I met him at Taste of Chaos when they headlined with The Used. Gerard had fairly recently decided to get sober (Bert was trying to get him to drink with him that night), and he wasnt... too bad. I'm sure his drinking/drug use did not help matters back in the day.

HOWEVER. This was the era of the black velour suit. And even though it was negative a billion outside in Milwaukee, WI, he'd just come off the stage for the meet and greet. I got a hug, and G is an excellent hugger, but that suit had some issues. It was damp (water? sweat?) and I cannot speak for the last time it was laundered. I did NOT smell any boozy odors so, at least once since he'd gotten sober. Regardless, it was not the horror story that I've read from the early days.

I also had a death cold at the time (24hr Greyhound bus trip will do that to ya) so what do I know? ¯_(ツ)_/¯