All night long, i was SO excited about this thing, and i wasn't even sure if i could find a way to get there. I woke up at 5 am. I waited until my mom woke up at 9 am to ask her if she could drive me and 2 of my friends downtown at noon, hoping that she would say yes...and she did! (but you already saw that one coming!) so anyways, we had to wait for Elise to finish her piano lessons, and then we were going to go (at around 12, and you were supposed to get there between 12 and 1 pm, from what we heard). but there ended up being a whole bunch of complications (kids playing hockey on the street, lots of traffic, not knowing exactly where the place was) so we ended up getting there a little late.
so anyways, we get there, and this girl tells us that they just broke for lunch, but they were going to be doing a mini-concert so we could go up and watch...which we did :) (up 4 flights of stairs!) so we went into the little room, and we saw some friends of ours, Cam and Jane (who i first met when Sloan was at the Edge), so we hung around with them pretty much for the rest of the day. so, the band plays two songs, and then we go down four flights of stairs, and waited in the main lobby area. then the nice people provided us with pizza ;)
so we were eating our pizza, and we decided to go out and get drinks, and stand outside for a bit, since it was such a nice day. we're standing around talking, and who do we see crossing the street? CHRIS MURPHY! that was pretty cool...and he looked at me and laughed, but i didn't want to bother him, so i didn't ask him for an autograph or anything. (actually, i didn't get any autographs, even though i had SO many oppertunities, being next to the Flashing Lights for an entire day! but i didn't want to bother them, cause i thought it would be rude)
so then, a little while later, it was time to go back upstairs and shoot again. for the first little while, we were right in front of Henri, Elise was in front, and Lauren and I were behind, in the second row, but i somehow worked my way over, and was right in front of Matt. they kept going over the end scene quite a few times, and Matt throws his guitar into the audience, right beside where i'm standing, which is very cool...i got to hold, and strum Matt Murphy's guitar! how cool is that?!
so then, at about 3pm, they said that if you had to leave, you could, but they would appreciate it if people could stick around, and they could leave whenever they wanted to. so, a few people left, but the majority were still around. the lights (not the band, the actual objects!) were starting to get REALLY hot and annoying at this point...it was beginning to get kinda bothersome...but it didn't matter, cause we were doing it for a reason! so then, they had to reposition the crowd, and Elise and Lauren ended up on the opposite end of the room than me...and Elise snagged a front row spot near Cam, right in front of Gavin...so, while they were playing, Gavin broke his tambourine, and it cut Elise's arm...but she got to keep the tambourine! that is so cool :)
so slowly, but surely, the crowd begins to thin out, and what started out as about 50 people, came to about 10 at around 5:00. so then i ended up getting front row, directly in front of Matt, which was a VERY cool spot! at one point, i was talking to Steve, and i asked him for a drum stick, and he said "i think i can arrange that" and i got all excited! but then, alas, it was time for us to leave. (it was probably sometime between 6 and 6:30 when we left, and there were no more than 8-10 people left in the crowd) so, all in all, it was a VERY enjoyable way to spend an afternoon! i had SUCH a great time! except, by the end of the shoot, i was very hot, very tired, and very sore from standing all day, so i definetly wouldn't want to go through that every day! now there are exactly 7 days till the next time i see flashing lights at the Exclaim Party, on Apr. 1! more reviews then! :)