A few weeks ago, Rob Meronek and I drove over to Orlando to go to the Andrew W.K. show. We were supposed to be given Photo/Media passes to take some photos and interview Andrew. When we got to the venue, The Social, we went up to the door to get whatever passes or clearance we needed. I approached one of the bouncers to let him know I was on ‘The List,’ so he didn’t even search me. Rob followed me, but he must have looked kind of sketchy because they searched him up and down and had him take every single lint ball out of his pockets. After he passed the inspection process, we went up to the chick with ‘The List.’
“We’re on the list,” I said with confidence.
“What are the names?” she asked.
“Jim Choquette and Rob Meronek.”
She spent about 30 seconds flipping through the sheets of names. I got concerned when I realized there were only three sheets. “I don’t see you guys on here,” she claimed. Thinking quickly, I tried pulling the ol’ “we’re with the Skatepark of Tampa” line - didn’t work. We were stuck outside with all of the other rejects.
We then tried calling Brian Schaefer, who set everything up in the first place with his buddy, Trevor, manager of Andrew W.K. Unfortunately, he didn’t have his phone with him and The Firm Video Premiere was going on at Skatepark of Tampa at the same moment we needed him. We then proceeded to call every person that was at the Park. Nothing. Rob said he was hungry, so we went to Subway. This is where it all got a little ‘sketchy.’
There was some drug addict man/woman (I don’t know which) that was opening the entrance door for people. Not just the people going into the place, but even the people walking down the street. While we were eating (45 minutes after getting there - sketchy), Brian called back. We told him our situation and he said he would get right on it. He tried calling Trevor, but I don’t think he got through. He then called Eric Payne, brother of ramp builder Tim Payne, and a member of Andrew W.K.’s band. Eric said he would meet us outside.
Upon returning to The Social, we noticed that there were fire trucks and ambulances right outside the club. Rob and I commented about how lucky we were not to be in the club for the pyrotechnics…Eric was outside waiting for us. We sat there talking to him for about 30 minutes, waiting for Trevor; however, our names had been on the list the whole time we were standing there. So, nearly an hour and a half later, we were in.
Sahara Hot Chicks
We missed the opening band. A chick band called, Sahara Hotnights, was about to go on next. Rob went to get his drink on, while I went to get my picture on. There were so many sketchy people in this place. It was the most ridiculous, weirdest mix of people in America - everything from jocks, to punks, to Goths, to rasta-heads. Sketchy.
Even the dirty tree-hugging hippies love AWK
The chick band went off stage, and a freight train of energy slowly chugged its way into the club. People started chanting, “ANDREW! ANDREW! ANDREW!” and the band started playing. Then Andrew W.K. stormed the stage and the crowd went nuts! People were flying from the upper level of the standing room. I gave the camera to Rob and went on stage. It was a big mistake letting him do his Asian-thing with the camera (I forgot to bring an extra disk, and he used up all the pictures on my digital camera before we even got to meet with Andrew W.K. Sketchy.).
Keep your lamb chops away from these drums
While I was on stage, Andrew noticed my hat and gave Skatepark of Tampa big-ups. The stage was about 10 feet deep by 30 feet long. So, we had a band, their instruments, the sound equipment, about 10 guests, and over 20 fans up there! It was fun, but not nearly as crazy as the SPoT 10-Year Anniversary Party.
This was more fun than guarding the drums
After the show was over, security came through like a tidal wave and kicked everyone under 21 out of the club. Come on, they couldn’t have people who couldn’t spend any money lurking in their club, could they? We went over to the ‘backstage area’ (a black curtain - sketchy), and waited for Trevor to let us know what was going on with the interview. We sat there for a good 20 minutes watching the chick band members move their own equipment out. I guess it’s hard not being big-time enough to have a stage crew. That’s how you know you have a long way to go! Trevor came out and told us we wouldn’t be able to do the interview, but we could do it over the phone sometime this week. I agreed, but we didn’t leave. We lurked around a little while to just to see what would go down. Andrew W.K. came out to greet a small group of fans that were waiting for him. We were able to grab him first. Since Schaefer couldn’t go to the show, I brought a magazine that featured Andrew W.K., to have him sign it for Brian. He sat down and just started talking. I’m not sure of everything he said. Rob and I just kinda’ sat there and got a few words in when we had a decent response. And for all of you out there who think Andrew W.K. is a dirtball rockstar, he is. But, he’s also a computer geek.
“How do I find the pictures from the Skatepark 10-Year Anniversary?” he asked.
“It’s a little tricky, but you just have to navigate around (our website),” I replied.
“I KNOW HOW TO NAVIGATE! I LOVE NAVIGATING! Did you know SurfTheWeb.com is for sale!? I’m thinking about buying it! That would be so cool!” he screamed like a little kid at Christmas.
“Uh… yeah, you should do that,” I said with slight hesitation.
Dear Brian, this is Andrew WK...
What’s so great about Andrew is that he takes time for his fans. I’ve heard stories about him talking to fans, writing detailed messages for others, and calling friends of other people that couldn’t make it to a show, but I didn’t believe it to be so true. I asked him to say something on our voice recorder, like “I Love Tampa Skatepark!” He said, “YEAH! NO PROBLEM! READY? I I I I I Iiiiiiiiiiiiii…L L L L Loooovvvveeeeeee…T T T T TAMPAaaaaaaa SK SK SK SKATEPARK! I LOVE TAMPA SKATEPARK! ‘93 to INFINITY!”
We then thanked him and he got up to go see his other fans.
“Hey Rob, wanna’ hear something messed up?”
“What?”
“I didn’t even record what he said. I wasted all of the space on the memory recording nothing in hopes of having you say something stupid or funny.”
“I knew I didn’t see the red light on.”
“You wasted all the pictures, and I wasted all the voice memory - sketchy.”
Rob finished off the evening by saying, “Yeah, this whole night is sketchy. Let’s get out of here.”
If you didn’t get a chance to see Andrew W.K. in Tampa or Orlando, then you have two strikes against you. You’re last chance to save face is to see him perform at Warped Tour this summer (www.andrewwk.com).
What's Up at SPoT: Random Posts From Over the Years
I've been posting random ramblings to this What's Up blog on the SPoT site since 1999. Here's a random list of some of my favorite posts over the years...Rob.
It's pretty interesting just people watching here in Prague, especially girls. If you're a people watcher, check out some of my stalker photos: People Watching in Prague
"TPD has an operational plan in place and will be deploying a large force to prevent this group from getting into the downtown core or skateboarding anywhere in the downtown area. Violators will be charged, arrested if necessary, and skateboards confiscated." Wow. Read that and more in this Internal Memo From Officer Doofy that was just forwarded to me. Tomorrow is going to be a pretty interesting day. Whoever organized the Go Skateboarding Day thing has an alternate plan that I think is a great idea that will be irritating as hell for Mr. Doofy but won't get any of us arrested. See you at the Bro Bowl at 11:30am.
Well, the video I was going to leave off the website because it makes me look like kind of an asshole is making its way around my circle of friends and acquaintances in the sketchy skateboard industry even though I only sent it to about ten close friends. I’m getting funny texts, emails, and in-person high fives on it. May as well show it to everyone now. Some crazy lady at the bar in Minneapolis was getting rowdy on us so I broke off part of the bar and threw it at her and her crew, after which she came at me like a spider monkey, then swung a bar stool at me. Good times. Here’s the two minutes of entertainment. I’m a nice guy, dammit.
