Expanded M&G recap from Lisa!
First let me say I was not excited about going to the concert by the time it rolled around. I had too many things on my plate this summer & was just not looking forward to it at all.
I worked up until 3am on Friday night then tried to catch a couple of hours of sleep. By 6am I was up and showering and still not excited to go. Gwen thanks for being excited for me, heh, it helped!
Hubby said no way no how was he going to the concert & to my surprise my best friend bought the tickets for my B-Day a few months back. Cass (Cassandra) was excited to go see the concert but was not really excited to do the meet & greet. Cass figured she could tough it out tho since she would get to look at the *pretty Aussie*, lol.
More recap and photos after the JUMP…
We got to the BOK around 8:30am parked and trudged our way toward the bus area. There were three or four girls already there with a *free hugs* sign sitting under a tarp tent. A very nice guard came up & told us we could stay there, but that the meet & greet was going to happen at the BOK entrance. Off we trudge back around to the Entrance where 8 Word Nerds & 3 Archie’s were already waiting. It dawns on me I forgot to eat something this morning.
After saying hello to the Word Nerds we staked out a spot right next to the building to the right of the doors. We met some awesome fans from all over the world literally. One of my faves was Marcy from DC, hey Marcy if your reading this! I was starting to look forward to this ordeal until two women showed up & said the idol’s would not come out until around 2pm!! Ummm HUH? My math says that is 6 hours from now. Cass’s eyes are starting to growi large. I could tell she was wanting to say something & it would probably not be verra nice. Nothing much exciting happened for the next two hours. We just talked and met various fans from the US. One mother & daughter (very nice) had driven in from Nebraska that very morning. They walked up to the ticket office and scored second row seats. @#$(%&#$%#&!!!
The glass entrance doors were misted and some bored Word Nerds had written on them David Cook RAWKS and a couple of other things about David. A very grumpy BOK worker finally came out with a squeegee and complained with each stroke and tossed a hissy fit while cleaning the glass. Oh Please. She mumbles more. What? Ohhh she apparently had tried out for AI and was turned down because she was too old so now she is washing windows at the BOK.
Around 11am Cass’s eye’s were getting that fidgety nervous look and she was getting antsy. Cass finally asked if it would be ok to leave me there & she would come pick me back up after the meet & greet. I did not have my cell phone so Marcy pipes up that I could use hers to call Cass. (Thank You Marcy!) With a fake sadness that she would not get to see her Aussie, off goes Cass, & off goes my purse which I had left in her jeep.
By 11:30am the humidity was downright horrible and my water bottle was empty. We could not get in the building to use the bathroom or get water. The nearest Quik Trip was about a mile away. We were SOL. By noon about 200 people had gathered. The humidity made for some bad hair styles mine included. We were sweating which was not verra pretty. Around 1pm 3 of the girl’s decided it was time to find a bathroom. 4 of us decided to walk the two blocks downtown to the nearest hotel & some nice people said they would save our spots.
Marcy, the daughter from Nebraska, & a nice girl from Ponca City, Ok and I were heading back from the hotel. We got to the stoplight across the street from the BOK when there was a tremendous roar from the crowd which had swelled even more since we had left. It was pandemonium, the crowd was screaming & running from the entrance & around the corner of the BOK out of site.
Have you ever tried running in high humidity when you are thirsty and thinking you are going to pass out as it is? Not fun. Off we run & we must be pretty fast because we beat 3/4 of the people who had been at the entrance and we had just ran a block, lol. We show up at the side of the building around a black barricade. We had arrived…. Yes indeed we arrived at the smoke hole! Marcy and I looked at each other and knew something was just not quite right. We started questioning this move and asked people why we were here and if someone had told them to move. No one really had an answer. I said again, something is not right. The girl from Ponca City said she would go back to the front and check it out. About 4 minutes later I turned to look through the glass (the building on that side was all glass) and I could see the Event Staff putting up barrier’s at the entrance. A scream went up in the crowd and it was like a stampede of rushing bulls. Arms, leg’s, faces streaming by me in a blur & I started running. I did manage to get my original place back at the front of the barricade don’t ask how it was just fate, heh.
The clouds are starting to roll in and it’s looking like rain. We don’t really need to worry about that since we are under a huge awning/overhang. Or so we thought.
The event staff moved us once more after a few minutes. Apparently the fire department has a rule that large crowds must be 50 feet from an entrance. Aaaa phooey on that. We all grab onto the barrier so we can *help* them move it, lol. We are taking baby steps backing up, trying to sweet talk the event staff guy by saying *awww isn’t this far enough? Ok how about now, wait a minute we are getting close to being out from under the awning. HEY NOW, * We stopped about 3 feet short of the end of the awning. Hmmmmm… By now with this horrible humidity, my hair is growing, I can literally feel it starting to rise from my head & my purse went with Cass so I can’t tame it down
A star is about to be born. A funny guy that worked for the BOK decided to entertain us or maybe he just wanted his 15 minutes of fame who knows. He did indeed entertain us. He would walk out the doors and get the crowd to yell doing the wave with his arms. Then he would walk around and talk to the fans. He did this more than once and was always welcomed like a Rawk Star!
By now there must have been 20 BOK folks gathering inside of those off limits shinning glass doors. Wait what is that??? Is it rain? Oh you betcha it is. It rains, ok it pours. The poor folks on the left side of the building get soaked and they started screaming. The BOK folks inside are holding their hands over their mouths trying to stifle their laughter. Short relief from the humidity. People start pushing in and I am now close to being squashed into the barricade. Lisa does not deal well with people in close spaces. Ok I can breathe as long as they don’t start touching me. Just. Don’t. Get. In. My. Space.
