Surprisingly I wasn't that much of a fan when I went to the show on May 3, 2000 at Township Auditorium in Columbia, SC. I'd heard the music and enjoyed it, but wasn't as much of a fan as my girlfriend at the time.

While we were standing at the doors, we noticed two buses pass by and before I could say "Wouldn't it be funny", my girlfriend made it around the building to the back lot. Sure enough it was the band's buses.

Waiting at the gate, staring intently, the members left the bus heading for the building, and Billy started walking towards us. The security guard let a few people through but told us no because we didn't pay to talk to him or whatever. In a moment that I'll never forget, Billy looks towards the security guy and waves the rest of us in. "Ok, but let the other people talk to him since they paid" Yeah, whatever.

We walked up to Billy and my girlfriend couldn't exercise her vocal abilities as he shook her hand and said hello. I returned his salutation and he started talking to the folks from the websites as he tossed his felt fisherman's hat in his hands. We stood in awe and my girlfriend stared at his arm and the white shirt he was wearing since he had a large piece of fuzz on his upper arm. She recounted to me later her plot to steal it, but refrained.

In the middle of him talking to us, he missed catching his hat and it fell to the ground. After about 5 or 6 seconds (it seemed much longer) Billy laughs and picks the hat back up. I'm sure we all just stared at the hat on the ground.

His demeanor, his love of his fans, and the beautiful sound of his music made me a fan almost immediately. Since that concert I've collected all of the SP albums, and dream of owning one of the masters for Machina II/FEOMM. I look forward to their triumphant return!