Mohegan Sun - The show that almost didn't happen

Let me explain that title a little. Throughout the entire cruise and at several of the shows after, the guys asked when we would be attending our next show and we told them Mohegan Sun in CT. The only problem with this is that for most of that time, we had not yet acquired tickets to the show and they were proving difficult to get. Luckily, in a last ditch effort, we checked out stub hub and were able to get tickets to our liking at a relatively decent price. So it all worked out in the end and we were able to keep our promise.

I had some free time

As the date neared, we knew it would be another busy school day ahead of us but we also knew we would be rewarded with multiple shows throughout the weekend.  This time was slightly different though. It was the Friday before school vacation week, which for me warranted a half-day of school. It was also the day of my staff Christmas party at school. Knowing that I had not packed a single article of clothing (a detail I kept hidden from Megan) and that she wouldn’t be out of school for several hours, I decided to head to the Christmas party. My plan was to only stay for 45 minutes/1 hour, but two hours later when Megan text me saying she was just about ready to go and I had still no packed and was still at said party, the panic set in. I abruptly left all conversation and said good-bye to only minimal people before I dashed out the door and raced home. I knew in my mind what I wanted packed; I just needed to physically put the stuff in the bag. I shoved my belongings into the bag, forgetting a few things, and raced off to Megan’s. I tried to play it off cool, that I had intended to wait so long before getting to her apartment but I’m sure she saw right through it. Megan had a clear and unfair advantage in the situation. I had to be packed and ready for the entire weekend, including our trip to Allentown, while she did not.  We took some time to exchange Christmas gifts, put on the finishing touches to our outfits, and off we went.

Upon arriving at Mohegan Sun, we parked and then had to navigate through an outrageous maze of slot machines and groups of people before we could find the entrance to the venue. We did a little bit of waiting outside the venue before doors opened but not much considering we had futzed around Megan’s apartment a bit before we left. We also had to be stealthy because we needed to go through a bag check. We don’t have anything suspicious in our bags usually unless you count the gallon sized zip lock bags filled with light up necklaces as suspicious, but today we had a gift for Ryan (similar to the M we had made for Mike, only this one was an R) We were told that we would only be allowed to bring it into the venue if we could fit it inside one of our purses. It fit easily in mine; only slightly destroying the gift bag it had once looked so delightful in. 

Upon entering the venue, we decided that we were hungry and it seemed like a perfect time for us to get a pretzel and a “soder”. We made our way to our seats with our hands full of delightful goodness. We tried to get the attention of Trist who was in his little sound nook at the time with Nate. It didn’t work, however. What can you expect when the venue is ginormous!? While we leisurely tried to eat our snacks it was hard not to watch the clock. We had been discussing the most opportune moment to put our lights on. This seemingly trivial task has to be done very carefully as to not waste any battery life unnecessarily.  About 3 minutes before the 8:00 mark hit, we decided it was time. Ryan had previously asked us if we were gonna be lit up at this show. OF COURSE! This venue was bigger than most, so the lights were of utmost importance here.

Trist in his lair

The show this night was especially moving during Fix You. This concert took place 7 days after the shooting in Newtown, CT, so the guys dedicated the song to them. It was very emotional and so heartfelt. A song we had heard sung many times before suddenly took on a whole new meaning for both Megan and me. When the song ended, an emotional audience stood for an ovation that it was so worthy of.

After that, the guys got back into the regular groove of the show. Showcasing their impeccable dance moves and their quick wit and humor. During the show at some point, I was suddenly nudged by Megan who handed me some food and beverage, when I gave her a puzzled look she simply leaned over and said, “pass it down?” I was starting to feel like I was at a baseball game, but as their were no people wandering the stadium we were left to assume someone had smuggled the goodies in from the concession stand. I gently taped the stranger next to me and made the same request to him that was made of me.  He was not so accommodating and started giving me an intense interrogation.  I did not know whom these food items were going to, as I had not purchased them and I did not know who started this process. I told him to just to pass it because it’s safe to assume the intended recipient(s) would know who they were. After giving a clear indication he was not happy with the situation, he did pass it along. Seriously, was that so hard?

