I just got home a little bit ago, after three wonderful days with Laureen in Chicago and Detroit for some Bsb fun!!!
The highlight of this trip was, of course, Bsb on Friday, 08-08-08, so I'll jump to that. We got into Clarkston in plenty of time for our soundcheck... stood in line outside the venue for a little while while we waited for them to let us in... when we got up to Justin from the fan club, who had the list of VIP names, I gave him my name, and he about gave me a heart attack when he looked at the list and was like, "Wait, I just let someone in under that name..." I have no idea what that was about, but he ran to track some girl down he had just let in and made her go back out the gate, and Laureen and I got in fine.
I was too excited to want to kill the bitch for almost stealing my identity.So... soundcheck! They led us into the venue, and as we were walking down the steps, I looked down at the stage and was like, omg, I think that's Nick! Or is it?? He looks too small to be Nick... Well,
it was Nick, and he has gotten SO skinny!!! I couldn't believe it! He looks great, but wow!
The other guys had come onstage by the time we made it down to the seats, and except for Howie, I had never been that close to any of them, so I was totally giddy. Laureen and I ended up at almost the very end of the front row, behind a barricade that was mere inches from the stage. We had Brian and Nick on our side, which was awesome, except for that the way they stood,
I had a shot of Brian's back and side for most of the thing. He did look over a lot though, so it was okay.
My favorite part of the whole VIP experience was just watching the actual soundcheck. I've never been any closer than 15th row (as of this show), so to see what it was like to stand in the front row and see them up close was AMAZING. Plus, I loved just watching them sing and goof off onstage. They took requests for songs, with the stipulation that it had to be anything from Unbreakable or Chapter 1, except for Drowning... but then they broke that right away because everyone started screaming for Siberia.
Nick was like, "Is it on the internet or something to request Siberia? Because every soundcheck, you guys wanna hear Siberia." So they sang Siberia first, and I was in freaking heaven because you know that is like my favorite song ever. I got a video of it too. It's only a minute long because I was afraid of filling my memory card (which I did LOL), but oh well.
The other songs they sang were
All I Have to Give, More Than That, and Treat Me Right. Laureen got a video of Treat Me Right, which was awesome!
After that was the Q&A. Justin took four questions, one for each guy. 75% of the questions were pretty good... either intelligent questions or just funny ones. Nick was first, and he got asked "If you were running for president, who would you choose for your vice president?" Of course (Mare will love this if she ever reads it), he said Kevin LOL. I think all the guys were like, "Kevin!" Then he said he wouldn't want to be president, but that if he was, he'd choose all the guys because they work well together and would fill his Cabinet well. So that was really cute.
AJ got asked if he's ever thought about doing motivational speaking about his addiction and whatnot,
and the girl who asked gave him some kind of fan book and congratulated him on being almost six years sober, and everyone thought that was really cool, and we clapped.
Howie got asked what the coolest thing he's ever gotten to do as a Backstreet Boy was, and he said the Around the World in 100 Hours tour for Black & Blue.
Brian's question was last, and instead of Justin calling on someone, Brian chose the girl because she had screamed "Brian, I have a question for you!" earlier. Bad choice. First off, this chick already annoyed me because she showed up outside without VIP or soundcheck, just hoping to be let in. There was a big group like that who all knew this older woman who I guess had won soundcheck. Anyway, I guess the older lady let her in as her guest, because somehow she ended up there. And Brian called on her to ask him a question. And after three nice, meaningful questions, here is a recreation of how her Q&A with Brian went down...
Girl: Do you know who Phil Stacey is?
Brian:
*blank look*Girl: He was on American Idol.
Brian, Nick, AJ, and Howie:
*blank look* No?
Girl: Well, I'm a huge fan of him, and I was talking to him once, and he told me that you went to prom with his cousin. And he didn't even know I was a fan of you!
Brian:
*blank look* Really? What was his cousin's name?
Girl: I don't know.
Brian: Oh... well, I can't really go off the name Stacey if they're just cousins, but I went to prom every year of high school, so I could tell you if you knew her name. So ask him if you talk to him again.
Girl: I could call him!
I don't really remember what Brian said after that;
Laureen and I were giving each other "WTF?!" looks in the front row and rolling our eyes. What a dumb freaking bitch! I wanted to pop a cap in her fat ass for wasting Brian's question on stupid fucking shit like that! Grrr!The guys were amazingly tolerant; I didn't see any of them giving each other looks or rolling their eyes (like Laureen and I were LOL), and Brian was very patient and friendly and humored her random, random, stupid, bizarre question.
After the Q&A,
Baylee ran out onstage, and I was really excited I got to see him. I got a few good pics. One of the fans gave him a present, which was a book, and Brian made him thank the girl for the book, which was really sweet. We saw Leighanne over on the side of the stage too.
Then the guys came offstage and took their places behind this gate for the meet and greet part. They had the soundcheck winners come over and take their picture first and then leave. Then the rest of us lined up and filed over to the guys. That part of it was very rushed. When you got up to the guys, you handed them your item to be signed, you shook hands and said hi while they signed it, and before anyone was even done, the bodyguard yelled at you to turn around for your picture. So if I look really stunned in my picture, that's why LOL.
So... meeting the guys! The only one I have ever had an encounter with is Howie, and that was even more rushed than this was. I always imagined that if I ever did meet the guys, Howie and Brian would be the most friendly, Nick would be the most intimidating, and AJ and Kevin were the unknowns - not sure how they would be.
My impressions of them were about half right. AJ was first in line,
and he was very sweet and gracious. Shook my hand, asked how I was, signed my poster from the Unbreakable album. His eyes are gorgeous.
Nick was next, and he definitely was the most intimidating to me. I don't mean that in a bad way; he wasn't unfriendly or anything like that. I just mean the second his beautiful blue eyes met mine, I went speechless.
I shook his hand, and I said hi, and then there was this awkward moment where he didn't say anything after "hi," and I didn't know what to say either, and so... yeah. That's what I mean by intimidating.
Then I moved on to Howie, and he instantly relaxed me again. I said the same thing after "meeting" him in 2001, but
he is better looking in person and has the most beautiful, warm smile. Like AJ, he was very gracious and seemed genuinely glad to meet all of us. I think he would be my favorite by now if it weren't for those other three LOL.
Brian was last, and shaking hands with Brian is a little bit of a blur; the only adjective I can think to use for it is "rushed" because in the middle of that, I was being yelled at to turn around and get in the middle of them for my picture, which I did. Brian still hadn't signed my poster though, so I got to hang out a few more seconds after that while he did. Laureen, I should add, went before me and got a hug from Nick, even though they had said beforehand "No hugs and kisses," so I had mentally decided to ask Brian for a hug, which worked out perfectly since he was last. So he finished signing my poster and handed it back, and I asked him for a hug and got one!!!
He had a Sharpie in his hand, so he offered a one-armed hug over the barricade, but I threw both arms around him LOL. It was amazing! It wasn't long enough for me to be able to describe things like how he felt and smelled and so on... all I can say is that he is tinier in person (they all are, even Nick LOL), and he certainly didn't smell bad LOL.
So that was the end of the VIP experience. Was it worth my $280? Yes. Absolutely. Even though the actual meeting the Boys part was rushed, it still happened, and I have autographs and a picture to prove it, and the actual soundcheck part was amazing. Like I said, that was actually my favorite part, I think even more than shaking the guys' hands. That said, I'm glad I didn't shell out another $280 to do it again in Bloomington, because I don't think it's worth that much money a second time. It's truly a once in a lifetime thing.