I seriously need to be cooler! I am such a blubbering idiot! Even with my
idiocy however, I still had the absolute, one hundred percent, most amazing,
dream fulfilling best night of my life! I do not know
where to start so, in my true fashion of lengthy storytelling, I will start at
the beginning! Here we go . . .
So, last Friday, while driving the little boy I aide back from his speech therapy,
I heard the next cue to call in for the Matchbox Twenty Pop-up Lounge (and a
Hawaii trip, but in all honesty, I wanted the MB20 tickets more) put on by
Alice 97.3. Now as a lot of you know, I have been winning quite a lot from
them-- Disneyland tickets twice, Kelly Clarkson tickets; so I thought there was
no real way I could win these, plus it was the last chance of the last day that
they were giving away the lounge tickets. I called anyway, and I called-- and
called. I nearly crashed my car when Marcus D. aka. the most awesome DJ in the
world answered the phone! I screamed, I think I said some inappropriate things;
all in all, I was thrilled!
After I won, I instantly started researching on the venue. From what I could
tell, the place was small-- standing room only and if I had any chance of
getting to the front of the stage, I had to get there early. Well, Kris
switched work shifts so he could join me (more I think he was worried I would
climb onto the stage and ravage Rob Thomas . . . entirely possible) so I
informed him, we had to leave by 1:45, even though the concert didn't start
until 7pm. He did as I asked because he knew that this was something I had been
trying to do since I was 12, thankfully he isn't the type of guy who would ruin
that for me. So we left at a quarter to 2 and got to the lounge around
3:15. Oddly enough, the lounge was on the back side of The Salt House--
the restaurant Kris and I ate at almost a month ago exactly before we saw
LeMis. Anyway, when we turned the corner, I saw this huge line and my heart
sank! I thought that arriving nearly 4 hours early would have ensured me a
close spot but from the looks of the line, I was very wrong. That is, until we
got closer. Come to find out, there is a coffee shop in the Harlot Lounge
(where the concert was to be) and its super busy all day-- the line was for
coffee! I ran past the caffeine freaks to the front door where only two other
ladies were standing; they were there maybe 30 minutes earlier than me. I was
so happy that they were the only ones, but I was selfishly disappointed that I
wasn't the first one. I felt that way until I heard these women talking about
Matchbox Twenty-- I felt like I knew NOTHING about the band! I was put to shame
in my obsession! They have followed Rob and the boys everywhere! Met them
multiple times! Texted their manager casually! They deserved that front spot
and they were super nice too.
As we waited, more people filed in behind us but
still not as many as I was expecting. Kris I could tell was not as thrilled
about waiting outside for so long but he didn't complain he is so sweet. The
wait ended up going by pretty quick thanks to my hero-- Marcus D.
He showed up
and spoke with the few of us in the front of the line. He told us stories about
his own Rob Thomas obsession and how he got to meet him the first time. Marcus
then asked us if we had any questions we wanted to ask Rob and Kyle . . . I
nearly exploded with excitement! Now, I didn't know until we got there but it
wasn't the whole band performing, just Rob Thomas and Kyle Cook, they were
going to do an acoustic set. I was so stoked although I was sad that Paul
Duocette wasn't going to be there because he and I share a birthday and I
wanted to bond over that! Anyway, the question that I had was really only pertinent
to Rob so I was good. My question was (and has been for years and years and
years, or “days and days and days”) was why
boxes and why little yellow tags? This is from the song “Real World” off
MB20’s first album. I have always loved the line and I swore, if I ever got to
meet Rob Thomas, I would ask the man who wrote it. So when Marcus asked if
there were any questions, I nearly died. Let me just say again how much I love
Marcus D! He apparently liked me too because he ensured that my almost birthday
would be a spectacular one. Okay, so back to my play-by-play: We continued
waiting and we got to know the people around us pretty well. There were two
people directly behind us that ended up playing a key role in my wonderful
night as well. Jason and Arlana are two art students at the Academy of Art University
in SF.
This lounge concert would be Jason’s first ever concert so he was obviously
excited to be getting something so up-close for his first time. Arlana on the other
hand, was a seasoned pro at concert going and was quite learned in her musical
knowledge. We chatted for a while about art school, music, religion—a lot of
stuff from numerous categories. During these chats, Matchbox Twenty was doing
their sound checks and we could hear and kind of see them through the window! I
was freaking out by this point because, well—just that was closer than I had
ever been to them!
