Story by Casey Jones (from Orlando, Florida, USA)

I'm from a very tiny town in Virginia, where there were only 2 other people who could tell you who Hanoi Rocks is/was. I started collecting everything I could find through Goldmine magazing, and eventually got a fairly complete (very complete, actually) collection of all the original records, bootlegs, compilations, solo stuff, picture discs, and videos. My friends thought I was crazy to be so obsessed with a band they had never heard of and constantly made fun of me, but I didn't give a shit. I loved this music so much!

So I kept my ear to the ground and kept up with all the solo stuff over the years, but without anyone to talk about and get excited about this band with my interest fell off a little bit. Then, the wierdest thing happened. I was at a Guns N' Roses concert, in the middle of thousands of people, and I start talking to the guy beside me about different shows we had seen. I saw we had similar tastes in music and asked the almighty question, " well, who is just your all time favorite band?" To make a long story short (too late!), both of our favorites was Hanoi Rocks. I couldn't believe it. So, we traded phone numbers (we both had driven about 3 hours from opposite directions to see the GnR show) and stayed in touch, traded info, helped each other with our Hanoi collections, etc..

Then, he got wind of the New York shows at the Cat Club on monday nights, and that's all it took. The impossible was going to happen, I was going to see Michael Monroe LIVE! I was 19 and very poor at the time, and neither one of us could take off from work. So we both scheduled our one day off a week from our jobs for MONDAY. I was living in Virginia at the time, about a 12 hour drive from New York. I had never been to NY, had no idea how to get there, couldn't buy tickets in advance, and could only leave for NY monday morning. So, I drove and met my buddy who was closer now that I had moved back to Virginia from North Carolina (where I had been living when I met this guy). When he got off work we left -- about 10 A.M. We got to New York, found the club, paid at the door, and went in and sat down. (I had called and got the best directions they could give me). When we got in, I couldn't believe it. It was actually going to happen. They were showing a film of the Damned playing on a screen on stage and we were ready to go!!!! When everyone there started to gather round the stage, I made sure that I was frontrow - center. I had never seen a show like it in my life and never will again. I didn't stop jumping, screaming, and freaking out the entire show. It was like I was at the Marquee in 84! I kept looking over to my friend to see if he was as electrified as I was. Michael hit the stage with NEW ROSE! I lost my mind!! I got to see him do Highschool (from 2 STEPS), Up Around The Bend, Tragedy, Hammersmith Palais, Ain't Nothing to Do, I Wanna Be Loved, Same Shit Different Day, Dead, Jail, ....... oh man, I couldn't believe it! At one point in the show, right at the end of a song, Michael looked down at me at and saw my Iggy Pop Raw Fucking Power T-Shirt and gave me this huge surprised-looking smile and a thumbs-up and said something like, "all right, great shirt!" I almost had a heart attack!

Later, Sebastian Bach jumped out of the crowd where he was having fun with all of us and did Problem Child and a few others. I have a hard time remembering the set, I was so excited. I wonder if you if you know anyone who could find it or could get a copy of the video from that club, they had plenty of cameras there recording. Anyway, after the show I ran to the car and grabbed some goodies just in case I could meet him and get some stuff signed. I did! We were allowed to go into the dressing room where I was face to face with Michael. After he went on and on about my T-shirt and how I was the man for loving Iggy, I totally geeked out. I was speechless and all I could do after trying to sum up how much his music has meant to me in one sentence was to give him a big old hug! He was so nice and appreciative. Sebastian and Little Steven were back stage and got a big kick out of seeing a huge fan of Michael's getting to meet him. They were great guys, too. Michael was nice enough to sign my Back to Mystery City on white vinyl, my Underwater World picture disc, my Japanese gatefold copy of Nights Are So Long, and the Japanese 7-inch singles of She's No Angel and Nights Are So Long. These records were, like, the only things I spent my money on growing up. And of course I even got Sami to sign the Hanoi stuff too! And that was it!

We then drove 12 hours back just in time for work! Those were some crazy days. After everything that's happened since then (getting married, moving 3 times, working my butt off getting my career going - I draw comic books for Marvel Comics, etc.), I had forgotten a lot of the details about that night. After reading the bio on Michael, I was so happy to get specifics, even more than I already knew about those shows. I can't believe Joey Ramone was there! My friend actually went back to another show without me, sadly, I had to work again and was just too damn broke to do it again. I'm pretty sure he saw the last show there. This time he was smart enough to bring a camera!