Buckcherry
Article By: Buckcherry
Originally Published In The December 2014 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine
elcome my friends to the most difficult piece I’ve ever tried to put to paper! Those of you who know me, know well that I worry about everything I w r i t e , from the accuracy to the content and hope people love to read it, will the story hold their attention and 27 other miniscule details. Just recently, Diane and I got to experience something that will live on in our memories for eternity. Buckcherry was coming to town and Diane wanted to go so bad! It turns out that although this is our favorite band on earth, scheduling and performing on the same dates at different venues has kept us from EVER seeing them perform live. She asked me if we could get tickets to go and I said “I think I can do one better”. I put a call in to our fearless leader Mr. Callen and allow me to quote him here; “it’s done, X or Keith will call you to set it up”…. From that moment on, I do believe it was about three days before Diane’s feet touched the ground again! A few missed calls and text messages later and it was done! I must have had the strangest look on my face when I hung up the phone because Diane asked me if something was wrong, what happened. “I just hung up the phone with quite possibly the nicest guy I’ve ever spoken with” was my response. I was told to c’mon down a few hours before the show and we can hang out and bullshit or come see the show and we can talk afterward. These guys were doing me a giant favor and they were making it all work around MY SCHEDULE, incredible, absolutely incredible!
We made our way to Comerica Theatre, formerly the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, walked up to the Will Call Window and the women behind the bullet proof glass said, “I need some ID, what’s your name”? I told her my name and she said, “put your ID away, your tickets were just hand delivered to me with your passes”, “all you have to do is go to the stage door and you are all set”. The doors had yet to open so the line outside was massive and wound its way around the corner. We just pleased and pardon me and excuse me’d our way through everyone and walked around the corner to the most tour busses I’ve ever seen in one place, each nicer than the other. The passes we were given were infact wristbands with the initials BC written in sharpie and printed around the band were the words ESCORT NEEDED! There are times in life when you wish you thought things out a bit better or could stop and hit the reverse button, what happened in the next few moments was one of those times. Having not been at this venue since the Black Label show a few years back, I didn’t know the lay of the land so to speak and that led me to find assistance. On the corner standing arms crossed and glaring through their pitch black sun glasses were two of Phx’s finest. “I’ll ask them” I said to my girl, “I’m sure they will know what to do”, famous last words these days. Excuse me officer, I hate to bother you but I’m not from around here, would you be kind enough to tell me how I can find some escorts please? Both of their heads snapped in my direction instantly and they just stared at me in disbelief. WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY? I need an escort and don’t know how to find one, since you guys work this beat, I figured you would know how to go about that.
Now they just stared at each other in total disbelief, they had to be wondering if they were on some sort of hidden camera show. As they stepped towards me it clicked in my head what I had just done. I just solicited a prostitute from the Phoenix PD… I quickly showed them our wristbands, pointed out the printing and was told “I have no idea”. We quickly beat a retreat back to the stage door with the last words we heard, “can you believe that shit”! I’ve got Diane laughing at me and asking “what’s wrong with you”? I don’t know if that question will ever be answered but we had bigger fish to fry, we still had to find an escort and it was painfully obvious, the police were not going to help! We decided we would just walk through the stage door like we belonged there, what’s the worst thing that could happen. Security on the other side of the door was the immediate answer to that question. We were shown the way out to the lobby and then to our seats.
After two minutes I realized this was not going to work, it was time to make our way to the basement and to the dressing rooms, but the question remained how? YOU NEED SOMEONE WITH A LAMINENT TO TAKE YOU TO THE STAGE, NO OTHER WAY TO DO IT! We were now less than ten minutes to show time and as luck would have it one of the guys from Seether walked in, we gave a big smile and a “hey man, how you doing” and just hopped on the elevator not knowing where it would take us. The doors opened and Diane said “I think we are in the right place” and pointed to a sweat stained Indian Larry shirt hanging on a wardrobe rack, I do believe she was correct. We slowly walked our way past the dressing rooms when I heard “hey Jack Shit” and I turned to find Buckcherry’s stellar guitar player Keith Nelson. He quickly introduced me to their tour manager who told me what the plan was and a momen tlater X, in case you live under a rock, Xavier Muriel or X is the amazing drummer, came out and joined us. Moments from show time and these guys are taking time to come out and speak with us. Nothing but class! We followed X down the tunnel to the stage and were set up on the wing of the stage for the show. Life could not get better than this for us in that very moment or so I thought. We were then told the guys are doing a meet and greet after the show and then they are all yours to interview.
Okay, things just got better! My only complaint if it is even possible that I can make is that the show was torturously short! I understand it’s a “festival type” performance but once Buckcherry took the stage we never wanted it to end! I’m not a music journalist so I don’t know the fancy words to use to describe what I witnessed so I’ll say this; HOLY 6LB 5OZ SWEET BABY JESUS CAN THESE GUYS THROW DOWN WITH THE ENERGY OF TEENAGERS AND THE MASTERY THAT CAN ONLY COME FROM A LIFETIME OF LIVE PERFORMANCES! We found ourselves sitting outside the dressing rooms on a giant leather couch when the band came back from meeting their fans and were searching for dinner. While awaiting an answer, lead singer Josh took it upon himself to wake up the sleeping masseuse by digging his elbows in to her rather “wide” back. This is a full service band for sure! X and Keith came over to us, said we’ve not eaten yet today and it’s making us real assholes, we are going to grab some dinner.
Figuring the interview would be pushed back a bit, you could have knocked me over with a feather when they asked us to join them and that we could just bullshit over a meal. Five wrong turns later, we found ourselves sitting down talking current rides, choppers, builds both present and dreamed of, life, love, loss, happiness, Buckcherry past and future, fans, industry, the value of art and music, vaping, record companies, sex toys, past gigs, inspirations, the insane power that comes from two words, CRAZY BITCH and so much more! When I began this story I mentioned that it was the hardest piece I’d ever had to write and the reason why is because these guys are truly amazing. They are so down to earth, genuine and honest that trying to transcribe a 40 + minute interview into a magazine story has tortured me for more than a week and in the end it was just not possible. We’ve decided that you guys, the loyal Cycle Source family, deserve to hear their words for yourselves, in their own voices, not some half ass translation of them by a huge fan. You can, for yourself hear just how humble and honest this crew is by clicking on a simple link! I will say this; Buckcherry has NEVER let me down. I love every note of every song they have ever released.
The music and the members have matured as much as can be expected for a bunch of dirty ass Knucklehead riding maniac rock stars and like those old Knucks they just get better and even more appreciated with each passing magical note they make! I can’t thank X and Keith enough for taking so much time to spend with us, opening their hearts and minds and spilling their guts to this likeminded Knuckle rider! Take the time, listen to the interview and you will walk away feeling as if you too now have friends in Buckcherry! As we left the venue we ran into Josh skateboarding out on the street and he asked, “you guys leaving already” and I told him, “of course man, we were only here to see you guys”, “right the f#@k on, see you soon” was his reply. These guys are salt of the earth I tell you! I want to tease you with a few quotes but I don’t want to ruin the surprise, but I will close on two things. First and foremost, to X, welcome to Cycle Source, we can’t wait to experience your journey on our pages and when it comes to dildos, there’s a new sheriff in town and she’s a Crazy Bitch, it’s up to you, the reader, to figure out that last part! The new album “F#@k” is out and in true Buckcherry style, it flat out rocks. Go get it and understand why this is our favorite band on earth! Now get on your Murdersickle and go make some MEMORIES! Editor’s Note: Hear the complete podcast of this interview at www.cyclesource.com
