Since I guess this is kind of turning into a Jake experience thread. I'll tell you about the first time I met him back in 1999. Keep in my that at this time, Jake is not the superstar famous Jake that everyone knows.
My friends and I were huge Pure Heart(Jake's band at the time) fans in high school. So much so, that when we found out that they were flying to Kauai to do a show at Borders Books and Music, we decided we need to get there super early. This was Pure Heart we're talking about, how can the place NOT be packed.
So we got there at like 9:00 in the morning, right when the place opened. Pure Heart was scheduled to play around 2:00pm or 3:00pm. So we waited there at Borders. Man we were so smart, we got there early.... or so we thought.
When 1:30 rolled around, we were pretty much the only people there who even knew Pure Heart was going to be performing. We watched them set up. They played their set and for us it was like watching the Beatles play in the 60s. It was scrumtrulecent.
After their show, they were at a table, signing autographs and taking pictures. We went up to take a picture with them and then Jake said, "We heard you guys were here really early"
We were kind of embarrassed. Being the ONLY people who waited for them. Then Jon Yamasato, the lead singer said, "Hey what are you guys doing tonight? You wanna come over to the hotel room and jam with us?" They gave us their room # and told us to stop by later.
We nearly pooped our pants in excitement. I remember driving back to my parents house and busting in the door screaming that I was going to go play music with my idols. My dad was like, "Yeah right" and my girlfriend at the time came into the house and said, "yeah they are..."
I grabbed my guitar and flew back out the door and drove as fast as I could to the hotel to meet them with my friends.
I remember when we got there, the first time we called they didn't answer the phone. We were crushed. Then by chance, Jake and Lopaka came walking by and saw us in the lobby. They invited us to go up to the room.
Needless to say, Jamming with someone whos music you really admire is something I hope you all can experience. Jake was a super nice guy back then and still is today. In fact, because of the fact that we showed up super early to a show that noone else cared about, both him and Jon remembered me many years later when I eventually moved back to Oahu after college.
Theres tons more stories about I could tell about what a nice guy Jake is, like the time he bought lunch for all of Aldrine's friends because he didn't eat lunch yet himself and didn't want to eat alone, But those will all have to wait for another time.
Damn this post is ginormous.
