Adventures Made By Chasers: Straight No Chaser Weekend Extravaganza! (PART II)

FINALLY, it was Sunday! I wasted no time getting up and ready and heading to Megan’s house. We made sure we had everything we needed for the two concerts. Tickets: check, Box of goodies: check, Cards: check, GPS (who would probably get us lost anyways): check. 1:45pm came and off we went!

The drive there was relatively easy, and we found parking pretty much right away. It was $4.00 at an automotive repair shop across the street, and the guy there said he would be there all night to watch the cars. You may think this is just rambling and unimportant but trust me, you will hear about the parking situation again later.

We walked into the venue and the ushers kept offering to help us find our seats, but we knew exactly where they were because they were front row! We sat next to another group of awesome fans (who had also been at the concert the night before!). We made small talk and had a ton of laughs. The show was getting ready to begin and so of course Megan and I turned on our light up Christmas necklaces (see I told you they’d be important!) The entire venue went dark, except for where we were sitting and the concert began. What we expected to see was the same concert as the night before, and although some of the songs were the same they had switched the set list up a lot (just like Walter had claimed he would do.) Ryan noticed our necklaces from the stage and told us he liked them during one of the songs, and then he proceeded to point us out to one of the other guys. I can’t remember who exactly because I was so excited from Ryan spotting us that everything else was like a big blur (even the lady sitting next to me, nudged me, and said “hey! They’re looking and pointing at you and your friend!”) The concert ended and for the first time we weren’t upset because we knew that we would be seeing them in just a few minutes and again in a few hours.

The meet and greet after the first show was absolutely amazing. For the most part the guys remembered exactly who we were. Jerome got a slight reminder from Charlie:

Charlie: Those are the girls from last night, with the shirts!

Jerome: Oh yeah, where’s my shirt?!

Trivial Pursuit for Ryan

We gave them the goodie box, well we gave it to Jerome because he was the first person at the table and he opened the top (cautiously I might add, asking if anything would pop out at him), Walter watched him and was excited to see the bag of Reisens we had included, they didn’t even look to see what was underneath. We continued down the line just making casual chit chat with all the guys. They asked us which concert we liked better and why. We had no choice but to say the one from this day because our seats were much better! When we got to Ryan we had something extra to give him. We know that he loves trivia and at Target we saw a Trivial Pursuit game but the pieces were all chocolate. There was no debating it. We bought it for him. He was seated next to Don at this meet and greet and it genuinely excited them both. Don told Ryan he was going to school him. Still haven’t found out if they played yet or who won! We also made sure to tell them about the camera incidents from the night before. They seemed upset and apologized to us, even though it was in NO way any of their faults. They chatted about our necklaces and Charlie mentioned how he saw mine go off ( The batteries had died ) Walter told me to make sure I went and charged them before the next show (and you know I did!) We thanked them for everything and went to go grab something to eat before the 7:30 show started.

This was turning into a PERFECT day! We went back to my car to put the ornaments they had signed into the car so they wouldn’t get broken in anyway, then we figured we would walk and find something to eat (there were LOTS of things close by). We started walking and I said “oh hold on let me lock my car”….no need to because I had locked my keys in my car! Oh no! Oh and remember that guy who said he would be there all night watching the cars? Well, he was nowhere to be found. I immediately found a police officer (who frankly, was slightly rude about the whole situation!) and told him what had happened. He told me he couldn’t help me, and that I had two options: call AAA or my house. Well I don’t have AAA and I live in Massachusetts, NOT Rhode Island (which is an hour drive away from MA), but I called home and my dad begrudgingly drove me my spare set of keys! Thank goodness he managed to get there before the next show started at 7:30! Of course we tweeted about it, because it’s out of habit, and off we went to go back to our front row seats for the next show (yes we had the exact same seats for the 7:30 show as we did for the 3:00 show!)

