Lifehouse concert #'s 1 and 2.
LIFEHOUSE
February 28/March 1, 2001
How do you put the two of the best days of your life into words?? I don?t even know where to start. I guess the beginning would be good?I picked Kyra up from school at 3:00 on February 28th. We left right away to Milwaukee and got there around 5:45. They weren?t actually letting people inside the US Cellular Arena yet so we decided to walk around the building and look to see where the buses were. Our plan was to wait around after the concert to meet Lifehouse. Once we found the buses we went back inside and found our seats.
Lifehouse was the first to perform, of course. It was really cool because when they were doing sound check, Rick was actually at his drums adjusting everything but no one knew who he even was! Our seats were in the 5th to last row of the highest level but they were right next to the stage so it wasn?t too bad. We moved up to the first row of our section when they were on. They ROCKED so much! The concert was great but the thing that pissed me off is that no one stood up. We were standing and someone yelled at us to sit down so we did even though we didn?t want to at all.
I?m pretty sure they sang the following songs (not in this order):
1) Cling And Clatter
2) Sick Cycle Carousel
3) Hanging By A Moment
4) Somebody Else?s Song
5) Quasimodo
They did very good and were so awesome! They looked kind of nervous, though. Stuart is really cool to watch-he goes nuts and runs over by Sergio?Jason was HOT of course. I was trying to remember what they were wearing but I always forget. I know Jason was wearing a yellow shirt with the number 87 on it in black and a long-sleeve black shirt underneath. Then he had on jeans and black and white shoes (the same ones he wore in the ?Hanging By A Moment? video). As they were leaving the stage I yelled Jason?s name but I?m not sure if he heard me.
After the concert we went to the area where the tour buses were and just stood around waiting for something to happen when all of a sudden Jason walked out of the building. He was wearing a black leather jacket and pulling luggage. There were about 10 fans waiting back there but no one knew who he was. So I yelled, ?JASON!? and he turned around and waved to me. It was so awesome-I was so happy!
Then Kyra and I decided to go get the van and get ready to follow Lifehouse?s tour bus. So we went to the parking ramp and it was REALLY packed, like most parking ramps are after a concert. We were so mad because we thought we?d miss following the bus because it took so long to get out. But I was still in hysterics about Jason saying hi to me. :)
After we got off the parking ramp we found the street where the buses were and parked, even though it was a no parking zone. This stupid security guy told us to move or he?d give us a ticket. Yeah, right. We talked to some girls that walked by and they said that right after we left to get the van (after Jason waved to me) he came over and they all got to meet him and take pictures. So I was REALLY pissed! I asked them which tour bus Jason went into and they told me it was a small blue one. So I got out of the van and watched the buses for a little while and tried to decide exactly what we were going to do. Then I realized they were moving the barricades and a bus was going to be leaving. So I quickly ran back to the van and got ready to follow the bus.
The blue bus pulled out of the driveway and I quickly got right up behind it. We didn?t know the way out of Milwaukee and we knew they were going to Oshkosh so we figured we might as well follow them. It was really really obvious we were following them because they would slow down at green lights so we would have to stop for them by the time they turned red (even though we didn?t stop ever) and they would totally run red lights but we stayed right behind them! At one point they pulled over to the side of the road. I don?t know if they were trying to lose us or if they were looking at a map. My guess is they were trying to lose us. But we weren?t going anywhere!
We followed them a long way and then we took an exit to merge onto some other highway and they pulled to the shoulder of the road. Of course, I pulled up right behind them. Then a bald guy came out of the bus and started walking towards us. Kyra rolled down her window and here was our conversation:
ME: ?HI!?
MAN: ?Hi, are you guys following us to Oshkosh??
ME: ?Yeah, we live there.?
MAN: ?OK, well could you maybe back off a little? You?re freaking out my bus driver.?
ME: ?OK, sorry.?
*The man started walking away.*
ME: ?Wait, you mean we?re following too close??
MAN: ?Yeah.?
ME: ?SORRY! I didn?t mean to-I didn?t think I was that close.?
MAN: ?That?s OK.?
