Meet and Greet – Page 3

American Idol Concert David Cook Meet and Greet

David Cook – VIP Experience

Katie November 10, 2011 0 Comments

A couple of months ago I got an email that David Cook would be touring with Gavin DeGraw. The closest they were coming to me was York, PA, about 5 hours away – but it was on a Saturday. David was also doing a VIP package which included a M&G. (As well as access to sound check, a Tshirt and signed photo). When I clicked the link in the email I saw that ticket were already on sale so in a panic I ordered a VIP package and ended up with Pitt tickets, but I wasn’t sure if it was first or second row. Either way, I figured first or second row + VIP perks would be worth the trip!

A couple days before the show I got an email that I needed to be in PA by 2:45pm! It ruined my plans to sleep in because I needed to give myself a couple of hours buffer just in case I ran in to traffic. I left the house at 8am and only ended up hitting about 30 minutes of traffic and was able to nap in the car for about an hour before I had to get ready for everything.

I picked up my ticket and it was FRONT ROW! And then waited in the lobby for the others with VIP until it was time to do our thing. Wade from Ground Ctrl came by and said we’d be getting our laminates and then going to soundcheck. It took what seemed like forever to check everyone in (125 people!) and then we headed down to the theater where David was already doing soundcheck. When I walked in he was covering Billy Joel’s Moving Out. Then he asked if we wanted some FogHat and they did Slow Ride. He finished his soundcheck by singing Goodbye To The Girl and told us that we’d have to leave (the 3 songs was such a tease!) to do the M&G.

We all went back upstairs and waited in line for another really long time. (Actually, I didn’t really wait in line I sat – big thanks to my new friends Mary Ann and Debbie who held my spot for me!) Finally we were let in the room for the M&G and when we were about 4 people from the front the band decided they needed a potty break. David had been given what I believe to be vodka? But it was in a trick package so he’d have to figure out a puzzle before he could open it. Someone teased that didn’t he used to be a bartender? And he said yeah.. but where do you think it was? The Magic House? lol

Then the band came back and pictures resumed, until he decided the Queen song playing was unknown and sounded like a sitcom theme song and ran over to the iPod to switch up the playlist! (Then we realized it was not taking so long because the fans were dilly dallying – it was David running around that made the wait so long!)

I told David about my suit with Toad’s Place about what happened at his concert in 2009 and he said he was sorry that it happened, but “good for you” that I did something about it and that they are actually going to be putting handicapped measures in place and he gave me a big hug and again said he was sorry and I said not to be because we helped a lot of people because of it.

At that point it was about 5:30, 5:45 and Doors were set to open at 6:30, so I hung around waiting for that… more about the show coming in tomorrow’s post!!

Meet and Greet Photos Tickets

New York Comic Con October 15

Katie November 1, 2011 0 Comments

A couple of weeks ago a few of the local radio stations were giving away 3-Day passes to the New York Comic Con. After the fail that was the Wizarding World Comic Con in May, I figured it would be worth a shot to see one that may be just a little bit more organized (and in a much bigger venue). I bid all my points on one of the auctions, but unfortunately did not have enough points to ultimately pull out a win. However, I was pleasantly surprised that afternoon when someone from the station called me and said that since they “had a bunch of passes” they were giving me a pair since I came in second on the auction!

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend all 3 days, but my brother and I did make the trek there on Saturday. There is no easy way to get to the Javits center but we took the train in to Grand Central, took the S to Times Square, then walked what seemed like a mile and a half to the C train… then went from Penn Station / Madison Square Garden on 8th Ave up to 11th ave. By the time we got there I was exhausted and knew that we would absolutely be cabbing it back. (When we got home we realized they had a SHUTTLE from Grand Central! Except we had seen no info about it on the website ahead of time)

We ended up spending about 3 hours walking around and it was really overwhelming. Fortunately we had a list of a few things we wanted to buy / check out and figured out what locations they were at and managed to get all on our list. (Except for one item which I am pretty sure my brother made up. lol) We also stumbled upon the Oscar the Grouch muppet from Sesame Street so of course I HAD to get a photo with him!

