Well, I don't usually stand in line to meet people or get an autograph. However, for this guy, I made an exception. The clean-shaven guy next to me is the usually goateed Mike Portnoy (www.mikeportnoy.com), drummer for Dream Theater (www.DreamTheater.net), and clearly one of the hottest drummers on the planet right now.

What do you say when you meet one of your idols? One of your musical heroes? Well, I don't know what you would say, but my conversation with him went something like:

A gaggle of drummers.

That's Mike Portnoy (left), Simon Phillips of Toto (center), and Kenny Aronoff (right).

Kenny's personal web site is at www.kennyaronoff.com.

As a huge Dream Theater fan, and also being a guitarist as well as a drummer, I also wanted to meet Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci (www.johnpetrucci.com). But, the line to meet him was too long. So, I passed.

Later, I was just browsing around the different vendor booths, and there was John standing there at the corner of the Mesa Boogie booth chatting with one of the company reps. Flocks of people were walking right past them, completely unaware of his presence.

So, I hung around for about 10 minutes, waiting for a break in the conversation, and...

... asked John if I could get a photo with him.

"Sure!", He replied, "As long as you don't stutter and babble to me like some weirdo did to Mike earlier."

I gave my word.

I was browsing the rack of guitars at the PRS booth and, again, escaping notice from a mass of fans, there was Dan Estrin, guitarist and chief songwriter for Hoobastank (www.hoobastank.com).

I complimented him on what a good follow-up the second album (The Reason) had been to the also-hot first album. He said they were recording the third one right now and that it is even better.

Right on.

Although... as if he would say, "Yeah, it's a good thing the first two kicked ass, because this next one is gonna blow."

Hanging out with Dan in the PRS booth was Dave Benedict, bassist for the band Default (www.defaultonline.com). I confess. I had never even heard of him, nor Default, before bluntly asking him who he was and what band he was in. He was very gracious and nice.

After clicking this photo with Dave. I phoned my 17 year-old daughter, Samantha, and asked her if she'd ever heard of the band Default. "Yeah!", she replied. "They've got a cool song playing regularly on the radio right now." "Really?", I said. "Well... do you want to talk to their bassist? He's right here!"

Dave smiled and nodded that it was cool. Naturally, Sam went nuts and said, "Sure!"

So, I hand Dave my cell phone and he says, "Hey, Samantha! Why aren't you here with your dad? ... Yea? Well, he'll just have to bring you with him next year."

He was very cool to chat with her like that. And, of course, Sam thought that was mighty cool of me to do for her. And, because of that meeting, I browsed over to the Default web site when I got back (www.defaultonline.com) and checked them out. I see that Dave has a new haircut now. Their music is really good. So, if you've somehow missed them, like me, give them a listen.

So, next year, I've got to figure out a way to get Samantha a NAMM pass too. Hmmm...

Another member of Dream Theater -- this is keyboardist, Jordan Rudess (www.jordanrudess.com).

He was is this little room crammed with about 30 or so fans, jamming his keyboard parts live to pre-recorded Dream Theater tracks. Way cool! This guy is a monster on the keys.

Dave Mustaine of Megadeth (www.megadeth.com).

The wall of people were so thick to get his autograph, the best I could do here was just to hold my camera way up over my head and click a few shots hoping to get a lucky shot. This was, I think, the fourth attempt.

Nuno Bettencourt (www.nuno-bettencourt.com), formerly of Extreme, now with Population1.

I didn't have a chance to talk to him. So, I'm not sure what he's up to these days.

Papa Roach (www.paparoach.com).

Just between you and I, when he thinks of the word 'roach', I doubt he's thinking of a bug that crawls out of the sewer. At least, you wouldn't think so by the expression in this photo!

Okay, so the Ernie Ball booth... actually more like a corral ... had this little hillbilly-like shack on one side of it. Inside was some jamming going on. They had some guy dressed up like a motorcycle cop guarding the door to it. I mean, seriously, he wasn't a real cop. He had on this really bad fake mustache, and all. Actually, he looked like one of the Village People.

Anyway...

