That one time I saw Matt Nathanson for the 86th time, then stayed awake 40 hours to meet Kelly Clarkson.

Back in August when I was in New York, I had bought a ticket to see Matt play at a college in Rohnert Park, which is about 165 miles north of where I live. A few months later, the day finally came to attend the show. I took a half day at work, so I could take my sweet time driving up and just enjoy my day. Um, yeah. It ended up taking me almost 4.5 hours, when it was supposed to only take me less than 3. Talk about not relaxed, or enjoyable.

But once I finally stepped out of my car, things were better. I met up with Tara, and we headed to get a quick bite to eat before the show started. We headed over to the college and found Yvonne. We were all sitting separately, so we hung out as long as we could before the show started.

A guy named Noah Guthrie opened, and he was AMAZING. He’s only 18 but oh man, his voice is so matured for his age. I am a fan of it. I guess he’s pretty well known in the YouTube world, so you may have heard of him already? I hadn’t.

Matt played next. Out of all of the times I had seen him, this soared to the top and as the second best show I’ve ever seen him play. He was so perfect this night. He told a million hilarious stories, my face hurt from laughing so much, and the room he was playing in just enhanced his overall brilliance.

The staff was playing camera Nazi that night, so this is the only photo you get. Boo.

After Matt’s set, Tara and I found one another and then drove 40 minutes down to Corte Madera right away.

A week before, I had found out that Kelly Clarkson was playing at the opening of the new Microsoft Store, and the first 100 people in line got to meet her after the set. Tara and I had original plans of her following me home and having a touristy weekend in Monterey, but I asked her to be crazy with me instead and she agreed. Haha.

They had allowed camping out starting at 10pm, so I was afraid that we wouldn’t make the 100 cut off, since we were at the Matt show. We arrived around 11:20pm, and luckily were only 86 – 88 in line. We had talked Yvonne into coming with us at the Matt show. Not really. I said, “Are you a Kelly fan? Want to not sleep and try to meet her with us?” and she said, “OK!” (We’re all insane.)

So, from 11:20pm – 11am, we waited in line. Yup. Almost 12 hours of sitting and/or laying on concrete. We tried to sleep a few times, but it was 45 degrees out, and even piled under blankets, my body just wasn’t having it. I watched the hours creep by, and then watched the sun rise and gave up. All nighter, what up.

The good thing about being crazy, is there was staff patrolling the line all night, and they gave us multiple bottles of water, and free food. Cheesecake Factory grilled cheese for dinner, Peet’s Coffee pastries and coffee in the morning. Thank you!

Once 11am arrived, we were let into the store, got our wristbands, and then finally left the mall for a bit. Tara and I booked a hotel to take a nap and to shower. Only…the nap didn’t happen. We tried to fall asleep but both just laid there, so we got up to find lunch instead. Bummer. After lunch we headed back to the mall to wait in line again to be let into the concert.

We were settled in about the 4th row, and I was completely happy with it. These teenagers kept trying to get in front of me, and I seriously was about to beat them down. I even yelled at one of them at one point, because I was so frustrated with them. You are 14. I am 27. I’ve been awake since 6am Friday, and its now Saturday evening. Don’t mess with me.

Kelly played for an hour and a half, and at this point all the waiting would have been worth it for just that! But then we got put back into ANOTHER line and had to wait about a half hour to meet her. Oh my god, lines. It was like Disney Land. Or Black Friday. Waiting, and waiting, and waiting…

Finally it was our turn to say hello. I let Tara and Yvonne have their turns before me, because I wanted to watch them talk to her, haha.

When it was my go, I walked up and Kelly says,
“Hey! You! How are you? It’s great to see you again!” (Oh my God…Kelly Clarkson remembers me!!!)
“I’ve been awake for 38 hours.”
“Oh, SHIT.”
“You’re worth every second of it though!”
“Oh my…” and she was giving me this look like, I am so not worth it, but I am so thankful.

Then I told her it was actually my 20th time seeing her, and she got all loud and was like, “OMG! That’s so many times! This was like an anniversary show then! It’s a party!” and we both went WOO and held our hands up and I love her so much its ridiculous…

Then they were rushing me to take the photo, and Kelly was thanking me for being such a dedicated fan. So in my picture she wasn’t even ready and was talking. Haha. Then I was saying goodbye and she was like, “WAIT! What was your name again?”
“Joslyn.”
“Joslyn! Joooslyn…” The way she said it the second time was like she was trying to commit it to memory. She’s adorable.

