What an amazing day it was today! Way beat expectations...after
touring around with her in California, with the many many crazy friends I've made over the
years, I was a little sad to be going to this show alone, not knowing anyone.
Even tougher because at the last minute (like an hour before soundcheck), I found out that my boss wanted me in a
meeting from 3-4 (important meeting), and soundcheck started at 3:30. That was
tricky...I think I was somehow able to beg forgiveness from him, and promise
that I wouldn't miss anymore of these now recurring meetings...for those who
know me well, you all know how very seriously I take my career, and would rarely
prioritize anything higher than taking phone calls and meetings for work...but
this was Amy, it's rare, so I made an exception, and figured, well, it's just
one meeting...I will make it up!:)
So I arrived at soundcheck, and was so excited to see a familar face - Eric who
I've met many times, but just didn't put all the connections together that he
was in Portland (we had exchanged a few notes on FOA, not normal email, so I
didn't realize who it was, and I always associated Eric with the California
crowd). Amy did her normal soundcheck stuff. When she did
Love of Another Kind, the girl next to me said, "do you wanna dance" - I always
love to dance to Amy, so there we were in soundcheck dancing in the aisles.
After the song, Amy said, "John, not wasting a minute out there." It was also great to see Julie at the show...Julie
was at Modesto a few nights earlier, and brought Amy nice flowers that she
displayed on stage (You can see them behind Eric in the photo on the right) -
and Julie and I have since kept in touch:) Amy also did a new song which I
really liked - I think it's called
"She Was Free."
It was nice to have dinner w/Eric - what a fun time to catch up, and chat, etc.
I also met his friend Matt (Matt had never met Amy before, but last year, when
Eric was with Amy on the East coast, he asked Amy to call Matt and wish him a
Happy Birthday - isn't she just such a special person...I mean, how many
celebrities would do that?!). Now here's the crazy thing - he had 3 tickets, in
the back of the section, and one of his friends wasn't coming. I had a front row
ticket (thx to Jeanette who decided not to come), but gave it up to a stranger I
met on Craigslist so I could sit w/Eric and Matt. It was totally worth it - so
much more enjoyable to be around people you know! The Craigslist story...I
didn't decide to add this show until late last week. I was up in Portland for
work and heard the commercial for the concert on the radio, and thought oh...I
should go. But I'm so running out of money since I've been touring with her, I
thought I'd just try to win tickets on the radio. I finally won a pair (lot of
begging involved), and so I had an extra. Nobody I knew wanted it, so I posted
it on Craigslist, and gave it to a nice young lady who seemed very appreciative
(and little did she know, she'd get the front row!).
So it ended up that neither of us sat in the seats the radio station gave us,
since she was in front, and I was with Eric. Oh well.
Onto the show - it was much more mellow than the other crowds. The California
shows (Modesto the exception) seem to get rowdier crowds. I mean, this venue had
a perfect area for a mosh pit. But I could only get about 20 people to come
join, and we were more in the center aisle, than actually down in front. But Amy
could see us, and you could tell she was happy that we were there dancing with
her. Also, during Everywhere I Go, she saw a few little girls dancing in the
aisle, so she motioned for them to come up on stage and dance with her...I just
kept thinking, I wish Nicole was here, cuz her daughters would be so cute
dancing up on stage with Amy.For the encore, she did a song for Paul (see photos on both sides of the page) who she met at the New York airport recently. I believe the song is called "We Want the Same Things" - and it's a really great song - my second favorite of all her new ones (my favorite was the one she debut'd at soundcheck today.) She actually told a different story in Irvine about the song...Basically, Jon Foreman from Switchfoot sent her a text and said, "Are you still writing for your next album," and she said, "Yes, who is this" - long story short, he was in Nashville at the time, they met, they wrote, and it became a song.
