From The First Day: April 2013

** Aaron Carter - The After Party Tour**

Mojoe's - Joliet, IL

March 24, 2013

During my New Year's Eve adventures this year, while I was on the East Coast, my Backstreet Girls and I saw Aaron Carter in "The Fantasticks." Afterwards, I met him for the first time and he was as sweet as could be. While I had listened to some of his music when I was younger because he was the brother of Backstreet Boy, Nick Carter, that was the extent of my fandom. When Aaron told me he would be in the Chicago area for his After Party tour when I met him, I knew I had to go. Sure enough, he released a date in Joliet, just outside of Chicago. Not long after posting about the show to see who wanted to go with me, I was contacted by a Facebook friend, Michelle (not the same Michelle from my New York Baseball Bonanza), who was a HUGE Aaron fan growing up. We both decided to splurge for his VIP since the actual show ticket was only $15 and the VIPs were MUCH cheaper than I'm used to paying for BSB. I was disappointed when I found out that the VIP would be after the general admission show. For my last GA show that I did with VIP (Nick Carter's I'm Taking Off Tour), the VIP was before the show and then those who had VIP were the first to re-enter after the M&G for the show. With this VIP being after the show, we were going to have to get there early to stand in line to get a good spot. We knew the venue was tiny but when you are short, you don't want to be stuck behind someone taller than you so you can't see. I actually try to avoid general admission shows if possible but I did want to make sure I saw one of Aaron's shows during this tour.

Joliet is about an hour from where I live but Michelle and her friend, Sam, had to drive an hour to get to my house. Since we wanted to be sure to get a good spot, we planned on leaving my house around 11am, get to the venue, and scope out the line situation. Our plan was to then determine whether we would get in line or go grab lunch. When the day of the show finally came about, the weather forecast was calling for temperatures in the 30s and snow! I was not too happy about this because I had spent the day before freezing my butt of at a wrestling event that I had gone to with my husband that was held at an ice rink. We still left my house early, but it was more like 11:30/noon, and we had a few stops to make before we actually headed out. We got into Joliet around one and found free parking easily thanks to the parking garage for the Harrah's Casino that was right down the street. When we had driven by the venue we saw that there were only about seven girls in line. We determined that sitting out in the cold wasn't worth it at that point...those girls looked really cold. We made our way over to the casino and spent some time on the slot machines. I probably have the worst luck ever when it comes to gambling in casinos so I only put in five dollars in one of the penny slots and when that was gone, I was done.

Michelle and her Joliet Easter Parade bread

We spent about an hour in the casino before we headed back towards the venue to check out the line situation again. The same girls were there but right on that street, there was a parade (we later discovered it was an Easter parade)! I had noticed some streets blocked off when we had come into town but I had thought that maybe it was for the venue because of the show. We had originally gone across the street to a restaurant/bar called The Department but when we found out that they didn't open for another hour, we sat in their little entry way to watch the parade, which blocked us perfectly from the cold wind. When we saw that one of the floats was throwing out bread instead of candy, Michelle bolted out of the vestibule and tried her hardest to get the attention of one of the parade walkers. She was successful and now we will always have the story about how Michelle caught bread at the Joliet Easter Parade while we were waiting to see Aaron Carter.

