It's a Cruel World, But I'm a Lucky Boy (Girl)

I'm back from a 3 day weekend. This particular 3 day weekend saw me hitting the road for some Matt Nathanson so as to Rock. Erika and I left wicked early Friday morning and she drove all the way to her brother's home in Denver. The drive was pleasant and let me tell you, iPods with hundreds of random songs is the way to road trip. You never know what you're going to get, it's like a box of...well you know.

That evening brought us to Casa Bonita. For you Utah folk, it's the original version of the Mayan. The food is a little crappier but there's more entertainment and weirdness. Arcades and "scary" caves and a little ballroom/bar. We went with Erika's fam and her nieces loved it. We went through Black Bart's cave about 4 times before I bailed on that. They may have gone more. I kinda blocked that from my memory. The thing about Casa Bonita is that they give you endless sopapillas, which if you've ever had them, you know they are awesome. Fried dough with puffy hollow centers that you can drizzle with honey. Unless you are me, then while you are squeezing the honey, you will make the bottle top explode off and cover the table and everyone at it, in a sticky mess. Twice. Okay not everyone was covered in honey, just me. It was rather embarrassing especially the second time. I must have like He-Man grip or something, since even Erika's brother had no problem acquiring honey for his sopapillas. I think it's because I've been working out. I'm freakishly strong.

The food was sub-par, but the sopapillas were amazing (I had 7) and the cliff diving and general goofiness of the place were nice.

The next day we had some time to kill. We wouldn't leave for the festival type show until late afternoon, so Erika decided to go see a movie with her bro and I decided to go to the flea market with Shelley, Erika's sister-in-law and the nieces. It was sunny day, but windy but other than that, it was lovely. I'd never been to a flea market, so it was cool to see the stuff, although after a while a lot of the stuff looked really similar. I kind of wanted a old steamer trunk, but it was $200 and what would I do with an old steamer trunk?

After some lunch we prepared to go. We printed a google map and started the hour and half journey. Shelley had gotten herself a ticket and came with us, so she would finally understand why we have such unholy devotion to Matt. We had a lovely time on the way and made it to the exit in record time. We followed the directions on the map and ended up...nowhere. In the middle of a little city. Not at an outdoor amphitheatre. We pulled over and asked directions. Google maps had failed us again. We needed to hope back onto the freeway and then we'd be right there. We didn't know exactly where it was, but traffic was a nightmare, so we parked at a hotel and illegally crossed under the freeway trying to avoid getting squashed. We headed up a hill and we were there. Apparently the venue did sell out, but I was expecting something large like our outdoor amphitheatre here, which is huge. It wasn't tiny, but it definitely wasn't the size I was expecting, but this is Fort Collins and I guess there aren't as many people to accommodate here.

We missed the first act, which I think was a local Colorado guy named Josh Hodge. Next was Eric Hutchinson, and he was so fun, playing the piano and then his guitar, he was just as good as the songs on the radio suggest he is, and I like that his album is called "Sounds Like This" which I think is pretty clever. We snagged some spots way stage right but had an okay view of him. Most people were set up on the grass on blankets.

Next came out We the Kings. I was immediately struck by just how ugly the entire band was. The lead singer was a red-head with long hair and they all looked like they could just a good scrubbing. They seemed really full of themselves and they employed a great deal of feedback on all the songs. I spent most of the set looking like a smelled something bad and texting nasty things to Erika. Like: "They do realise they aren't Pearl Jam and this isn't 1994." Even the songs I liked from the radio were ruined in their presentation of them. They did play Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle" and I love to play that on rock band, so I forgave them and bopped along to that, but mostly it was awful. They should have just played the songs from the album over the PA, then I wouldn't have had to watch the singer take off his shirt and display his nasty tats. But during the set I saw Jon and Konrad on the side of the stage and waived to both of them. It was awesome.

Then it was time for Matt. We were able to move closer to the middle of the stage where I was behind an 8 year old girl. The median age of the crowd I would say was about 13 or 14. Mostly really young kids and some with parents and few older people. There were even some toddlers. It was beyond weird. Maybe because in Utah we have such large families were can't afford to go to concerts and my parents didn't know contemporary music at all, so my perspective is a bit different.

