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Foreword by Eric
I thought this article could use a brief introduction
explaining who "Ron" is, and why we have a guest story
from him this time around.
I first met Ron at one of the Fillmore shows last May
out in San Francisco. He came up to me during the opening
act one night and said he was going to be doing the whole
US summer tour, and wanted to know if there was any
sort of miscellaneous job he could do for the band or crew
that would be of any help in each city. To be honest, I didn't
think much of it at the time - I've had a lot of people
tell me they were planning on doing an entire tour and that
they should get something special for it (not that Ron was
expecting anything). Most fans vastly underestimate
what it takes to do a solid week or two of shows, much less an
entire tour. Since I wasn't going to be directly involved
with the Club and booth activities on the road this time around, I
just pointed Toby out to him on the other side of the crowd, and
suggested he talk to him. That was the last I saw of Ron that night.
Well, a couple weeks into the tour in July, this familiar face kept
popping up around the shows, and after a while, I realized
it was the guy I had met at the Fillmore. I remember being
very impressed, as he was getting around completely on his
own, and had successfully made it to every show so far, on
a pretty brutal schedule to start the tour.
Soon enough, we got to chatting here and there, and I started
to get to know him more and more. He was always very polite
and never expected any favors, like backstage passes or whatever.
Midway through the tour, I started doing a lot of filming
from the pit down inside the front barricade. And it became
a regular occurrence to see Ron's face front-row, centerstage
in EVERY city. You could always spot him in his jeans and the
same ripped-apart old black t-shirt every night. It was absolutely
amazing - even at the shows
with really grueling distances in between, you could always
bet money on seeing Ron down there, rocking out, directly
in front of James. Towards the end of the tour, it got to the
point where James was recognizing him from the stage
every night and actually talking one-on-one to him in between
songs. Ron was SO stoked as the tour went further and further
along, as James and the guys would acknowledge him each night.
Thanks to a little caption on MetOnTour.com for one show, Ron
soon became known as the "super fan".
Eventually the Los Angeles date rolled around, for which Ron
had won a Meet and Greet pass. The guys all recognized him
and spent a lot of time chatting with him before the show.
I shot a lot of footage with them and I think I did a little
interview with him afterwards. (Send in your comments to
MetOnTour, and demand a Los Angeles video from last summer
on the website!)
Well, enough of my babbling. When you hear that Ron was up
front at every show this past summer, it's true - he was up
there literally at EVERY FRIGGIN SHOW! It continued on with
the Bowery Ballroom show, as well as Vegas on New Years, and
last time I spoke with him, he had a full slate planned for
the arena tour. I don't know if I've ever met a more hardcore
road dog than Ron.
So there you have it...THAT'S why we have a guest piece this time
around in EFI...
- Eric
 New Year's show in Las Vegas (Picture courtesy of MetOnTour.com)
Ron's story
As the months approached before the trip I was real concerned that I would not have enough money to complete my trip. I told myself that there was no way that I would miss even one concert but I also did not want to end up in the Midwest with no money and no ride. I am from New Jersey so the end of the tour was exactly the opposite of the country from my house. So finally I forgot my problems, purchased my concert tickets, all twenty of them, and bought a minivan which would become my home for the next two months. I took out the back seats put a bed in the back with a cooler and headed off to Detroit.
 New York club show in Aug '03 (Picture courtesy of MetOnTour.com) July 4th weekend in Detroit was extremely hot and humid. Sleeping in the back of the van was a chore and after the concert I was completely drained and remember thinking how am I going to make it through 19 more concerts. Failure was not an option, so I took off for the next show in Toronto. The concerts were fantastic and that feeling when Metallica arrives on stage is so fantastic that it makes the whole drive to each venue worth it. My first bad memory was in Philly. I had flown to Philly from Atlanta and I needed to fly back to Atlanta in order to drive back to Orlando. After the Phiily concert, I was soaked from sweat and rain, and I had to sleep outside the airport untill the next morning. I did not think that things could get worse than that but when arriving in Orlando a couple of hours later and seeing Metallica I realized that it was all worth it. That was not the end of the poor sleeping conditions. In Montreal I slept inside a bus terminal which was not too bad but you have to remember at every concert I was wet and in Montreal everyone spoke French and it was a real hastle getting around.
 New Year's show in Las Vegas (Picture courtesy of MetOnTour.com) Denver was by far my worst experience. After the concert I had to take a subway back to town, then a bus back to the airport. When trying to get into the bus terminal the security told me that the next bus was not for another six or seven hours. This was not good news but I was used to sleeping in bus terminals. Next the security guard told me that they shut down the bus terminal and security patrols the station and the blocks around it and that no one was allowed in the bus station or on the surrounding blocks. When I tried to sit on a bench outside the station for six or seven hours the security kicked me out. I pleaded with the guard that I was from out of town and could not go anywhere. He told me that he was soon off duty and that I should just get lost and sleep on the bus station property but not to get caught by his supervisor. I thanked him and found my way sleeping in the bushes during a very, very brisk night in Denver. The bugs were crawling on me and I could not fall asleep so I decided to relocate. I hoped on top of a builing an slept near some air conditioners that were constantly going on and off not allowing me to get one minute of sleep. This was the longest night of the trip. I basically did not sleep on the weekends during the trip because of the constant travel to make the next show and would sleep during the weekdays. The next day in Houston the trip would be well worth it. After "Sad But True" between songs Jaymz talked to me on the loud speaker. He said "Man, this guy is everywhere, how many shows are you going to?" I replied that I was going to all of them. We talked for a couple more seconds and them they played "St. Anger". I was in my glory when he recognized me. That concert was great! The only thing that could have made that trip better was not having to sleep in a hot minivan in Texas in August, but it was worth it. A couple of concerts later in Los Angeles, with a little help, I was fortunate enough to attend a meet and greet. All four of the guys came out and all recognized me. It was a great feeling and I got to spend lots of time talking. It was pretty cool since they recognized me, we could have a conversation and not just a fan telling them how great they are.
 Meet & Greet at the LA show - August '03 (Picture courtesy of MetOnTour.com) Later that concert I was in the front row and Jaymz saw me there. He introduced himself and said "I don't know if this is your first concert of 100th like Ron. He has been to every show on the tour. He energizes us." That was awesome!!!
 LA show - August '03 (Picture courtesy of MetOnTour.com) After the next show in San Francisco the tour was over and I have to cross the country. The past two months turned out to be better than I could have ever imagined. I met some real cool people and have the best time of my life. I thank God that I made if safely and with no financial, mechanical, physical or mental hardships. The trip that I worried so much about was over I made it to all 20 shows including one added in Salt Lake City and with a couple of souveniers. On my journey, I picked up 29 Metallica picks, 11 of Jaymz's wrist bands, 4 of Lars's drumsticks, 4 pictures with me and the guys and tons of priceless memories from the 2003 Summer Sanitarium Tour. |