About 15 minutes before The Department opened, one of the employees (I'm pretty sure it was probably the manager or maybe an owner, but I will call him the manager for all future purposes) decided to let us in so we could get out of the cold, although we were not going to be able to order food yet. We asked if we could sit right by the windows that looked out at Mojoes so that we could keep an eye on the line. He gladly led us there and we were happy because we got to keep an eye on the line situation in a warm place while all of those other girls froze. We all decided that we would get a martini as we waited but we weren't sure if we wanted to eat because we had grabbed something to eat on the way. However, we didn't know when we would have to actually line up for the show and, therefore, didn't know if we would actually get the chance to eat dinner. We finally decided on splitting some spinach artichoke dip and each getting a bowl of broccoli cheddar soup. Both were delicious. We all started with one martini (the pineapple upside down martini was just like eating the cake version), which turned into two, then three. I appeared to be a little quicker than the other girls and was able to fit a fourth in there. The line appeared to be growing slightly and we became very interested when we saw a few vans pull up, which we later discovered were for the opening acts. Then, out of nowhere, an SUV drove by with none other than Aaron Carter hanging out the passenger side window to say hello to everyone who was waiting in line. Before Sam and I knew what was going on, Michelle was gone from the table and out the door! The manager came over and told us that she could have gotten there much faster if she had used the side door. Sam then mentioned how she would have done the same if it were Justin Timberlake (I know, I know, you can't believe I actually let a JT fan in my car). The manager then told Sam that he probably would have pushed her out of the way if it was JT! We all had a good laugh at that one. We noticed all of the other girls that had run after Aaron had made their way back to the line, but there was still no sign of Michelle. Sam joked that she had probably been put in a squad car and taken away. A very happy and excited Michelle finally made her way back to the restaurant with a story of talking to Trey, one of the back up dancers. She later told us that she doesn't think that she even looked as she had run across the street so she's lucky she didn't get splattered by a car.

They need to get a new sign
that tells the correct temp

When we saw the line getting longer (about 25 or so people), we decided it was finally time to make our way out into the cold to stand in line. Although with a few drinks in us, we decided it probably would not affect us much even though we had two hours before the doors opened. Michelle got into the line while Sam and I made a trip back to the car to grab the signs they had made and drop off a few things. On our way back, Aaron was standing by the side door and yelled out at us. We yelled back and waved, happy to have that moment just to ourselves. We made some friends in line as we all huddled with one another to stay warm. The sign above us said that it was 42 degrees. However, I just looked at the weather details and it was actually 34 degrees, with winds at 20-23 miles per hour, making it feel like 22 degrees. 42 degrees my butt!

Michelle, Sam, and Me

At some point during our two hours of waiting, Michelle made her way back into The Department to charge her phone. When she came back, Sam and I made our way back into the restaurant for a bathroom break. We may or may not have also had another martini. Luckily, the venue opened right after it was supposed to at 6:30, with the show starting at 7:00. We found a spot in the front on the far right side of the stage.

We had talked to some people in the restaurant earlier that were with Petrel, one of the opening acts, and they had informed us that there would be five opening acts...yes, you read that right, FIVE! Who needs FIVE opening acts? I liked most of the acts and did not hate any of them so that did not make it as bad as it could have been. However, we were right by the speakers where we were standing so I started to get a slight headache. After the third act, I texted some of my Backstreet Girls who had already seen Aaron on the East Coast to ask them why Aaron felt it necessary to have five opening acts. That is when I learned that Aaron had tweeted that he would be on at 10 (I don't have Twitter access on my phone so it took one of the girls I had texted to tell me). The other two acts go on and 10 o'clock comes and goes, then 10:15 and 10:30. Finally, at 10:45 Aaron finally started. So, I am going to let you do the math: the first act went on at 7:00 and then Aaron went on at 10:45. That's right, that was almost 4 HOURS of waiting for the person we had come to see. You could tell that people were getting angry each time a new song was played between the last opening act and Aaron because a round of "Boo" would resonate throughout the venue.

By this point Sam and I had been moved from pretty much the front of the crowd to about the fifth row. We had been standing by the stairs that led upstairs and each time the security guards kicked girls off the stairs and told everyone to move over to let them in, we got shuffled further and further back. Michelle, though, stayed at the front (we had been standing behind her which is why we tended to get moved around and she didn't). To make matters worse, I had a giant in front of me! Seriously, she had to have been at least 6 feet tall and I could see NOTHING over or around her. Every time that I was able to work my way to not be right behind her, the security guards shifted us and she would end up right in front of me again. I was so frustrated at that AND the fact that we had to wait almost four hours for Aaron to finally come on. It also did not help that I had done a pretty hard leg workout just two days before this and I was still extremely sore even before the six hours of standing (two in line and four once we got in the venue). There was also a girl behind us who kept arguing with the girls next to us for cutting in front of her. Each time an opening act would stop playing, the girl behind us would go at it again with the girls, who didn't seem to care what she had to say. I thought several times there were going to be punches thrown.