Then I was saying goodbye and she was like, “Thanks so much. I hope you come to the next show.” and was rubbing my arm and I just gave her a dumb look and said, “Uh…of course I will!”

After that we were handed autographed photos, and I had a fan girl moment to Tara and Yvonne that she remembered me, haha. We then headed back to find our cars and go our separate ways. Tara and I were awake for probably another hour or so before we closed our eyes, then finally, slept. It was daylight savings time too, so we scored an extra hour. 12 glorious hours of sleep. Mmmmm.

The next morning we checked out of the hotel and went to a cute cafe to have breakfast before we had to leave one another. Holy crap, so simple, yet delicious.

Tara and I said our goodbyes, and then headed home. Exhaustion hit me a few hours after getting home, and I had to keep re-caffeinating to keep myself awake to a semi-decent time to go back to sleep. No one wants to go to bed at 6pm and wake up at 3am.

So worth every second awake.

Walking between the raindrops with you.

I’ve have loved Lifehouse since I was 15 years old. So, that’s going on 13 years of my life.

I have seen them multiple dozens of times live. They were the first band I ever met, or had front row for. The band knows who I am. I am greeted with open arms. I’ve been an extra in one of their music videos. I’ve had my name said from onstage in the middle of a show. I have met some of the best people I could have ever asked to call friends because of them. Long story short: they mean a whole deal of a lot to me.

The band likes to do this cruel thing called hibernation when they are recording a new album, and I get to go through withdraw. The last time I had seen them live was on board the Vh1 Cruise back in April 2011, so I had been dealing with more than a fair share of withdraw.

Their new album just came out on December 11th, so they had been doing a bunch of private radio promo shows back in late October to promote it, and the first single. I was a sad panda because you had to win your way into them, and I lived too far from any of the places they were playing to listen and win.

On a Monday afternoon at work, my curiosity got to me as I had a missed call, and a voice mail from a somewhat familiar number.  I listened to it right away and I’m pretty sure I automatically started jumping up and down, because it was from my favorite radio station in San Jose inviting me to a private show that Thursday! 3 days later, what.

I had to pull some strings to get part of my shift covered at work since it was so last minute. For a moment I was told it wasn’t possible, but I am a master at accomplishing the impossible of schedule tweaking, and once I figured it out, I was stoked. LIFEHOUSE!

San Jose is only a little over an hour away from me, so the morning of the show I woke up and got my sweat on (6am workouts really suck), then headed out to the brewery they were playing at around lunch time. It was raining and I was wearing shorts (thanks for the totally incorrect weather report, Google…) and I was freezing.

I was allowed to bring a guest to the show, so I invited Lisa. We actually met because of Lifehouse about 6 years ago, and she and I had always gone to all their shows together. Again, I am grateful for this band, because I would not know her without them. She met me at the venue and we couldn’t resist the fro yo place across the street,  despite that it was cold and raining.

After awhile, the radio station people invited us in, and we were placed into a “holding room” where they fed us a bomb ass lunch. Seriously, there was some amazing mac & cheese and grilled veggie action happening for this girl.

Finally, one of the radio employees said, “Follow me!” and I literally bolted up and out of my seat and ran after her to the seats in front of the stage. I was on a mission to be in the front, and that was a mission I accomplished. Lisa got totally lost in the crowd, so I just sat on two seats until she found me. Ha.

I’m pretty sure as soon as the band walked out my face exploded into a huge grin. I kept looking at Lisa and she had the same smile. Oh, we missed you boys.

They only played 6 songs, and told a few stories and answered short questions between each, but it was just enough for me to feel complete again. I got my fix. Ha. There was a point in the middle of the set that Jason noticed us and his eyes went big and said, “Hi, guys!” and I melted in my chair. Oh, hello, beautiful.

After the set, we got to say hello to the band. Two days before had marked 11 years since the first time I had seen them live, so after hugs and hellos and “it’s been so long, how are you girls?!” I was telling them about it. I busted out my phone to show Jason a picture of us from that day. Considering I was 16 and he was 19 in the photo, we both got a kick out of it, because it doesn’t even look like either of us!

