| So I’m on my way to Orlando at 9am from Hollywood. I was so excited the entire way b/c I had no clue what was going to happen. When I stop for gas, I notice there is SMOKE coming out from under the hood. “Oh SHIT!” I jump out and ask for assistance, afraid as all hell that this would affect the concert in ANY WAY. But Mr. Citgo-man told me that when they changed my oil the last time (the day before), they didn’t put on the nylon washer to make the seal from the oil pan, so I was drippin’ oil everywhere. (yeah, THANKS, asshole oil-changers) But he said, I'd be fine. And THAT’S all I needed to hear. So I get to the venue at around 11:45-12noon. I walk up to one of the entrances and I see Holly, I met her at St. Louis. She introduced me to her friends, who were all very cool. I was also waiting to meet up with Eric (Orlando-Guy). I chilled with Holly and her friends for a while before I decided to go back to the car and put on some make-up (b/c I looked like ASS) and get Tremonti’s Christmas Gift. You see, I figured if I couldn’t get backstage, I would throw that bad-boy on stage. I came back and “wrapped” up the gift. I then decided to check out the other entrance for other BB’ers. On my way there, I get a phone call (thank GOD for cell phones). Lo and behold, it is the guy that hooked me up at the West Palm Beach show. ( I intern for Creed’s major promoters.) “Hey, where are you?”, asks my friend..no, my BEST friend. HAHA! “I’m outside TD Waterhouse”, I reply. “ok, meet me outside the backstage area in 10 minutes” “ok, no prob” HOLY SHIT!!!!!! So I run back up the stairs where the girls are at, and grab my gift, say my “see you laters” and sprint my EXCITED ass to the backstage area. All these thoughts were going through my mind. I had no idea what to expect. So I called Eric and let him know that I wouldn’t QUITE be meeting him right then. But that we would meet up at the hotel around 2:45 so I could drop off my toy for the foundation. So I was walking backstage, looking at all the roadies going nuts pushing this here and that there. They all were looking at me like “umm..yeah..u REALLY belong here” My friend hooked me up with a production crew pass. Oh yeah, I was pooping all over myself inside. He looked at me and said “There you go. Don’t get into any trouble.” hehehe! So I asked him, “what are my limits? Like where can I go and can not go” He just shrugged “Go, find out” He directed me to where Catering was so I can get something to eat and drink. As I was walking down the hall, I run into Lejon (lead singer of Sevendust). He gives me a double-take like “hey, I know you”. (I met him at West Palm Beach). His hands were full with food. He actually sets one down to hug me and asks “hey! What are you doing here?” I say, “Here to catch the show, man...I intern for sfx” he says, “awesome! hey your office is right next to my dressing room, are you gonna be in there? b/c if you are, I'm gonna have to go in and bother you” I say, “ha! sure, that’s cool!” He hugs me again and is on his way to his dressing room. As I continue down the hallway, I KNOW this is the beginning of a WONDERFUL day. I go into the catering room and it had AWESOME food. YUM YUM! But since my nerves were going nuts, I just had an orange juice. haha! But the food SMELLED awesome. With my cup o’ juice in hand, I start wandering the maze that is backstage. No sign of Creed but there is Finger 11 and Sevendust members coming out from everywhere. As I pass by each of them, I wish them an awesome show. They all smile and say “thank you very much”. Walking down the hall, I see flyers that read... “Creed Dressing Rooms” “VIP rooms” oh yes. This is going to be a SPECTACULAR day. Roaming around, I find the one entrance onto the floor of the arena. It’s where the band is going to get coming out of when the concert begins. I walk out and just take in the beauty of the empty arena while I slurp on some oj. I watch the riggers doing their jobs at ridiculous heights. They were all very cool. I looked at “my” spot. In front of Tremonti’s mic. oh yeah. That will be mine. In the midst of my daydreams, I realize the time and set out to my car to get the toy and to the hotel. On my way out, SpeedyLittleMe and Matt_sterbator roll up. I tell them where they should park. And on my way to the car, Eric finally finds me. Kind of easy , considering the bright orange shirt on. (The same one from the pictures) We then walk together with my toy in hand to the hotel. There I find Mo love with her male-friend (sorry, I forgot his name). I also find TornHumanClay (very cool), Bahama & daughter (very cool also) and Saidybell, who is the president of the official Creed fan club in Puerto Rico. So you know, how cool *I* though that was. Me and Eric had something to eat while I chatted it up with TornHumanClay (I'm sorry, man.I can’t remember names). Then I realized .. “yo, what the HELL am I doing outside?? I should be INSIDE!” b/c soundcheck was about to start. So I say my good-byes and Eric walks me back to the arena. (VERY cool guy) So I walk back in and chill at the office for a little bit before I start wandering again. When all of a sudden... I hear a guitar being played. And i’m like “nahhhh..that’s probably just one of the techs tuning someone’s guitar” Suddenly... I hear the opening notes to “Torn” or “Faceless Man”... Only one person can play it like "that". I can’t remember b/c I almost frickin blacked out, I ran so fast to the arena opening, where I was before. Of course, I started WALKING right before I made the turn. Don’t want to seem like a FREAK. And as I walked up slowly.... there they were... Mark Tremonti, Brett Hestla and Scottie Philips. Just jammin’ away. Brett was in a dark shirt and pants that had like “embroidery” stitches” on them. He has an awesome voice. Tremonti was in a gray Late Show (David Letterman) t-shirt and black jeans (of course) on. Scottie had no shirt on. (Sorry Jacki, no pics) Needless to say, I was very happy. So i’m chillin on the “sidelines” for a bit. I recognized Tremonti’s brothers. Dude, how can you NOT recognize Dan. Mark and Dan look a LOT a like. Dan is taller. I took like 2-3 pictures from the sidelines.(pics will be posted later when I get them developed) I wasn’t about to make an ass of myself and run up to their face. |