Tickets for the 3:00 show & 7:30 show

We had about 45 minutes before the show started so Megan and I were just hanging out & talking when all the sudden we hear a voice from the stage. We turned around to find a man on the stage trying to decide if he wanted to find stairs or be unprofessional and just jump off. We told him if he jumped we would catch him (like a trust fall, Megan kindly pointed out to him) He laughed and jumped off the stage. He came over to us and introduced himself as Richard their tour manager/sound guy. We introduced ourselves and he stood with us for a while talking (we talked about everything from the tour to the coffee they had at the venue to his ex-wife). He informed us that he was worried about the speaker that we just so happen to be sitting RIGHT in front of. We told him that we had been sitting here for the last show and that it sounded just fine. He thanked us and told us at any time during the show if anything sounded off we should come find him and tell him, he then pointed to where he would be sitting. He said it was nice meeting us and that he had to go (as the show would be starting fairly soon at this point) and off he went.

The 7:30 show started and once again the lights went off and our Christmas lights went on. Once again, the show was completely different then the one way had just seen earlier in the day. It was more similar to the concert the night before but it was still different from that show.

Jerome: Anyone here come to our earlier show?

Me and Megan: *Cheers* WE DID!

Jerome: (pointing at us) Same jokes!

Even though we saw the same 10 guys, 2 days in a row, and 3 concerts, none of them were the same. It was perfect! There is always a time in the concert where Charlie asks who is seeing SNC for the first time live, here’s how that went down at this concert:

Charlie: Who is seeing Straight No Chaser, Live for the very first time tonight?

Crowd: *cheers very loudly!!!*

Charlie: Great, so everyone, EXCEPT, those two girls lit up over there (pointing right at Megan and I)

It was at that moment, that I LOVED those Christmas light necklaces we bought! We also got a little wave from Ryan and a couple other smiles when the guys noticed us sitting there. The concert ended (of course we never needed to go see Richard, it sounded amazing!) and once again it was time for a meet and greet. The goal for us at this meet and greet: Group photo (you know, the one Seggie had promised us!)

Candid #1

Candid #2

We walked up to the line and the guys smiled and welcomed us back. We chatted about how we thought if they had mashed up all three concerts into one big one it would have been a PERFECT concert. We also informed them that yes! We would be in Reading, PA for New Years Eve! When we got to Ryan (who was sitting next to Mike this time) he looked right at me and said “WHAT HAPPENED WITH YOUR KEYS!” I couldn’t speak at first…he had read what we tweeted about, and remembered who we were from our twitter names (he has a great memory!) I told him the story and how my dad had to come bring me my keys. Mike asked how long that drive was and I told him an hour, and they both were very sympathetic but were glad everything worked out. I asked if we could have a group photo (we purposely positioned ourselves near the end of the line.) They said “OF COURSE!” We did have to wait for them to finish the meet and greet (obviously.) Finally it was time for the group pictures. First they took pictures with a nice couple, who were very chatty. Mike politely told the chatty Cathy’s that it was our turn for a picture and off they went. We had to take two pictures because in the first one Walter wasn’t smiling, he wanted the lights on our necklaces on for the picture, he even sung a little song about it and told us he was afraid of the dark. So we turned them on and in the next one he was smiling! Woo hoo! We said thanks and told them we’d see them in about a month in PA. We then walked to go get our stuff and the woman waiting for her picture after us announced out loud that she “wanted a touchy-feely” picture. Still not sure what she meant but it was fun to look up and see Don looking at us with the same “that was inappropriate!” look on his face. We had a little side conversation with him quickly. He said it was nice meeting us and that he would see us on NYE and off we went to head home.

The feeling that came over us on the ride home and the next few days can only be described in one way. We equated what we were feeling to how you feel when you’re in elementary school and your best friend in the entire world moves away (with no forwarding address) only to us it was that feeling times 10! I would say we achieved our goal for the weekend! New Years Eve will be here before we know it though and the adventures will continue!