Matt was suppose to start at 8:00, but it was more like 8:20 when his set kicked off. Playing "To the Beat of Our Noisy Hearts" and then jumping into "Princess" with Jessie's Girl. I was glad that Shelley would at least know this song, she was rocking out. "Wedding Dress" was incredibly intense and there was a little banter between songs, but mostly things felt a little rushed. Despite this the band was tight. "Pretty the World" and "Still" and then coming out early was "Come on Get Higher" to which everyone sang along. It was impressive to see the crowd sing along to every word. He's definitely getting the attention he deserves.

He announced the last song of the his set. He wanted to play Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" which we had just watched the pilot for Glee with Erika's family the night before, so it was really fun to hear it and Shelley was excited to hear it. I was a bit disappointed with the length of the set, but now was our chance. The other bands had said they would be back by the merch booths to sign and meet people, so I figured Matt would do the same, but he didn't say that he would. That worried me. We jumped out of the crowd and headed to where the other artists were. The crowd was massive. We asked the merch girls at Matt's table what the 411 was, and they told everyone that Matt was sick and wouldn't be coming out, but since they hadn't been there until right before his set and they didn't have any shirts or CD for sell, I wondered if they knew that for certain. Shelley is kind of a punk, so while we were debating where to stand and what to do we walked passed a gap between the metal barricades and the orange netting to keep people out. I had glimpsed Aaron from another angle and Shelley told me to just to walk through and go talk to him. I only deliberated a moment and went for it. I walked in with purpose and while Aaron chatted with someone from the crew, I waited. I wanted to go back and get Erika, but security wasn't far and didn't want to get nabbed. When Aaron was done with his chat we said hello, I reintroduced myself and reminded him of our exploits on the headlining tour. He said he would remember my name next time and I told him not to worry about it. I asked him how long they had been home between shows. 2 days. They are freaking machines. We talked about if the set was short and he told me not that he realised, but they didn't go by the set list at all. They played what Matt was deciding on the spur of the moment. I asked if Matt was sick, and Aaron said he had been but just thought Matt was tired, but he was being the strong leader. We told him we thought the band had been in excellent form and he explained that since they hadn't played together in a few days, everything was fresh and exciting and reminded them how much they all liked playing together. I asked for a picture, we took one and he asked to look at it. He said he wasn't happy with it and we should take another. I told him he had to smile and he said he would try to look pleased. We got Erika a picture with him and he said he was going to go to the trailer. We stood awkwardly around. Konrad was just over the way, but between us was the security guard. He soon realised what we were up to and made us leave. I think he may have waited until Aaron left, but it could have just been that after that we just looked too conspicuous just standing around. We should have tried to walk around and look busy. I decided that next time, I'm getting a lanyard and just having colored paper in every shade so we can look more official.

We debated what we should do, since now the guard was actually guarding and keeping people out of the back. I saw Matt come out. He was talking with someone and we called for him and when he turned I waved. he waved back. and we waived back and forth for a bit. I think he was hesitating whether he should come over or not.

He came over and I asked him where his belt buckle was, I figured this was a good way to remind him who I was and see if he had an comment about it. Wrong question. He responded harshly that he just flew in and didn't have anything on him. He needed to get to bed since they were flying out to Canada soon. He also said that he felt like he hadn't been home in 2 years. Which really he's spend most of the last 12 months on the road and from now until October, he'll be out playing shows. I probably should have told him that my husband spent a year in Iraq and to suck it up rockstar, but he wasn't in a good mood. I had loved his blog about "finding" Depeche Mode and he was quick to say that he'd put up an addendum that he'd liked Depeche Mode since he was a kid but he had really found his love for them recently. I asked about Black Celebration since he said that the production didn't get "sexy" until Violator, and he said that Black Celebration was his favorite, which is mine as well. He was signing and taking pictures with others while we chatted. It wasn't a happy chatting, it was a bit tense, but I was unwilling to let bail out now. I had driven 8 hours to see him play for about 30 minutes, I wanted some kind of appreciation, I guess. He asked the name of the girl who handed up her shirt to be signed. Her name was Willow! This was the first time I'd met someone with my name! She was about 13, I told her it was my name too. Matt said that it was a cool name, she said thanks, and I said Thanks, and he leveled at me: "I know." Ouch! I had the booklet for his last CD in my hand. He asked if I wanted it signed. I said something to the effect of "that's okay" I told him looked really tired. I wanted to say how he should get some rest, I wanted to thank him for coming over at all. But the words wouldn't come and he was dealing with the crowd of tweenage girls that were collecting autographs on their t-shirts from all the bands. I felt like maybe he was just trying to gain some more fans out of people that may not have come to see him, since that's been his habit for the last 8 years, charming crowds as an opener and while he was not in the mood, he understood that was part of his shtick.

