About Us

My photo
Our names are Amanda & Megan. If you're reading this right now we can only assume that you are a fan of Straight No Chaser! We have had so many adventures in our journeys to see them that we needed a place to write them all down. Cue blog! We can only imagine the adventures will continue and we can't wait to see where they lead us.

12.01.2011

*Witty Title Here* Mohegan Sun, CT 11/13/2011


I would like to begin this by saying Megan and I aren’t the kind of people who go around spreading lies. Way back when (in July) we had to make the decision of whether or not we could swing a trip back to Atlantic City for the PBS taping. When it came down to decision time we went for it, stating that we would just make sacrifices come Fall tour time (The Mohegan Sun show in CT, specifically) We figured that a 2-hour drive (on a “school night”) coupled with the fact that we couldn’t get great seats (we hadn’t done the presale and could only get balcony seats) for that show would be enough to make us feel less guilty about missing it. Well, we were wrong.  After we had some time to think about what a rash decision we had made we definitely regretted it (missing CT, not going to PBS). I can’t give you exact dates but we decided we couldn’t miss that show. As luck would have it, we were able to score some excellent floor seats for the show. That, my friends is called fate, we were obviously meant to be at that show.


            The show wasn’t until 7:00pm and I was up and basically ready to go by 9:00am. This SNC depression was seriously hitting us hard. I’m not sure how we ever went from New Years Eve to Gettysburg in the beginning of the year because honestly the wait from September 4th to November 13th was SO hard! Since I have my own apartment and no one living with me to judge what my apartment looks like after a night of crafting, that is where Megan and I do all our SNC handiwork. This usually isn’t a problem because MOST of the time Megan is at my apartment to help me carry everything. This was NOT the case this time around.  I had to get all of the stuff from my apartment to Megan’s house alone. I had 2 bags, one filled with posters, (only 5) photo mosaics, cameras, glowing necklaces (4 to be exact) and another filled with my shoes, confetti party poppers (to be used as part of a highly scientific experiment at Megan’s house, NOT at the concert), glow sticks, and all sorts of other random paraphernalia I may have needed. I looked foolish coming out of my apartment because I flat out refused to make multiple trips. Picture this: Me, in my Sunday’s best for SNC while rocking my sneakers, carrying two bags of stuff, 5 photo mosaics (because they were fragile and I didn’t want to try and force them into the bag –Don’s frame had already been replaced once), all while trying to hold my screen door open so I could lock my door. Pretty funny, right? Great, now picture me walking down the sidewalk of a main street (I live next door to the hospital and there is a lot of traffic driving by) trying to get to my car, unlock the doors and get in. I looked like a crazy person but I didn’t care… no one really saw me except the entire town of Norwood, MA. I then grabbed some coffee and was on the road by 11:45.
            About one hour later, I arrived at Megan’s house. She was already outside waiting to help me carry the stuff from my car to her car (since she’d be driving to the venue) but since everything we needed was mixed up in the two bags they both found their way inside the house. We showed Megan’s parents our highly impressive (humble brag) photo mosaics and then proceeded to carry out our experiment. If in the market for some mini confetti poppers we’re now highly qualified to help you decide the best brand to use. (Just something to keep in mind.)
With a few touch ups of hair and make up we were on our way to Connecticut. We were giddy with excitement (and caffeine) and the ride consisted of poorly sung songs (on our part, not theirs), craisins, and mostly nonsensical banter.
            Once we were inside the casino we had some time to kill (shocking, right?!) but due to our earlier error in judgment regarding tickets we needed to pick up our tickets at will call. When we got to the venue we found a woman sitting at the box office and even though it was super early we figured there was no harm in asking if our tickets were there. We walked up to a very friendly lady, I gave her my ID and she went to go look for them, she came back empty handed with the promise that they would be ready soon (but we were given no set time to come back.)  We wandered aimlessly around the casino until we decided just setting up shop in front of the ticket window would be our best bet.  We waited about an hour and then went back up to the window. We got a different person this time, and this kind sir told us we needed to go to the other side of casino to pick up are tickets. We gathered our belongings and made the long trek over. When we got there we told him that we had tickets waiting for us and that the box office had sent us here to pick them up.  The casino worker then told me that the original guy had been incorrect and that this office only dealt with tickets that had been comp from Mohegan Sun (that did not include us). We picked up our stuff and headed back to where we came from. I went to the SAME guy as before and explained the situation and he said, “oh, okay. Here are your tickets.” He turned around grabbed the FIRST envelope on top and handed it to me! Why good sir, if you had them all along, did you make me walk all over the world?  He had the pile right there the first time and my name was on the first envelope (seeing as my last name begins with a-b-a, I’m usually always first on lists) and he had checked my ID the first time. All I could do was laugh, when really I wanted to climb over the counter and strangle this man.
            Our next mission was finding Terry and Tracy. Our plan was to go to Johnny Rockets since it was close to the venue entrance and Terry’s injury made traveling on foot an issue. We had planned to meet at 5:00 and so at about 4:45, Megan and I hopped in line to get a table since the line was starting to get long. We never expected it to move as quickly as it did, so when we got to the front Terry and Tracy weren’t there yet and they wouldn’t seat us until our whole party was there. At this point Megan and I had both had multiple coffees and a handful of craisins so we were starving. There is a small chance I threatened to kick Terry in her other leg if she didn’t hurry up. (Kidding, of course…maybe) Threats, as empty as they were, seemed to work because soon after making them Terry and Tracy arrived and we were finally able to have something to eat.
