WYLDE or WILD

When anyones goes autographing nothing is ever assumed to be predictable though planning is always a must. I have always heard that ZACK WYLDE of Ozzie Osbourne fame was one of the nicest and friendly signer that most people have met over the years. His greatest of being a wonderful guitarist was only surpassed on how much he appreciated his fans. His band BLACK LABEL SOCIETY was on tour and I always wanted to meet him and sign a couple of items that I have collected for years. My friend Hotdog and I decided to drive to Tampa apx 2 and half hour drive and thought about even catching the show. We were always told this venue is very accessible to graphers as the bus is always parked on the back street. So we got to the area apx 15 ft from the bus and waited with 3 other professional graphers in a polite manner hoping for our one and one with Zack. A security guard stood by the door and then everything was not in the stars. First the Manager known as "BORIS" had the van pull right next to the bus door so Zack jumped right into the bus. The other graphers were so surprised but kept saying" Zack is the Best ,no matter how rude his manager is, if he sees us standing there he will come out" . Well we waited and waited and waited. Nothing. The manager came by and one of the graphers asked politely if he would give a gift to Zack which was a manufactured skull and we all thought maybe that would break the ice. He brought it on the bus but NOTHING happened. When graphing everyone knows that if You want someone bad enough, Time has to be invested and we invested over 2 hours standing there and I knew Zack had to see us and the manager must have made remarks of our presence. As we watched the manager walked the band members one by one apx 100 ft too the stage door from the bus almost as if the were his little kids walking them to the bus stop, we all thought when ZACK walks over he will always stop and isgn. Then the Van was back again and pulled directly next to the bus door. We knew we were done then. One of the graphers went off on the van driver with " This is the Black Label Society not OZZIE!!!. She came back and said" THIS IS THE BANDS REQUEST NOT THE VENUES". He was relentless as he had a guitar which most bands believe that anyone asking one to be signed is a definite dealer and many are not happy ever to sign them at all. That's why pick guards are signed so them can place them on the guitars. One of the graphers got Zack to sign a guitar earlier that afternoon and was already ready to go to the show. The "GOING OFF" did not help the situation and they drove him a 100 feet to the stage door. Now down deep I do not blame Zack but all of this was orchestrated by the Manager who could have easily brought the few items on the bus for Zack to sign and maybe a total of 30 seconds a picture but it did not happen. Zack COULD have stepped up for a few fans as he has done so often in the past but today was not one of those days