And then I waited for the bus to get going before I started leaving. Once we got on the highway I told Kyra to get my sharpee out and use a piece of paper to write ?Sorry!? on so we could hold it up to the bus driver as we passed. So we drove by and I beeped so they could see it and he blinked his lights at me. So that was cool they weren?t too mad! The next 90 minutes on the highway went by really quickly. It was SO funny because the bus would speed up and I would speed up and then it would slow down to about 40 and I would slow down. I was trying to make it not obvious we were following them but it really was. The whole time Kyra and I were freaking out and saying, ?LIFEHOUSE is in front of us!!!?
They took the exit to Oshkosh that?s by Annie?s and I was almost positive they would stay at the Park Plaza Hotel but then they pulled into the Howard Johnson. It was pretty bad because I started going around them on the right but they were in the left lane to turn right (because the bus is so huge) and I almost hit the bus! But once I saw they were going into the parking lot, I pulled into the parking lot, too. We followed the bus to the back and saw that man come out who talked to us on the highway. I got out of the van and told him we really did live in Oshkosh and he said he believed us. I asked if Lifehouse was on that bus (because we never actually new for sure it was their bus) and he said, ?Yes, but they?re sleeping.?
Of course, I didn?t want to ask him to wake them up. He asked if we were going to the show tomorrow and I said I was but Kyra didn?t have a ticket. He said just come anyway and he?d try to get us Meet & Greets. I was really excited but didn?t know if I could trust him so I kept asking him, ?Are you sure? You?re really going to get them?? He just said, ?I?ll try my best.? He said his name is Buck Schulz and he is Lifehouse?s Production Manager and we should find him tomorrow to get Meet & Greets. I thanked him and said, ?Sorry if we were annoying.? And he was like, ?You weren?t annoying.? And then we drove away and he waved to us as he went into the hotel.
* * * * * * * * *
So now it?s Thursday afternoon and Kyra and I are on our way to Kolf to see if we got the Meet & Greets. We went up to the doors and I said, ?Hi, we?re supposed to meet with Buck Schulz. He?s Lifehouse?s Production Manager.? And the guy was like, ?OK, come in.?
So we got to go into the actual room where Everlcear was having sound check. They were just hooking things up and stuff-not playing any songs but it was still cool to be in there. Then we saw the guy who let us in get Buck off of the stage and he came over by us and the first thing he said when he saw us was, ?Hey, it?s our stalkers!? We asked him if we could get into the Meet & Greet and told him Kyra still didn?t have a ticket for the concert. The funny thing was is he asked us, ?Is it STILL sold out?? Haha. Then he said he?d be right back and he went into some doors.
When he got back he said he?d take our names down and we would be put on the guest list for free tickets and Meet & Greets! It was so funny because he said, ?Now don?t think that every time you follow a tour bus this is going to happen.? He also said, ?Do something nice for someone now.? He kept telling us that. Another weird thing is that he said, ?There is only going to be a Meet & Greet before the concert. Nothing is going on after.? So that, of course, meant something was going on but we never found out what. He also asked us how old we were and when Kyra said she was almost 16 he was like, ?I have socks older than that!?
The doors opened at 6:30 and at this time it was a little after 4 so we had a lot of time to waste. First we went to my house and got ready and then to Kyra?s. Then we went to Pig and told everyone we were meeting Lifehouse and got some food for supper.
When we got to Kolf there were a lot of people in line but we got to go in right away because we had to go to the Will-Call window to get our Meet & Greets. So we went to the window and asked the people for them but they had no idea what we were talking about. So then we started to worry. A girl named Sarah said she?d go find out what we were supposed to do.
So we waited in this little area until about 6:35 and listened to sound check. Some guy came down with the Meet & Greets in envelopes and we went over to get them and found out our names weren?t on the list. So I yelled, ?SIR! SIR!? and chased the guy who brought the passes down. He said he would see what to do about us but he seemed really annoyed like he didn?t care if we met them or not. But this guy next to him asked us our names and said we were only on the guest list but he would get us Meet & Greets.
