If there was a prize for the weekend that could have been the death of me in 2013, the winner would be my Boy Band Bonanza Weekend. During this particular weekend I traveled to three cities in three different states to see four different boy bands (five if you count Boyz II Men as a boy band). Sounds like a complete blast right? Oh, IT WAS! It was so much fun that I only got a total of six hours of sleep in the whole 72 hour period. I guess travelling about 1,000 miles in that one weekend was probably not the best idea on that little sleep....but at least I wasn't driving for some of it. So let's get started on one of my best weekends in 2013.
Friday, August 2, 2013 - Backstreet Boys - In A World Like This tour - Chicago, IL
Late in the evening before the Backstreet Boys were supposed to be in Chicago, I discovered that they would be making a performance with a local TV station early in the morning. It was already pretty late and by the time I found out, I would have only gotten about two or three hours of sleep. So, I did what any rational person would do, I just decided to stay awake. I won't go into many specifics because I will be writing a blog post on this specific day. I was front row for the event and stood my ground as the rain came pouring down and soaked those that had disregarded the announcement to go to our cars when the storm came through. There was no way I was giving up my spot. It served as a first for me - the first time I stood in the rain waiting for the Backstreet Boys.
Rain, Rain, Go Away!
The Boys sang a few songs and I was able to snatch a photo with AJ (which also just so happened to be caught on TV by a high school classmate of mine).
Photo with AJ that makes the morning news
Chicago and Lake Michigan
Brian and I had one of our moments where he noticed me and did one of his signals to let me know that he had seen me. Kevin saw my Kentucky shirt and gave me a "Go Big Blue." After the event, it was time to head to the venue for sound check.
I had a little time to kill so I went for a walk along the lake front (Lake Michigan) and then found a nice shady spot to rest for awhile. Remember, I had yet to be sleep since about 8am the previous morning. The Chicago show was the first stop of this leg of the tour and there were SO many people for VIP, plus they were running behind (imagine that!).
We got a few songs for sound check, as well as a few songs that they would be doing during the actual show. Brian once again saw me and signaled to me. He surely knows how to make me happy. By the time we got done with sound check, they had already started letting people into the venue but holding them behind a barrier.
Me, Samantha, Susan, and Amanda
The show was beyond amazing! There was of course the small incident where the venue cut the show off right at 11 (more on that in a later post), even though they still had five songs that they had to sing. The guys were livid. I must have caught Brian's eye when the guys were trying to get the venue to let them continue and we mouthed an entire conversation with one another with him on stage and me in the audience. It seemed like it went on forever but I'm sure it was only a minute or so.
Me and Kevin at the Chicago After Party
After the show, I had decided to attend the after party. It was really the first after party I attended that was set up in the format of having the party on the venue site. Nobody really knew what to expect since this was the first like this. Kevin and Howie made their way into the audience while Nick did some deejaying and I was able to get a nice conversation in with Kevin. He told me he had spotted me in my Kentucky shirt during the show and had just been about to say something when they had cut off the Boys mics when trying to shut them down. We also discussed Kentucky football and how we felt about what kind of 2013 season we were going to have with it being Coach Stoops' first year.
I had decided to go with the package that got me a photo but I have NO idea who the other girls were in my photo.
Official Chicago After Party Photo
The after party did not end until 1am and I did not get home until much after that. I think that by the time I finally went to bed, I had been up for 44 straight hours. I was looking forward to some sleep but knew I wasn't going to get much because I had to drive to Detroit the next day for a Big Time Rush concert.
Saturday, August 3, 2013 - Big Time Rush - Summer Break Tour - Clarkston, MI
After a short five hours of sleep, I woke up the next morning ready for the next part of my Boy Band Bonanza Weekend. Before leaving, I had gotten a phone call from a local newspaper to discuss the events of the previous evening at the Backstreet Boys concert and their early shut down. I thought that was kind of cool and you can read the article HERE.
Me, Ash, Cort, Tiela, and Kat
Three and half hours on the road later, I met with the group I would attend the Big Time Rush show with. I had actually seen a few of the girls the previous month when I met with them while on my Baseball Bonanza adventures. However, this was the first time I was attending a show with some of the others.
