What an incredible weekend this has been...what an incredible month...(and
I've completely lost my voice after last night)! Even this morning when Jeanete
and I were in the shuttle to the airport, they were playing Amy's Jingle Bell
Rock. Last night's show was absolutely amazing. Amy was on fire, the band was on
fire...great friends, great music, great dancing, great energy...what more could
one ask for.
This was my 7th show of this tour, this was Jeanete's 10th. Nathaniel, Lori,
Jeanete and I drove in the morning from New Jersey. Traffic was much worse than
expected. So we were a little rushed. First, we had to pick up Amy's brithday
cake. Thank goodness for Andrew...we called him telling him we were late, and he
was able to pick up the rest of the supplies. Then we drove into town after
getting the cake, and it was an interesting area to say the least. Not sure how
they picked the venue, but let's just say we made sure we locked our doors.When soundcheck started, Mike Brignardello came out and said "Hi, John, we watched your DVD on the bus last night." Many people were running up to the stage to talk to Amy, and hand her things. Amy didn't seem to mind...probably because it was the last show. Amy came out and thanked me for the DVD and said she watched it and liked the photo slideshow since I added everyone's names to the pictures, so she knew who they were. Then Amy made a comment about how the promoter didn't know how to promote a Christian artist, so we might be the only ones there. Sadly, she wasn't really exagerating...I asked the box office, and the venue holds about 3k people, but only 1k tickets were sold. The entire second floor was blocked off. Soundcheck was short and she was about to say goodbye. I shouted from the back, "Wait Amy, we have one more thing for you." She asked if we had a song and dance...I said something like that. So Nathaniel, Jeanete and I came down the aisle with strong Nathaniel carrying the cake, and we started singing. (Btw, this was all Jeanete - she had the idea, got the cake, so FOA owes her a big thanks!) We put the cake on stage and Amy told us about the first Lead Me On Tour. Matt (Amy and Gary's son) had his 1 year old birthday, and when they brought him a cake, he just put his hand in it to eat. So they started a tradition that when someone had a birthday, they'd dig in with their hands. And...she did just that! The band did the same. Kim actually stuck her face into the cake and took a few bites. So fun! Oh ya...also during soundcheck, someone shouted out "The Wallet Song," which I thought was kinda cool, but kinda odd...I've never heard anyone request that besides Gina or me. And in Irvine, Jennifer had specifically asked me not to request that song, so I made sure I didn't (I wouldn't have requested it on this tour...would have absolutely killed the momentum). I think I'm done requesting that song actually...I think any more requests for it border on obnoxious, versus enthused fan (or perhaps I've already crossed that line). Amy did say they pitched it to the record company and it was rejected (why they pitched it is beyond me...it's a horrible song, and I have no idea why I always asked for it...I think just because it was different)
Nathaniel, Jeanete, Lori, Andrew, Carolyn, Bonnie, Laura and I went to dinner at
Mc Donalds, and bumped into many fans. We prepped everyone on when to stand,
when to sit, when to crack the glowsticks. We were determined to make this a
high energy show. Let's go out with a bang. And it was! When she started Love of
Another Kind, we were in the aisle dancing. About 20% of the audience was up.
Some of us stayed up for Wait For the Healing, and Shadows...I actually ended up
sitting some of it, because I was so nervous about blocking people behind me and
not wanting security to single me out...sometimes I think security comes prepped
with pictures of me and a beware sign (like the night before!).
As she was tuning for 1974, I shoulted We Love You Amy. She said thanks John,
and something about coming to the shows over and over again, and how I would be
the one dancing and shouting all night. We got the glowsticks right on
Everywhere I go (except Andrew whose glow stuff leaked and spilled all over
him). Also during the song, Kim who was front row aisle left, and Andrew who was
front row aisle right started dancing together. It was so funny, and you could
tell Amy was enjoying it.
A note about seats. My ticket was second row, but on the side, and next to
someone who clearly was not going to appreciate my enthusiasm for the show.
Jeanete’s ticket was 7 rows back, and Nathaniel’s was somewhere near the back.
But there were 4 empty seats in rows 2 and 3 right on the aisle, so we sat
there. Poor Jeanete was so nervous that the people would come. But she borrowed
a front row seat the night before and the people never came, so it all worked
out. However, last night, 2 people came and took Jeanete and Nathaniel’s seats.
