Originally
written in summer 2007
It's my wife that got me liking the Finnish band, HIM.
We've seen them several times and they are awesome.
Great songs, great musicians, I highly recommend them.
 Well,
we took my younger brother to his very first concert,
(he's 11), and it was to see HIM. It was a long ride
for us and a very hot day, but he was loving the experience
and had a great time and got to see them live. For my
wife and I, it was the 4th time seeing them. She's on
the "Street Team" to help promote, and that
work leads to "meet and greets" with the band.
There was a concert here in NJ at Giant's Stadium last
summer, and the team was scheduled to meet the band.
We knew that Ville, the singer, was a big Elvis fan
(He's also a KISS fan) and put together some gifts for
him, including some of Elvis' grave dirt that she brought
back from Memphis. Well, she met with the band and gave
him the presents, and mentioned to him that her husband
used to do guitar work for Ace Frehley and that we're
big Elvis fans and collectors. Well, he said, "Go
get him, I'd like to meet him." I was waiting outside
and she came running out and said, "Ville would
like to meet you, come inside". Boy, was I surprised.
When I got in there, there were still a few girls getting
things signed and taking pictures and he turned to me
and said, "Wait with me while i finish and we'll
go in when I'm done." So when he was done, he turned
to me and said "Let's go into the dressing room
and you can meet the band." As we walked in he
introduced their manager, and he said to get comfortable
and would I like a beer? I spent the next 30 plus minutes
chatting with them all about Kiss, Elvis, The Ramones,
music memorabilia, (Ville and I talked about the Elvis
stuff I had and I mentioned my scarf collection and
that he should have one, and he said than in Finland
it was very hard to obtain American items. I told him
that I had an extra scarf that I would give him, as
he deserved it. He said he'd frame it and put it up
in his house.), and guitar repairs and such while the
group of girls all waited outside. They were wondering
what was I doing in there with them all this time? Well,
the band had to head out to their hotel and on to the
next city for the tour. I came walking out with a beer
in my hand, and the band rode out behind me on a motorized
cart and said goodbye again and wove to the group of
street teamers. They were all so jealous that I got
to hang out with the band. And I just have to say right
now, these guys didn't "know me from Adam".
 It
was the first time we ever met. Ville invited me in
just from what my wife said to him. They were just relaxing
after their performance, and I felt like I should leave
and let them have the time to themselves, but they asked
me to stay until they were leaving and treated me like
I belonged there. It was the last thing I ever expected
and I feel honored to get that time with them. I think
that they enjoyed our conversation as much as I did.
The beers that keyboardist Burton kept passing me didn't
hurt either. It really gave me a great impression about
them. I've never met a band that didn't have some kind
of an attitude. And, they weren't charging to meet them
either. They were meeting with their fans to give something
back. A week or so later, Ville was on a satellite radio
channel doing an interview and he mentioned the Elvis
grave dirt and that "a friend" had given it
to him. I really did feel like I had made some friends
that day. My wife was very happy as well, she had brought
a very rare book about them with her that day, and each
member of the band spent time with her and beautifully
signed it.
Well, just this last week we've seen the band twice.
First taking my little brother to Camden for this "Projekt
Revolution" tour, we then went to Holmdel, NJ on
Wednesday the 29th. Two days previous on Monday, she
received a call from their road manager, he called to
let her know that we could meet with the band before
the show. My wife had sent an e-mail to their office
saying we would bring Ville's Elvis scarf with us to
that show if we heard back from them. So, I put together
a package of Elvis goodies for him along with the scarf.
I also gave him a copy of 'Kissology', and a copy of
the 'Fractured Mirror' compilation.
 So,
we met with the guys and they were happy to see us.
I ended up talking basses with Mige for a while, got
a quick picture with drummer Gas while we were chatting,
I gave a Hendrix dvd I had made up to guitarist Linde,
who was oddly enough wearing a Hendrix shirt. Burton
is always cool to talk to and I asked him, 'Where's
the beer?' Then we got chatting with Ville and had a
lot of stuff for him. Since he was a big Elvis fan,
and my wife promotes for the "Street Team",
we got the opportunity to meet with Lisa Marie Presley.
Well, we got pictures of her promoting HIM to Lisa.
What was interesting is that she told my wife that her
son was a fan of their music. Ville got a big kick out
of that and was smiling. Well, we talked for a while
and I got a couple pictures with him after I gave him
the scarf. He was very happy with it. We got some great
photos with them as my wife got her HIM program she
had brought signed. We said our good byes and then watched
their set. They put on a great show and played great.
I really recommend to my fellow Ace and Kiss fans to
check this band out. No, they don't have smoking guitars
and breath fire, but they are all exceptional musicians
and play great music. Not to mention that they are good
to their fans and respect them. Again I'm going to refer
to the film 'Kiss Loves You', and at the end of it,
just before the credits roll, I say, 'We need a new
hero', something like that. Well, I think that the band
HIM is the new hero. A new coming of a great band. But
let me say that they have been around 10 or so years
already, and have an awesome catalog of music. And almost
like Elvis, there are many different styles on each
album.
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