I really liked the venue this show was held at and it was SO loud that night. While we were way off to the side, we were only about three rows back. I got a few more videos than I had at the Mohegan Sun show but the sound on some is not high quality because we were so close to the speakers. The show was just as good as the last time I had seen them...and did I mention how incredibly LOUD it was?
While the other girls were staying there that evening and driving to the Big Time Rush show in Chicago the next day, I had to head back home right after the show, as I was going to be leaving the next morning to head to Indianapolis for The Package Tour.
I had a tough time on the way home and had to stop often. After all, I had only gotten five hours of sleep after having been up for 44 straight hours. Luckily, I wasn't going to be the one driving to Indianapolis the next morning.
Sunday, August 4, 2013 - New Kids on the Block, 98 Degrees, Boyz II Men - The Package Tour - Indianapolis, IN
Instead of sleeping when I arrived home from Michigan, I decided to post photos and videos instead. An hour before I needed to start getting ready was when I finally decided to rest my eyes for a bit. This means I had only gotten 6 total hours of sleep between my three days of boy band adventures. You could just tell by listening to me that I was not at 100%, as my voice kept going in and out. That's what happens after two nights of screaming at concerts and little sleep. And I was about to head to my third.
Me and Danny Wood during my
meet and greet
I was actually going to get to meet Danny Wood from the New Kids on the Block because of some fundraising I had done for his charity organization, Remember Betty. I was taking a Facebook friend of mine that I had never actually met in person (she was a fellow New Kids fan also living in Northwest Indiana and had donated to my fundraising). She was a huge Danny Wood fan and I couldn't think of anyone better to take than her. She was also going with several of her friends so I met a lot of cool girls for the first time that day.
Diane and me
While my meeting with Danny was very quick, it was pretty awesome. He is a very nice guy. However, the best part of it was seeing my guest's response to meeting him. As her tears of joy fell after he was long out of site, I could not help but be reminded of the reaction I had the first time I had met Brian Littrell. I knew exactly how she felt at that moment and I felt a great sense of pride knowing I could give her that moment.
Abbie and me
Once again, I was able to witness a fabulous show. They were doing it slight different then when the New Kids and Backstreet had toured together (first was Boyz II Men, then 98 Degrees, and the New Kids as the main act, whereas during NKOTBSB both acts had been the feature). This also happened to actually be the last stop of The Package Tour so we got a few extra songs that normally were not a part of the show. Much like with last shows that the Backstreet Boys hold, there were some shenanigans when both 98 degrees and Boyz II Men attacked the New Kids with water guns. It was the perfect ended to an awesome weekend.
That night when I got back home (with no sleep in the car on the two and a half hour ride back), I recorded the following video just to show what my experience this week had done to me:
You would think that I would have slept all of the next day away, especially since I didn't have to work. That was NOT the case. I was pretty dumbfounded when just four short hours after my head hitting the pillow, I was awake. It actually took several days for me to regain full use of my voice. I even had a job interview while my voice was not at 100% but I got the job so it must not have been too much of a hindrance.
This weekend will also be such a memorable one for me. I traveled about 1,000 miles to three different concerts in three different states to see four different boy bands with three different groups of wonderful ladies. The pure exhaustion I felt after those three days was well worth it!
Michigan City -> Chicago -> Michigan City -> Detroit -> Michigan City -> Indianapolis -> Michigan City
approx. 1,000 miles
I think this also gave me a tiny glimpse into what Mega Tour might be like. It was the first time I had done three concert nights in a row and it was not easy. Would I be able to handle a whole tour on the road? The fact that I went back home after each show, rather than just going city to city, made it a little more difficult I think. However, I see that Mega Tour will be extremely difficult to do if I ever got the chance.
