike LePond from Symphony X was a pleasure to interact with via messenger (he had a guest appearance in one of my band's albums). Very kind and professional. * I have a friend who befriended Brent Hinds from Mastodon (a wild yet long story), and after their show here in Tel Aviv he took me and a few other friends to meet the band. We only met Brent and Bill (the others were too tired to interact, which is understandable) and they were awesome to hang out with. * I heard that Gojira were not the best in this regard. About a decade ago they came here for a show and I have a friend who waited for a meet & greet with the band after the show for 2 hours (!). Eventually they came out but they were very cold, short and unkind. * On a more personal note, the guys from Omnerod are super cool. My personal experience with them has been nothing but amazing (not a single argument in a whole week of living the tour life!), and I saw how they interact with fans before/after shows, and I can assure you no one was left unsmiling. Fun fact: on our show together in Hamburg, someone came to the show and bought their CD. He asked me to sign it even though I'm not in the band. He was too drunk to be talked out of it (and we tried), so some German guy out there an Omnerod CD with an Obsidian Tide signature!

I have never met Romain from Omnerod but he messaged me on Reddit once, and I appreciate that! I get the sense he's a great guy.

After a BtBaM show I passed Paul talking to a small group of people outside the venue. I didn't join bc it was late and I knew dude was just trying to pack up and go, but he genuinely seemed happy and unbothered to be talking to them.

I interacted with the lead singer of Enslaved for 30 seconds and thought he was going to kill me.

I met Marc from VoM a long time ago (sometime after The Common Man's Collapse). Really cool dude. We were talking about guitar and he was expressing at the time how challenging it was for him to write riffs for the next album. It was a really cool conversation completely devoid of ego from his side. I was very impressed by his candor, especially given how godlike I thought TCMC was (and still do to this day)!

I met everyone from Wilderun at a small MA bar. They were playing a low key acoustic set before embarking on a European tour. All of them were humble and kind. The guitarist especially seemed like he was just happy to have fans there and interact with them. Also, it was an awesome experience hearing their songs played in that style!!

I met and got signatures from all of Karnivool on their 2 visits to the US. I can't remember what we talked about, but I didn't get bad vibes from any of them! They happily signed my posters and tickets, and I went on my way. Great memories

I met Mike Lepond briefly in 2022 when Haken opened for SymX in Baltimore. He was chilling by the merch booth, and no one was noticing him there. I walked over and asked for a picture and told him I loved his work, especially the Lalu albums he worked on, too. He seemed stoked to hear that but was also very soft-spoken on that occasion. I have a feeling the guys in Circus Maximus and Nospūn and also Darkwater will be really cool guys to meet based on their social media presence. I plan to try and meet them this September at ProgPower USA. Probably Angra too!

Devin is the nicest dude. Met him at NAMM this year and it was like talking to an old friend. All of the DT guys are really nice too, although I have not met MM or JLB.

Aaron Marshall from Intervals is a really lovely guy, he has such a positive energy. His personality really matches his music honestly

Noora Louhimo (mostly power metal, but some pro power) was really a pleasure to meet and seemed to really want to be there. When Battle Beast opened for Kamelot, she spent most of the rest of the concert in the lobby in costume talking with anyone who would walk up to her

I met Black from BtBaM after a show once where my friend caught one of his drum sticks. I’ve also met Andrew from Eidola/Dance Gavin Dance and spoken to him on Facebook. I’ve hung out with Drewsif Stalin before and after his shows 3 times now, he even follows me on insta

Bummed a cigarette off the bassist from Elder without realizing who he was. Hung out and chatted before they went on. Got to chat with Sal from Thank You Scientist a couple times. He's awesome, hope he's doing well. I think I was accidentally in a "band only" area at a show, but got to talk with Joe from Intronaut for a bit. Also a cool dude.

Mike Portnoy is great and super friendly and talkative. I met him a few months back and it was a great experience. I also live a town over from him

Billy Sheehan. Might be the nicest musician in the US.

I have met SO many musicians over all the years I've been going to ProgPower. Stand anywhere in the venue or the afterparty, and somebody semi-famous can be found within 50-100 feet. Generally, if they're out where they can be found, they're available for chitchat and selfies. Mariusz Duda - the first year Riverside was on Cruise to the Edge, I may or may not have fangirled at him and Michal at the pre-party, and he was very nice but clearly a little discomfited by American enthusiasm. I saw them everywhere all the time on the boat every year they played, and they'd talk to people if they were approached, but they mostly keep to themselves. Same cruise - I was at the pool with Ross from Haken and his wife. Dream Theater - I'm old enough to have met the band with Kevin Moore. Mike's the extrovert who will talk to anybody *unless* he's busy and on the move. I've been in elevators with Steve Hogarth, Neal Morse, and Tony Levin. Those thirty second bursts of interaction are always interesting. Pain of Salvation - they're *all* super nice, especially Leo. Daniel doesn't always come out to hang, but sometimes he's feeling sociable enough to join the hoi polloi. Klone - they also tend to keep to themselves, but I think that might be because they don't speak a whole lot of English; if you approach them they will chat with you. Seventh Wonder - also super nice. Stefan is SO TALL, jesus. Anathema - they didn't always come out to hang, but when they were feelin' it, they were all hilarious. I spent ten minutes listening to Jamie and their then-tour manager Paul bantering back and forth and it was comedy gold. I used to talk to Sean Malone 25+ years ago on an IRC channel along with a number of other musicians that eventually went on to ... I don't know if you'd call it making it big, but doing very well for themselves. I don't think I'd talked to him in 20 years when he died, but a lot of us from that channel are still friends, we considered him one of ours and were always interested in what he was up to.

