Val Emmich show tonight!

The above photos were taken by me at the Canal Room in May 2009. I had such a great time of course. Val previewed five new songs. My favorite was Eastern Standard Time, which you can watch a clip of a video of that song taken by a fan from Germany(thanks Julia’s friend!). I’m attending Val’s show tonight. It’s too bad my camera broke :(

So let me get into what happened the night of May 19, 2009 at the Canal Room. I got there super early, because I always do at every concert I attend. I am so used to arriving at a Wallflowers show an hour early just to be in front of the line so I can stand right up by the stage. In this case, with Val being an indie artist you don’t have to do that with him. I ended up being the only one there, which I don’t mind since a lot happened while I waited. I stood there talking to the bouncer. Even the bouncer commented to me, “wow you’re early.” I explained to him it’s because I’m a hardcore fan. And laughed it off.

I’m standing by the door, Val walks by with his friend. I just flashed a smile at him. He was busy talking to other people. He went inside. A few minutes later, I look to my right and I recognize a face walking towards my way. It’s no other than The Incredible Hulk himself, Edward Norton. He was on his mobile with a woman attached to his arm. They walked passed me and they walk into the restaurant right next door.

Still standing by the door and out comes Eric Micali, Val’s drummer. He stepped out to smoke. When I see my chance to say something, I took it. I said, “Eric, right?” He nods and he asked me if he knew me. I just shake me head. He keeps looking at me, said that I look familiar. I tell him that I love his work. He smiles with delight and almost blushing. It was adorable. We talk for awhile about the weather and how it was a Tuesday and nobody was able to join me(like tonight). A few of his friends walked by and talked to him before they went inside. He turned back to me and continued our conversation. That was the sweetest thing. I blurted out, “Ed Norton just walked right by and went into that restaurant.” Now, I just seen Mr.Norton and I HAD to tell somebody, anybody. It happened to be Eric. He looks over and said, “really? Wow. Talk about random celebrity sighting.” Then we talked some more. I don’t remember what we talked about. Then he said that he’s going inside to sleep a little bit before the show. I told him to have fun with that. He laughs and went inside. On a sidenote, the next day I went to his myspace page and commented to him about Ed Norton and how Norton apologized for not being able to make it to the show.

Prior to the show, Val and I had passed messages from one another on facebook(both PM and on our walls so you can read it if you have me added). I asked him where I can get a VE shirt and if he didn’t have any I would be forced to make DIY shirt. He encouraged me to make one and so I did. I showed him my design and asked for more logos. He was touring at the time so his replies took awhile. He eventually replied to me 3 weeks later, which took me by surprised. And this is what makes him Val Emmich. He really cares for his fans. I adore him for taking the time. Not all musicians do this. And when I say all, I am including indie artists too. So I showed him my design for the shirt and he insisted that I wear it to the show on May 19th.



Here’s the design on the shirt. It’s simple and clean. I wore it to the show.

After his set, I managed my way up there before a line started forming to get to him. He was already surrounded by his friends. People were just trying to get his attention. it didn’t take so long for me to scavenge my way through the crowd really. I told him my name and immediately he knew who I was and looked at my shirt. He was fucking amazed to say the least. He grabbed anyone he can from his friends and just said, “look what she made!” He even dragged his manager, Ralph, who suggested to Val that I start designing his shirts. Val also said that next time, I come in with a load of shirts, sell them at his show and I keep the money. I just laughed but he actually looked serious. It was cute how excited he was with the shirt I made. At some point one of his friends got his attention and I was just standing there next to him. My time with him was up, so I shook his shoulder to get his attention again, turned to me and told him it was nice to finally meet him. He gave me a hug which took me by surprised but it was sweet.

So that’s my experience from that night. I made a few more shirts and I’ll probably wear one of them tonight. As of right now, the Little Daggers shirt is available for girls only(babydoll). If you’re interested please contact me at info@valemmichfans.com. I will try to post a photo of the shirt itself using my phone.