Ozzy’s one east-of-Arizona book signing for
Trust Me, I’m Dr. Ozzy took place Oct. 18 in Conroe, Tex., 41 miles north of Houston. The seemingly remote location makes perfect sense when you see the size of the building. The Hastings Books in Conroe is as big as a full-size grocery store, no mean feat in this age of online retailing dominance. And based on the size of the crowd, it looks like a good thing.
So, it was with rock in our hearts that Chris and I headed north to see the Prince of Darkness and his loyal minions.
People were divided into groups of 100 to be let in and with no meaningful exceptions (one lady yelling how much Justin Bieber sucks and one visibly wasted girl) were very well behaved.
Teenagers were there.
Adults were there.
Family groupings were there.
Metalheads were (of course) there.
And all in equal measure.
As far as in-stores of any sort go, the event was very orderly. But it was also lacking in any fan-based mania. No shrieking or panting or fainting. No ‘oh-my-God,-dude!’s
Even so, Ozzy is Ozzy, and any time with Ozzy is good. Just ask these folks. We did.
As we walked out of the store after taking our pictures of Ozzy, we ran into this cat. Looking that much like Ozzy himself, we had to get his story.
Up next, we found a father/son combo. Dad had his son on his shoulders, high above the rabble but firmly entrenched in the din.
I crossed Highway 105 with these guys. They were on the lower end of the age demographic so they were next.
Next we decided to talk to the folks at the back of the line. Our conversation moved from Ozzy to Nirvana and the possible influences of Ozzy and Sabbath on Kurt Cobain.
Up next, meet Savannah. She was pretty far back in line. Not sure if she ever got in.
And finally, all of the metal kids come from somewhere. Metal mom was here scoring an autographed book for her son.
Overall it was a great night spent around some cool folks.
Thanks to everyone who talked to us. You did the rock proud.
Keep those horns up!