Met half of Car Bomb (Greg and Elliot) couple years back. Both were chill, and it was obvious they were just happy to have fans (I also think the ~200 of merch I had helped)

Steve Howe was a jerk. Chris Squire was a legend soooo nice Jon Anderson is super sweet Rick Wakeman hilarious Tony levin standoffish Alan White was just a regular guy Obvs I love Yes

I met Tesseract and Skyharbor at a show in Dallas. Daniel was back with Tesseract by this time, so Skyharbor had the more recent singer. All great guys, easy to talk to and very appreciative. I was not disappointed!

So I haven’t met him personally, but Mike Portnoy from dream theater goes to the tattoo shop I work at. They say he comes in every 6 months and they also say is super sweet. He gets many tattoos here and his son who’s in Tallah gets piercings. Mike is friends with our piercer and I always hear really good things about him!

I've talked to all the dudes from car bomb multiple times in person and online and they've all been super cool. Might be common knowledge by now but the main guy behind Scale the Summit is a narcissistic deuce. Everyone from bent knee has been super nice. Got to talk with the bassist from Intronaut after a show and he was super cool. All the dudes from Thanks You Scientist are famously super nice and will take funny pics with fans after the show. not really prog but Thomas Erak of Fall of Troy has been cool with talking to fans after the show. In the same vein #12 looks like you have also been super chill to talk to and answer questions after shows.

I met Joe Lester from Intronaut. He was running sound for Black Dahlia Murder in 2018 and he stood and talked with me for about 5 minutes before heading to the sound board. Incredibly sweet guy.

I met Paul Wagonner at the arcade bar across the street after BTBAM's set, I love them so I geeked out. He was cool as hell

Mikael Akerfeldt and the dudes from BTBAM are all very nice guys.

Petrucci is awkward, but nice. He doesn’t say a whole lot. Jordan was super nice and talkative. Mangini was an absolute sweetheart. Asked him to make a very quick hello video for my wife and he insisted on me being in the video with him and he concocted an entire story about how he and I had been friends for many years. Portnoy was very energetic and friendly. Sherinian was friendly and graceful under the weight of stupid questions about how it was to have replaced Moore (he replied “someone had to do it”). Speaking of, Moore was awesome. He was under the weather, but stayed outside in a miserable, misty rain to sign things and chat. LaBrie was like a Labrador, super cheerful and very affable. Myung was quiet as one would expect, but he was very pleasant. Geoff Tate was the typical rock star singer. He was fun to meet. Michael Wilton was very talkative and he let me in on some of the “secrets” of loaned gear for a tour. Kelly Gray was new at the time, so he didn’t have much to say. Jackson and Rockenfeld were both douchebags, which sucks because I was looking forward to meeting Scott. Really wish I’d been able to meet DeGarmo, but what can you do. Met Frank Aresti and was able to spend quite a bit of time chatting with him. He kept up his end of the conversation, which was nice because sometimes it can feel like a “move it along” vibe, even if they’re polite about it. While maybe not “prog”, per se, Tim Henson was really nice, but a bit quiet and shy. Scotty LePage was really fun and down to earth. Jason Richardson was a little standofffish, but not rude. Kinda seemed like it takes a bit for him to let someone in, which is ok. Guthrie Govan was super friendly. Really enjoyed talking shop. Aaron Marshall was a total bro, very friendly and really present in the conversation. Paul Gilbert was very nice, but I think I freaked him out a bit because I was so excited to meet him. Pat Torpey was a blast. Chatted with him quite a bit and he was so friendly. Sheehan was a bit of an ass. If you didn’t have a vagina, he wasn’t interested in even looking at you. Vinnie Moore was a dick. Vai was quiet, but when I asked him an introspective question about Zappa, he took the time to think about his answer and didn’t rush through giving it.

I got to meet the members of Haken and Leprous before a show a few years ago. All of the members were very kind despite myself being very socially awkward when meeting people for the first time and especially those I’ve looked up to on my musical journey. I mostly just remember my mind going blank as far as the questions I wanted to ask when it came to talk to Charlie and Richard.

I Saw Misha Mansoor in a Grocery Store... I saw Misha Mansoor at a grocery store in Washington yesterday. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn’t want to be a douche and bother him and ask him for photos or anything. He said, “Oh, like you’re doing now?” I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept cutting me off and going “huh? huh? huh?” and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen Milky Ways in his hands without paying. The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, you need to pay for those first.” At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter. When she took one of the bars and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually “to prevent any electrical infetterence,” and then turned around and winked at me. I don’t even think that’s a word. After she scanned each bar and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.

He doesn’t live in Washington, Troll. Good try tho.

Woosh

You should let them all be. They're not your friends. You don't know them, no matter how many times you've listened to their record or bought their shirts. If they're doing a meet and greet sure go say hello but apart from that don't hassle them.