Also before we headed to the concourse I saw a boy at a booth – he looked familiar. He smiled at me, I smiled back but for the life of me couldn’t remember who he was. I thought he was Derek from Degrassi. Got home, looked him up, sure enough it was! I probably should have talked to him because no one was at the booth – but I didn’t want to walk up to him and be like “Ok so you look REALLY familiar to me, but who the heck are you?”

After leaving the floor we head over to the Autograph area. At first I was all excited to possibly meet Mark Hamill, but then realized that his autograph would have cost me $100 – which was all I brought to begin with and was certainly NOT what I had left on me at that point! I spotted Jewel Staite who I recognized from being on ONE episode of 2gether. She had also been on a Disney show I used to watch and a bunch of other shows I’ve watched here and there so I opted to go and meet her. Hey, if I can’t meet QT because he has passed away – the next best thing would be to meet everyone he interacted with on the show – right? right. She was really sweet and signed an auto for me, shook my hand and briefly chatted. (I didn’t tell her that I really wanted to meet her because she was on one episode of 2gether though lol)

After that we opted to hail a cab and head home. The floors were crowded (as to be expected), I was exhausted from the moment we stepped in the door… and I almost lost my shoe no less than 5 times by guys stepping on me. I’m sure there was a TON that we missed, but I’m not really sure how to attend in a more organized manner. Just walk up and down every aisle, I guess! (Which easily could have taken all day!)

American Idol Concert Media Meet and Greet Photos

Mohegan Sun Reality Check: Katie Stevens

Katie October 26, 2011 0 Comments

On Sunday afternoon Katie Stevens had a performance at Mohegan Sun Casino as a part of their 15th year celebration and their Reality Check series. Visitors were treated to a short set by Katie, a Connecticut native made famous on Season 9 of American Idol.

She started her set with the Maroon 5 / Christina Aguilera cover of Moves Like Jagger, then went in to a Jill Scott song, Hate On Me. She also did Adele’s Someone Like You. After that she did a short Q&A session with the crowd where she was asked about her upcoming music (she is working on it but she doesn’t want to rush to put out something she doesn’t love and back 100%) and how she keeps her hair looking so great!

Her set then continued with the Beatles Oh Darlin, Who You Are by Jessie J and she finished her set with Etta James’ At Last.

Katie has an amazingly powerful voice and I wish her the best out in LA and working on her new material!

A video clip of Oh Darlin:

After her set, she did a signing for those interested. She is a total sweetheart AND she likes my name. I wonder why? 😉

Action Item The Stronger The Love Tour

Katie October 24, 2011 0 Comments

Friday night, my friends and I went to see Action Item at The Space in Hamden, VIP style. Only 25 VIP tickets were available for each show and included dinner with the band before the show! Unfortunately, on the way to the show I was in a car accident, but I’ll expand on that in tomorrow’s post!
I got to VIP a bit late, but they were doing group photos when I got there so I hadn’t missed much. There was pizza to eat and soda and then Anthony and Brian did an acoustic set of 3 songs. Then the guys all mingled with everyone and took photos and chatted.

At 6pm doors opened and at 6:30 the first band was on – Voted Most Random. They aren’t technically on The Stronger The Love tour but were added I think by the space. I wasn’t too impressed with them – especially since they enjoyed spitting water on the crowd. Maybe I am just getting old, but I found it disgusting.

The next band up was Hollywood Ending. They are up for Radio Disney’s next big thing, and I enjoyed their set. They also announced they were going to do a cover and my friend said “please don’t let it be Katy Perry” (As voted most random did a kesha cover and if there is one thing we dislike more than kesha and katy perry it is bands covering kesha and katy perry) and it turned out that they did the Jonas Brothers Year 3000!

