| <deeeeeep breath!> Sit down kiddos, and get comfy! This review is coming in installments, 'cause I have class. I'll write about what happened BEFORE the show first, then the actual SHOW and AFTER SHOW! :) This is a LONG one! :)[For those of you who don't know, this was my first big rock show EVER, and my first time to see the boys!] Let's see.. I could NOT sleep on Saturday night, so I was up around 8:30am ANYWAY... and I decided to go cruise town looking for the busses. Four hotel parking lots later, and my efforts were rewarded by an eyeful of those gleaming tan chariots! OMG! AND... I pulled around back at the Four Points Sheraton, and there was ART getting on a bus! I waved and made a face like..."OH! OH, IT'S ART!" ...and he looked surprised, but waved back. :) So, RIGHT after this, I head to the arena to check things out, and sure enough... all the big rigs are there and the Lifehouse bus, and two of the Matchbox ones. I almost freaked out! ...So after gawking for a good ten minutes, I head back across campus to my dorm, take a little nap, get up a few hours later and am on my way to run errands. SO! I pick up my pal Lauren and we head to the hotel, you know, 'cause she wanted to see it for herself. We go upstairs to the top floor and all the suite rooms are locked up with "DO NOT DISTURB" signs! So we're thinking OMG! They're really here!! After poking around a while (hey, we heard the phone ring in one of the rooms!), we slipped back out and headed to the arena, where we met SARA! YAY! I'm glad she was the first GDer that I got to meet; it TOTALLY sold me on trying to meet ALL of you guys! She is... just about the sweetest girl! Shy, but I know there's a maniac somewhere in her just DYING to get loose! ;) It's 3:30 by this time, and when I was driving by once before, I caught a glimpse of Jason and his beautiful bald noggin! This is the part where I get crispy. LITERALLY. I look like Molly the Red-Nosed (faced, armed) GDer! We wait... and wait...and talk to a few other people that had shown up... and wait some more. Finally, Sara has to go get changed, and right as her ride shows up, BAM! The BOYS drive in! But they pulled down the ramp to the back door and took a while getting out, so she had to go. I RUSHED over to the fence overlooking the ramp and peered down, ciggy in hand. Waiting. And who emerged then? None other than Mr. Kyle Cook. All the other girls there had NO IDEA who he was, so I was like... "Kyle!" And he turned around, looked up and waved hello, grinning. I think he was just happy that someone in Lubbock knew who he was! Then he disappeared into the building. So I'm waiting, waiting, waiting... and HOLY [censored], THERE'S ROB! He comes waltzing out with Mari like it ain't no thang, and I'm all... "Hey, Rob! Where's your cowboy hat?" (He was wearing an orange cap/white t-shirt/jeans) And he goes... "I dunno; do you?" All I could do was laugh, and then he walked into the building with a wave to me. So, at this point, all those girls I told you about? They're asking me all these questions! Like... "How do you know so much about them?" or "Weren't you nervous? How can you talk to him like that?" I couldn't stop giggling at that. Truth is, I don't know WHY I wasn't shaking like a leaf. The words just popped right out. Oh! And we saw Jason with Rob and Mari, and I said... "Jaaaaaassssooon! Cheesecake. I made one for you!" And he pats his belly and makes such a face... he was all "Aw, you know I can't have any!"... "If I had known that, I would have baked you cookies, now wouldn't I?" Hee! :) Okay! Soon, all the girls beside me are looking at something in the bus going... AWWW! How cute! So I can only assume they were seeing Sophie. (OR PAULY! Aww how cute! <g>) Then, sure enough, out he comes with that crazy pooch. I yell Hi and wave, and he waves back as he's being PULLED by the dog! LOL! Poor guy! Now comes the silly part! So... there's a long gap now... and no one else comes out, so I'm MAD, 'cause I REALLY WANNA SEE ADAM and BRIAN still! The busses back up and go out to park! I was all... WHAT?! So I asked some guy... "Are Brian and Adam already inside?" And he said... "Uhh... I think so, yeah." Which I know means, NO. So I trot over to the newly parked bus and stand. And stand. THEN! ADSY walks out with BRIAN and the girlfriends, too... I can't yell to them at this point, I'll explain why later if you really want to know, so I go back to where I was standing before over the ramp and see them walking all the way down. I said..."Adam and Brian! Finally! Just what I've been waiting for!" And they smile and wave and say hello... Then Adam busts out with... "How are ya, girl?" And after laughing and calming down, I said... "Fabulous! You?" He was all... "Great!!" Then, kinda to myself, I was all... "Unreal..." and he hears this and goes... "No, you're unreal!"... Laughs, and walks into the building! AHH! OH! I left out one PRE SHOW tidbit. Sara and I met Jason Wade and Diff while waiting! They are so nice! We were all about to jump over and take our pictures with them when the Yellow-Line-Security-Nazi came over to stop us! Jerk. Jason SAID we could come over with him! Ah, well... he jumped over to OUR side to sign stuff and take pics! He is just the sweetest! Then, when it was time for them to go... he was all... "Uh... so do you know how we get into the building?" LOL!! So cute! We were like..."We know how WE get in, but not you. Sorry!" They finally figured it out, thank goodness. (Thanks to Random Man on A Hill. <giggles to Sara>) Okay! That's all for the pre-show thing! There's a little more, but it has nothing to do with the guys. I met all my friends there and we talked with the people outside the arena for a while, while Steve (one of my friends) and I had one last smoke. They let us bring cameras inside! Woohoo! LOL... anyway! Look for the CONCERT review sometime this afternoon! :) |
| ©2001 by Rebecca J. Burke & Hashbrown Casserole for the Matchbox Twenty Soul, Inc. |
| Lubbock: Pre-Show |