Kyle Cook
Rob Thomas
It was about a half hour before we were to go inside when Marcus comes out
and informs us there will be a raffle for meet and greet opportunities. I could
have thrown up and peed myself, I was so damn excited! I tried to contain
myself by continuing idle small talk, but all I could think about was being
face to face with the man I have idolized for oh-so long! It was then I looked
down by Kris’ foot and noticed a quarter on the floor. I told Kris to pick it
up, because well . . . it was a quarter! He looked at the back and saw it was a
new state quarter, at the top it said “Chickasaw”, Kris didn’t know where that
was so I grabbed it from him and confirmed my knowledge that it was in fact an
Oklahoma quarter! My home state! Right there, saying “Hey, I know you love
MB20, don’t worry- I am lucky!” Yep! That is what that quarter told me! With
this new found reassurance, I was over the moon excited! After another 20
minutes, the doors opened and they let us inside. I got my raffle ticket and
ran to the stage; which to my surprise was super low to the ground, super small
and there was an open bench RIGHT IN FRONT OF IT! Not only right in front of
the stage but right in front of Rob Thomas’ microphone . . . where he would be
standing, within grabbing distance from me! AHHHHHHH!!!!
(I seriously look horrendous in this picture)
I couldn’t stop shaking, I had to get up and pee like three times just
from nerves! I was flipping out! I was so close, that my camera did not need to
zoom in what so ever in order to get great, detailed shots! I put Kris on
camera duty though because I didn’t want to miss one second of the amazing-ness
because of blurry shots or other camera issues. Arlana and Jason were teasing
me the whole time because I was freaking out so bad. They were so sweet though
because Arlana asked Jason if she won the raffle, would it be okay for her to
take me up instead of him! I refused of course because that wouldn’t be fair to
Jason; he wanted to go up if he could. Anyway, the time came to draw the raffle
tickets. I held mine like I were holding on to a bible on my death bed. Marcus
called out the first number “369”—not me. He called out the next . . . still
not me. Marcus finally called out the last number and once again, it wasn’t me!
I cried a little bit, I admit it. I was so very sad, I saw my face time with
the one and only Rob Thomas dwindle away. I knew I was still amazingly lucky to
be that close to the stage but, to truly meet
Rob Thomas that was my dream.
I couldn’t be sad for long though because a few moments later, Rob Thomas
and Kyle Cook adorned the stage. It was magnificent, glorious, perfect and
every other adjective that could also be used to describe heaven.
They were so
close, I could smell them (as creepy as that sounds). I couldn’t even make my
eyes focus at first, they were just there! Right in front of me! My years of
wanting to be front row all came to this moment and it was more than I could
have ever dreamed! Thankfully I didn’t cry like a baby; honestly, I couldn’t
even breathe. Thankfully, Marcus broke the tension within me when he started
asking questions, I knew my question was going to be answered soon.
After some adorable, witty banter was exchanged between the three boys,
Marcus says its time for some audience questions. He points to me and says “This
one is from Arynn and its her birthday by the way” Rob Thomas looks right at
me, smiles and says “Oh, Happy Birthday Arynn!” I am still freaking out from
it! That is when Kyle Cook looks at me and sarcastically says “She doesn’t look
excited to be here at all!” I am sure my face was somewhere between mid-silent
scream, seizure and pure elation. Marcus then starts to ask the question, and
then he asks the question wrong! I couldn’t help my rudeness, I screamed “No,
no, no! That’s not right!” Thankfully, Marcus wasn’t offended and let me ask
the question myself—I apologized to him later though for my outburst. So I
asked the question properly, Kyle commented by saying that that was a great
line from the song and then Rob said this:
I had a feeling that this was the case for this particular line, but I am still so glad I got to ask! And in the video, whenever Rob looks down, he is looking down at me! ME! Ahhh! I can't believe it! I can hear myself laughing and I sound like such a dork but I couldn't help it!
So, after the Q&A, Rob and Kyle played their new song "She's So Mean" which sounded amazing in acoustic and live...and coming from them, right in front of me! They answered more questions and played more songs and continued being adorable. I won't go into every detail of every word they said and every move they made, even though I could-- I do have to go to work today though.
If you want to watch the full thing, Alice 97.3 will have video up on their
website hopefully by the end of today, but I am not a hundred percent sure. I
would have put more of my videos up but blogger is freaking out on me again!
They will be on Facebook by the end of today though!
When the concert was finishing up, my heart started sinking again because I
knew, in the next few moments, Rob and Kyle would be off that stage and gone
from my sight and grabbing distance! To dig the knife in deeper, Rob hopped off
stage and went up to one of the women who were in front of us in line and
kissed her on the cheek, thanking her for her devotion and Twitter stalking.