Days Difference was up next – I had seen them once before. The music was SO LOUD for the set I could barely hear the lead singer so I can’t really say much. We we right by the speaker all night and my ear plugs have been missing for quite some time now so I am just keeping my fingers crossed that my ears do eventually stop buzzing!

Next up was Burnham, the brother band from Vermont who I do enjoy. Unfortunately, the mic was still not very loud and I couldn’t make out most of what they were singing! They did do a cover of Bruno Mars’ The Lazy Song (edited, of course!)

Then finally it was time for Action Item! This is their first headlining tour and Connecticut was their first SOLD OUT show! (in fact, it was oversold by 20 tickets) The lighting absolutely stunk in the venue so pictures all had to be edited and even still aren’t that great. The show was very high energy and a lot of fun – it was nice to see them in a headlining situation after having seen them open for Honor Society twice a couple of months back.

After the show all the bands were hanging out to sign and take photos – but I had to get home to call the insurance to get the claim rolling on my car damage!

American Idol Concert Meet and Greet

American Idol VIP Ticket Experience

Katie August 28, 2011 0 Comments

Thursday night it was time for my American Idol VIP Experience. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect because I had not been able to find too many reviews of how other peoples M&Gs went. All I knew was that first there were group photos and then you had time to get solo photos with the Idols. I basically only wanted a photo with Stefano and anything beyond that would be a bonus.

When I arrived at the venue it was raining and quite a crowd had already formed. Some had other M&G passes which would allow them the “sign and slide” where they get a photo signed and don’t have much time to talk to the idols. We were let in and put in groups of 10-15 for the group photo with 10 of the Idols (Thia was not there. Not sure why) and then we moved off to the side until everyone got their group photos.

For the group picture, we were near Lauren who warned us her hair might look bad in the back. I told her our hair probably wasn’t much better since we were out in the rain! Then she went on about how she woke up at 3:30 because she had overslept and had a M&G at 4 and still had to go to hair and makeup!

I met up with a facebook friend, Miriam, and we had our game plan down. She wanted photos with Pia, Lauren and Haley. I wanted photos with Stefano (and Haley). We decided we would get those done first and then whoever was still around if we still had time we’d hit up next. We went to Haley first, she had a crowd, so we waited our turn… for a little bit Stefano had no one with him while we were waiting for Haley 🙁 He wasn’t talking much because he was sick and I knew if I went to talk to him it probably wouldn’t have ended well haha. So we got our photos with Haley, then went to Stefano. Somehow my camera went on video mode so I was standing next to him for the longest time while Miriam was trying to figure out why the camera wasn’t working. Finally I fixed it and got my photo with him. We bounced all around trying to see who had the shorter lines. We went to Pia next and then waited for Lauren (I think she and James had the longest lines) I can’t exactly remember the order but after we hit up our “priority list” we got pics with Paul (and I talked w/ him a bit about Hanson since his fiance is a fan – he said he knew them and they were good guys) and we decided we’d try for Scotty – except we didn’t know where he was! Someone overheard me say I had no idea where Scotty was and directed us down the hall where Scotty’s mom took our photo with him! He’s so adorable in person. We hit up Jacob.. and looked for Naima but it seemed like she had left! (Earlier Pia, Jacob and Naima were all near each other) Stefano also looked like he was gone at this point… Casey had a short line so we went by him and were told he had to leave, but then someone yelled “TWO MINUTE WARNING”, so we were able to get a photo with him. After that we hopped in line for James since he was the only one left. We got to the front of his table but as soon as we got up to the front time was up and he had to leave! Argh! So close.

Overall, we did really well with getting photos! There was no way we could have gotten Thia, Naima left or we probably could have gotten her when we went back over to get Jacob… and James was just a bit too popular for us. Apparently some people did manage to get photos with everyone and I have to commend them for that because it was not easy!

We also got a photo that everyone had previously signed for us with instructions on how to get our group photo.

