| But I was ITCHIN’ to get right in front of Tremonti. So I saw people walking around and said “fuck it”. I just walked right up to the barricade. Right in front of him. It’s a completely different experience when there is NO ONE around you. So I was lost in the moment when all of a sudden.... I hear a voice through the microphone boom across the arena... “Hey! What are you doing here? How are you?” I slowly looked up at the man above me on stage.... and it was MARK TREMONTI TALKING TO ME!!! I smiled and said “i’m here to check out the show...how are you?” he said off the mic, “i’m fine” then got back on the mic and repeated “i’m fine” haha! I said, “awesome...this is where i’m going to be for the show” and pointed to where I was standing. “awesome”, he nodded , giving an “I know” look. Then I couldn’t help myself and said .. “I have a gift for you!” he looked at me and leaned down, “what?” I repeated myself, “I have a Christmas gift for you” He smiled “a gift? awesome..ok” All of a sudden, I see an adorable 2 year old on stage...with daddy right behind. Yep, it was Jagger and Stapp. That kid is so adorable in his mini-leather pants. Such a rock-star. haha! You could see the love in Stapp for his child. So I stood there watching father and son for a while. I look to my right and there is Ms. Hillaree herself. She was sitting by herself. So I started thinking to myself.. “should I or shouldn’t I?” (go speak to her” B/c honestly, I was afraid she was going to be a straight-up bitch. It’s funny when u actually see a person in front of u, u think of all the shit that has been said about that person (the BB). So once again, I said “fuck it” and walked right up to her. Before I said one word, she looked at me and smiled. That totally relaxed me. To make a long story short, I introduced myself and proceeded to have a 30-45 minute conversation with her. She is the nicest person. She’s so laid-back and cool. I’m not gonna go into details about our conversation. But I basically told her to please ignore the stupidity on the BB b/c for every asshole there are 500 ppl defending the band. That the band has MANY devoted followers. She smiled and laughed about it and we proceeded to speak about the BB for a couple of minutes. This is all I’m gonna say. They read the BB much more than we think they do. So I chilled on the side-lines with her till soundcheck was over. I was starting to get the tickles b/c I saw Tremonti step down off the stage and started walking towards me. But it was to chill with his bro’s and friends. And as I stood there, with Hillaree to the left of me and Tremonti like 4 feet away from me, I couldn’t help but thank GOD for this day. After 5 minutes, the whole “entourage” starting walking past me. (this is something I had to get used to, b/c everyone had their girls and family there..it was madness) So I was feeling down b/c THE MAN was about to walk past me w/o even acknowledging. But right in front of me, he looked at me grabbed my hand and stopped and said, “hey! good to see you!....and we do NOT!” (referring to what my shirt said ‘boys lie’ I just laughed and said, “but u KNOW u do” “yeah, we do” and laughed and so did his fam and friends. he then asked me, “do u know where catering is?” I told him. Then I said, “but wait, I need to give u ur gift, remember? I don’t want to lose you in the crowd later” Mark smiled. “Ok, well then...we’re just gonna head to get some food at catering. So we’ll be in there if you want to bring it in. That’s where i’m going right now” I said, “well, I don’t want to bother you..i’ll just bring it some other time” I have this thing about disturbing ppl when they’re eating. I was just brought up that way. But he just made a face and said “no no...just come in..u know where we’ll be” With that, I just said, “ok” and went to go get the gift I left in the office. I got the gift and walked into catering...and I saw his bro’s and friends but no sign of Tremonti. “Great.. I just got royally dissed”, I thought. Almost as if Dan read my mind, he looked over his shoulder at me and yelled out, “Hey! He’s gonna be back in like 2 minutes! Just have a seat!” wooo-hoooo!!!! So I sat my happy ass down at the table next to them. I didn’t dare sit WITH them. So I chatted with them lightly as I waited, told them about Jacki getting stuck in Chicago. They knew about the weather b/c they just flew from the same area. All of a sudden, Clint from Sevendust, James, Sean and the lead singer from Finger 11 AND Brett sat down at my table to eat. I was like “umm, i’m sorry I can leave” Clint was like “NO! of course not! I’m sorry for sitting at your table” Let me just tell you, James and Brett are some funny-ass guys. We talked about everything from childhood, to gassy foods to Star Wars toys. It most definitely kicked-ass. I almost forgot that Tremonti walked back into the room and was sitting behind me eating. After a while, I got so into the conversation at our table. I almost didn’t notice Tremonti get up and leave and Stapp, Hillaree and Jagger walk in. I didn’t talk to Stapp at all. I don’t know why. I kind of maybe got the feeling that he didn’t want to be bothered. And u know what? I was TOTALLY cool with that. I understood. Hillaree said hello to me. (awesome chick) So seeing that the receiver of my gift had just walked out, I had to jet to go give the damn thing to him. So I shook hands with everyone and thanked everyone for the pleasant conversation. Hahaha! I booked it down the hall. I saw Vince from Sevendust. He said, “hello dahlin’, how are you doin’?“ “fine” *smile* An event staff chick I was friendly with, pointed me in the right direction. But I totally lost him. I saw Aaron, their bodyguard. I was on a mission and I could NOT be stopped. “Excuse me, Aaron, hi! Could you please tell me where Mark TRemonti is?” “Why?” “B/c I have a gift to give him” “what is in the box?” “a hooded sweatshirt” “who is it from?” “me” *big smile* “well, then..who are you?” “i’m an intern for a sfx” “intern for sfx? ok..follow me” we walked for like 30 seconds.. and Mark was in some production office, right at the doorway. “Hey Mark, sorry to bother you but here’s a girl who has...”, aaron began. At that, Mark didn’t even let him finish. He just looked at me, looked at the box, smiled, pointed and walk towards me. Aaron left. oh yes. I was so happy I could poop. |