Who is that guy? There is a young guy standing two behind me that looks like Archie’s brother. He is soooo close to looking like Archie he is starting to freak. me. out. A bit unnerving it was.
A scream goes up on the left side of the crowd which now has to be around 300-400 people. They have a better view inside the building. Women whip out mirror’s and brushes and try to fix their makeup and hair if they can. I look behind me toward the road where I last saw my purse, grit my teeth and try to smile.
Ten minutes later and it is screams for real. Who is it??? Is it David???? No, it’s Kristy. That’s ok, we yell for her anyway! Oh I lucked out. Apparently a lot of the Idol’s start on the left side of the fan’s particularly the 2 David’s. Someone mentioned for Archie it was something to do with him being left handed. I’m a leftie myself, although I don’t get it. Anyone going to an Archie or DC concert meet & greet might want to take note of that.
My thoughts on Kristy. She is short! I thought she would be this tall billowy somewhat wholesome blond. She was short and tiny. TINY. Color me shocked. Kristy was extremely gorgeous. She could not have been kinder to the crowd and they loved her.
Screams, more screams and even louder screams. Archie appears in the doorway. With a bright smile on his face he heads toward our side. I have always thought Archie had a beautiful voice but my fandom belonged to Cook. He smiles and signs and giggles a bit to the two people before he gets to me. Awww, there he is. Smiling at me and he IS. SO. SWEET. OMG. He is just, sorry to use this, precious. Can he be ANY sweeter???? I switch places so the Archie look alike can give Archie this adorable doll. (there is one for Cook too). Archie was really kind to him & I wonder what was going on in Archie’s head while looking at him, it must have taken him aback a bit. Archie is overwhelmed by the gifts and the fans loving on him. He is taking the time, and I do mean a lot of time talking to people and telling them Thank You. The crowd adores him!
What the???? All hell just broke loose! The crowd is besides themselves. Out walks Cook to loud yells of *Welcome Home Cook!*. He quickly walks over to us and states he only has ten minutes. Awww :-( No photo’s, etc. The very nice girl next to me (I believe her name is Heather) had a custom made guitar strap for David. It is beautiful. On one side are David’s initials, the other side are Adam’s. It’s in this bright bright bright orange box. That box, which I will probably see in my nightmares, kept attracting little bugs that she would have to swipe off throughout the morning. I still see those bugs too, aaayyieeee. David loved the guitar strap. The lady next to me (not Heather) who has been nice all morning long turns into something else. While David is to my right & I am taking photo’s this lady decides it’s her right to touch me. Ummm. No. Not a good idea. I hear her screaming and I do mean screaming up at me *put your arm down I’m trying to take a photo*. Then she did it. The lady yanked my arm not once but numerous times & I know I am going to be getting some blurry pics @#$#@. Now she could have done what I & everyone else was doing & lean up or back or between people to get the photo. It’s what we all do. Or…. Wait her freaking TURN. She got my back. She almost got something else. It’s my turn! I give David my gifts, he radiantly smiles, says thank you, my hands shook which I heard someone say loudly *awww her hands are shaking*. He said something else which I forgot, maybe I just did not hear it because I was hungry, tired and sleepy and OK I was nervous cause he was right. freakin. there. He is lovely folks, just lovely. So nice, so sweet, so THERE. Tulsa love love loves them some David Cook and I believe that sentiment is returned. David moves on and the Archie look alike is still freaking me out.
Carly & Brooke come out in that order & start at the opposite side. I expected Carly to be really tiny from all I had heard. She wasn’t. She was however whiter than my letterheads. OMG. Her face was so white I wondered is she had any red blood cells left in her body. Folks Carly was scarily pale. She promised a fan who had been to several concerts a pass to the after party. Someone else said something about it (not mean) and Carly got her dander up saying *Well she has been to several concerts*. Carly, no need to get defensive, really. Other than that, Carly was nice.
Brooke, was very pretty! I got blurry photags because I was being squished from all sides. Time for me to move on. Really. I want to leave like ten minutes ago. I borrow Marcy’s cell phone and send a S.O.S to Cass.
Jason, aww Tulsa loves them some Jason too! If there is one extremely photogenic person out of this group today it is Mr Castro. That boys eyes, holy moly he has some purtiful eyes. What a sweet guy! Very kind!!!
Oooo Cass is here!!! My purse is here!!! My ticket outta the hell of humidity & rain is here. The golden road to water & food has arrived. THANK GOD!
I look back once more, Jason is about to go in everyone else is gone. No wait. Archie is still there signing, smiling, talking to fans, taking photo’s. What a great kid! Wow! Archie has been there this whole time!!!
Side Notes:
Some Archie fans gave Jeff a 9 inch thick *Tour Book* to give to Archie. It was really nice. Inside the book it had printed out maps of each city, and then photo’s from the meet & greet’s of Archie with fans. Really really nice book/photo album/journey! Great job Archie’s!
The gifts were piled onto a table just inside the doors and the pile was several feet high. Amazing. Cook especially got loaded down and so did Archie!
Dreadheads make really cool signs!
Finals thoughts on the meet & greet:
Never go 6 hours early.
Take extra water & make sure there is a bathroom near.
If you are not into close frenzied crowds this is not the place for you. *noted in my book*.
People turn.
Don’t be a know it all. People don’t want to hear that. It’s annoying. Really. If your reading this and it sounds like it’s you I am talking about in Tulsa, then you’re probably right.
Be respectful not only to the idol’s but to those around you.
Bring a chair.
Bring a purse.
Wear good running shoes which thankfully I did. I felt sorry for those ladies dressed in stiletto’s.
On to the concert!
