I really didn't mean for this to be so long. :blush: The concert part is in red (Elliott in blue) if you want to skip all the pre-concert ramblings.


Toys For Tots Benefit - December 16th, 2007
Civic Center Auditorium - San Jose, CA

The day started off with me oversleeping. Way to go me. But when I saw the fog outside I figured it was for the best. I knew it was going to be a long day standing in the cold when we finally got to San Jose. I picked my friend Janiece up around 9:15 and called Patricia (augustgrl82) to let her know we would be at her house in a couple hours.

On our way through Sacramento we were listening to KDND and the syndicated Fox All Access countdown was on. I wasn't really paying much attention because the guys voice kind of annoys me, lol. But then I hear an intro to a Christmas song and I immediately go "OMG! It's Elliott!" It was "Merry Christmas, Baby," my favorite song on the holiday cd. I was so incredibly happy to hear one of his Christmas songs on the radio. I figured that must be a sign of the rest of the day running smoothly.

We picked Patricia up and then about an hour later we were finally in San Jose. We drove by the Civic and saw some people huddled under blankets and I knew they had to be Backstreet Boys fans. After having to turn around we found our way back to the parking garage and by then it was about 12:30. We decided to find a restroom, and then something to eat before walking back to the Civic. So we stopped at Johnny Rockets and hoped that not too many more people had joined since we drove by it. When we finally got in line it was 1:23. There were probably about 40-50 people ahead of us. I looked for Etrainers in the front of the line but only saw signs of BSB fans. The line kept growing and started to wrap around the end of the auditorium and I kept watching for familiar faces.

After a while I got a call from Diane (nanab) and she said she would be there in about an hour. Her hubby was going to drop her off so she could just get in line with us. I was glad she decided to come after all because she didn't know if she'd be able to sneak out of her granddaughter's birthday party. Shortly after that I spotted wee_moggie and went around to say hi to her and she was with artymom and eyfinsf. We chatted a bit and took a picture and then we saw Ty (MY IDOL ELLIOTT) and he had this cool shirt with Elliott's picture on it and was decked out with his "Buttons By Chloe." (hehe, you really should start a business Carol.) I told them I just heard from nanab and she'd be arriving soon. I figured I should head back to my spot for a little bit while I waited for Diane to get there. I listened to Elliott on my ipod while the time passed ever so slowly.

Finally I saw Diane and we were both like "aahhh!" and hugged, lol. She's one of my best chat pals so we were excited. I told her a few of the other Etrainers were just around the corner so we went over there again for a little bit. We took some pictures and there was nice girl that offered to take a picture of all of us so artymom could be in the picture too.

We finally went back to our spots and we still had almost 2 hours to wait until the doors would open. We just talked and laughed and tried to stay warm. Then about 5:30 we hear screaming and then it seemed as if the line was moving forward, people were just moving closer to entrance. We still ended up waiting until right at 6 for them to start letting people in. Finally! They took our toys, and it was the strangest thing, they didn't even search our purses or anything. I've never been to a concert where they were that lenient.


Concert:

We found seats about 6th row and decided they were good enough. We really expected Elliott to be first but when I saw the piano up on stage I realized it would be Vanessa Carlton. The concert did not start until after 7pm. It seemed like a really long wait too. The radio station djs came out on stage and the introduced the "hosts" of the show, the Backstreet Boys. *deafening screams* Nick Carter, Brian Littrell and AJ McLean walked out on stage, Howie Dorough was not with them. The fans who were in the first row immediately rushed the stage and Nick said something like "everyone should come up here." So of course a bunch more ran to the front and it was CRAZY. I've been a fan of them myself for over 10 years so it didn't really surprise me. It was too hard to get pictures of them because people were pushing to get out of the aisles to go up closer. They introduced Vanessa and then left the stage.

The crowed stayed up by the stage but we stayed back in our seats because it was just a mob. We figured we would try to move closer when it was time for Elliott. Vanessa is extremely talented and I've always liked her voice and I love her song "A Thousand Miles" but I was really bored to be honest. Her songs just all sound the same. I could barely see her or get any pics so I ended up just sitting down for the rest of her set. Janiece was sitting too.

After she left the stage Diane and I both thought Elliott would be next. So they started setting up for the next act and then we realized that it wasn't going to be Elliott. I knew it wasn't Mandy Moore because someone had already said outside in line that she was a no-show. We later heard from the djs that she was had a "doctors note" and couldn't make it. Randomly the Backstreet Boys ran across the stage and created another frenzy. Then a few minutes later Collective Soul came out on stage, it was just 2 of them and their guitars. There are actually 5 guys in their group. I really thought the radio station made it seem like they were the "headliner" of the show. CS, they were cool. I only recognized one or two songs. Not really my kind of music.

Diane had to go call her hubby to let him know Elliott was still not on stage and when she came back a few minutes later she told me she saw Sway out in the lobby. She asked him when they would be on and he told her 8:30, but it was 8:30 already and CS was on stage. We joked that maybe Elliott had not been on time, lol.

Elliott:
Finally CS finished their last song and we saw Joonie's keyboard being set up and Russell's guitar. Woohoo, time for Elliott! Diane and I had thought about hurrying up to the balcony where Karen and everyone else was so we could see better but then we thought we'd just try to move up closer if the security guards would let us. Then the guard by us said "you two, go" and he pointed at me and Diane. They tried holding people back but there just weren't enough of them to stop the Backstreet fans, so we there we were inside the mob. BSB came out one more time to intro Elliott. Omg, my ears were ringing.

