So, a bit of information and details on the gig/mini concert/gathering of the fan girls that was Troy Baker at Piano's (a bar/club or something I guess).
Work at GameStop was packed because apparently two days right after Christmas is the best time to cram yourself and about 50 strangers at any given time into a store that the AC crapped out on several hours ago and buy/trade a whole bunch of s**t. Because of this, I had to work a bit late. As soon as I was told I could clock out, I did, whipped on my Ellie (from The Last of Us) shirt, and ran to the nearest subway station. I figured I should have about an hour to spare, since the M train goes practically directly to the venue. Only problem is, I'm a stupid s**t and forget once again that the M doesn't run on the weekend, and wait almost an hour for a train that would never come. Eventually, I figure this out, and take three different trains to get there, running whenever I wasn't on the train.
Eventually, I get to the place and get in, not knowing if I missed the show or not. As I walk to the back, who do I see rocking a guitar but ol' beardy Mr. Baker. I pretty much shoved the money in the poor door girl's hands as I rushed in, not knowing how much I missed. Surprisingly, the floor wasn't jammed pack with a variety of nerds. There was several ladies off to the side, the band that was going to play after Mr. Baker, and maybe one or two other guys. In between songs, Mr. Baker would say a little something ("All right this place is really filling up, we got six people now!", "A shadowy figure in the back gave me a thumbs up, I don't know if that means you think I'm doing a good job or are going to kill me later."), then move onto his next song.
I nearly went full on weirdo dorkoid/a*****e twice during his performance: the first, after two or three songs I nearly yelled a request for Freebird and/or the Excalibur song. The second, when he started closing with 'Will the Circle Be Unbroken?', I dug out a quarter and almost chucked it at him. But I didn't, so I managed to keep some dignity. When he finished performing, he got off stage and hung out with the fans, all of whom were women.
As I make my way to the cluster, I'm hit with the 'oh god people, I can't talk to people, but I really should try this social thing, aaaand now I'm just standing here awkwardly'. However, Mr. Baker sees me there in my Ellie shirt and says "Nice shirt!" and hi-fives me. Of course, the first thing that runs through my head is "Senpai noticed me!", and the social awkwardness doesn't improve much.
He continues to converse, and I can't remember how I brought it up, but I did tell him that I kinda hated him slightly because of the whole he's awesome at everything he touches (music, acting, v-neck shirts, hair, etc.), but that I thought he was very awesome. At some point he's talking about the ending of The Last of Us and asks me "did you kill the doctors?", which I had to admit that I never actually played the game, I was only able to watch it. "But you're wearing the shirt!" he says as I wished that I wasn't so bad with people.
Between all this, he saw me fiddling with a pen and says "I see you've got a pen there, I'm guessing there's something you'd like to have signed." which thank god he brought up, otherwise I would have just kept on standing there wishing that talking to people wasn't so hard. So I pulled out my CoD work lanyard that has the Advanced Warfare season pass tag on it. He signs it, and as he hands it back, he semi proudly says "I wrote a swear on it." ('******** Atlas' to be precise)
Eventually, the next performers go on stage and do their thing, and we all sit/stand there for a song. After that, I requested that he check out Miracle of Sound since he's done a bunch of songs on games he's in, and because of their similarities (stupidly talented, amazing hair, etc.), and Mr. Baker and his missus go and leave. The cluster of fans (including myself), decided to leave then as well, and I'm reasonably certain that we didn't follow because we're a bunch of creepers. At the very least, he seemed to think it was funny.
Me and the probably not crazy fans who happen to all be girls bid him a good night and to enjoy the city/state, and as I was putting my coat on, I talked to a pair of them about how holy crap, he's a really nice awesome guy. Shortly, we parted ways, and I sorta made my way to having an actual meal for the first time that day (I wandered a bit, thinking I may have been by Katz Delicatessen, then gave up and made my way off Manhattan).
During 'Will the Circle Be Unbroken?'
