Touring around CA is getting exhausting, but worth every ounce
of energy, time, cost, etc. A bunch of us started the evening having dinner at a
nearby restaurant, Tresetti's. It was pretty exciting to meet some of Jake's
family, and we had several special out of town guests (okay, we're all out of
town...but...) Ryan J, Michael - thanks for flying in! Was fun to catch up with
everyone else as well.
Before the show started, we got to
play with Braden
for a bit - had tons of fun with him the night before dancing on the side of
the stage, and this time, we got to play with him for about 10 minutes while Jen
was doing stuff backstage. I guess this was his last show, and I will miss him.
In fact, this was a sad show in many respects, because it's her last in
California, and our touring group is basically disbanding. Only Jeanette and
myself will be going to Portland, and Upper Darby (PA), and hopefully Nathaniel
will go with me to Morristown (NJ). I will miss the rest of the California crew:
Jake, Liionel, Joe, Ryan D, Nicole and girls, Josie, Steve, Trish, Debbie, etc
etc!We really need to plan these things better...of course, we were all scattered throughout the first 2 rows, but we weren't right next to each other. But as she started Love of Another Kind, we all of course got up and danced...about 15 of us scattered in the first 2 rows, and a scattering of people behind. After the song ended, the people in the second row asked Lionel, Ryan & Steve to sit down...I watched from where I was, and I thought they were gonna get into a fight! Well, we all sat down...I think it would have been fine for Ryan D, Jeanette, Michael and myself to stay up because the people behind us didn't seem to mind (and I found out today that Brian was right behind me!), but since Lionel and crew had to sit, we decided to as well.
As with all the shows, we stood at the end of El Shaddai, and then as she transitioned into Sing Your Praise. Think about half the crowd was up for the song...much lower percentage than other shows. Then we sat until Lead Me On. As Amy got into her homestretch, those of us up front were up for some and down for others, but we noticed in the back on the balcony, a group of like 20-30 people were dancing the whole time - I'm sure Amy must have enjoyed that site. Also tried to get Braden to come out and dance with us, but he looked tired. I was able to throw a glowstick back there, and saw him play with it for most of the second part of the show. Huge thanks to Josie for supplying us with the glowsticks. Amy even noted during the show they were cool. The other highlight of the show was Ryan giving Amy the poster board thing he made for her that we all signed. I wonder what she'll do with it.
At the end, she did a wondeful encore...one more song than normal...she noted
that as a thanks to those of us who have been traveling with her, she'd change
it up and do some new songs; however, the songs she did were all repeats - we
discussed later and think she did the "new" one in Irvine.
Most of us were also able to get into the Meet and Greet. This was very special
for several reasons. First, the girl
Abby
Castleberry from Episode 1 of Three Wishes was
there with her family and got to spend quite a bit of time with Amy. I really
wanted to run after her and say hello, but they disappeared quickly after
talking to Amy. I think I got some of the footage on video. I gotta say how
incredible she looked...just remembering the crazy surgery she had on the show -
what a blessing to be able to get the operations from Three Wishes. I also asked
Justin during a lull about waiting by the bus - we had a very respectful
conversation, and he indicated that he preferred if we didn't wait there after
the various shows. This is different than what Jen has said to many of us (told
us it's always okay), but reading between the lines, I always suspected that
they might not like it, so I told him I would gladly not do that anymore. Then
he said, "Thanks, and before you leave, I need to talk to you." My heart sank, I
thought I was getting banned, and this would be my last Amy show or something.
Then as I was leaving, I went up to him, and I was so touched by what he had to
say. Apparently, Amy really appreciated all the support following her around
city to city, state to state, coast to coast, and didn't want me to have to pay
for anymore tickets. How considerate is that??? I was blown away by her
thoughtfulness. Of course, I already have tickets for Portland, Morristown, and
Upper Darby, but I gave Justin my contact info anyway, and asked if maybe I
could get Meet and Greet passes instead, or something like that. Regardless,
this really shows some of Amy's character - I just can't fathom a huge
superstar, worrying about the fans (true, I blew my life savings on her several
times), but that really makes Amy special. I'm looking forward to the show on
Monday in Portland.