            When we finished eating we headed over to the venue figuring it would be easiest for Terry and the doors should be opening soon enough. Megan and I had worried about the sign we made for the show. It said “Wicked Stoked!” earlier in the week Ryan had asked us how stoked we were for the show. In New England, the word wicked is used as a good thing, so instead of we’re so stoked, we’d say we’re wicked stoked. I’m sure other places may use it as well but it’s a pretty common practice here in MA.  Back to my original point, on their website, Mohegan Sun listed signs and posters as “restricted items” and the night before the SNC show, Megan had been there to see Trans Siberian Orchestra, where she said they DID do bag checks. Unsure of our signs fate, we snapped a picture of it and sent it to Ryan in a tweet.  When I got to the person checking bags I held mine open and she looked at the sign and all the other stuff in there, looked back at me, and with a confused look on her face she said “ummm you’re all set?” I WIN! When we found our seats, which were fabulous, we noticed two people sitting at the other end of our row; those people would be the only two people, other than us, to occupy that row for the entire concert.  The two people sitting behind us most definitely hated us, but I’m certainly okay with it.  Megan and I started glowifing ourselves for the show and we heard Terry yelling to us from her seats, naturally we yelled back. That caused another man sitting in the balcony to start yelling hello to us (clearly, mocking us) what he wasn’t prepared for was us to turned around wave and yell “HEYYYYYY!” He immediately slinked down into his seat…hmm don’t dish it out if you can’t take it my friend. As we were getting ready and geared up for the show the staff around the venue seemed to be giving us some suspicious looks so we decided against taking out our sign. We really wanted to keep it around. Almost every person who walked by us gave us an odd look or stopped to ask us what the deal with the Christmas lights was.
            The lights went down and the show started and Megan and I quickly became “out of control” I could often be heard yelling “WOO!” when everyone else was already quiet. My bad.  There comes a time in every show when Charlie asks who is seeing SNC for the first time. This night was no different. Obviously we didn’t cheer when he asked but had he asked who was seeing SNC for the 15th time I would have cheered. Instead, he asked if they had any repeat customers. I nearly jumped out of my seat when I started cheering. Seggie saw this, pointed at me and then just shook his head no. Sorry Seggie, it was an involuntary reaction.  We learned (via Walt’s introduction) that it would be the first time premiering their Christmas set list. As the festivities of night went on I was more and more thankful that we were able to attend this show.
            As the show neared it’s end the guys started introducing themselves, I usually take this time to watch what’s going around me or do a little dancing (considering I already know who they are and there is a very slim chance, as in no chance at all, that I would ever forget them) This time though I’m glad I was fully concentrated on the stage because when Ryan introduced himself he so graciously gave a shout out to Megan and I, accompanied by a point and wave * yay *.  I had another one of those involuntary reactions when I almost jumped out of my seat and then almost fell out of it. Not gonna lie, that would have been so funny! When the show ended all the odd and confused looks we were getting from the people sitting around us turned into people stopping and saying, “Oh, I just love your necklaces!” I also had quite a few people stop and ask about the buttons I was wearing and one woman asked if we were friends with the guys. I’d like to think the answer to that is yes, but my answer ended up being more along the lines of “Nope, just really big fans”
            At this point in the tour, Mohegan Sun had been their largest crowd and getting to the end of the meet and greet line can be a surprisingly difficult task when there was right around 4000 people in the audience. We got as far back as we could then decided this spot would have to do. It was at this time that we began pulling things out of bags and the looks from the people around us were just of utter confusion. I’ve gotten pretty used to that look though, so I pay it no mind.  One of the ushers happened to walk over to us and began chatting. We were telling her about some of our other adventures and she said, “So, you guys are pros at this, huh?” you bet we are! She then took a peek at the pictures we had made for the guys and said “WOW! Those are amazing. I’m staying with you in this line, I want to see their reactions!”  Sure! We don’t mind new friends! We were all chatting in line and I’m sure Megan and I were spewing inappropriate comments. We spotted Richard and we naturally had some questions for him. First thing we wanted to know was if the guys happened to carry around their buddy holly glasses. He said some may and some may not. I then asked “Can you make it happen?” his response was “No, I can not.” Fair enough. He did tell me if I sent out a memo to the guys for the providence show he would notarize it for me. I’m so glad he doesn’t mind putting up with our shenanigans (and if he does, he doesn’t let it show). We love him for it!   By the time we were done harassing poor Richard it was nearly our turn to say hello to the guys. There was a young woman and her mom who had been chatting with us during the line and right before their turn they looked at us and said, “We want to watch you go through the line!”  I’ll never understand why so many people wanted to watch us go though the line, but we gladly stepped in front of them and approached Jerome. Here’s a disclaimer for this meet and greet…There wasn’t a whole lot of conversation other than “wow, these are cool” and “How did you do this?!” Usually after that conversation we had to move onto the next guy because the security people were rushing us along. * sad face *