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)
12/28/12 - 1/1/13
New York City, NY/Atlantic City, NJ/Bethlehem, PA
Just when I thought that I would have no BSB in my life in 2012, they decided to spring a New Year's Celebration show on the Backstreet world. I was so excited when the show was announced because I didn't want to go any longer without seeing them. To make matters even better, the guys decided to add two additional shows around that time (only one of which we decided to go to). It had been over a year between the 2011 cruise and the shows that I went to and you better believe I was in some major Backstreet withdrawal even though I had seen Nick in February during his solo tour and Brian in September at the Roswell Wylee Party. Seeing the guys alone and seeing them as the Backstreet Boys are two completely different things. The only downside was that Kevin wouldn't be joining the rest of the group on this very small almost mini-tour. Supposedly, these three shows were booked before Kevin decided to rejoin the group but I have my own feelings about all of that which really aren't important. This was going to be like a last hoorah for the four boys before the group starts their 20th anniversary festivities this year. Not only was I super excited to be seeing the Backstreet Boys again, but I would get a chance to see my girlies again! I hadn't seen them since our reunion in D.C. in June and I was very much looking forward to the fun that always commences when I'm with them. This was also the first time I was going to get to meet Kristen, the newest addition to our group.
My received gift in the gift exchange...love it!
Saturday, December 28 - I flew out of Chicago and into Newark where I had volunteered to wait about 2 hours for Kristen to land so that Ash and Cort would only have to make one trip to the airport. After hearing word that Kristen was stuck at the airport in Toronto with engine problems on her plane, the girls came to pick me up since we had no idea when Kristen's flight was going to get going. I got to experience my first gas station visit in Jersey, where it is illegal to pump your own gas. How I wish this were the case on those freezing Northwest Indiana days here. I caught up with the girls before we had to make our trip back out to the airport to pick Kristen up after her long day of travel. The four of us exchanged our gift exchange gifts and I spent a good portion of the night staring into Brian's sparkly blue eyes on my gift. I loved my gift and the girls seemed to enjoy the calendar I had made Cort. Like the good old high school days, we stayed up entirely too late chatting away and laughing...it was just like our old Backstreet sleepovers.
Saturday, December 29 - A trip into New York City was in store for us on Saturday as we hopped on the train. When we had left Jersey, it has been snowing. Rain was awaiting us in the city when we stepped off the train. Luckily, I kow the art of layering (thank you Chicago) and stayed warm the entire day...even if I did look extremely fat in all my clothes. Our first stop was Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas Tree all lit up and pretty before heading to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum.
Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center
Madame Tussaud's was packed but we still had a great time getting some great photo ops. We were able to show the shapes of our heart to the Backstreet Boys mural on the wall and I'm sure the person taking our picture wondered why we were standing behind the Spice Girls rather than with them. If we could have moved those girls, we totally would have.
Ignore the Spice Girls and just admire the sexy guys on the wall
Ash was then given a heart attack as she rounded the corner as saw the most horrific site we saw all day....that other boy band that I refuse to use their name. We decided to show those five guys how we felt about them and I'm sure we were given funny looks once again.
Getting beat up by some girls
And not only did we have to deal with that stupid Ramen Noodle head once....but twice as we came upon a solo figure of him later in the museum.
what we think of this guy...
Madame Tussaud clearly needs to get her priorities in line. I mean which group is still performing and recording another album and is celebrating their 20th anniversary? That's what I thought. Anyway, we still had a great time being silly and goofy.
Me and Aaron Carter
Our next stop was to the Jerry Orbach Theatre to see that nights showing of "The Fantasticks," starring Aaron Carter (yes, the little brother of Backstreet Boy Nick Carter for those of my readers who may not know). During the show there was an endless cycle if laughing between the audience (read here "our group") and the actors in the play. I really do blame Ash for this. She was making us and the actors laugh with her incessant giggling, which made her laugh even more. After the show, we were complimented on what a great audience we were, but really they should have just been thanking Ash. After the show, we waited our turn patiently for Aaron to come over to our group for photos and such. Thankfully, he pretty much knows Cort so we knew we wouldn't get left out even though we seemed to be one of the last group of fans left there. He immediately started to hug each person in the group and as he hugged me I told him that it was my first time meeting him (this was really my first time seeing Aaron live in anything ever). After he gave us all hugs he signed some playbills for those of us who were seeing the play for the first time. I wish I could write about the dialogue that occurred during that signing session but it was an inside conversation that needs to stay within the group (calm down....boop). Next was photo time and as I got in next to him he told me that he was going to call me "new girl." After taking my photo in my new favorite hat (my hair was a disaster from wearing it all day and taking it off and on as we went in and out of buildings) he decided that he was going to call me "blue monkey head" instead. He then commented on how I was wearing all blue...hat, shirt, jeans....so I needed to tell him it was because the University of Kentucky had a big game that day and I had to wear my team colors (the game was against in-state rivals University of Louisville and they ended up losing by three points). I was happy that my hat had served as a conversation starter (as I had also hoped) and he was really sweet to all of us. He had mentioned that he would be coming to Chicago during his solo tour and I probably wouldn't mind going and seeing it. He got a new fan in me on that day. The train ride home was spent reliving all of the exciting details of the day, as we once again stayed up entirely too late. Staying up that late in high school was simple...now that we're older it's a little more difficult.