After we waited for what seemed like forever they finally brought down our Meet & Greet passes. They said ?Everclear? on them so we assumed we were meeting Everclear, too, but we never did so I don?t know what that was all about. The guy also said something about an after party and how some of the passes were for that. Not ours, of course. :( The passes also came with directions saying we were to go to the right of the stage after Lifehouse?s performance, where we would then be escorted to the Meet & Greet.
Another cool thing that happened while we were waiting for passes is Rick came out and was just a few feet away from us just talking to some guy. I wanted to go over by him but for some reason I was too afraid.
We left the area by the Will-Call window and went outside to wait in line to get into the concert. Thank God we found some of Kyra?s friends so we didn?t have to wait in the long line. While we were waiting some girl interviewed me for Titan TV. She asked me a lot of questions about Lifehouse and what my favorite songs were by them and stuff like that.
Once we got in we went right to the front of the crowd-as close as we could get. We stood shoulder to shoulder with all of these sweaty, smelly people for about 45 minutes but then they started moshing. There wasn?t even any music or anything so that was really lame. Then they started crowd surfing. Let?s just say, I totally understand how people die at concerts. I couldn?t breathe and I almost fell about 8 times. It was so bad so Kyra, me, and Joelle moved a little further back where we could at least breathe.
Lifehouse came on first and they were even better than the night before in Milwaukee. If only I could have enjoyed the music and not worry about someone falling on me. They sang a lot of songs?I?ll try to list them all:
1) Hanging By A Moment
2) Sick Cycle Carousel
3) Unknown
4) Somebody?s Else?s Song
5) Only One
6) Cling And Clatter
7) Quasimodo
8) Somewhere In Between
9) Song I didn?t know (not on No Name Face)
10) A new song
I think that?s all of them. Everything was happening so fast because people were pushing so much and we were trying to see where to go for the Meet & Greet.
After Lifehouse was done performing we asked a lot of people around us where we were supposed to go for the Meet & Greet but no one knew. We finally found a lady that said she?d take us to where Lifehouse was supposed to be meeting people. Then a guy came over by the police we were standing by and asked if 2 of them would escort Lifehouse across the room. We were waiting around for a few minutes to find everyone to go to the Meet & Greet when all of a sudden Lifehouse just walks by. I wanted to say something to them but Stuart was in the back and I was like, ?We?re your stalkers?? But I didn?t say it loud at all so he didn?t hear me.
They just led them over to a table and anyone could meet them-even if you didn?t have a pass. So that kind of sucked because I thought it was going to be in a little room or something just for people with a pass. When we got over to the table there were a lot of people but I pushed my way up front. Jason was RIGHT by me signing autographs-he was within arms reach and I turned to Kyra and said, ?I could just reach out and grab him!?
It was really cute because when someone handed him something to sign he would look right at them (you would have had to be there to see the way he looked at people) and said hi. One stupid girl next to me was like, ?Can I kiss you?!? and he was like, ?Sure?? and leaned forward. After standing there for a few minutes watching, Jason just stopped signing autographs and he was just sitting there holding his marker. So I just stuck my hand out and our conversation went something like this:
ME: ?Jason!?
JASON: (Shaking my hand) ?Hi!?
ME: ?We?re the stalkers that were following your bus last night.?
JASON: ?Oh you are?! Hey guys, these are the people who were following us last night!?
*They all look at us and are like, ?HEY!?*
JASON: ?I never met a stalker before who admits they?re a stalker.?
*I laugh like a ditz because I?m so spaced out.*
JASON: ?Did some bald guy come out and talk to you on the road??
ME: ?Yeah! Buck!?
JASON: ?What??
ME: ?It was Buck!?
JASON: ?Yeah.?
ME: (Handing him CD book) ?Can you sign this for me.?
JASON: ?Yeah!?
ME: ?Can you sign this one for my friend, too??
JASON: ?Sure!?