So, I look through the window, and there is John Petrucci playing guitar with some bassist I did not recognize and... on drums... could it be?

... Yes! It was Steve Lukather (www.stevelukather.net), from Toto.

Now, if you know Steve (or know of him), you know that he is a way-hot guitarist. Not a drummer. Well... that's what I thought too.

Okay, to be fair, he was no Mike Portnoy. Hell... for that matter, he was no Loren Scott. But, he did have surprisingly solid chops!

Way cool! As a drummer/guitarist myself, I could appreciate it.

So, when Steve finally staggered out of the jam shack... and I do mean staggered -- Steve was holding a drink in his hand that was clearly not his first of the day. Anyway... when he came out, I asked if I could get a photo with him.

He slurred, "Shhhure!"

As he walked over, I quipped, "Steve, you are my favorite drummer!". He smiled and said, "Now that is the most honest thing anyone has said to me all day!" Then, he slung his arm around my neck like a drinking buddy.

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By the way, you can see that Village People-looking cop I was talking about over Steve's shoulder in this shot.

This is Nadja (www.nadjaonline.com), former bassist for the now-defunct band Coal Chamber.

I didn't know who she was when I took this photo. But, she was important enough to be signing autographs. And, she looked kinda hot. So, I got a photo of her, just in case.

Now, some day when she is riding the top of the charts, I can give my best cool look, synch up the pants and give a good Barney Fife-like sniff of arrogance, and say, "Yep. I met her at NAMM 2005, I did."

Okay... now, I had seen photos of Johnny Hiland (www.johnnyhiland.com) in my guitar magazines for the past few months. But, I had never heard him play before.

He was in this booth jamming live to the rhythm tracks from his debut CD and... he is freaking amazing!

If you've never heard him, and you love hearing guitar playing that makes your jaw drop in awe, get his all-intrumental debut CD. He does this hybrid picking style (with a pick and his finger-nail at the same time) to rip out the fastest chicken-picking with a hard-rock frosting that I have ever heard. Some songs sound pure country-style, which I typically do not like -- but I do from him. And, other songs sound like he is possessed by the soul of Joe Satriani or Zakk Wylde.

In fact, John's debut CD was produced by guitarist Steve Vai, with Billy Sheehan playing bass. It is just WAY good.

So, after I watched Johnny play about five or so songs five feet in front of my gaping mouth, I bought a copy of his CD, which he was kind enough to sign and pose for this photo.

As he was signing the CD, I started rambling on about how amazing he was. But, he quickly cut me off and said, "Oh, don't start that stuttering crap with me like you did with Portnoy!"

Damn! Word gets around.

Okay... I was just kidding. He was a very humble and nice guy.

Same with these guys. They also were not celebs, but were working hard to become them. Needless to say, after all the time they spent putting on that makeup, they did not mind posing for a photo.

Rock on!

The man himself... Joe Satriani (www.satriani.com).

But, a bit of a disclaimer here. I never saw the man this year.

I was standing in line to stutter for Mike Portnoy when Joe was signing autographs here. So, my buddy Brett Schneider grabbed my camera and snapped this shot of Joe for me. Thanks, Brett.

Here I am with Michael Schenker (www.michaelschenkerhimself.com).

I felt bad for him. He was in this booth promoting his new CD and signature amplifier and, there was nobody around him. He almost begged me to come over and get an autograph.

His wife and kid were there next to him and she tried getting me to part with $20 to buy his CD. But... I had already spent my last $15 on Johnny Hiland's CD. So... I had to pass.

That's Yngwie Malmsteen (www.yngwie.org) on the left and George Lynch (of Dokken and Lynch Mob) in the foreground (www.georgelynch.com).

I had met George at NAMM in 2003, and his biceps are still as solid now as then. This guy works the weights as much as he plays his guitar.

Yngwie (that's pronounced ING-vay, for those of you out of the loop) is still playing the 80's rocker thing to the hilt. His sunglasses never came off. His shirt was unbuttoned to his hairy navel. And he had the black leather pants on that looked like they might have fit him better 30 pounds ago. C'mon, Yngwie!