[SIZE=7]Ok, so this is my first time. so be gentle with me... ;)

Sorry this is so late--just got on etrain, so I'm still learning how to navigate the pages.

OKAY! So, I went to the Columbia, MO. concert at the Blue Note on Oct. 16, 2007. I live in Columbia, so my husband heard about the concert on our local radio show back in August. I have a friend that works at The Blue Note, so I asked her if she could get me free tickets, or a backstage pass or something. No dice...

So....I make my husband go down to The Blue Note that same day to buy the tickets for us b/c I was attending the first day of Elementary school and wouldn't get there until after the box office closed. (I'm student teaching in January.) Then, a couple of weeks later, my friend calls me and asks me if I already bought the tickets b/c her and her boyfriend got two free tickets b/c they both work there... :headsmack:

My friend also tells me that the bands usually do sound checks around 4 p.m. the day they are performing, so I'm planning on showing up to see if I can watch. A couple of weeks before the concert, I had a dream that I met Elliott, and got to get his autograph, etc., and he was really gracious about it and friendly. There was a lot more weird details--like me riding a boys dirt bike down to The Blue Note, but I'll spare you! (I have REALLY detailed dreams!)

All the way up to the concert I was driving everyone crazy b/c I was soooooo excited about the concert. It was pretty sad... I did some of this: :dude: , and some of this: :dance:
and some of this: :blah: (What do you want from me--I like the emoticons!) :)

Anyway, so the day of the concert comes, and I drag my husband down to The Blue Note around 4 p.m. just to see if we could hear them/see them. Sure enough, they're doing sound check. I asked the girl at the counter if there was any way that we could go in and listen, then I did some name dropping of my friend, so that maybe she would let me in, and she did! So we go in, and see the band rehearsing, and a bunch of drooling women sitting at the bar (Hee! Hee! All in fun Etrainers! I was too) :rotfl: So, we got to sit there and watch/listen to the whole sound check undisturbed! It was one of the coolest things I've ever done! A couple of times Elliot came off of the stage and came closer to us, but didn't come over. :awwwman:

We were all sitting there I think with the same purpose--to watch them and not bother them while they were working. We were all trying to be kind of quiet, and not take too many flash pictures. We tried to be really respectful. THENNNNN..........the finished sound check, and Elliott said "Let's go meet the people" into the microphone! :woohoo: So...he comes over and met one other person--all the time I'm just standing there so shy and in shock! He looks at me tentatively, and I finally moved forward to meet him. He shook my hand (nice firm handshake), and hugged me. All the while, I'm gushing about what a fan of his I am, and how we've been following him since AI, and how pretty his voice is. I was feeling so shy and in awe that I don't remember even looking at him hardly at all! I felt like such an idiot! :rotfl: Then he met someone else, and met my husband. Then my husband asked him if he would take a picture with me, which he agreed to do. "Sure!" So, he put his arm around me, and I put my arm around his back while I gushed some more. Luckily, it took awhile for my husband to find the right setting on my camera. (Hee! Hee!) :shifty:

I gave him a love rub on his back while I told him he was my first celebrity, and he laughed. :valentine: Then, my husband took the pic w/ me grinning huge! Then, a local radio guy brought out some publicity pics for Elliott to sign. The radio guy looks at me and asked me if I would like Elliott to sign one for me. I sputtered that I would LOVE that! (Did he think I would say no?) :crazy: Elliott asks me who he should make the pic out to--then I realized that in my awe and shock, I hadn't introduced myself. (Duh!) So, I think I got the first singed pic. I had my album jacket in my pocket, but didn't want to be greedy. Then shortly after, we left to go to dinner b/c we hadn't eaten lunch, and knew we would be at the Blue Note awhile. Plus, I didn't figure he would have any time to talk to us again--with meeting the other people there and all that. Apparently, he stuck around and talked to you guys for about 35 minutes! :headsmack:

While we're walking to the restaurant, I called my friend who told me to come at around 4 p.m. and left an unintelligible message on her voicemail about how I got to meet him and all. I was talking so fast, and my voice and hands were shaking from excitement--I don't even know what I said! :rotfl:

Then we came back for the concert at about 6 p.m.--doors opened at 7 p.m., but there was already a line. When we got inside, I parked myself on the floor in front of the stage right in front of where Elliott would be standing later, and stayed there for the rest of the night! Met some really nice girls--like Jockeyrep and BigEfan, and a couple of others. We all saved each other's spots all night long if we left for a minute. My husband parked himself at our table in the balcony, which made it easier for me to :drool: all night long! :rotfl: Loved Josh Hoge--never heard of him before, but I've checked out his music since then. Not a TLG fan really--not my type of music. (Sorry guys!) The girls around me kept laughing all night about one of the band members holding his legs together all night long! Not sure why--maybe he forgot to go to the bathroom before he got on stage! :D

Then...my Elliott came on... (sigh). LOVE his voice--it's so beautiful and soothing. He had a jacket on, but I knew that wasn't staying on long--it was hot on stage! (Lucky for us!) Some girls were cat-calling him when he took off his jacket. It was cute--he looked kind of ornery and teased us by pretending he was gonna take off his shirt. (E, we would have respected you in the morning!) :rotfl: Favorite performances were Alright, Free, Sharing the Night, Trainwreck, and of course A Song For You. Does he ever hit a wrong note???? I got some good pics, and several pretty good videos. I'll post the links soon. When the concert was over, he said he would be meeting people up front. We all made a mad dash, but my friend told me to go back to the stage and get a set list, so I did. It has footprints on it--do you think they could be Elliott's?!?! :rotfl: My friend's boyfriend also let me have the shopping list that they gave him so that he could go shopping for the bands. I don't think it's all for Elliott--I think it was for everyone. So my friend shopped for the bands, and took the stuff on their bus at some point. He got to meet Elliott too. He said he looked like he was just waking up--rubbing his eyes, etc.

There were so many people up front waiting to meet him, and the others, that we just left. Figured it wouldn't be fair to see him twice since I'd already met him that day. Anyway, so I uploaded all my pics and vids onto my desktop in a special file so I can look at them easily whenever I want. And I got the pic of Elliott and I blown up into an 8x10 that I'm going to put with my autographed pic! Again--one of the coolest things to ever happen to me! How many times in life do you actually get to meet someone famous, let alone someone you REALLY like? I was so impressed with how nice and gracious he was to all of us! He didn't have to come up to the bar and meet any of us, but he chose to do so. How cool is that?!?!

Here's hoping you all get the same experience some day, if you haven't already! Sorry this was so long--I'm wordy! :rotfl:

Jen

Welcome, Jen! Loved your recap and the creative use of the emoticons.

:rocker:

OMG. Iam so happy you got to experience Elliott up close. He has a way of making you feel like you are the one he wants to meet with. Just a sweetheart to the bone. At the Blue Note I got to talk to him also. I told him that I won his "lifesize" cardboard cutout and he laughed and said. "That was you!" I asked him about his mother, he said "she is just great, thank you so much for asking." I got about 5 pictures with him and 2 autograpghs and a few hugs to boot. A wonderful evening for sure. He really enjoyed himself that evening...he was so happy! I got to talk to Sway, as well. He's really nice, too. It's no wonder why they are such good friends. Welcome to the etrain. You are in for a wonderful ride. :etrain:

Glad ur here Jen! Great recap!!! I love hearing other's recaps, especially on the same concert I attended.
Again...a big welcome to the :etrain:

There's a bunch of obsessed E fans around here, so you'll fit in quite nicely! :1word:

:welcome:


Welcome Jen. Wonderful recap. Glad that you got to meet Elliott and that he was as awesome as you imagined that he'd be.

Welcome! I loved reading your recap and I'm glad you got to meet Elliott! :o)

:welcome: to the etrain, Jen. Thanks for posting your recap!!!

Hi Jen! Very fun recap!! Thanks so much for sharing. I laughed when you said you were so shy you don't think you hardly looked at Elliott when you met him. I did the same darn thing! I know I had a huge smile on my face, but I could hardly look at him or even speak! :headsmack: You definitely did better than me!

Please tell us what was on the "shopping list". I hope it was a whole lot more than the previously reported band food consisting of a fruit plate and peanut butter and crackers!

WELCOME!

Thanks for the gret recap! Cant wait to see the pics and videos! :D

Loved your recap Jen! I :wub: emoticons too! Hooray :clap: that you had such a wonderful "E"xperience.
Oh and welcome to the :etrain:

Hi Jen,

I really enjoyed your review. I remember seeing you at the Blue Note before the concert. I'm sorry we did not get to officially meet. I was to caught up in the whole Elliott thing, as I think we all were.