Nathaniel moved way to the left, and Jeanete moved next to me. 10 minutes later,
we got kicked out of those seats, so we moved down to the end of row 2 where we
stayed until Lead Me On.During band introductions, Nathaniel showed his creative side. He had made large cardboard cutouts of “FOKK.” He had asked us if he should shout out “fokk,” and we all suggested maybe that wasn’t the best idea, but he and three others were waving the signs at Kim. She absolutely loved it, and Amy was getting a kick out of it too. It was unfortunate that Nathaniel was separated from us, so we couldn’t be part of it. Jerry was great – when he got introduced, everyone was yelling, and I was screaming of course. He looked at me and said, “Thanks John, it means a lot coming from you” – that was special…wish I caught it on video…perhaps one of the audio recordings came out, but not likely because Jerry wasn’t on a mic. He is such a funny guy – I’m really bummed, because I wanted to take a picture with him, but got distracted and it never happened.
As Chris Eaton was finishing “I Will,” I moved to the center aisle, and it was
nonstop standing until the end of the show. As Lead Me On started, I gave out a
big shout, and someone up front (not sure if in the audience or on stage),
started laughing really loudly at my shout, it was kind of comical. As the intro
progressed, people started standing one by one, and eventually we got the whole
auditorium up. People also started to join me in the aisle one by one. I was
really hoping the venue would be mosh pit friendly, and this crowd definitely
would have been successful, but it wasn’t designed as such, so we stuck to our
aisle dancing. I was amazed at the energy of the 1/3 full auditorium. It really
was a way to go out with a bang. Most of the place stayed up from Lead Me On
until Fight. Very impressive. Fight was amazing, just the best I’ve ever seen.
They changed the very end and held the last note for a LONG time and Amy did the
total head wave spin dance thing where her hair was flailing around in circles
and wow, it was so cool. I’m bummed cuz I didn’t get a video of it, but if
anyone out there has one, please please send it to me!
The encore was great – she did a bunch of songs in addition to the 3 on the
setlist. She sang a song w/Kim that Kim wrote about being adopted. I think she
did this one at a Washington soundcheck, but I had never heard it, so that was
neat. She also took a few requests such as Thy Word which which she told us we
had to sing - she backed away from the mic to listen, and was really enjoying
it. She also did a chorus of I Have Decided which was totally awesome..
We were lucky enough to get Meet and Greet passes. As we were in line, Ken
Rarick's wife and daughter came out and we chatted w/her and took some pictures.
It was neat that she kinda knew who we were. We also got some great shots with
Kim holding the FOKK sign, and some garland. We were so caught up talking to
Kim, the meet and greet pretty much ended and Amy was standing there waiting to
talk to us and we weren’t even paying attention. She said something like, I have
a 7 year old waiting for me at home, do you guys wanna talk or take a pic?
Andrew went first and gave her the flowers that he gave her on stage earlier but
she left there (so cool of Andrew to go back to the stage and ask for them back
so he could give them to her). We all thanked Amy for a great tour. Amy said
that she and the band were talking, and were wondering if I was like
independently wealthy, or how I could afford all this. I said, well, I’m
bankrupt now, but it was all worth it. It still strikes me as odd that the band
and her would talk about me. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, and I’m totally
honored, it’s all one could want, but it’s just amazing to me, and I’m so
appreciative that Amy and the band took notice of how crazy we all were to fly
around the country going to shows. I also got a chance to tell Amy that Jennifer
and Justin have been really great to us.
There’s one other moment to write about during the show, but I can’t give all
the details on a G rated review. But here’s what I can say. There were 2 girls
in front of Jeanete and I who were in the front row right in front of Jerry. At
one point Jerry looked up from his playing and saw the two of them, then
suddenly had a look of shock on his face. Then a blank dumbfounded stare as he
was watching them. What a cool moment. I actually didn’t see it because I had
moved to the aisle by this point, but anyway…that’s about the end.Thanks Amy for a great tour – we all look forward to the next chapter of your life, and are so grateful for this last opportunity to FINALLY dance at an Amy concert!
