Several Jackson signature artists stormed the 2017 NAMM Show in Anaheim, Calif., on Saturday for a full afternoon of autograph sessions.
Periphery’s Misha Mansoor, Revocation’s Dave Davidson and Act of Defiance’s Chris Broderick kicked off the day, and seemingly had a blast interacting with the fans and ribbing each other.
“They are both good buddies so it’s a great time,” said Mansoor. “NAMM is interesting because we get to see all the people we tour with all in one place, and so it’s kind of like a big reunion for a lot of bands. I really like gear so it tickles that fancy but then I also get to hang out with a bunch of friends I don’t get to see very often so it’s really just a great time throughout the day.”
Mansoor was also thoroughly impressed by all of the new Jackson signature models that debuted at the show.
“I think the guitars that Jackson signature artists come up with are fantastic,” he said. “You can tell that there is a lot of thought put into these guitars. They’ll actually influence me, I’ll be like, ‘That’s really cool, maybe I should try that on mine.’ It’s definitely a great community.”
That community now includes Marty Friedman, who held court in the autograph booth for a solid hour, switching back and forth between English and Japanese as he greeted fans, signed a variety of photos and other paraphernalia and answered questions about his brand-new Jackson signature models.
Despite a late-night at Friday’s Metal Allegiance show, Megadeth’s David Ellefson, Machine Head’s Phil Demmel and Gus G. were also in great spirits for their midday group session, even going over their time slot to pose for additional selfies!
Last up, and with a line that snaked around a few hallway laps was Slipknot’s Mick Thomson. With his mask on, his piercing gaze felt as if he was marking your soul straight to hell, but his friendly banter immediately put approaching fans at ease.