Erika said I had my pouty face on. I don't know where she was I was trying to concentrate on not interrupting Matt with other people, but I wanted my picture. That's what I live for. I love the autographs, but it's the pictures I treasure. He looked at me and rubbed my arm and asked if I was okay. I said I was and I departed. The crowd was seething, people had figured out that there was a rock star over here. I watch him talk to people and get photos, only smiling when he posed for a picture. The security guard had to get in front of him twice to help him get out. I thought it was sweet that even when he had that first opportunity to leave, he just went to people on the other side.

I tried to watch Plain White Ts, but I was distracted. The reason I had come was over. Matt had left. I didn't have a picture and I hadn't said anything that I had really wanted to. I was a bit disappointed. We drove home, it was late. I'm glad that we had the other activities with Erika's family, because if it had been a quick pop in and then out to the show and then leaving the next morning, I think I would have been really disappointed in the trip. As it was, I was disappointed in talking to Matt, but the show had been good. I had talked with Aaron after sneaking backstage and while most the of interaction with Matt had seemed forced, I appreciated that he had asked me how I was and I guess I'll have to take what I can get. He's a pretty big star now, I can't pretend that he needs me to help spread the Matt-love anymore, since he finally has radio on his side.

We spent breakfast with Erika's family and then headed out. I had the drive back and it was a pleasant drive. Even after 3 full days with Erika we weren't getting on each other's nerves ( I think) and I was glad that we'd come. The timing of the date of show was perfect and getting to know Erika's family and especially Shelley was really fun. It was nice little mini vacation. All in all, I'd do it again, just maybe not with such high expectations.

Nothing Dims Theses Stars

(Final Chapter)

With visions of being a VIP at the show still in my head, we got to the venue in Boulder just as the doors were opening. And there were 2 insane lines. I was nervous, I figured we would have to wait at will call, but that's not what I wanted. I didn't want to get into the back of a long line, and they were letting the people who already had their tickets in, so the people who waited at will call then had to go to the end of the line of tickets. Urgh. So I checked with the venue staff just to make sure the tickets were at will call, I didn't want to wait in line if I didn't have to. But my dreams of being ushered in and swept back stage were dashed. They were just dreams, but there was a glimmer of hope right? Waiting in will call, which was a shorter line, was still torturous. It seemed that no one was moving. It took 5 minutes for each group ahead of us. Their were people without ID and then they had to figure out what to do with them and their were people that they couldn't find on the list for 5 minutes. Ugh. By the time we got close to the front the long line of people with tickets were all inside. I started to silently panic. Poor Erika, she could tell I was really frustrated, but there was nothing else we could do but wait. I didn't want to be really far away from the stage, but that seemed inevitable now since hundreds of people already were inside. We got to the box office and were a little sad when we only got little "admit one" tickets which we then had to relinquish to the door staff. So while Erika had been having her tickets signed, now we didn't have one. We saw the Matt posters for the venue outside. They said Matt's name, and the date in swirly psychedelic colors and had an outline of a girl licking a lollipop, it was so random, especially since most of the venues that have posters are the ones from Matt's people and have a picture of Matt on them, like the one I had gotten the night before, but these people made their own and it was not the better for it. We went inside and were so lucky that we got a spot right up front, only a few people back from the stage. Unfortunately I was behind tall people a little, I could maneuver and see well, but it was annoying, but fine considering we got inside with only 8 minutes before the show was suppose to start. But it didn't start! We waited and waited, and really, we wanted to see The Break and Repair Method again, because we'd been listening to their album on the driver to Boulder and were super excited now that we knew the songs even that much better. When they finally came on they were great. Every song I would turn to Erika and say "I love this song!" Every song, really. CHECK THEM OUT. Okay, enough said. I wasn't in a good position to see the singer who was more stage left but I was able to watch my new favorite drummer, Ryan. He was rockin and having a great time. The crowd seemed really into them. It was over far too soon. But we found out the 3 of the 4 band members are actually a part of Matchbox 20 and we almost told their uber fan that Rob Thomas is a d-bag, but we restrained ourselves. They played their untitled song and again asked the crowd what to call it, Erika screamed out to call it Boise, and Paul chuckled and relayed the story of what happened in Salt Lake and how all us Mormons were offended. Even though I thought it was funny, maybe some people were offended. How should I know? But this song is Erika's favorite. Then we had to wait for the next opener. And when she came out, she played for 45 minutes! After about the 3rd song, I kept hoping she would say "okay, this is the last song, goodnight!" but it took forever. My feet were already starting to go numb, I was trying to move around and dance to keep my circulation going, but it was not working very well which made me even more irritated that she wouldn't just stop. After an eternity she was done and now it was just time to wait for Matt. We saw him run from the stage level to a downstairs level off the stage.

