24 Sept 25th-Oct 1St, 2025 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | talk with Slipknot’s Corey Taylor in 2015, discussing how the band’s music helped him cope with the death of bassist Paul Gray. “(Taylor said) going back and listening to all the music they’d made together helped him relive those moments in his life. And he went on that journey with his best friend one more time, and at the end of that, he was finally able to say goodbye,” Madrid says. “And as he’s saying this, he’s getting verklempt (and) having this emotional just naked moment and it was mesmerizing.” He’s had other memorable encounters with rock icons that weren’t recorded. One was the time he unintentionally pursued Judas Priest singer Rob Halford around a table at a San Diego hotel. “I’m checking out and I look across the way and it’s fucking Rob Halford and he looks like he’s had a very long weekend,” Madrid says. “He’s on the other side of this circular 12-foot Queen Anne antique table. I chase him around the table twice before I realized, ‘Oh, he’s avoiding me.’ Years later, I asked Rob about that (and) he goes, ‘Was that you?’” Another moment burned into Madrid’s memory was a personal conversation with the late Chester Bennington in the late 2000s. At the time, the Linkin Park frontman and former Valley resident was promoting Club Tattoo, which he co-owned with former Grey Daze bandmate Sean Dowdell. “I said, ‘You’re the dude from Linkin Park. Why are you not a dick?’ And he laughed that kind of soft laugh,” Madrid says. “He goes, ‘Man, what’s the point of being a dick? There’s so many dicks out there.’ That’s who he was. A very, very nice man. And I think I always tell people when we think about that, dude, it’s important to celebrate life and to call your friends.” Fitz Madrid: Dungeon Master for hire Madrid says he’s been into tabletop and role-playing games longer than he’s loved metal, though both spoke to him as a “kid who was different in Reagan’s America.” “When you hear metal for the first time, you just fucking know and you will seek it out. You will seek it out like a key into a lock. And D&D, for me, was the same way.” His first taste came in 1983 after spot- ting a copy of “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual” at a California toy store. “On the cover is this above-and-below scene of various creatures, troll, bugbear and a red dragon. And I’m like, ‘What is this?’” he says. “I opened it up and Dungeons & Dragons changed my life, because I realized that I wasn’t alone in liking fantasy and ideas and games that were played in our minds as opposed to just on a board or on the football field.” Madrid embraced D&D like a rogue grabbing a treasure chest. Over the decades, he’s rolled through countless sessions of the landmark RPG. These days, he’s a Dungeon Master for hire, running free live games across the Valley, from local spots like The Silver Key Lounge in Mesa to the Arizona Renaissance Festival in 2022. He says the vibe is similar to the D&D-focused web series “Critical Role.” “This is the golden age of Dungeons & Dragons right now. It’s never been easier to get involved,” Madrid says. “When I do a D&D live show, I bring the ‘Critical Role’ experience to places, could be a shop, could be the Ren Fest, and I give the players a chance to sit down and play. It’s free for them. I will Dungeon Master, use all my minis and I give them sort of a big theatrical experience.” Madrid has turned his D&D obsession into charity. Last month, a live session at Peoria’s Silver Dragon Games, streamed on Twitch, raised $10,000 for Phoenix Children’s Hospital. “Now that D&D is everywhere, I try making it easy for everyone who played back in the day or wants to learn about it and get involved,” Madid says. “I think people should play.” Fitz Madrid can be heard weekdays from 2 to 7 p.m. on 98KUPD (97.9 FM) Rock Solid from p 22 KUPD’s Fitz Madrid, left, with Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes. (Larry McFeelie)
