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Eric and Me - Virginia Beach Amphitheater (June 1998)
Some more of those stupid American rules
When remembering Robert "Elvis" Reisinger, I really don't know where to start, as it really seems wrong to even be talking about him in the past tense. When I got the email from Eric informing me that he had taken his own life, I was deeply saddened, and more than a little bit shocked. Elvis was truly one of the most genuine, fun, caring people I've ever been around.
I don't remember exactly when I first met Elvis, but I'm sure it was somewhere on the indoor "Load" tour in 1996. It was on that tour that I first met Niclas, and started helping a bit with the MetClub stuff - passing out flyers, working the booth, etc. It was also on that tour that I first really got into traveling around to see shows, and getting to know the other clubbers who had the same disease - Eric, Jeff, Steve, and a few other familiar faces. In addition, I was into trading bootleg videos at that point, and the now-defunct Chapter of the Mad was in full swing. I remember the whole vibe back then being totally different, where it was more of a laid back grass roots kind of thing, where the traveling fans in the MetClub had a different attitude than today; there wasn't nearly as much "I've got to talk to Jaymz" type stuff, or other weird obsessions. And back then, Elvis was the ultimate fan - I remember being briefly introduced to him by Niclas at the MetClub booth at some show (maybe Cleveland?), where he said, "Hey James, this is my European friend Robert - he's following the tour around". And Robert was cool as the breeze; just a nice laid back guy, happy as could be that he was at a Metallica show. I remember him being just very happy to meet other Metclubbers, and thinking, wow, this guy is dedicated - traveling to a whole different continent just so he could see some shows by his favorite band.
Fast forward to summer of 1998, where for a 4 or 5 day period, I had an absolute blast hanging out with Elvis & Gerben (dubbed the Eurotrash Twins), Eric, Jeff, Mark, Steve, and I'm sure a few others that I'm forgetting, as we took in the Reload shows at Charlotte, VA Beach, Nissan Pavilion, and Merriweather. I don't recall the exact order of the shows, but it doesn't really matter, because it was all good times with 5 days of non-stop laughing, and the venue didn't really matter. And while there were plenty of "you had to be there" moments, I still think back on that week and laugh and the different adventures with the Eurotrash Twins, which included:
- A hilarious trip to the Hooters of Newport News, where Elvis made fun of whatever pitcher of American macrobrew Jeff and I were consuming. "That's beer?", he would say. We also had a great group photo with some Hooters girls, that I'm sure Eric or Jeff have somewhere, complete with the infamous "lammy flash", which was the term the Eurotrash Twins had for using the tour laminate to display some kind of VIP status, no matter where they were or what the situation. And these Hooters girls were definitely impressed with our VIP status.
Hanging out at Hooters
- An even more hilarious experience hanging out in Eric's apartment the night before the VA Beach show, watching videos, laughing, joking, telling Met stories and lies. The funniest was when Eric put in his Shania Twain video collection, and after 2 or 3 minutes of the "Any Man Of Mine" video, when Elvis and Gerben had an exchange that went something like: "This is cool, but when is she gonna get nekkid?" "Yeah, when is Rocco (a famous porn star) gonna show up and show her the Italian Stallion?" And of course the comments went further into the gutter (Ed. Something about peanuts, Jimbo?), but it was hilarious nonetheless. It was also the night where Elvis & Gerben nicknamed me "Chainsaw", after I did some heavy duty snoring, as we were all crashed out at Eric's place.
Me, Mark, Gerben, Wiigy, and Elvis
Eric's apartment - June 1998
- The summer '98 VA Beach pre-show to this day remains my all time favorite Metclub booth experience. We arrived at the venue really early, and were able to get inside long before doors opened, thanks to a couple of "lammy flashes". The MetClub table was set up under a tent, which was nice, considering it was a typical hot, humid Virginia summer day. After entertaining ourselves looking at the "queue" (Elvis was particularly fascinated with the way us "shitty Americans" lined up to get into shows), back at the booth we discovered a drumhead in the MetClub road case. Well, at this point Steve had started growing into his role as Lars' assistant, and Elvis felt it necessary to make light of the situation, as his wonderful European sense of humor dictated. They had already dubbed him the "Starhanger", among other names. So, we then decided to stage an impromptu "Win a Drumhead Autographed by Steve Wiig" contest. Elvis talked Steve into autographing and doodling something on the drumhead with a Sharpie, and spent the rest of the time at the booth convincing anyone who would listen that Steve was a famous Metallica road crew guy, and that the drumhead autographed by him would make anyone proud. It was a random contest, as we just gave out the raffle tickets from the road case, and told everyone to be back at a certain time for the drawing. As it turned out, probably 50-75 people entered, and were anxiously awaiting the drawing. We initially randomly drew numbers to see who would win, but the first few tickets drawn were not present, so it was then determined that one particularly attractive 16-year old female should win. So one of us clandestinely found out which ticket she was holding, then had Elvis call her number. She was absolutely ecstatic when she won, and was so excited to meet Steve. I think she even kissed him. Elvis took a couple of pictures of the lucky winner, which I hope someone still has somewhere…
Starhanger with the lucky winner
- At the Nissan show, I spent a good bit of time hanging out with Elvis, walking around through the crowd on the lawn, taking pictures of the stage for the website. For whatever reason, he had a "surplus" of After Show meet and greet passes to give out. Back in those days, the After Show would consist of 50 or so people gathered in a room, and Jason would be the lone band member to visit with fans and sign autographs. Well, at this show, Elvis decided that we needed to try and find some fans who would really appreciate the After Show experience, and not some obnoxious folks who would be pissed if Lars didn't show up. So, in walking through the crowd, we found 5 or 10 people to give passes to, most of 'em younger kids, some even with their parents. I remember one kid who was maybe 14, with his Dad, and Elvis gave them both an After Show pass, which absolutely made his day. Just totally excited and appreciative. And this experience was a perfect example of how generous Robert was, just wanting to make other true Metallica fans as happy as possible.
Just a few days after the last Reload show (which I'm pretty sure was at Merriweather), I boarded a plane for a yearlong project in Okinawa, Japan. During my stay in Japan, I remember a few email correspondences with Elvis, most of which were reminiscing about the fun week on the east coast, and plotting the adventures for the next tour. I sent him some Japanese Metallica CDs, as I had easy access to all the singles, etc… but he didn't want them for himself; instead, he wanted them as prizes for his chapter, the German Power Wolves. Again, just being very generous and selfless.
The last time I saw Elvis was in San Francisco, at the Fillmore show. I only spoke to him briefly, in the upstairs café before the show. He definitely didn't seem like his usual self, as his foot was definitely bothering him and he was in a bit of pain just moving around. But he was still there, enjoying the once in a lifetime opportunity of seeing Metallica in such an intimate venue. I unfortunately missed him at the shows I've attended since then, as I don't think he made it to all the US shows. In all my Metclub experiences (I can't believe I've been in the club 11 years), I've been fortunate enough to do everything from passing out flyers to working the booth to filming shows to going to meet and greets. And in my limited contacts with friends in the Metclub family, I can't think of a single person who has been as nice, genuine, funny, and selfless as Robert.
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