I mean, come on. Who are those people?! Insane.

Jason was like, “That is a Bruce Springsteen shirt I was wearing in that photo.” and I replied, “And that’s a Lifehouse sweatshirt I was wearing, which I still have!” “Really?!” Random comments…

We took a quick group picture with the guys (with two strangers, who I cut out. Yeah, I’m spoiled like that..) and then we said goodbye soon after, because the band had to catch a plane to fly to another city to play another show. Lisa and I had to part ways soon after also, because I needed to head back home to work. Such a short trip! I walked around the library with a huge grin on my face the entire shift.

She brought weekend boys home in her curls.

Well, I hope you liked my last post about Scars on 45 and Matt Nathanson shows, because you get another one! I had two back to back weekends seeing both bands, and it was a happy little dream come true for me.

Matt was playing a benefit music festival in Newport Beach, which is pretty far from me. I headed down to Long Beach the day before the show after work to stay with a friend who lives there. I hadn’t seen her in well over a year, and a lot had happened in that time, so when I arrived we had dinner that consisted of pizza and drank cider and caught up on everything. We’re classy, I know.

The next morning she fed me again, and after I had breakfast with her and her lady love, I headed to Newport Beach for the festival. It was an all day event and I headed down pretty early, which proved to be a stupid idea. The bands that played the first 4 hours were mind blowingly BORING, and I was practically the only person there. At least it was sunny and warm? I was the jerk up front reading a book for awhile during sets. Sorry.

A few hours later, as my shoulders starting pinking, I heard my name and it was someone I knew, Caroline, through Matt’s street team and Twitter. She had sun block and saved the day! Hooray! We hung out for the next few hours, and drank beer and gossiped to get through the next few torturous bands.

A little before Matt’s set, my friends Steve and Charity showed up, and my other friend Astin and her bf snuck their way up to the VIP section where we were at. Awesomeness had finally began, despite the fact that the sun had set and since the show was at the beach, there was a cold, cold, breeze. And I was wearing shorts. Rad.

So, as Matt walked out onstage, Steve decided to be a punk and scream, “Joslyn’s here!” and I wanted to die. I’m pretty sure I just gawked at Steve, and then hid my face in my hands. Apparently Matt just looked at me like, “Yes, I know.” Oh dear lord. I’m sorry for my friends and inabilities to control their loud mouths. Haha…(love you, Steve!)

I don’t even have to talk about the set because it was another great set of old and newer favorite songs acoustically, and typical hilarious Matt banter. “Are you guys drunk? Or is that a cup of noodle?”

Once the show was over, we waited in the ridiculously long shuttle ride back to our cars, (which wasn’t too bad, because we got to chat for another while longer) and parted ways.

I headed to Pasadena to where Scars on 45 and Dia Frampton were playing the next morning, to stay with DawnL and Tracy at their hotel. I slept in a sleepbag, on the floor, halfway underneath a sink. Awesome, I know. Ha. But I actually slept pretty well for being on a hard hotel floor. I wish I had taken a photo of my sleep, because it was a pretty classic moment.

Since the show was a brunch thing, we woke up around 8am to get ready and have a snack before heading over to the country club it was being held at. It was a ritzy club, so we decided we would dress up a little so we wouldn’t look out of place. Which, we did anyway, because most of the attendees at the show were 10 year olds or younger, seeing as it was a benefit for Steve’s son’s school. I love feeling old?

DawnL and I pretty much inhaled coffee as soon as we arrived, and enjoyed a delicious brunch.  Nom nom nom. We ended up sharing a table with a few other people who ended up being fans of Dia, so I dubbed us the “fan” table. At least we weren’t the ONLY three at the event not related to the school.

Scars on 45 opened the show, and I enjoyed watching all the little ones bob their heads to the music. This band still just awes me no matter how many times I’ve seen them live. Even at an early morning, both Aimee and Danny’s voices were spot on. Love them.

After Scars on 45, Dia played her set. The kids LOVE her, apparently, because you could hear little voices singing along to every word. Adorable.

After both bands played, they dispersed through out the club and mingled and signed things for the kids and parents.