Once Aaron finally did get onstage, the show was great! Although, it was a little shorter than what I am used to since he was only on stage for an hour. Yep, that's 4 hours of waiting in the venue for a one hour show. The show was very fast paced, which was great and he sang all of his hits. Luckily, I was able to work my way out from behind the giant for the most part and was able to see most of the show, unless he came over to our side of the stage where she would then be right in my line of vision. Also, she had a boy with her that had to have been about eight or nine that she would keep picking up throughout the show so that he could see over the girls in front of him. I still don't understand why you would bring someone that young to a general admission show like this one. Since I was able to see most of the concert, I was able to get a few of my favorites on video...

"Another Earthquake"

"America AO"

Medley - "Bounce/I Would/IKO IKO/To All The Girls"

Aaron Carter is all grown up....

"That's How I Beat Shaq"

"I Want Candy"

"Aaron's Party (Come Get It)"

There were a few other moments that stuck out in my mind. During "I'm All About You," Aaron's dancers picked two girls to come up on stage. Quick fact I found interesting: My maiden name is the same as the last name of Aaron's dancers, who are brothers. During this song, Aaron got very close to both girls and even kissed them both right on the lips. Okay, so one of the girls actually kissed him first.

One of the girls actually got picked because she had a "Happy Birthday Nikko" sign. Nikko is one of Aaron's dancers and at one point Aaron, Nikki Flores (opening act), and Petrel (another opening act) brought out some cupcakes for Nikko. Aaron then proceeded to shove the cupcakes into Nikko's face. It was quite funny.

While I feel this show was much different than the Nick Carter show I had seen last February, there were times where Aaron reminded me so much of his big brother when he sang. Aaron's show was much more upbeat than Nick's with the songs and the choreographed dancing.

Signed Aaron Carter poster

Once the show had finally finished, it was close to midnight but Michelle and I still had a VIP to do (Sam had not gotten one). The VIP included a signed poster, a photo with Aaron, and the ability for him to sign one additional item. Aaron had announced during the show that they would be doing a special after party after the meet and greet and sent the concert goers to the merchandise stand for more information. Guess where we had to go to check in for our VIPs? We stood in line waiting for a woman who appeared to have no idea what was going on and was waiting for the check in list, even though we all had our online receipts that said we had purchased a VIP. People just seemed too frustrated with the whole situation because we had already had to wait so long for the show to start and then had to wait longer people to get their act together to get us checked in. One woman was arguing with the woman checking us in because she had originally been told to go somewhere else for check in so she had been redirected several times and was not happy about it. Short tempers just happened to be coming out all around us. I overheard that the after party was $100 but did include an open bar. We did not even consider going. It was late, Michelle had class the next morning, and Sam had to work (I had been lucky enough to have off the next day). After finally getting our VIP arm band (I always prefer the VIP laminates instead because they are a great keepsake), we made our way over to the stairs to await further instruction. Normally, I like to be in the back for a M&G because I find you might have a little more time for conversation since you are the last person. However, we honestly just wanted to get the meet and greet done with so that we could get out of there. I would say that we were about the fourth and fifth person in line and it wasn't until we were leaving that we saw how long the line was. From the photos that were posted later (that is a whole different story), I would say there were approximately 85 or so people with VIPs. Our legs were so tired by then that we decided to sit right there on the floor to wait until we were led upstairs, even though I saw all of the garbage and drinks that had been spilled on it. At that point, I just didn't care and found what looked to be a somewhat clean area.