Personally I probably would have removed the group photo aspect of it and allowed us more time to just mingle with the idols – without the group photo (which was hard to get near whoever you like anyway since there were 11 idols and 10-15 fans) we would have absolutely had the time to get photos with everyone individually – and probably then some.

But I would have to say that the $250 for the VIP Package was certainly worth it.

Concert Honor Society Meet and Greet

Honor Society at the Gramercy Theater

Katie June 30, 2011 0 Comments

Sunday night Honor Society took their “Wherever You Are” Tour to the Gramercy Theater in New York City. The show was oversold by at least 50 tickets and was a huge hometown crowd! Opening was I Love Monsters (also from NYC), Katelyn Tarver and Action Item (from NJ).

Things got started out a bit late – the M&G was supposed to go in at 3pm but ended up going in at 3:30, which then pushed doors back and of course the venue staff really had no idea what was going on. (but what else is new?) However, the show did not start late – I Love Monsters went on while there were still people outside (and lots of them).

Things got delayed again when checking the equipment before Katelyn and Action Item’s sets went a little bit long. I think Action Item’s set may have even been cut a bit short to make sure that Honor Society had ample time to perform.

Honor Society’s set started out similar to the MA show on Friday, but they added in “Sing For You”, “Gentleman After Dark” (I was psyched to hear this one live!) and “Full Moon Crazy” (They also did not do “When I Get Home”)

At times, the guys just took a step back to take in all the cheering after songs. It had been over a YEAR since they had played in New York City so we were all definitely excited for them to be there!

After the show the line for the after show M&G wrapped around the block. (If you pre-ordered their soon to be released EP, you got a wristband for a photo with the band after the show) Things were a bit rushed but I managed to get a hug from Andy even though they “weren’t allowed” and he told me that they’d be around again soon. Let’s hope so!

When we made it back to Grand Central we wanted to take the 10:22 train back. However, it had no track listed for where to get on. (We had picked up food at 7-11 and really wanted to be sitting down and eating it!) We waited and waited watching the big screen to see when the track would pop up, worried that we’d be delayed – or worse – the train would be canceled and we’d be stuck there another hour. It was not until after 10pm (We got to the station around 9:45) that a track was listed and by that point everyone was running to get to the track. The train arrived shortly after and we gave everyone a chance to get off before making sure to get a seat. The train was PACKED, tons of people standing.

On the way home, getting off my exit there is a blinking red light (if it is after midnight). I was going to go right, but a car was coming down the hill from my left, so I waited even though I might have had enough time to make the turn. (I get paranoid and figure it is always best to just wait until nothing is coming than try to judge if I can make it or not). A car came FLYING down the exit ramp and turned left – definitely cutting off the car I was waiting to pass by. Turns out – it was a COP car and the lights immediately went on and he made a U-turn to pull over the speed demon. Good thing I waited – I definitely didn’t want to accidentally cut off a cop!

Setlist is under the cut!
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Concert Honor Society Meet and Greet Photos

Honor Society at Showcase Live

Katie June 25, 2011 2 Comments

Last night Honor Society played at Showcase Live in Foxboro, MA. If you were one of the first 50 ticket buyers you got to go to a preshow M&G with all 3 of the acts from the tour – Katelyn Tarver, Action Item and Honor Society.

Alex was really the only one that talked to me (aside from a hello nice to see you from the others) – but he was talking to me about a show I wasn’t even at! (CT last year – I skipped it because of Hanson’s 5 of 5 the same night) I think he decided I was there since Lauren and Christine were.. haha. In his defense, very rarely are Lauren and I not together at a show!

I Love Monsters was the first opening act of the night, followed by Katelyn Tarver and then Action Item. Then it was time for the main event – Honor Society! They have not toured in over a year so it had been a LONG while since we saw them (with the exception of Mike and Jason who performed in November – but even that was a LONG time ago!)
While the set was short – only about an hour – it was jam packed with great music and was a ton of fun. By preordering the new Honor Society EP we got a chance to get a photo with them at the end of the nigh. It was very quick and we didn’t get to talk with the guys as much as we would have liked – but it is always nice that they remember us and ask when they will be seeing us again (tomorrow for me!)