We talked to most of them individually, and then Dawn L pretty much herded them all into a group, because she didn’t have a  full group photo with them, and wanted one. So of course I got in on that action, haha. I told them that I told Matt that I was cheating on him with them, and he approved, and they all got a kick out of it. They most definitely need to tour again together. Or that may be dangerous…

Chris was hilarious that day and asked if he had said anything embarrassing the weekend before, because as he put it, “I woke up the next morning with the worst hang over I’ve ever had in my life. They got me In N Out and I couldn’t even eat it. That’s how wasted I was.” Oh dear. I asked him if he remembered what his response was when I had asked him “Do you need a bucket?” (joke he said when I was wasted at the San Diego show back in July  and he said, “No…was it bad?” ha…it wasn’t. I told him he was just gross and asked if we could share it. “I don’t even remember that! That is gross. I’m sorry.” It’s cool, homeboy. Now I get to pick on you for being drunk! (He told a friend that went to one of their shows in Michigan that I was SOOO WASTED, so thus, payback.)

We realized it’d be the last time we’d see them until The Rock Boat in February, and the while the thoughts of not seeing them for 4 months was bumming, we also knew we had good times to look forward to. We said our goodbye’s for the year, and headed out to make our drives home.

It was insanely hot on this day, and I had to drive 6 hours home in 100 degree weather. When we left it was around noon, so it was possibly the worst time of day to be in my car. I was literally stripping layers of clothing off as I drove. This gave me an excuse to stop at a YogurtLand on the way home and consumed a super large pumpkin fro yo, so I guess it wasn’t all too bad? 😉

Run right into you.

So there was a weekend back in October, where unintentionally, the WCM girls and I went to see Scars on 45 and pretty much got them to ourselves.

At this point of our fandom, we are well know and appreciated. Long story short (wait, do I ever tell short stories? No. Grab a snack, you’re in for a read), Scars was playing a pretty expensive benefit show in Glen Ellen, which we lucked out and were guest listed for, thanks to their manager. Booyah! Thanks, Steve! You’re the bomb dot com!

The show started pretty early, so the night before the show I planned to head up to DawnL and Tracy’s place to have a sleep over. I stopped in San Jose first, because I was running a race 2 days later and had to pick up my race packet at the expo. I got hooked up with a TON of free stuff, and I nerded out at all the fitness stuff.

From the expo, I drove to Fremont to drop my car off at my friend’s house, and after hanging and catching up for a bit, she took me to the Bart Station which I rode to Walnut Creek. DawnL and Tracy picked me up, and Tara arrived at the house not too long after I, so the four of us hung out for a bit before going to sleep.

The next morning we woke up early and hit up Starbucks, before heading up to Glen Ellen. Glen Ellen is near Sonoma, so it is wine county. It is beautiful there! We parked and were shuttled into the winery the show was being held at. In a yellow school bus. Awesome.

Scars played first, so we didn’t have to wait long for them to begin after doors opened.

They played an acoustic set, which seemed much too short, but lucky for us, we were seeing them again later in the evening. We headed to the merch area to say our hello’s, and chatted up the band for a bit.

I. love. this. photo. It’s just missing Stu!

We went to talk to Steve after the band dispersed, and we thanked him a few dozen times for getting us on the list. (He listed us without us even asking, what a nice guy!) He told us they were playing another benefit type show the following weekend in Pasadena for his son’s school. And lucky again, I was already going to be down south the day before for a Matty Nay show, so it worked in my favor! I was stoked.

He asked us to help him take the merchandise to their van, and we happily did, seeing as he saved us each around $90. Will work for concert ticket! Haha. We ran into Aimee while back there, who was with Steve’s wife, and Aimee told her, “This is our fan club. We love them.” Awww. Then we were left in the backstage area and we frolicked around the vineyards. So pretty!

There was a TON of stuff happening in the bay area that weekend, so we didn’t stick around for much longer, as we were afraid of getting stuck in the traffic of it all. It was another beautiful drive down into the city, including a drive across the Golden Gate Bridge (which I had just traveled UNDER the weekend before with the TMC ladies) and through the hilly areas of SF.