Signed NY photo

Michelle was extremely nervous because of how much she truly loves Aaron (I know exactly how she feels because I still get tongue tied when I talk to Brian) so she asked that I go first. I was wearing my "Fantasticks" shirt I had gotten when I had seen the play in New York in hopes that it would be a good conversation piece since I really did not know what to say to Aaron. I was right! When I walked around the background to see Aaron sitting there, our conversation went somewhere along the lines of this (not word for word)s:

Aaron: The Fantasticks?! Did you see it?
Me: I did, while I was in New York in December (as I handed him the photo we had taken after that show).
Aaron: You sure did (after seeing the photo). This was a lot different wasn't it?
Me: It was but I loved seeing you be able to accomplish two completely different things. It's great to see your versatility.

The entire time he was looking straight into my eyes and was completely focused on me and what I had to say. There was no rushing like there has been in any other VIP I have done. I set down my stuff so that I wouldn't be holding it in my photo and then we posed for our picture. I thanked him for his time and as I went to go hug him he kissed me on the cheek. I had not been expecting that! Never in a million years did I ever think that my first celebrity kiss would be from Aaron Carter (Brian has some making up to do).

I waited on Michelle, who was on cloud nine when she got done talking to Aaron, and we finally got out of the venue about 1am. As I said before, the line was still very long and with the amount of time he seemed to be spending with his fans, I cannot even imagine what time those last people got out of there and the after party started.

When we left the venue we had to walk through a nice half inch or so of snow to get to the parking garage. I was glad that it waited to really snow while we were in the venue, instead of the two hours we had been waiting in line.

I was glad that I didn't have to work the next day because I was just sore from standing and tired. I have to say that it is also the first time after a show that I wasn't thinking to myself that I had to go to another show soon. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but there were so many things that made the entire experience frustrating enough for me to just be satisfied with seeing him the one time. Part of it could be that I did not grow up as a fan if his so it is just not quite the same as going to see someone like the Backstreet Boys (I may be able to test this hypothesis a bit more in July when I go to see Big Time Rush). Yes, I like Aaron's music and he is a great performer but you all know how I feel about BSB and their music.

My VIP Photo

The next thing we had to do was wait on our VIP photos to be posted on Aaron's Facebook page. The next day came and went without the photos being uploaded that had been promised. It was the same for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. During the week, the Tuesday show had their photos posted on Wednesday. Michelle and I thought it very strange that a show after us had their photos posted before not only our show, but the Louisville show, which had been the day before ours. To make matters worse, Friday brought about the uploading of the Wednesday and Thursday shows...still no Sunday night VIP photos. Then, we really started to get scared when Aaron made an announcement on his Facebook page that the camera that had taken the Louisville VIPs was "missing." We began to wonder whether or not the Joliet photos had also been on that camera. I also started to think that between the wait at the venue and this news, Aaron's management needed to get it together for the rest of this tour. They were offering either a full refund of the VIP or a VIP at another show for those in Louisville who were not going to have their photos now. I thought that was the correct thing for them to do in this situation. Luckily, later that day, the Joliet photos appeared on the page! We finally had our VIP photos four days after we had been promised them. While others have told me that my photo is cute, I am not completely happy with it. I think I might like it slightly better if he wasn't just sitting there and had his arm around me or something. I definitely like my New York photo with him much more.

Will I go see Aaron again? Not on this tour. I will probably go to future tours, especially if he were to come out with new music. I'm not sure that I would do a VIP again since I've done one now. This is one of those situations that now that I have had the experience I don't feel like I need to have it again unless the perks you get with it changed. For example, if the VIP was before the show and included a soundcheck and first reentry into the GA show, I might consider it. For now, I am happy I had this experience and got to meet some new friends in the process.

Title Credit: "Aaron's Party (Come Get It) - Aaron Carter - Aaron's Party (Come Get It)