It was really cute because he just kind of held onto it after he signed it-he didn?t pass it to Stuart. So I asked him to pass it down and he did. Each guy did this. They would just sign their name hold it. I thought it was really cute. :) It?s like they aren?t used to fame or anything. Or at least signing autographs. Another cool thing is that Rick signed my CD cover ?Thanks for following our bus!? Also, a funny thing I noticed about Jason is that his voice is kind of high but he can sing SO low. I thought that was kinda weird.
That?s about all that happened there. I wanted to take a picture with them but cameras weren?t allowed and there were security people everywhere. I didn?t want take a chance by getting mine out because I had taken pictures during their performance. Another thing that happened while we were meeting them is some girls came over and started talking to Jason. I think they lived in LA before and knew him because he was like, ?OMG, I haven?t seen you guys forever!? And they hugged and stuff and the girl said they moved to Oshkosh 2 years ago. So that?s cool to think Lifehouse has friends in Oshkosh!
We didn?t really want to go away from the table they were at then because it was LIFEHOUSE and they were right there and we just wanted to be by them. So I bough a t-shirt and we just kind of stood there. Then they left and we sort of followed them to the curtain that led to backstage.
After they left I really wanted to go outside and try to get a picture with them. So Kyra and I decided to just skip Everclear because she had homework to do anyway and we didn?t care if we saw them or not since we did the night before. So we went to the back of Kolf and sat along the wall just watching Lifehouse?s bus. We saw Stuart a few times but I was afraid to yell for him because some girls said he just refused to sign any more autographs so I was kind of scared I would get on his nerves.
We saw Buck come by and I yelled his name and asked him if Lifehouse was on the bus and told him we just wanted a picture with them. He said they were inside listening to Everclear and I asked if they ever leave during Everclear?s performances to come to their bus and he said maybe. He asked us how we liked the Meet & Greet and performance and we told him they were awesome. He said something else to us about how we have a name with Lifehouse now. That we?re known as ?The Stalkers.? I thought that was pretty funny. Lifehouse knows us! :D Then he told us he had to get back to work and to ?Be safe.?
We decided to wait just a little longer for Lifehouse to come out. It?s a good thing we did because they all came out of the building with Buck and went to get on the bus. (Jason?s wife was also with them.) I yelled ?BUCK!? And they all kind of stopped and looked. Then I think he told them it was us again and we wanted a picture because they all started getting back off the bus. Except Jason?s wife got back on the bus but she looked at us through the window first.
We ran over by them and our conversation went something like this:
JASON: ?Hey, it?s our stalkers again!?
ME: ?Hi! We were wondering if we could get a picture with you guys, since we couldn?t take one inside.?
LIFEHOUSE: ?Sure!?
ME: ?Cool, thanks.?
JASON: ?Hey, where?s your van?!?
*I thought that was REALLY funny the way he asked!*
ME and Kyra: *laughing* ?It?s parked over there somewhere.?
*Then we all just kind of stood there not knowing what to do. It was so funny. No one knew what to do for the picture.*
RICK: ?Where should I go??
*Jason kneeled down in front and then stood up. Then Kyra dropped her Mountain Dew and he kicked it.*
JASON: ?We?re so bad at this. I never know what do do for these.?
*Jason walks over by me and puts his arm around me and then Buck takes the picture.*
I think that?s all that really happened then. I remember saying something like, ?Yeah, this is weird because I?m the tallest,? when we were trying to figure out where to go for the picture. What a moron! Plus, in the picture it?s obvious that Jason was taller than me. Oh, well?Then it was a lot of ?Thanks, guys!? And ?No problem!? It kind of sucked how Stuart wasn?t there, though. Another unimportant detail is that Jason was drinking a Canada Dry.
Sergio was last to get on the bus and Buck was right behind him. He turned around (Buck did) and was like, ?Now in exchange for the Meet & Greets what are you going to do?? And I thought he said something like, ?Next time you want Meet & Greets what do you have to do?? And I was like, ?Stalk the bus!? And Sergio had this look on his face like, ?OK?? And then Buck was like, ?No, no no. What are you going to do?? And I was really confused because I still didn?t hear him correctly so he was like, ?You?re going to do something nice for someone.?
And then we left and drove by the bus in my van and beeped. And that was the end. :)
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