Then, just like that, they were gone! I wanted to cry! I reached into my purse
and pulled out the two concert tickets I had from 2003, my very first concert
and very first Matchbox Twenty concert ever-- I had hoped I could get Rob to
sign them. Now though, they were just fond memories, minus a famous hand.
Marcus came over and I thanked him for asking my question and apologized for
interrupting him so rudely. Before I could even think of anything else to say Arlana
jumped in an asked if Marcus could get my tickets signed for me! Why hadn't I
thought of that?! I suppose if I wasn't so near passing out from the sight of
Rob Thomas, I might have thought of it. Anyway, Marcus looked for a good, long
second at the tickets and then looked up at me and said "You know what,
you will be my plus-one" . . . Plus- one?!! I am Marcus' plus- one?! I
began to cry again, I was going to do it! I was going to officially meet Rob
Thomas!!! The next few minutes flew by, I tried to contain myself and not cry
so much that I turned into a red, blotchy mess. Then Marcus called me over and
just like that we were in an elevator, heading up to meet the boys! I was oddly
calm, mainly because I was in shock. I couldn't form words, thoughts or
actions. I held onto my tickets and the sharpie and followed Marcus like a lost
puppy. He informed me that since I was with him, we would go last-- fine with
me, whenever I meet Rob would be perfect, I won't complain! So we went to the
back of a long line and next to this little room. It only took me a second to
realize, Rob and Kyle were in that room! After another second, Marcus and I
were being put into that room! We were actually going first! I stood there, looking
at Rob who was talking to his manager and then all of a sudden, Rob makes eye
contact with me, swoops around his manager and comes in for a hug!!!! He
doesn't give me a half-way, crappy side hug, or even a short hug but a long,
squishy, open-palm on the back perfect hug! I can still feel it! It was insane!
Amazing! Wonderful! He smelled like Rob Thomas, I can't explain it any other
way. I am just glad Kris doesn't read my blog because he would be very jealous
of how much I am obsessing over this hug. After Rob lets go for a second, he
still holds onto my arms and says "How old are you if you don't mind me
asking?" I wasn't going to explain how I still had two days until my
birthday so I just said "25". He then laughs and says "Oh cool,
you won't be upset at me for asking your age then." Now if I were cooler
like the beginning of this blog suggests, I could have said "Oh, well,
next time you ask me, I promise to get upset so you can console me" or
even "How could I get upset with you Rob?" but no, instead I giggle
like an idiot. I say something about how this is a dream come true for me and
he says thanks for coming and he is so glad he could meet me. Next thing I
know, another girl is standing next to me . . . the epitome of cool. Her name
is "Pepper", she has tattoos that instantly draw Rob's attention, he
goes and grabs her arms to look at them. Soon they are discussing bands and she
says how she is going t have the lyrics of "Push" tattooed on her
forearm soon. All I can do is nod and agree how Push is my favorite song as
well. My only solace is, she didn't get a hug from him! Ha! I win! Oh, that
sounds mean and vindictive, but hey, she clobbered me in "cool
factor".
My eyes then met up with Kyle's, who made a similar swooping motion to Rob's and came over to wish me a happy birthday. He also asked me how old I was and said he was happy they could make my 25th so special. I wanted to kiss them both, they made my 25th birthday the best day of my life and they will never know just how much that means to me. Marcus then pulled me over to take pictures with them. At first, I stood with my arms around Rob and Marcus, but Marcus being my hero says to Rob "Can she actually stand between you and Kyle?" Rob says of course and I switch places. I am then trying to suck in, push my chin out and pray for an awesome photo because it is the only one I will have of us, together.
Best night of my life...thanks to these men!