Sunday, December 30 - It was finally the day!....the day that I would FINALLY get to see the Backstreet Boys in 2012 (well, minus Kevin of course)! Even though my friends and I had flat out said we weren't going to get VIPs for either of the shows we were going to, we ended up caving....rather I was the enabler on this one. My husband and I had been able to work our budget so that I would be able to buy a Silver VIP for the Atlantic City concert on this day. I mentioned this to the girls and they gladly informed me that if I was going to do Silver, then they would join me. I, myself, would not have done the Silver VIP if they didn't do it. I've done a Silver VIP before where I only knew one of the five people in my photo and it's a picture I never share with others (especially since the guys are behind a barricade in it). I hadn't seen the guys in a year so I wanted to get as much of them in my life as I possibly could. The photo was also going to give me the opportunity to do two things - 1) get a momento of the weekend with not only the Backstreet Boys, but with three of the girls that I was spending the weekend with and 2) see if Brian might by any chance remember me from my September heart to heart with him (he sees so many fans all the time so I truly didn't know).
We traveled the two hours to Atlantic City and got into our VIP line, awaiting check in. While waiting, each person in our group saw someone we knew and we spent the time waiting to catch up with some long lost friends. I was SO excited when it was time for the soundcheck to start. Unlike the last two soundchecks I had been to, the guys had a specific list of songs for us to choose from and girls started screaming out song titles left and right.
Soundcheck photos
The first song chosen was "Panic" (from Unbreakable) which I hadn't heard in some time. It's always good to hear songs that you very rarely get to hear them sing live. The following video also explains why I enjoy soundchecks...the guys just have fun with them. The little dances that are done by Nick and AJ in this video crack me up.
Next was one of my favorite songs from This Is Us, "PDA." Apparently, just because its one of my favorites and I know all of the words to it does not mean that the guys do. As they often have to do during soundchecks, Nick googled the words to their own song. I always laugh hysterically when this happens because it shows how human these guys really are. They've recorded so many songs over their 20 years together, I can imagine it would be difficult to remember every word to every song. I also just can't stop laughing at the end when Nick and Brian decide to show Howie some PDA of their own...
I thought for sure that after the first two songs, it would be picture time. After all, every soundcheck I had been to in the past only got two songs. Why would this one be any different? Imagine my surprise when they decided to sing a 3rd song after profusely apologizing for how "awful" PDA had been. It made me happy that it was one of my absolute favorites that they decided to sing next.
I've heard "Siberia" (Never Gone) done in a soundcheck before and it was included in both the 2010 Pre-Cruise Acoustic show and 2011 Cruise concert - before those times it had not made an appearance since the confetti rained down like snow on the Never Gone tour in 2005). It truly is one of my favorite Backstreet Boys songs so I was ecstatic to be hearing it again. I also know its one of the guys' favorite songs (almost everyone agrees it should have been a single). All of the guys sounded amazing in it as usual and Nick decided to give us a little time behind the drums.
Brian in my favorite outfit -
If this is your photo then
please contact me so I can
give you proper credit
Now it was time for Q&A...or was it? I thought my little heart was going to explode from joy when they agreed to do just one more soundcheck song. FOUR soundcheck songs??? You mean we were actually going to get what was advertised with the VIPs for all that time (3-4 Soundcheck songs)? It was almost too much! The Boys went into "More Than That," (Black and Blue) which is always a song that I forget how much I like until they sing it. It also makes me think of my ALL TIME favorite concert outfit that Brian wore during the This Is Us tour.
Now it really was time for Q&A. I hoped that there would be some good questions that would lead to some great Backstreet discussion. The funniest part of the Q&A portion had to have been during Howie's answer of his question...but it wasn't necessarily Howie that was the funny part. Nick's reaction to Howie's rambling is the highlight of this Q&A session!