They came on again to Queen. But they switched things up this show and started with To The Beat of Our Noisy Hearts and it was a great way to start. There seemed to be a lot of songs from Beneath These Fireworks, which I love every song, so I really enjoyed this show. It's funny because he'll introduce the songs as being off an "old" record and so I'm expecting something from albums before that, but I guess it was released in 2003 which is pretty old now, but it was my first Matt album, so it has eternal youth in my mind. But it was great, he played Sad Songs, Weight of it All and right after played Curve of the Earth, not to mention the Angel/ I Saw combination. I loved it! During solo time, Matt wasn't going by his set list. He played what the 2 uber fans behind us were yelling out, but the first song was Church Clothes, which is a song that I really love, so that made me very happy. It's a song that when it gets stuck in my head I really enjoy it.

The next song he told us was about his brother who had been kicked out of Boulder or Colorado and I think when i saw him here in 2005 he mentioned his brother, but he didn't play this song. It was a song I had maybe heard once, called Miracles. It was really mellow and I wish I had known it better. But don't worry kids, I recorded the whole thing so we can all get to know it better.

Church Clothes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbBqUHPOVOw

Miracles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vrX8tsIQ2I

Once the band came back we were ready to rock again, he finally played Gone, Car Crash and Wedding Dress. We also got another Chance at the sing along for Take On Me. Finally my side won! But then it was discovered that the balcony on my side was the over 21 crowd that was drinking and the other balcony was under 21 and not drinking, and so a draw was called since alcohol in a sing along is like steroids at the Olympics. Dang it! I almost won! But it was still fun. But as he close with All We Are, I knew that this amazing Matt trip was coming to an end. Once again they made it back from just being on the jet to come back and play us an encore. Detroit Waves and finishing with the standard Come On Get Higher. At this point Erika and I are both so tired, since we only got a few hours of sleep the night before and had been going all day hanging out with her family. I was lucky enough to get a little 20 minute nap, so Erika needed some Red Bull, but we were still starting to come down from our Matt high. The show finished. Last time I saw Matt here, he came out to the front area and signed and took pictures and was just awesome, but we were getting kicked out again! We talked a little to Aaron and found out they were going to be flying out to Portland to play a show tomorrow before playing the next tour stop. Aaron and John said how this crowd was so fun, so much better then the drunk crowd in Denver. They said it was one of the best shows. I thought the best show was the Salt Lake one, but this set list was incredible. Talking to the band we waited as long as we could. I still had backstage hope, it was quickly fizzling away. We saw his manager and thanked her for the tickets and said we wanted to thank Matt. She told us that the tour bus was parked on the next street and to just wait there since he's got to get on the bus at some point, so we decided that that was our best bet, we weren't seeing any of our band members where we were, so we might as well go wait in the cold for a chance. We told her that we had come from Salt lake and she said that that had been her favorite show and gave us the information that David Archeleta had vlogged about the show (which I linked to in the SLC post.) So we headed outside and saw the drummer of B&R Method and said hi, he seemed to be headed somewhere so he didn't stay and chat like the night before. We talked to each of Matt's band members, Erika had gotten one of the ugly 70-ish posters from the door and had them all sign it. I had decided that all I wanted was a few pictures and to thank Matt, no signing for me, I had gotten enough from him in the past few days that I wanted to be a little more laid back, but I still had the new CD in my purse in case I changed my mind. Although the band knew us at this point and signed nice things, not just their names on Erika's poster so I was little jealous that I didn't also have something signed, but I had gotten all the posters and set lists from other shows, so it was her time to sign. Although they were nice enough to shine, no one really chatted like they had the night before. Konrad and Aaron kept busy and John stopped briefly and awkwardly to chat with the other girls for a bit until they had run out of things to say. I felt bad because they would pause in saying something and I would interject just as they were saying something again. I was a total jerk, but it wasn't on purpose I promise.