Jerome: “Hey, It’s Amanda and Megan!” -that brought an instant smile on my face, but that doesn’t even compare to the smile that I had when he stood up and gave me a hug (as well as a kiss on the cheek to Megan) No lie. I gave him his picture and he was amazed by it. He told Megan and I that it would have a place in his new home. 


Tyler then greeted us with a “Hey Girls!” Megan gave Tyler is picture. We had used a picture that Sara had caught of him jumping right before they sing Gaga because he had said he really liked that picture. It was one of the harder ones to figure out up close but once he realized what it was his expression was priceless and I’m SO glad Terry caught it on camera. 

Up next was Walt and as soon as I gave him the picture he said “Is this one of those Magic pictures?!” before I could answer Walt, Seggie caught my attention with a question. “Sooo, What’s the name of that place again?” (Union Oyster House) We had brought him some reading material from our adventures and his question was a perfect segway we needed to give it to him. It was a map of Fanueil Hall (because we didn’t want him to get lost) and a placement we had stolen from the Union Oyster House. I also made sure to tell him that Megan did all the chowder tasting and if he didn’t like it, it was her fault! Megan proceeded to give him his picture and upon looking at it he said “Oh man, you got THAT guy in my picture!?”  When I gave Mike his picture I HAD to tell him that I thought his was my favorite one, I don’t know why, but something about it just made me super happy! While we were talking to Don, he said to Megan, “For all we know they have their houses wallpapered with these.” Naturally, Megan’s inappropriate response was “You don’t even know!”  Don- just so you know, we do NOT have our houses wall papered with them. At this point, and I’m not sure any of the guys noticed, but Megan and I were silently getting the “move along” signal from the security guard, so I got semi distracted by that and by the fact that somewhere down the line someone was yelling “Look at it cross eyed!” followed by a “I see a dolphin!” so my conversations with Randy and DR are a little bit fuzzy. After all the distractions had ended and I finally refocused on what I was actually doing, I found myself standing right in front of Charlie, where there were hugs all around! Megan gave him his picture and he turned to Ryan and said, “Look at this!” followed by what seemed to be a brief quiz. Don’t worry; I can answer all those questions for you even if Ryan couldn’t.


