“I partied hard with Andrew W.K. … and all I got is this sweet piece of party paper.”
After sweating in line on a hot day to get Andrew W.K.’s signature, that phrase adorns the custom-made autograph stationary I now hold.
W.K. is on tour with a full band for the first time in four years. My best friend is a major fan of his high-energy music, so we could not miss him at the Vans Warped Tour at the Tine Warner Amphitheater at Tower City in Cleveland.
Looking at that autograph, I wonder why people scramble to obtain a scribble and greeting from a celebrity. Aren’t they just a regular person with more publicity? Is it worth it?
The answer to the first question is yes. Question two is more complicated, and I realized the answer at the end of the music festival.
Corey Mowery, who works for W.K.’s management and runs his merchandise, said that he enjoys checking out new music on the tour.
“[The tour is] amazing. There’s not much like it,” Mowery said. “It’s kind of like a rock and roll summer camp.”
The nationwide tour boasts performances from more than 70 bands at each of its stops. While the setlists are on the short side, the band quantity (including the All-American Rejects, Sum 41 and Dillinger Escape Plan) offers opportunities for people to catch favorite bands and discover new ones.
While W.K. was the main artist I was familiar with, many bands knew how to work the crowd. Sparks the Rescue even encouraged a member to surf up to the stage to claim a t-shirt.
It is this kind of energy that drew me to the event in the first place, as W.K. has amazing stage energy, and that is why it was worth the wait to meet him in his merchandise tent, the “Party House.”
He spent time talking to every person that met him, and he never looked tired or exhausted, even when he admitted that the heat was rough before he signed our stuff. He made the experience a personal one, taking a creative photo with each person, with each pose different from the last.
It is true that “celebrity” is just a status ascribed to someone with media exposure, but what made the meeting special was the passion that he puts into his music and approach to life, which may help explain why he was down-to-earth and friendly at the signing. From what I can tell, he is a guy that enjoys making people happy, and I think experiencing that in person adds to the human factor of the musical experience.
While W.K.’s appreciation for his fans is reflected by his willingness to meet them personally, I didn’t get a true taste of it until I saw him on stage at the end of the night with his band (which includes his wife, Cherie Lily).
While the songs were intense, it was W.K.’s interactions with the crowd that made me happy to be there. This was especially true when he thanked the audience members for deciding to come to the festival when they could have easily been somewhere else.
But why would anyone want to be anywhere else, especially when W.K. was encouraging people to go crazy and have a good time?
“Those guys and girls in the pit, we love you,” W.K. said.
It was evident people in the crowd loved him back, singing along with songs “She Is Beautiful,” “Ready to Die” and “I Get Wet” while he delivered notes from his keyboard over the huge band sound.
He ended the set with the classic “Party Hard,” bringing out the VIP audience members to rock out with the rest of the band onstage while encouraging the crowd to form a circle, triangle, oval and rectangle mosh pits.
It must be said that for someone who is rather shy, this festival provided a good chance for me to cut loose, enjoy some music and participate in fun crowd acrobatics. The fact that Andrew W.K. in particular celebrates the virtue of self-expression through his work is something that I will always appreciate.