The lead signer for the opening band was walking by, we had seen him briefly in Salt Lake, but never talked to him. He looked determined to ignore us, but after I called out his name, he turned. There was only Erika and I and a group of 3 other girls, so he probably figured we were just waiting for Matt (which was true, but we're not going to pass up an great opportunity) and so we all introduced ourselves and it was very formal, he would get our name shake our hand and say "I'm Paul" or "Paul" for every person, even though we had all heard his name. Maybe he wanted to make sure we remembered him. Erika and I told him how much we loved his set and he seemed really taken back. We told him that we bought a CD and the other group said they had too. He seemed kind of insecure about whether the crowd had liked them. We told him that this was our third show and just loved all the songs. I told him I loved how he played like he was on fire, really banging the keys and that we loved how he had used his foot to slam the keys in Denver. He was really buoyed by our loving words, or maybe he's really self deprecating. We wanted to tell him how much we hate Rob Thomas, but we didn't know if that was a sore spot or not, so we'll save that comment for next time. Erika almost forgot to ask about the "Boise" song, but she asked if she could download it or when she could get it and told him that it was the song that made her a fan. Someone with him said they had recorded it that night and so had a live recording, so we'll see if that's made available. I hope that it is, because that song will light your pants on fire! The whole band hoped into a car and made a get away.

Then Matt came out! He was only wearing a scarf and jacket and said, "Okay let's do this before we freeze our butts off!" Which meant, this needed to be quick, but luckily there weren't many of us. He talked with the other group, they got their set list signed. One girl asked if he could have a friend of her propose to his girlfriend at his show on Saturday. Matt seemed sympathetic, but adamant that he couldn't do that for one person because then everyone would would want personal things done for them and it would all snowball, which I can understand, but how cool would it be to be proposed to at a concert that you both love. Oh well. I found out later from teh set list picture that I took that during the solo part he was suppose to do Wings and Gospel. Which I actually called out for Wings and Gospel is one of my other favorites, they are both on my favorite album, Still Waiting for Spring, so that would have been so great for me, but i guess we can't have everything, can we? If I had known, I would have chastised Matt, so it's good that I didn't know.

We took their pictures and then it was our turn. Matt said something like "well willow, you made it"and I went all fan girl and had to rush in for the hug. He remembered my name! Officially! yeah it had only been one night and he had written it on his hand (his hand!) and so it was not likely he would be able to forget so quickly, but it was still fun. We took a group shot, we wanted individual shots, but we were taking what we could get and trying to be gracious. I had done my hair curly instead of the usual "dressed up" straight and he touched my hair and and said "Your hair looks cute." Then I died. Right there. We thanked him profusely and he hugged us again. I think I got 3 hugs. It was a little hazy. We wanted to get our individual pictures but after seeing Erika's poster and finding out that the band actually liked them the other girls asked if there were extras, so Matt was going to get them a poster and we decided our time had come. We wished them a good trip up to Portland and said goodbye. We practically skipped to car. It was over, but it ended with an incredible show and we got to say thanks and goodbye, what more could we ask for? Then next day was the drive home, we had come, we had seen, we had kicked Colorado's trash and had a better time than we ever imagined. We got into both shows, we meet Matt after every show, had decent conversations with him, met all the band members and found a new group to love.
I know that while some of friends would definitely be up for a road trip, it's unlikely that any would be able to drop everything with only 24 hours notice and be gone for 3 days, on the chance that we would get into one or two sold out shows. So my thanks go out to Erika, and her brother, the people who sold us tickets and to Matt and his band and manager and all others who made this the most fun I've had on a crazy whim! Peace out!

