Okay, so tonight was fucking amazing. Such a cool night.
We get there, go in, and we each get Digital Ghost name tags, and then are able to proceed to an awesome barroom with a connected dining room. Very beautiful place, and there was free h'orderves (or however that is spelled) and an open bar courtesy of the band. The fans were able to chill for about an hour, mingle, eat, and then an announcement brought everyone into the bar room where they had a projector set up.
Then we got to watch a rough cut of the video the guys shot for Gold Dust. Looks like it could be really cool, and a lot of it was shot as if the guys were playing a live show, and I joked that now we kind of know what it would be like to see the guys actually play live, but that joke was nullified a little bit later...
So after the video the guys came out and they all talked about their personal contribution to the album, or about the lyrics, or how Brian came to be in the band, and of course about the death of Mike, which included a very touching video tribute that they played. One of the more interesting things to note during this was the hinting that the guys might actually play live at some point. I would come to find out later talking to them that ROSfest is a distinct possibility in the future, and you can bet I'd be there for that.
So then people went about getting food and drinks again for a short while, and then they brought out three 24x36 posters with an exclusive design to be auctioned off. I bid up to $35 on each but ended up getting beat on all of them.
Then the guys came back to a table for a signing session and to talk to everyone. Each one took the time to get to know me and Amanda a little bit and they really came across as super nice guys, and they were signing pretty much everything anyone put in front of them. Out of all of them I spent the most time with Gary, and he was shocked at all the booklets I had for him (from many side-projects and what have you) and he was thrilled that I had so many and loved signing them, and one of the best pieces of memorabilia I know have is my Universal Migrator booklet that now says, "Nick, I owe you some money!"
After they had gone through everyone getting things signed they took pictures with people. This is now 4.5 hours after this shindig all started.
So now, here is my picture with Shadow Gallery, a picture of all of them up front speaking, and then an awesome picture of a present the rest of the guys gave to Brian during their speeches.
I walked out of there with a Tyranny t-shirt, Room V t-shirt, Digital Ghosts 11x17 poster, Room V magnet, and bumper sticker.