Q: “Do you know what this is a picture of?!”
A: Yes, I do, a picture of Charlie (duh) singing at the end of “End of The Road” from this summer at Harrah’s.
Q: “Do you know who I’m singing to in this picture?!”
A: Megan!

            He then added, “I believe this was just after a slow dance together as well.” Yes it was.  Soon after, our “Wicked Stoked” sign had made it’s way down to where we were. I’m really not sure how it got so far behind us but we’re just happy it found it’s way home safely. Charlie held it up so Terry could take a picture of him with it but before the picture was taken he asked, “What are some Boston signs?” Megan and I were legitimately speechless. If you’ve ever met us you’d know that we’re not ones to just throw up signs and so he was totally asking the wrong people. 

I’m pretty sure there could be some kind of obscenity going on behind that sign in the picture. It is used a lot around these parts, especially when driving.
            Last but certainly not least was Ryan.  He had a picture a well as a little something extra we found while we were out in Boston hunting down clam chowder. We brought him a travel cup that (since he loves saying it so much) said, “Hahvahd, Making you Smatah since 1636.” How could we have seen that in the store and just casually leave it behind. There was no way it wasn’t coming with us. He asked us which shows we’d be attending and AT THE TIME, the list was as follows *: Connecticut, Rhode Island, Boston, Baltimore, and both Atlantic City shows. *subject to change* Ryan told us that there next stop was Maine, where he was “gonna get some chowdah.” We had to tell him that we could not attend the Maine show because as awesome as it would have been to go, we both had to work that day. Ugh, that pesky work getting in the way of all my fun stuff.  We then said good-bye, gave out more hugs, and stepped over to wait for group pictures.
            Megan and I waited patiently in line for group pictures tossing back and forth some witty banter and the occasional inappropriate remark. Finally when it was our turn, we tossed our stuff over to the side, walked to the guys and asked if they had their Buddy Holly glasses with them, the ones that did put them on for the picture. We were also fortunate enough to get a little Gaga in there (Thanks, Walt) and Seggie quenching his, what we have now learned is, a constant need for liquid.

We were the last ones in line for group pictures so the guys started to disperse as we started walking away. We heard Don call out to us “Don’t forget your bags. We’ll take them and go through them.” My immediate reply was “Don’t worry, its probably just stuff for you guys anyways!” Still, he was right, I did not want to leave my stuff there.
            I picked up my stuff and started walking away. After a moment I realized that I had just spent an uncomfortable amount of time talking to myself because Megan wasn’t standing next to me as I had thought she was. I turned around to see her being held hostage by Ryan and they were both waving me to come back for a picture. As I made my way back to them I was told by the security guard that I had to leave. So my choices were pictures with Ryan or listen to the guard and leave the venue. Let’s be honest, you all know what the resulting decision would be, but incase you’re unsure……

After that picture, we did finally do as we were told and made our way to the exit but certainly not before hassling them a little bit more. I pointed to the door that the guys had just walked out of and said,

Me: “Oh, I think I parked this way. We’ll just take this exit”
Security (with a smirk on his face): “Not unless you have black suit on”
Me: “I have a black sweater on, does that count?”
Security: “Nope, I said suit”
Me (calling out to an empty venue): “Does anybody have a black suit I can borrow!?”

We left the venue, said good–bye to Terry & Tracy, and made our way to the car. It was a long drive home (about 2 hours for me) and we both had to work the next day. The conversation mostly consisted about how excited we were for Wednesday. All we could do was wait patiently for the Rhode Island show, and that is exactly what you have to do right now….

Up next: Providence RI!


I was asked if I would post the mosaics....I sure will, although unfortunately, because they can't be seen at their actual size (8x10) it's kind of hard to see the little pictures that make up the larger picture. I will tell you that there is 716 small pictures that make up the larger one( you have NO idea how many hours I wasted on Facebook trying to get them all.) I tried to remember everyone I grabbed pictures from (for the small and large pictures) so I could give credit but honestly, I made these back in August and I can no longer remember. If you see a picture that belongs to you, let me know and I will add a caption to the picture ;)












No comments:

Post a Comment