Everyday is Start of Something Beautiful

(Part III)

Erika and I find a place to park not too far from the lovely Bluebird Theatre. I think I saw Duran Duran here back in 99 but it didn't look at all familiar so maybe not. It was about 10 minutes until the show actually started. There was only one door open, they were checking IDs and so there were a few people in a line just to get in. They opened a new door, we went in it. We headed inside and were able to get right up front and off to stage right. A got a call on my phone and listened to the voice mail, it was about the single ticket for the next night. I wondered what I should do. The Break and Repair Method would come on with only us standing there for 5 minutes. Their set was just as excellent as the night before, but the sound was better. Every time they started another song, Erika and I would smile at each other because we remembered it and how awesome it was. Then we would also just look at each other and smile because, holy crap, we're in freaking Colorado at the Matt Nathanson concert that we didn't think we'd be getting into! During their set, Erika and I decided we needed to get their CD, no question, I would have bought it in Salt Lake, but Trish needed the rest of my cash so she could get a shirt too. After they were done I decided that since Erika wanted to spend time with her family, if she would let me borrow her car, I would take the single ticket, but not for the $60 I was willing to pay thinking that the Boulder show would be do or die and so I was willing only to pay $45 (for the $20 ticket) so after Erika agreed that she could go see a movie with her brother that night and I could take her car, I sent the person a text. We texted throughout the set of the next opener (since she sucks so much I'm not even going to write her name) and finally she decided that it was not fair that I agreed to pay more earlier and was only willing to pay as much as someone else had already agreed to pay. I told her to go ahead and give the other girl the ticket. I think she was disappoint to lose the extra $15, but now I had already paid for one ticket, I needed to make sure I didn't spent too much money on another one. But Erika and I decided that was the plan: get me a ticket and she'd hang out with her family.

Matt opened with the same song but it's a great opener, mostly the beginning of the set was the same, except for he played Sad Songs instead Weight of it All, then when he got to Sing Me Sweet, which he had played in Salt Lake, but he played the Letter to Elise bridge! We actually listened to a show from 2005 when he did that and I never thought he would play it! If you don't know, Letter to Elise is my favorite Cure song, it's the song that really got me into the Cure. So Yeah! I screamed like a maniac. There was a lot of people talking and being drunk in general, and Matt spent some time trying to get people to at least be respectful. If Matt can hear you onstage while he's playing, it's a bit much. Matt always handles it in a funny way, but still.

It was so weird because the crowd was so different from the Salt Lake crowd. People were singing, but no one was bopping around, people looked a little bored and/or drunk. They just didn't seem as into it, while the people in Utah we're obviously really into the show and having a good time.


He played Amazing Again (again), which is funny to me, because when I listen to that album, I always listen to that song twice before listening to the rest of the album, so hearing it twice was actually perfect for me. he did Suspended solo again and then brought the opener out to help him with Loud, which is from my favorite as well, and it was so fun watching him while she sang the other part of the duet. He mouthed the words and smiled like crazy, I loved it.

The band came back to All we Are which was a nice mellow transition back to the band. We did the Take on Me sing along again, and my side lost again! Maybe I'm bad luck! But it was still fun and I figured out some of the words from the second verse.

Ended with Detroit Waves again, but minus the Eminem bit. Similar banter about how they were going to pretend it was their last song, we would yell and clap and they would come and do the songs already listed on the set list but only because they loved us so much.

When they came back (after being already on the helicopter) and played a cover of All I have to Do is Dream, which we all know. I have a little clip of it posted on Youtube, since I thought it was so cool, but at the same time the trip and the lateness of the hour was catching up to us. I remember that i wanted to be really excited, but I couldn't muster enough energy, so I could only be moderately excited. It was also almost midnight and the concert, which could be the only one was coming to a close, now the only song left was Come On Get Higher, which we had heard several times that day already, even though it's a great song, the mystery for the evening was gone. But we still grooved to it and appreciated that we never planned on being here, so we were lucky. We also decided that we needed to send a thank you note to the person who sold us their tickets.

