Long Time no See, or Write...no, wait, now I'm confused LOL
Hey y'all!! After a long hiatus, I am back. My family is well for the moment, Thank God. Today I will be catching you up on what has been going on with me. Upcoming topics will be: The Hanson and John Williams concerts, "Back to School", movies I've seen and recommend, and news about a certain *Ex*.
The Music Lives On
On August 28, 2003, I saw Hanson in concert for the third time. I woke up at 6:00am with no trouble. You how when you're really excited about something, you wake up easier? That's how that morning was for me. I got up, did my make-up and put on my new outfit for the concert: A black sweater over a button down striped shirt, jeans, and Mary Janes. I looked oh so preppy hehe My Dad offered to drop me off at the Roxy on his way to work. Why was I getting there so early? The Roxy is very small and for this concert, it was General Admission, no seats, so I wanted to get there as early as possible to ensure I'd be able to see. I got there at 8:30am and was not very surprised to see approx. 10 girls had slept on the street over night; most of them still sound asleep in their sleeping bags. The girls at the very front had traveled from Australia to be there. I set down my chair, my backpack, and CD player in the parking lot near the front of the venue. It was already hot. The sun burned on my face as I got myself situated. I talked to the girls around me. They were around my age and were from Beverly Hills. To be honest, they weren’t very interesting. I put on my CD player and listened to music for a while, Hanson of course. Some funny things happened in those first few hours sitting there. A trucker drove by and screamed, “Hanson rules!!” That was hilarious!! It was amusing to watch the cars go by and the people in them look in wonder or surprise when they saw “HANSON” on the Roxy marquee. I called Michael and Jennifer to pass the time. I took a brief nap, which resulted in a very weird looking sunburn on my hand. At around noon, a blue tour bus pulled up to the venue. Everyone went to see what was going on. The line had formed around to the back alley of the Roxy by then. I got my “Underneath Acoustic” CD and my Sharpie in case Hanson decided to come out and sign autographs. After about 5 minutes, the door opened and a Hanson came out. It was Jessica Hanson, their 15 year old sister. She’s very pretty. I was appalled to see a group of fans rush over and start talking to her. She looked very uncomfortable, with her arms crossed in front of her like she just wanted to get away. I was even more aggravated to see girls taking pictures of her. I feel that is a total invasion of her privacy, and she should have been left alone. She’s not Hanson!! A guy who works for Hanson, Micah, soon rescued Jessica saying there was a lot of work to be done. I was grateful for that, the poor girl. We all stood there for over 20 minutes and soon reasoned Hanson was not on the bus. During that madness my Dad had showed up with my lunch. I was happy to see he got me cold drinks. Two other people came while I was standing by the bus, Maryanne and Kenny. I met them at Jay Leno. It was nice to see them. I thought of Kira then and looked forward to when I’d be seeing her again. I met her at Leno too. There were still a lot of hours to go. After chatting with Maryanne and meeting her parents, I sat down and ate my lunch. I talked to Michael some more, which was really nice. The line had to be reformed at one point so the roadies could unload the tour bus. I moved my chair and everything to the sidewalk. It was interesting to see their instruments and merchandise. I talked with the girls I was now near and they were very cool. To entertain ourselves, we waved at the people in passing cars to see if they’d wave back. Oh, what fun hehe. After a while, at around 2:00pm a black van with Oklahoma plates pulled right in front of where I was sitting. As we looked inside we knew immediately who was driving: Walker and Diana, Hanson’s parents. A buzz began to sweep through the crowd. The van door slid open and out came all of Hanson’s siblings and Taylor’s wife, Natalie. She was carrying Ezra, their son. What *cute* baby!! She smiled and said, “Hi y’all” in a very southern accent. Again, pictures were taken. That whole 3 minutes was worth getting there early for!! It happened right in front of me. Soo cool!! I called so many people right after to tell them what had happened hehe. More time passed. Walker and Diane came in and out of the venue, smiling and saying hi as they passed. I listened to my music some more and waved at more passing cars with the other girls. The line was far down the block now. It was almost 4:00pm. I met up with a girl named Nicole whom I hadn’t seen in 3 years, which was great. I talked to Kira on her cell phone and she was well on her way. It finally began to get dark. A limo pulled up around 7:00pm with these girls, women I should say, in very revealing outfits. Side note: The next day, I was surprised to see one of them at CSUN!! Back to my account, Kira was nowhere to be seen. She and her friend were lost in Hollywood!! I was so nervous she’d be late. At 7:30pm she called me and we met at the will call line. It was great to see her. I told her about my day and how I’d seen the whole Hanson clan. She thought that was cool. She got her tix and she and her friend joined me in line. Walker emerged then with a video camera. He went up and down the line filming us hehe We were let in the venue at last. I could tell right away we’d be smooshed. I bought my shirt and poster right away so I wouldn’t have to deal with the rush afterwards. It was 8:00pm then. More fans kept piling in. It was stuffy and hot. We stood like that for an hour before Hanson came onstage. We were all pushed forward when they came out. Can I just say, “WOW”. They looked and sounded amazing. Taylor had on a plain white shirt on which he had written, “The Music Lives On”. Zac and Taylor’s solos made me cry. Hanson sang many hits and some never before heard tunes. I wished more fans had been quiet and listened instead of singing along. I actually said,” I paid to hear Hanson sing, not you!!” which got some laughs. I had to keep shifting to see the stage even though I was in the 3rd “row”. There was much swearing from the fans because they couldn’t see. I‘ve never heard “bitch” used so many times in one night. Poor Kira had a rough time. Taylor had to ask the crowd to step back twice because all of us in the front were so crammed. When Tay reached into the audience to shake hands with us, I pushed another girl's head down to get to him. I did it, I touched his hand. *Sigh* I'm so sorry to the girl I smooshed!! At one point, my view was perfect and could see each of them at once. All too soon, it was over. The last encore was sung and we began to pile out of the venue into the cool night air. I was sweaty and tired and I just wanted to go home. My Dad came and we stopped at a nearby liquor store. A guy with very curly hair was at the ATM when we walked in. I got my drink and as I paid for it, I looked over and saw it was none other than Jack Osbourne!! I told where I had just come from and I asked if I could shake his hand. He was very sweet.
So after much waiting, that’s my Hanson story. More entries to come very soon, as I said the beginning.
Love,
Amanda
Amanda from URL @ 7:16 PM
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