Scars was doing their own set at Aloft Hotel, just outside of the San Francisco airport. We went and had lunch/an early dinner before the show. Well, I ate a cupcake. I had ordered something at Panera Bread, paid and everything, and then they put up a sign saying they were out of it, without even saying anything to me! Um, hello? I’m standing here waiting for that exact thing? I got annoyed and basically just asked for my money back. That is ridiculous! Enter cupcake. It was carrot cake, so it was nutritious…

We played a game of Battleship at Aloft while we waited for the band to start their set. The band is hosting battleshots on The Rock Boat, so we thought we’d be funny and bring the game with us. The band commented as they set up, “Are you so bored that you’re playing board games?” and we asked if they even knew what they were hosting come February. They didn’t. Steve said yes for the band. Haha. We warned them that we were going to beat them, so they better be prepared. I beat everyone I played, so they better watch out for me!

The show was announced semi-last minute, and as we’re waiting, basically no one shows up. Well, the only other person to show up was Yvonne, who Tara and I had met at the Summerthing show a few months prior, so the 5 of us enjoyed a “private concert” (according to Aimee.) Our 1 year anniversary of the first time we had seen the band was coming up, so we considered it our gift.

Since we were the only one’s there, Aimee asked us if we wanted pizza. Considering I ate a cupcake for dinner? Yeah. We accepted.

After the set we ended up chatting with the band for probably…2 hours or so? They were all staying at the hotel, and they were drinking, and I can’t even tell you all the stories they told, or what happened because there was just SO MUCH said that night. Just know it was pure shenanigans and I was pretty much laughing the entire time. Stu showed up in the middle of it all; he had been flying in from England the entire morning, since it was his daughters birthday the day before. Poor guy was jetlagged extreme and told us he’d been awake for close to 48 hours.I think he asked me the same questions 3 times and I kept saying, “You just asked me that…” awww…

Tara and I decided we needed to get going, because the next morning was my race. Okay, whose smart idea was that? I should have been sleeping at that point! Tara and I had taken her car, while DawnL and Tracy rode together to SF, (hence me dropping it off in Fremont the night before) so we drove down to pick up my car, before she followed me the rest of the way to San Jose, where the race was being held the following morning.

Since I had such an early start of a day, we stayed at my friend’s Cindy Lou and Jaelyn’s place not far from the start of the race. Tara was going to be my partner in crime for the day, although she was only going for the after race festivities and not to run.

A 5am wake up call when you went to bed after midnight to run 5 miles is not a smart thing to do. But it is what I did.

I didn’t always enjoy running. Being overweight for half of my life, it wasn’t something I ever saw as possible.  After dropping the weight, I had wanted to start a running plan, to actually try conquering running. In 2010 I started and completed the Couch to 5k program and ran my first 5k. It’s actually where I met Cindy Lou at! But from then on, I always had a love for running. I’ve completed three 5ks now, and was looking to bump up my mileage.

When I got a text from a friend asking me if I was running the half because Matt Nathanson was playing the finishers show (!!!), I knew this was my chance! But by the point I had found out, I realized logistically that 2 months was not a safe amount of time to train to run 13.1 miles. I thought running 13 miles was stupid anyway (Says the girl who is now training for a half marathon…eat your words, kid.) There was a “mini marathon” which was 5 miles, and I knew I could train the shiz out of that distance.

The week before the race when I was with the TMC girls in San Francisco, I was running the treadmill at the hotel and my left leg just cramped up. It hurt on and off for the next few days so I was afraid if I’d even be able to run 5 miles. But whether I walked or ran the 5 miles, I was going to get that damn medal I had been training for.

Tara and I took Lightrail into downtown San Jose (weekend full of public transportation, what up) and I headed towards the start line, while she headed towards the stage to hold down the fort while I ran.

I ended up in the corral with all the super fit people. They were stretching and flexing their six packs and I was standing there, alone, with frizzy morning hair and sleep still in my eye, hoping I wouldn’t die.

After the national anthem was performed, we were off! I told myself to take it mile by mile, and to not push if my leg started giving me trouble. The first mile my leg was tight, and I was wondering how far I was going to get. As we passed the first mile, I noticed my pace was slightly faster than I normally run, and my leg had loosened up, so I had hope for the rest of the race.