After the show the band members were breaking down the set, and John Thomasson jumped down and talked to us. I had snagged a poster from the front door and so I had him sign that. We told him about our adventure and he was impressed. We wanted to talk to the rest of the band (and of course Matt) and so we hung out while the venue people tried to kick us out again. There was a tiny entrance room outside the stage area, and I was hoping that Matt would show up there to sign and meet people. At first we pretended with were with the band and so didn't have to leave, but we could only fake that for so long, then we hung out at the little bar area for a bit, but it was obvious that they wanted us out. So we saw some of the first band The Break and Repair Method outside and there were also buses and people moving equipment, so we figured that couldn't be too bad. Outside we met the drummer (Mr Smiley) and the guitar player and I got a picture with the drummer, whose name is Ryan. We told them how much we loved them and that we show them in Utah. I told Ryan he was my favorite new drummer and I hugged him. He in turn invited Erika and I to the after party which was at a bar called Streets of London, and as fun as hat would be, it was late and we were exhausted. We told him about our plight for a ticket for the next night, but said that since they were the opening band, they didn't really have any tickets they could give to people. I accosted each other member of Matt's band and got signatures and photos. I was glad to get a photo with Konrad. He seemed very impressed with our tale of driving all day and getting tickets last minute. He shook my hand several times and was very sweet. I had Aaron pause in his work of getting everyone's stuff onto the bus (seriously, everyone else is standing around and working intermittently, but Aaron, he's always working) and he took a very serious looking picture with me.

We asked if Matt was coming out, since there weren't really any other fans left, it was band members and roadies. Aaron said that he was with friends but would probably be coming out. There were 2 other girls waiting for Matt, that was it. At this point we felt a bit stalker-ish, but we'd come so far and it could be our last chance to see Matt, and they didn't say he wouldn't come out, so we waited. The other girl had a tattoo on her foot which we learned was her name in Hebrew.

Matt popped out of the tour bus, which means there must have been another door to that things that we couldn't see, we'd been guarding it closely. He talked to the other girls and we took their picture for them. He recognised the Hebrew writing on the girl's foot right away, which was neat. He saw us and smiled. He gave us hugs and we took a picture together. He asked how we'd been and Erika asked him if he really wanted to know. He was all sorts of intrigued. Erika related our story about tickets and the drive. He was really impressed. I apologized for my annoying behavior 2 nights prior. I explained that I felt like anything I wanted to say to him needed to be said soon, since he probably wouldn't be able to do meet and greets with fans anymore since he was getting to be a bigger artist. He told me that he was the master of his own destiny. I said that he would have to be more like Tori Amos and have the fans behind the cattle fences and he laughed and said that he loved Tori, but that Tori also loved Tori and the myth that surrounds her, which sounds weird, but I totally get was he was saying. I thanked him fro playing Letter to Elise and that we had been listening to a show from 2005 that day where he'd done the same thing. He said he's played it a few time this tour and talked about the new Cure record. We were both apprehensive about it. I told him that my favorite album was Still Waiting For Spring and he said I must have been glad to hear Loud, I said that I was and also Amazing Again two concerts in a row and I explained the way I listen to that album and song over and over. I told him that while Disintegration may have been the best album ever at the time, Still Waiting for Spring was my pick for only album on a deserted island. Erika took a photo of us, but thinking she wanted us to pose he got distracted and we then faked an action shot while I got to say "Okay,act like I totally just said something funny."

He asked if we were headed to see them in Boulder, I told him that we were going to try, but we'd have to see how things went. He told us to try and get tickets, but if we couldn't just to find one of his people. Now I've given thought to this kind of situation when things have not gone well for me at concerts, so I asked him how that would work, how I would find his people. And he said "No, you know what, you've come too far. Don't worry about it. I'll put you on my guest list." Then he wrote my name (first and last!) on his hand and wrote +1. Matt Nathanson had my FULL name written on his HAND. The one he holds the guitar neck and microphone with. I rock. We said thank you and that we wouldn't keep him any longer, we'd just see him the next night, and he said bye, and as we were taking off his manager yelled "Bye Willow!" and we yelled bye in return and giggled our way back to car. I finally looked at what Matt had written on my poster and it made me giggle even harder "I need Willow" How awesome is that? It was about 2 am now and even though we were insanely tired we still had to drive and find Erika's brother's house. So we didn't get into bed until 2:30 and much giggled happened after that. We were too excited to sleep. I had visions of getting backstage, being let in first before anyone else to the show and things like that. It took a while for my brain to shut down.