Q (to Howie): Describe your experience of being a Backstreet Boy in 10 words or less....(EPIC FAIL Howie....you're STILL talking?)
Q (to AJ): What is your biggest accomplishment other than your wife and daughter?...(which really turned into talk of him being a father.)
Q (to Nick): What would you be doing if you weren't a Backstreet Boy?
A: Unfortunately, I don't have video to this one because it was a question that many of us had heard before. However, Nick's answer was different than usual when he answered with "football player." He said that he was called a "beefcake" and given a microphone instead.
Q (to Brian): Who is to blame for the loss against the New Kids on the Block during your MixTape Softball game? (Brian would get the sports question...and apparently there is more than one person to blame)
The VIP Soundcheck party was going great and now it was time for our photos. The girls and I had prearranged who we would be standing next to (and had even done some color coordinating with out outfits) and got in the order that we would need to be in order to make sure that everyone got the chance to see all the guys. This wasn't our first rodeo. I was disappointed when we were told you just put our stuff at our feet and that no hugs would be allowed (even though rumor had it that hugs were encouraged the day before at the Connecticut sound check). I know people who still ask for hugs when they are told this but I'm always afraid I'll get into trouble if I disobey the rules. They tried splitting our group up by putting six people into the group in front of us. We told them absolutely not and since when do they put six people in the VIP photos (it can usually range between 4-6 depending on the groupings...I had five for my Grand Rapuids VIP because there were two of us and a group of 3 that were put together). Again...this was not our first rodeo. We also believe that they then tried to put six people into our group but the girls behind us were also a group of four I believe. I was the last in line for our group since Brian was the closest to the line (the first girl in line stands by the furthest boy away so that when you get to your boy, you stop, take your photo, and then continue down the line as you leave the photo).
I shook Brian's hand, where he immediately looked into my eyes, said, "It's so good to see you again!" with a big smile on his face. I can't even imagine what the smile on my face looked like because my little heart was going about a million miles a minute...Brian Littrell did, in fact, remember me....unless he is just that good of an actor (I have to believe it was the real thing because of the conversation we had back in September at the Wylee Party). Since AJ was right next to me, I quickly shook his hand and then I was going to get Nick and Howie's on the way out. However, Nick reached out his hand to me across the group and I gladly took it. Brian seemed to be waiting for me to shake Howie's hand before he got into photo position but I told him I'd get him on the way out. Brian laughed at that and then stood next to me. Our group hadn't really come up with a specific pose for the photo but I had told the girls that I was going to do huggie pose with Brian (I guess it was my own special way of getting the "against the rules" hug). I told Brian this and just as we were putting our arms around each other, AJ grabbed my waist and pulled me into him so that I was with the rest of the group. I guess huggie pose wasn't happening this time, but our photo still turned out super cute (and I still want to thank Cort so much for letting me stand next to Brian...she had had her moment the night before with Aaron....)
Photo by Justin Segura
Originally, Eddy was supposed to have been the photogrpaher for these shows. which is one reason why we had decided against VIPs int he first place. Eddy is a great guy but Justin is a much better photogrpaher in our opinion. I think that knowing that Justin was going to be doing the photos, gave us all that extra push to go for that Silver VIP. He is a pretty cool guy and is a great photogrpaher.
We had some time before the show was supposed to start so we met up with the rest of the girls who didn't have VIP and grabbed a quick bite to eat. That's when several of us started debating the possibility of getting Bronze VIPs for the next day. We didn't necessarily need another photo but we kind of didn't want to miss out on the Sounndcheck and Q&A, which is really the best part of the whole VIP experience (well except for maybe the backstage tour included with the Platinum VIPs). We also discussed how incredibly happy we were that we had decided to go with the balcony seats and not general admission for this show. We were able to enjoy our time together without having to worry about getting back to stand in line for GA (even though we would have first entry with our VIPs). Also our group would not have to be separated since those of us with VIPs would have been able to get into GA before those without. Even though our tickets were bought in two different groups, we had been lucky enough to get 6 seats all right next to one another for this show. One of the best parts of the weekend was to be able to just experience everything with my girls...who are way fun to be with at concerts.