The Rock N Roll marathon series has a band playing every mile of the race. This is awesome. Just when I thought I’d be dying at a certain mile, a band would be rocking as I ran by and it kept me going for another mile. Beth had texted me good luck that morning, and told me to just think of Matt at the finish line if I felt like giving up, so that was humorously in my mind as well. Even though it may seem to look like I was dying…HA.

Finally mile 5 came up, and I busted my ass towards the finish line. 5 miles, without stopping. That’s right, bum leg! I own you.  I walked through the finishers exit and took every free thing they handed me after taking the obligatory finishers photo.

Um…worst photo ever, and I had way too many beverages?

I found Yvonne and Tara at the stage. I somehow had way too much energy and danced to a cover band for two hours. Our friend Cheryl showed up as well, and celebrated my victorious run.

I drank my free beer, and finally at 11am, Matt came out to play. He noticed me in me work out clothes and I still had my bib number pinned on and pointed and mouthed, “You ran!” Cute.

He was his normal hilarious self despite still being a little early in the morning. Aaron and Matt graced us with an hour and 15 minute set. At one point during the show, Matt was telling a story about Bruce Jenner. I guess I had some sort of look on my face, because he says to me, “You’re looking at me like “that’s so mean!” I didn’t do it to him!” and cracks up. He kept giving me faces the entire set, as usual. As Tara calls it: I’m his work wife. Ha. After the set we walked over to the side of the stage and he came over to chat with us for a bit.

We talked about a slew of different things. Nothing important really, just our usual bullshitting. Scars on 45 had told me to pass along their hellos the night before, so we talked about them. I joked to Matt I was cheating on him with them, and he replies, “Oh that’s okay. They are all much better looking and more talented than me.” HAHAHA.

Conversation with the man flows easily from subject to subject, and at one point he was talking about how he was somewhere the day before. He looks at me and asks, “Where was I yesterday?” (like I just know where he is 24/7?!)
“Um…you tweeted about Houston?”
“Yeah! I flew there for a day. To play some guys birthday.”
“What?! You can play my party anytime you want.”
“OKAY! Done.”
“Want to play my library?”
“Your library?! That’d be awesome. OH MY GOD! Because you’re a LIBRARIAN!!!”
Oh how all my boys in bands love that I work in a library…

He told us then about how he had a whole “slew” of new songs, and he’s just been writing day after day. I asked him, “What happened to you playing a new song last weekend in San Francisco? You lied to me!” and he said “I know, I know.”

I was asking if he had titles for any songs yet that he’d be willing to share, just to hold me over. “Titles. Yeah, yeah. There are some. Let me think of one that might spark excitement…” then he kinda looked into space and I don’t think he wanted to really share so I said, “Oh there’s that one called ‘Joslyn’…” and he shot back, “How’d you know about that one?! That’s a really good one. You’re gonna like it.” and gave me this adorable grin. Ugh. It is stupid how much I adore him.

We talked about running a bit. He was saying something about how he was offered to run the mini and he thought about it. He asked how I did, and I was telling him about it and my time. “47 minutes?! That’s good right?! That’s less than 10 minutes a mile! Duuuude!” was his cutest response ever. Then we talked about the people who won the half marathon and ran 13.1 miles in 1 hour and 3 minutes. What. The. Fuck. Way to make me feel like a snail.

We talked about next weekend, and how I was seeing him again. He was playing a festival show with Josh Radin, and we may have discussed why we both think he is a douche. Sorry to any of his fans, I’m sure if Ellen Degeneres had him play her wedding, that he has some sort of good to him. We also talked about a college show I was seeing him at again in November, that he didn’t know he was doing or at least forgot about. “It’s good to know you know my schedule better than I do.”

There were other people waiting to talk to him, and I greedily was keeping him to my crew and I’s self. We took a quick group photo, and did the multiple goodbye hug thing, and I didn’t even feel bad about it because we were equally smelly for once. Said our “see you next week!” and then Tara and I headed back to Cindy Lou and Jaelyn’s place. We showered and then the 4 of us headed out to lunch at Sweet Tomatoe for lunch. I think I ate a salad the size of my face, multipled by the width of my hair (that’s big.)

Tara and I then parted ways, and headed back home. Good weekend.