Making the Tough Calls

These are going in chronological order, so start at the bottom and work you're way up if you are so inclined.
When I got home from the Salt Lake show I was just still so jazzed, that I hopped right online and found that disappointingly, the Denver show was sold out, but the Boulder show didn't say and when i tried to get tickets, they just said unavailable. There was still hope. I texted Erika and we went back and forth on how we could get tickets and if they were really sold out, and what we would do if they were. Erika was excited to see her family and also to see Matt again. The show was so amazing, it was a ride we didn't want to end so soon.
We decided to try for tickets tomorrow and finalize our plans.
Soon enough it was Sunday and I was trying to get my lesson figured out and still talked to Erika at least twice before church. Tickets for Boulder were also sold out, but the box office said that if there were unclaimed tickets, we might be able to get some. They also recommended Craig's list, which i had never thought of. I spent so much time googling tickets and looking at ticket brokers who didn't even have tickets, but every time someone posted on Craig's list that they had an extra ticket or two, they were gone in minutes. There were only single tickets that we could possibly get. We decided that we needed to get 2 or there was no deal, since it would be terrible if only one of us got to go to a show.
We decided that Boulder was our best bet. It hadn't been sold out as long as Denver and was a smaller town. We were hopefully but not overly optimistic. There was a real possibility that we wouldn't get into either show. Erika posted on Craig's list that we were looking for tickets and gave out her cell number so people could reach us while we traveled. We decided to both head into work on Monday, make our excuses, take care of a few essentials and come home on Wednesday. We would leave late Monday, probably noon, and make it to Erika's brother's house around 8, which is when the Denver show would be starting, so we had pretty much written off that concert all together. I had written to someone on Craig's list and told them that if they wanted to make some extra cash on their $20 ticket, I might be willing to pay $60 for it, since if we had one ticket, it would be easier to get just one more, I reasoned. They said they would get back to me if they were interested.
Erika showed up just before 11 to get me. She was too excited to stay at work, I took almost every Matt CD I owned and we were off after getting gas and snacks.
After we'd been the road about an hour and after we'd been keeping in touch with her brother via texting we got a call from a Colorado number. Thinking it was Erika's bro, we told him to call us back. After a few minutes I noticed that their was a voice mail. I checked it and it was someone from Craig's list about tickets for Matt! I called them back, but since 15 minutes had passed the tickets were gone. We were bummed and decided that since Erika's number was online, I should hang onto her phone to make sure we heard (or felt it) it with the music on. We listened to Matt, I had 2 live CDs and all the albums that I own. We listened to every one of them before we turned on some 80's tunes. The weather was a bit crap in Wyoming and about 3:30 it seemed like the sun had set. It got dark and then we hit Colorado. The scenery was much nicer from what I could tell while there was some residual daylight left. About 45 minutes away from Denver there's another phone call that i answered. I thought it was Erika's sister in law at first, so I didn't quite catch what was going on and it was hard to hear in the car. It was someone else calling about our Craig's list posting. They had tickets for tonight's show and they would give them to us for face value or $25 each. Erika and I decided to go for it, we were going to just make it in time to get the tickets and go. We were lucky that she lived close to the venue so we had Enough time to pick them up since we still had to finish driving to Denver!
We got a little lost on our way to her house, but not too bad, our gas light also came on, so we ended up paying way too much for gas since it was 20 cents cheaper just one block farther, but you can't chance those things. The girl whose tickets we were getting was so nice. She was a med student and had to study that night. It was a Monday, even if it felt like a weekend to us.
It was such a cute neighborhood, all little older houses with no driveways or garages.
We flew to the Walgreen's and got dressed and put on new deodorant and make up since we'd been sitting in a gross car for 8 hours. Then it was on to the show!!!!

I Must Be A Sight to See

So remember when I said a road trip might be in order? I guess I have the world's best husband, because he's totally fine with me taking off for 2 days. And that's why I love this man. He totally gets me and that I do weird and crazy things. So I may have to report on 2 concerts! Sorry, not a full review tonight, Sundays are a weird day for me, but I'm working on it kids! It will be epic!