The concert finally started and we immediately rose to our feet. There were a lot of people around us that we believed were there because they got tickets from the casino we were at...they didn't seem to know the words to any of their newer/non-single stuff and they sat at points during the show. It really was a shame.
So the set list for the Atlantic City show was as follows:
Incomplete Larger Than Life - This also had a little surprise thrown in as we got to see the guys dance Gangnam Style.
Straight Through My Heart We've Got It Goin' On/Get Down Medley PLARS - AJ Solo
Don't Want You Back - We all know this should have replaced "The One" as a single. Thanks Nick.
Inconsolable Drowning - I love it when they just sing.
Gone Without Goodbye - Brian Solo - I can't even begin to explain how emotional Brian's solo was. Not only is it a sad song but he dedicated it to all of the victims of the CT shootings. I had tears falling down my face before he even started singing....and that was with knowing that it was coming thanks to a spoiler I had received earlier that day. If I wouldn't have known it was coming, I can't imagine the mess I would have been in.
Bigger - One of the girls believes Brian caught sight of us doing the Bigger dance out in the audience. Who knows if this is really true but we had a fun time doing it. If I Know Then - Those with Platinum VIPs got to go onstage to dance the guys during this song. I was happy for most of them but some of them needed to put more clothes on. I did not need to see as much as I saw on some of those girls. 100 Kisses - Howie Solo
Quit Playing Games/As Long As You Love Me/I Want It That Way Medley Burning Up - Nick Solo - We were up in the balcony and when this song started I thought that the balcony was going to collapse very quickly. That whole thing was shaking underneath us like it was going to let go at any time.
The One The Call Everybody (Backstreet's Back) - My all time favorite concert song... It truly was an amazing show. I loved that for the most part it was very uptempo. We had a great time dancing and singing along. Plus, I got some great photos...
And finally....my favorite photos of the evening....
After the concert, two of us decided to attend the after-party that was advertised with Howie and AJ. This was going to be my first after-party and I was interested to see what it would entail. We were extremely surprised that AJ was advertised as being there with the news he had shared just a few days before of him falling off the bandwagon with his drinking. I had heard good things and bad things about after-parties so I thought it might be good to try one out for myself. We waited in line for about fifteen minutes while trying to avoid a very loud, rude, drunk guy behind us. However, once we got into the club, we had quite a bit of room to move around. I was honestly expecting to be jammed into the club like sardines. It wasn't nearly as packed as I thought it would be and we were able to freely move up right in front of the DJ's table. Howie and AJ did make their entrance and went straight into the VIP area. The entire club seemed to move that way and then we really had room. We decided to stay where we were in case the guys decided to make their way over to the DJ booth. While we waited to see what was going to happen, we danced away to a very good DJ. Eventually, Howie made his way out onto the dance floor with his bodyguard, Josh, right by his side. Howie was taking photos with people and for the most part as soon as one person got their photo, they moved out of the way. There were some very eager girls but we all stayed civil for the most part. Eventually, Howie made his way over to us and I got my photo with him. I'm not really sure where he was looking but I was still happy to get my photo. I made sure to especially thank Josh because I don't think the bodyguards get nearly enough recognition for dealing with us crazies.
It was getting late and we decided that our money had been well spent with our photos and dancing. I saw a friend that I hadn't seen in two years and met her sister for the first time even though we were friends on Facebook. Most importantly, I had a good time. We weren't sure if AJ was going to come out and get photos so we decided that we were going to head back to go to sleep. Just as we were leaving, AJ was also leaving the club. Because he had just left, the security told us we couldn't exit the club yet. We really weren't trying to follow him, it just so happened we were wanting to leave at the same time. They held us back for about five minutes or so and then told us we had to walk down the hall and to the elevators and that we couldn't go down the escalators that were right there (the one's AJ had gone down). We stopped off in the restroom because we knew we had a bit of a drive ahead of us and then continued on our way to the lobby. Imagine our surprise when AJ was walking along in the lobby just as we were getting out of the elevator....it totally was not planned on our part. There was a small group of about 8 girls following him and we decided to stick around just a little while longer because it appeared as if he was going to hit up the casino and do some gambling. On the 2010 cruise, several girls had some nice interaction with him as he gambled in the casino and we were wondering if we could get that there. As we were waiting, AJ stepped into a little room and kind of disappeared up the elevators in the room. We weren't sure if he was going to a high rollers room or what but we decided to wait a few minutes before we decided not to wait around any longer. It's always so difficult making decisions when it comes to leaving events like that. We didn't want to miss anything but we didn't want to sit around and wait for nothing to happen. We found out later that he gambled until very late that night but wasn't really doing any interacting with anyone. This also means that he never went back to the club or the after-party. I asked another friend who told me that we didn't miss anything at the after-party after we left either. Overall, I enjoyed my first after-party but I'm not sure that I would do one again. I like the fact that it extends the night but I was never guaranteed to get that photo with Howie...plus Brian doesn't do the after-parties so its not like I'm missing out on any B-Rok action.
