I'd listened to Run-D.M.C. since before I could remember. I have tapes of myself and friends doing "Son of Byford" on the school bus in fifth grade. These guys are right up there with L.L. Cool J as emcees I'd admired since childhood.

The night of the concert, Huyen and I went up to the Great Hall at Mary Washington College to catch a pre-show interview. I had paged their manager several times during the day to make sure everything was copasetic -- I've encountered enough problems with interviews that I didn't need one here. I managed to find him in one of the side rooms, resting his head on his hand, looking absolutely jet-lagged. After performances in Los Angeles and Denver the two previous days, I could understand.

Photo credit: Huyen Campbell

But, he explained to me that Run and DMC were just then getting picked up from the airport over an hour away. As it turns out, I didn't get to go back for my interview until just after the opening act (the wonderfully talented Dirty Dozen Brass Band) finished.

Huyen followed me in to snap the photos you see on these pages. I sat down next to Run with DMC close by and started the interview.

What struck me as odd was not DMCs unusual enthusiasm for answering the questions, but Run's total lack of interest throughout the interview (as can be seen in a couple of the photos here). Now, yes, I do give the man some credit for even being awake after the kind of travel schedule they were on, but his lack of input bordered on rudeness. This was something I had not quite expected from what I had heard from others that had met these two.

In any event, the interview did go well, as did the show, in general. I was quite pleased to get to meet two of the three members (JMJ was elsewhere) of a crew that I had followed since I was a youngster.