The crowd gave Elliott a great response. He was wearing a Santa hat (thank goodness because I have a feeling he would have gotten some boos if he had worn the Dodgers hat on stage), which looked adorable on him and he looked well rested and happy as ever. He sounded amazing on every song. I was very happy he did Free. I've seen the youtube vids of it but he didn't sing that in June. The crowd was packed in like sardines by the stage so it was really hard to hold my camera steady long enough to focus for clear pictures. There were two tall guys in front of me, one of them kept waving his arms in the air, so that didn't help either. But what are ya gonna do?

My camera battery was dying anyway so I turned it off and just enjoyed listening to that magical voice. Sway and Elliott sounded so good together too. I was very impressed because I was never much of a Sway fan. It was also cute to see Aaron mouthing the words. The girls were going crazy over him. When Elliott finally took the Santa hat off he said "Woo! Those lights are hot!" and these girls yelled out, "Aaron's hot!!" It was funny though, and the guys were having a good laugh over it. Then they really screamed for him again when Elliott was introducing the band. When he introduced Sway he said something about how they met because of American Idol and a guy behind me yelled out "You should have won!" Hehe. I love when that happens.

They finished the seven song set with Wait For You and the crowd sang along pretty much the entire time. It was awesome. It was obvious how proud Elliott was to have people singing back to him. He is so gracious and sincere. He thanked everyone did his little bow that he does and before leaving the stage he through not one, but two of his towels into the air. I am not sure where the first one landed but the second one, it came down a couple feet away from and I wish I had been able to record what happened next. There were about 5 young girls fighting over this towel. They were pushing each other and elbowing and pushing on the crowd around them. I thought someone was going to end up with a broken or bloody hand. A couple people started to try to get the security guards attention and that finally got them to give up and one girl ended up with it. It was insane.

The BSB fans were still waiting expecting them to come back out again but they didn't. I did not go to this show with the expectation of hearing them sing, I thought maybe they'll sing one song at the end. I read the "Hosted by Backstreet Boys" for what it was but I know so many others probably didn't. I'm so glad I didn't go just to see them though and that my main reason for going was to see Elliott, because they were on stage for probably less than 10 minutes total. They did sign autographs, maybe out in the lobby so I know some fans got to meet them but there was no way I was going to go find out and take the chance of missing and of E's set. I still love BSB and I can't wait to see them when they go on tour in 2008, it just seems like they could have at least done I Want It That Way acapella or something for all their fans that showed up just to see them.

Ahh, I did not want him to stop singing. He stole the show and once again made me so proud to be a fan. Last night made me realize just how much he means to me as far as my favorite artists go. He is not just my favorite "new artist" and he's not just my favorite American Idol contestant, he's officially my favorite singer ever.


Pictures are here: http://etrainstation.com/index.php?showtopic=15431

Great recap Mel... :grouphug: This was a wonderful night for sure...
I can't wait for the day when we will all meet...for one giant Etrain reunion...

Thanks for the great recap. I enjoyed reading every word of your "novel". LOL.

I'm so glad that Elliott was the headliner and that the crowd showed love. He looked very happy in the videos that I've seen. Sounded great too.

Also glad that you got to see three of the BSB. Howie must still be on his honeymoon. It's nice that they will tour in 2008. We NSYNC fans will never get a chance to see them tour together again. *sigh* They are all happy and doing great so I can't be mad, just sad.

The pictures that you posted in the other thread were fantastic. Thanks for sharing.

aww emjay, now you just had to make me start my day crying!! I loved your recap! Felt like I was there with you guys!....one of these days.......goingto look at your pics now
luv ya :gimmeahug:

"He is not just my favorite "new artist" and he's not just my favorite American Idol contestant, he's officially my favorite singer ever."

Yep, emjay, that about sums it up. Beautiful recap - thank you so much.

MJ, loved your recap. :hapiholidays:

nice cap, mj!
the towel landed on my head... omg... all the horror i had to go through. i felt like i was gonna fall over, felt like there was a cat fight.. and i wasn't even part of it! scary scary people.

Mel, that was a BEAYOUTIFUL recap! You made me cry! I am thrilled you & nanab were able to meet up again as well as meet some more Etrain family! :glomp:

Your recap was NOT too long, it was perfect! Good thing I can reply via computer, if I were gonna call ya, ya might night be able to hear me after all that deafening screaming in 'the mob'! heehee

Thanks for sharing your experience & pics, you know we all love this stuff. And I am with chloe, ONE OF THESE DAYS, we WILL all get together for an Elliott show! :wub:

EMJAY!!! YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!! first of all so thrilled you guys got to see E again, and what a time it sounds like it was!! That was such a beeeeYOUTEEFUL recap, and to see the girls fighting over the towel...hehehe, I must say, I LOVE IT!! So glad you had such a fabulous time, and I don't believe that there could be a better x-mas gift than hearing that voice.....



Oh, and I am with the girls. One of these days we WILL have a huge E-Train pajammy jam, and I for one, am saving my pennies JUST for that very day!!


MUWAHHHHHH!! xo

EmJay, I loved reading your recap! Thank you for sharing as many details you can remember. I was there and I STILL can't get enough of reading about it! LOL! Glad you survived the stampede and are your ears still ringing? lol.

It was so great to meet you and nanab! I'm so glad you found us in line to chat a bit. Hopefully, we'll get another chance to hang out during Elliott's next show. :grouphug:

Great recap EmJay!

That's funny about people yelling, "Aaron's hot!" Those must have been the ones who were screaming when Elliott introduced him.

Actually, when Elliott said the light were hot, we automatically yelled, "YOU'RE hot!" :santarotfl: I forgot about that until now!

Can't wait for the next concert when we can all meet up again!