We drove back to where we were staying and quietly got into bed so we wouldn't wake the other girls (two of whom had to work the next morning). We were going to have another long day of Backstreet the next day as well!
Monday, December 30 - The day in which this whole trip had been originally planned around was here. It had already been an amazing weekend but now I was going to end 2012 and start 2013 with some great friends and the Backstreet Boys. It really was a win-win situation. While two of the girls were at work, the rest of us decided to sleep in. We were super happy when one of the girls was able to get off work early and we sat around and chatted about everything that had happened from the day before, as well as how awesome that night would be. We had decided that we were going to do Bronze VIP and wanted to make sure that the guys sang different songs than they did the previous night in Atlantic City. We pulled out the craft supplies and made some quick signs for "Trouble Is" and "This Is Us." We were very excited when we heard the news that our fifth person was probably going to get off work in time to make it to the Soundcheck after all. Her sister decided to wait back for her while the rest of us made our way to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. We got there and did what Backstreet fans do best...wait. Let me tell you something, this was probably the most drama filled VIP I have been to. First, the guy at the door wasn't going to let Kristen in because she had her Canadian drivers license, even though it had been swiped and cleared while going through the casino. Then, Ash and Cort were cutting it very close on time to check in. When they did finally get there, there was no one at the door to let them in. I had opened the door for them to get in but was stopped by one of the employees of the venue who wasn't quite on the clock yet. I found another employee and explained the situation. He told me that they were just out of luck. I was so angry because the two had rushed to try to do soundcheck with us (luckily they had not bought their VIPs yet). Then the guy told me he was just joking and let them in. When we were finally ready to buy our VIP, Justin told us he would be right back and was gone for what seemed like forever (he was extremely flustered since he was running the check in table by himself). It was a complete mess! After things settled down and we all got our VIPs, it was more sitting and waiting. We met a nice couple who was doing their first VIP and exchanged Facebook information. Justin came around and explained that it would still be some time before we could get in because there was some last minute rehearsal being done. However, we are such experts at the "hurry up and wait" Backstreet game that one of the girls brought something to occupy our time and "Boy Band Taboo" was invented. Basically you use the game cards from Taboo and have everyone else try to guess the key word by not only not using the words listed under the key word, but by relating the key word to a boy band. Unfortunately, I was at a bit of a disadvantage since the group of girls I was with are also very big Big Time Rush fans and used their TV show for a lot of clues. It was still a good thing to occupy our time as we waited.
After what seemed like at least an hour of waiting, Justin started to walk each VIP group in according to color. We were bronze so we were last. As a matter of fact, the guys started to sing their first soundcheck song, "I Still," as we were still walking down the isle and before we even got to our seats. Needless to say, I did not get that one on video. We were ready for the next song though as we put our "Trouble Is" signs high over our heads. Between our signs and the fact that we were the only one's standing during the soundcheck, the guys picked our song. Not only had we wanted to hear different songs than the night before, but we also wanted to see if we could get songs in which they might not know the words since those seem to be the most fun during soundchecks. We succeeded with our first song, as Nick pulled out his phone and googled the words.
The thing I always like when the guys forget the words is that Brian always seems to remember everyone's part. I wonder how often he listens to his own music at home....
