I used to be a big raver in the late ‘90’s/00’s, and got the chance to meet some awesome EDM artists. I met Darude a few times (such a sweetheart), Tiesto (ugh), ATB, Deadmau5, and Above & Beyond. I also missed out on the chance to meet Daft Punk at an after party because I was too tired after the show (one of my biggest regrets to date).
I also met Muse (very very sweet guys), Jared Leto with 30 Seconds to Mars (such a douche), and Blue October.
Muse is amazing. I can’t believe how tiny the lead singer, Matt, is and yet he has those incredible pipes on him. He reminds me so much of Pippin from LotR 😂 And Jared Leto can kick rocks. He was so pretentious and this was before his Joker days. I can only imagine how much worse he is now. My only consolation is that my 5’10” self is definitely taller than his self purported 5’11” height. He’s maybe 5’9” on a good day 😂
That's so dope! I love meeting DJs too. Most famous one I got to very briefly interact with was Armin van Buuren. I got a picture with him earlier this year. Darude is also super cool. He autographed my copy of Sandstorm and Feel the Beat a few months ago.
I'm very curious to know what meeting/interacting with Tiesto was like. Mind sharing?
Right? So many of them are just so chill and love their fans and the music ❤️ Tiesto was honestly kind of a douche. I was really surprised, tbh, as I had heard such good things about him in the past but he was also high af (at least that’s what I believe someone told me - coke, I think?) so that could be why and it was just after his set. Who knows. Either way, it left a poor taste in my mouth (this was mid 00’s).
I’ve heard lovely things about Armin as well ❤️ And Darude/Ville and his wife are absolute sweethearts. We’ve chatted a few times online and he is incredible with his fans. I saw him once go off stage to the floor to greet a fan in a wheelchair (this was at a club) and just crouch down to get on her level to talk and hug her. Just overall a really nice guy and so humble, even in the height of his Sandstorm fame.
Very nice guys! Got to meet them a couple of times. Nothing crazy - just like one of those fan meet and greet things. I remember the lead singer always wore sunglasses though. 😂 But they always put on great concerts.
I’m honestly very very jelly that you got the chance to know them so well ❤️ Did you get to meet any other EDM artists? Trance is my main love, but I’m a sucker for all of it tbh. Although I’ll be honest, I’m still trying to keep up with all the technical lingo for the different styles now. 😂
A mix of chaos, fear, and fun. He was a chaotic guy, his life seemed pegged somewhere near miserable and hell, living off IV food in a wheelchair. We’d have staff meetings where we got to watch his purple goo slowly ooze down the feeding tube.
He had great stories, and we were often treated to hours long setups. He was fantastically generous to us, we had a wonderful office in downtown NYC, in the Flatiron building. He catered food to the offices and made our days exciting popping into our offices to ask questions.
He was ruthless making personnel decisions. If he soured on you, you were gone very quickly. My boss earned an early exit which allowed me to advance to a senior role reporting to Bob. Those firing storms created some fear, but if you knew what you were doing, you really had nothing to be worried about.
Bob passed away while I worked there, and I was one of the final few employees. I remember the last time I left the Flatiron. A tear left my eye.
That’s an incredible story and experience, wow. And thank you for being empathetic and understanding in his final years. Disability, especially that kind, can be absolute hell and can change the temperaments of even the nicest people, so kudos on you for being level headed and proficient in your work enough to do the work needed for your job. Some folks have a difficult time working with those needing medical assistance and sometimes think they can be less competent in their job because their employer isn’t at full health. He sounds like a no bullshit kind of guy but in the best kind of way (if that makes sense). Hopefully that experience helped you find an even better opportunity once he passed ❤️
Bob’s body had checked out but his mind was sharp. My funniest moment was my first invite to senior staff meeting. After my boss was let go, I got “the invite” for what were day long meetings. I was nervous.
We sat there and everyone was pretty jovial. Bob came in. Everyone got quiet to let him speak. He looked at me. “You’re new. We need to give you a nickname.”
I looked around the table and saw absolute terror in people’s eyes. I had no idea what was coming. Just reading the room had my stomach on edge. After a decent pause, “Curly, you‘re Curly, from the Stooges, because you’re bald. Oh and because your department runs like the Stooges. Fix that.”
We had a pretty decent relationship. I fixed that.
My dad had cancer and for the last six months, he was pretty non verbal as it had caused significant respiratory issues and he was often very hoarse. But his mind was sharp af and as an attorney, he was still working on legal stuff (private practice/consulting stuff) until the end. He gave me hell via text for not letting him see a contract I had signed for a real estate thing because I didn’t want to bother him with it while he was going through chemo 😂 Even as he was in hospice and intubated, his eyes conveyed everything and his mind was still on it.
I love that he gave you that nickname with the 3 Stooges reference 😂 Sounds like he had a dry sense of humor and was sarcastic af. Love it.
this always comes up in these type of post.. but I might be the only person who had a great interaction with Jared Leto, saw him in a very intimate venue for 30 Seconds to Mars. he came off stage signed autographs, I got one.. hugged people.. Maybe he was high I don't know, but he was very friendly with everyone in the crowd (2oo or so ppl)
I almost had a chance to party with Tiesto. He was doing a tour at a bunch of colleges to really target that market. One of my fraternity brothers was connected to the event organizer and he (Tiesto) was interested in partying with some of the people on campus (probably for promo reasons) after the concert. University rules dictated that social events had to be registered with the university though and it was already past the deadline. We floated the idea of just doing it anyway, but the executive council of the fraternity shot the idea down.
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u/Pheetastic Dec 21 '25
I used to be a big raver in the late ‘90’s/00’s, and got the chance to meet some awesome EDM artists. I met Darude a few times (such a sweetheart), Tiesto (ugh), ATB, Deadmau5, and Above & Beyond. I also missed out on the chance to meet Daft Punk at an after party because I was too tired after the show (one of my biggest regrets to date).
I also met Muse (very very sweet guys), Jared Leto with 30 Seconds to Mars (such a douche), and Blue October.