The end of the show had arrived and during intros Ryan gave us a shout out that made smile from ear to ear. When the show ended, while everyone was trying to climb up the venue stairs, we were trying to go the opposite way, in search of Trist.  This had become a little tradition of ours. It was quite the battle trying to get through to him. There was me shouting at Megan, “GO, GO, GO!” then running. And let’s not forget the head tilt almost every venue worker had when they heard me yelling and saw us running. Anyways, we approached Trist and he held out his hand. He doesn’t even need us to ask anymore, he just hands us the set list. We usually stick around to chat. He always asks us how the sound was from our seats but I don’t think we’re ever very helpful. We try not to stay too long because we know he wants to pack up his stuff and I’m sure the quicker the better. This time we happened to bump into Nate as well. He told us that every time he sees us, our lights grow more and more extravagant. Looking ahead to more recent events....he was right. We thanked them both and headed off to find the M&G line. We knew it’d be long considering how many people were in the venue (6,400, or somewhere around there)

We waited in line for what seemed like a lifetime, making friends with the people around us. We’re pretty good at keeping ourselves entertained. Soon enough we had reached the table. Ryan was first, which was perfect because his gift was heavy and my shoulder was anxious to pawn it off on him. Megan also gave him a card that was from her mom. We still don’t know what was written in that mysterious card but it certainly made an impact on him. Ryan told us he knew a perfect & safe spot for our gift and then gave us hugs.

I don’t remember a lot of conversation with the rest of the guys. While this is unnatural for me and for Megan, this time there was a group of people from Newtown in front of us and we let them chat with the guys and thank them while we casually just passed saying, “hey, how are you” and “it’s nice to see you again.” We didn’t mind one bit. We did have several of the guys (I remember Tyler and Seggie specifically) concerned with whether or not Ryan had given a shout out to the right people. He had.  While I make no guarantees he was looking at the right people, as there were others in our general area with lights on, he was definitely aimed in the right direction (and he used our names, so we obviously knew who he was talking about.) They took our word for it and seemed relieved that a mix up had not occurred. (Big thanks to whoever uploaded that  video!)

When we got to Mike, Megan gave him a copy of the picture of us from the cruise. He had asked us for a copy and told us that he really liked that picture. We made sure to also give him a copy of our picture with our friends (you know who you are!) photo bombing it in the back. He got a kick out of it and then we reminiscenced about the 80’s party for a bit. He told us about how much fun it was being there with everyone and saying that we totally “killed that 80’s night” We once again brought up our suggestion that we should have an 80’s party after every show (we had brought this to Seggie’s attention ON the cruise) Mike seemed more willing to go along with our idea than Seggie had.

Take 1

Take 2

As we waited in line for pictures, Megan went though the photos in her camera. We came across another group photo, which had (SHOCKER) Seggie blocking himself out. We discussed what we thought he’d do this time because we noticed he didn’t have his usual cup handy. It didn’t matter what he did though, we walked up for the picture already angry with him. Richard had to take two pictures because there was some interference from a glowing sign behind us that just wouldn’t allow for a sharp photo. Richard handed the camera back to us and we checked to look what Seggie had done. (It’s the first thing we do after every photo) Before we could get that far we heard Seggie yell, “UGH! I FORGOT TO DO SOMETHING STUPID!” We explained to him and Walt about our feelings from in line before pictures and Walt just replied with, “Finally, someone who understands how I feel everyday!” We all got a good chuckle out of this, except for maybe Seggie, who was still sulking. We were just thankful we were able to get at least one nice group photo with EVERYONE in it before Ryan left.  I suppose all we would have had to do was ask Seggie, but I like to think he did it on his own morality.

(I would like to point out that Mike is standing behind me and I am wearing heels. The man literally towers over me!)

After photos ended, we exited the venue and stopped right outside the entrance to take a chaser photo. There aren’t always a lot of us from around New England but it’s still nice to capture the moment whenever it happens. We wished everyone safe travels and headed back to Megan’s. We needed to rest up because we needed to make the journey to Allentown in the not so distant future. 

I apologize - I have NO clue who took this picture