I thought for sure that since they were running so late, we would only get the typical two songs. I was happy when they agreed to do another and we turned our signs over to display our second request, "This Is Us." As girls were yelling out other titles, Nick specifically pointed to each of us and our signs and stated that he saw a lot of requests for "The Scissors," as the guys like to call it (there must have been someone up front with a sign as well because he pointed somewhere up there). Then the best part of the soundcheck happened. Not only did they not even know where to begin with the words, but they even thought that the wrong song was being played. It truly was hilarious.
So, my group had dominated the soundcheck portion of VIP by having two of our requested songs played out of the three they sang. Next was the Q&A and we once again hit the jackpot when two of our group of five got chosen to ask questions.
I honestly don't remember what the other two questions of the evening were but our two questions were as follows:
Q: Who is responsible for Backstreet time? (it was AJ's fault this time)
Q: If there were a Boy Band Softball League, which Boy Bands would you be able to beat? (this was a spin off of the question the day before and Brian answered that the Backstreet Boys could beat any boy band in anything).
Soundcheck photos
Excited for the show...
We were all very excited that we decided to do the Bronze VIP because we got a lot of love from the guys when they picked our songs and our questions. However, we were ushered out before the other groups started taking their photos. I was happy to have done our Silver the day before because all of the guys had looked good for the picture. Nick didn't try so hard for this show, as he showed up in red sweatpants and a t-shirt. We received information that the guys wouldn't actually go on stage until 11pm so we had quite bit of time to kill before the actual concert started. We went to go get a bite to eat and killed some more time playing Boy Band Taboo in the hallway so that we didn't have to deal with the noise of the DJ inside the venue (until we were told to move by an employee of the casino). Our group was going to be split up for this show (into four different spots) and it made me kind of sad that I wouldn't get to spend midnight with everyone. However, right before the show started, there were some empty seats right around two of the other girls and we decided to stand together...so at least four of us were able to bring in the New Year together.
Bringing in the New Year together...
This particular show was even more for the frequent fliers of the casino than the show in Atlantic City as we were surrounded by a lot of way older couples. We hoped that would be a good sign for us so that they would sit and we could see over them. We might have had the only old people that stood up in front of us. Luckily, they didn't stand up the whole time and we still didn't have too much trouble seeing since it was all on a flat surface. Because of the concert population, the solos from the previous night were taken out and the set list order changed slightly and they threw in "Shape of My Heart." This song was especially cute because AJ had Rochelle on video on his phone and was singing to his phone. Occasionally, we would turn the phone to the audience so that we could see her and she could see us. It was sad that the other three had their significant others there but AJ didn't. There weren't as many talking segments to provide an intro to the next song either. Still, it was a great show. The Backstreet Boys stopped the show with about one minute left until midnight and provided the live feed from the countdown in Time Square. We counted down to midnight and as the clock struck twelve, balloons rained down on us. The guys' families came out to help them countdown and we got to see Lauren marking her territory with Nick big time. The four of us gave each other big hugs and I was so happy to just be there with friends and a music group that I love.
I was sad when the concert was over because it meant a couple of things. 1) There's no more Backstreet planned as of right now until the cruise in October. No one knows yet when they are releasing their new album and, therefore, touring. 2) I was going to have to leave my friends, who I probably won't get to see again until October. I hate that these friends live so far away and I only get to see them once or twice a year. When we are together we have the greatest time.
While I had flown into Newark to start my trip, I had decided to make the drive back to DC with Laura because it was cheaper to fly back from there than it was to fly back from Newark. I said goodbye to the rest of the girls and Laura and I drove to her grandfather's to stay the night. We got up the next morning and made the trip to DC and the airport, where I was dropped off much earlier than the two hours before that they recommend (it was like five hours). Luckily, I had my computer, photos, and videos from the weekend to keep me occupied.
After an uneventful flight back to Chicago, I got off the plane with two minutes to spare before my bus back home was to leave. Needless to say, I missed my bus and had to wait at the airport for two more hours before the next (and last bus of the evening) came. I still needed to go to work the next day and knew that it was going to be difficult. It was...and the day after that I woke up with absolutely no voice. Most fans can tell you that it never fails that we get sick after a big Backstreet adventure. However, every second is worth it in the end. I was in 8 different cities and 6 different states within a span of 5 days, spending time with 4 great guys and 6 great gals. It was a tremendous way to end 2012 and start 2013.