I am then ushered out of the way for other people to take their photo in the small back room. Marcus is pulling me out the door but I am fighting him, screaming "I love you! Thank you! You guys are the best!!" but Marcus finally wins and the door shuts behind us. It was then I look down at my hand and see my unsigned tickets are being clenched and neglected. I look up at Marcus and tell him how I forgot to have them sign my tickets, he looks at me and says how its too late. I have a moment of panic. but then I remember that one of the meet and greet winners was one of the ladies in front of us in line. I look for her but I don't see her anywhere among the 30 bustling people. It was then I notice that Rob and Kyle are walking just a few people behind us. I tried to turn around and talk to them, but everyone was talking to them and I felt like I would be very selfish to take away from other people's time. I gave up and walked towards the elevator, looking back longingly at the two men who made my night perfect. Marcus was getting a little annoyed with me for trying to stick around as long as possible. As the elevator doors were closing, I saw that the meet and greet winners were only getting a quick photo taken with the boys and were then being pushed away and taken out. I realized how lucky I was for being the DJ's plus-one and not a raffle winner because I got a solid 5 minutes of interaction whereas the others got maybe 20 seconds. We got to the floor level and I saw Kris, Arlana and Jason waiting outside. I gave Marcus D a big hug and thanked him multiple times and then I went outside. I told everyone how I forgot to have them sign the tickets and they were shocked at my spaciness. They came to my rescue again however, and made me stand in front of the side door to wait for Rob and Kyle to come out. To my surprise, it only took them about 3 minutes to come out meaning they got through 30 people super quick in the meet and greet. Kris shoved the tickets at Rob and he came out the door and asked him to sign them for me! Rob did and as he looked at the tickets he was like "Oh wow! This was a while ago!" I managed to get out a full sentence and said how it was my first concert ever and it was a dream come true to see them. Rob and Kyle stuck around and took pictures with Arlana and Jason and a few others who didn't get to go upstairs. It took all my effort to not cut in front of them and get another hug (I already got two before that upstairs so I knew it was their turn). After a few more minutes of pictures and short comments, they were pushed into their van and whisked away. I couldn't believe that it was over and I really couldn't believe that it all happened in the first place! Kris and I got Arlana's and Jason's contact info so we could send them photos and keep in touch. Then we said our good byes and were off to BART. I couldn't stop smiling and when we were finally at the BART station, waiting for the train, it all hit me at once:
My eyes then met up with Kyle's, who made a similar swooping motion to Rob's and came over to wish me a happy birthday. He also asked me how old I was and said he was happy they could make my 25th so special. I wanted to kiss them both, they made my 25th birthday the best day of my life and they will never know just how much that means to me. Marcus then pulled me over to take pictures with them. At first, I stood with my arms around Rob and Marcus, but Marcus being my hero says to Rob "Can she actually stand between you and Kyle?" Rob says of course and I switch places. I am then trying to suck in, push my chin out and pray for an awesome photo because it is the only one I will have of us, together.
I am then ushered out of the way for other people to take their photo in the small back room. Marcus is pulling me out the door but I am fighting him, screaming "I love you! Thank you! You guys are the best!!" but Marcus finally wins and the door shuts behind us. It was then I look down at my hand and see my unsigned tickets are being clenched and neglected. I look up at Marcus and tell him how I forgot to have them sign my tickets, he looks at me and says how its too late. I have a moment of panic. but then I remember that one of the meet and greet winners was one of the ladies in front of us in line. I look for her but I don't see her anywhere among the 30 bustling people. It was then I notice that Rob and Kyle are walking just a few people behind us. I tried to turn around and talk to them, but everyone was talking to them and I felt like I would be very selfish to take away from other people's time. I gave up and walked towards the elevator, looking back longingly at the two men who made my night perfect. Marcus was getting a little annoyed with me for trying to stick around as long as possible. As the elevator doors were closing, I saw that the meet and greet winners were only getting a quick photo taken with the boys and were then being pushed away and taken out. I realized how lucky I was for being the DJ's plus-one and not a raffle winner because I got a solid 5 minutes of interaction whereas the others got maybe 20 seconds. We got to the floor level and I saw Kris, Arlana and Jason waiting outside. I gave Marcus D a big hug and thanked him multiple times and then I went outside. I told everyone how I forgot to have them sign the tickets and they were shocked at my spaciness. They came to my rescue again however, and made me stand in front of the side door to wait for Rob and Kyle to come out. To my surprise, it only took them about 3 minutes to come out meaning they got through 30 people super quick in the meet and greet. Kris shoved the tickets at Rob and he came out the door and asked him to sign them for me! Rob did and as he looked at the tickets he was like "Oh wow! This was a while ago!" I managed to get out a full sentence and said how it was my first concert ever and it was a dream come true to see them. Rob and Kyle stuck around and took pictures with Arlana and Jason and a few others who didn't get to go upstairs. It took all my effort to not cut in front of them and get another hug (I already got two before that upstairs so I knew it was their turn). After a few more minutes of pictures and short comments, they were pushed into their van and whisked away. I couldn't believe that it was over and I really couldn't believe that it all happened in the first place! Kris and I got Arlana's and Jason's contact info so we could send them photos and keep in touch. Then we said our good byes and were off to BART. I couldn't stop smiling and when we were finally at the BART station, waiting for the train, it all hit me at once:
All in all, it was an amazing night. I can't thank Rob Thomas, Kyle Cook, Marcus D, Arlana, Jason and Kris enough for making my night possible You all will never know just how happy you made me. Just how content I feel and how many dreams are now fulfilled. You all are my heroes!
My signed tickets and my
lucky quarter!