I think one of the highlights of the night for me was hearing the Nobody Has To Know (my favorite HS Song) / Jay Z 99 problems mashup. Just when I thought that song could not get any better!

After the show, we drove about an hour out from the venue (It was a little over 2 hours away from here) and stopped for gas and at this point Christine realized that she did not have her cell phone. I called it twice and when we heard nothing ringing we figured it must have fallen out of her pocket when we went to the restroom after the show. We sat at the gas station for about 20 minutes figuring out what to do. We figured if the movie theater definitely had the phone – we should probably go back and get it, even though it meant an extra 2 hours on to our trip.

Lauren called the movie theater where we went to the restroom and they said that no one had turned in a phone and it was not anywhere on the floor in the bathroom. Christine was becoming more and more panicked so Lauren told her to get in the passenger seat and she would drive back to Christine’s (they had been planning to switch driving anyhow) while Christine tried to figure out what she needed to do with the phone company to get the phone turned off. When Lauren went to get in to the drivers seat – what was sitting there? Christine’s phone. We didn’t hear it ringing because she had her volume turned down a bit AND she was sitting on it.

Just another ridiculous story to add to the Honor Society files…

Setlist under the cut!

Concert Hanson Meet and Greet Photos

Hanson at Gaylord National June 18, 2011

Katie June 23, 2011 0 Comments

Saturday evening I went to see Hanson at the Gaylord National in National Harbor, MD. (My 100th concert in a state other than my home state of CT!) Before leaving we found out that National Harbor is actually Oxon Hill, MD! Luckily we figured that out because I don’t think the GPS would have gotten us there otherwise.

We were able to purchase a packaged deal which included a one night stay at the hotel, tickets to see Hanson and a M&G pass for after the show. It seemed pretty reasonably priced (only and extra $10 per person for the M&G!) so we went for the full VIP treatment.

Fresh 94.7 was hosting the event, and I have to say they were completely organized and everyone that I had met working for them was incredibly nice as well. The staff at the hotel was also really nice too!

Justin Trawick (http://www.justintrawick.com/) was the opener and did about 8 songs. I enjoyed him, however the majority of the crowd made it fairly obvious that they were there to see Hanson by rudely talking through most of his set.

Next up it was time for Hanson. They came out really quickly after Justin’s set and I think they were not prepared to be hitting the stage so soon! They did a 10 song set and chatted a little bit with the crowd. The airline had ruined one of Isaac’s guitar on their trip and they talked a bit about that and dedicated “Strong Enough To Break” to the lost guitar, Pablo. On the line “play like broken records..” Isaac sang “Play like broken guitars”

After the set we waited a bit for the M&G to start. My friend had a picture of a billboard that is in PA that says “Even though her favorite band is still Hanson” which is part of their ad campaign that features a bunch of billboards on why you should still propose to your girlfriend “even though”. Isaac and Taylor didn’t seem to understand what was going on so I tried to explain “You still propose.. even though her favorite band is still Hanson” and they still didn’t quite get it. Zac, however, seemed to understand more after my explanation so we talked a bit about how is it a bad thing to like Hanson (no) and he wasn’t offended by the billboard but wasn’t exactly sure how to take it either. At least now I can joke that Zac and I talked about getting engaged! (Though.. not to each other. He is happily married and I’m… happily single?)

The radio station took photos of us while we were talking to the guys, we weren’t allowed anything posed. I am (not so) patiently awaiting for those to be added to the station’s website!

Setlist under the cut!

Concert Javier Colon Meet and Greet

Javier Colon at the Ridgefield Playhouse

Katie May 29, 2011 0 Comments

If you have been watching NBC’s “The Voice”, you are probably familiar with vocal talent Javier Colon. If you’re not, well you’re missing out on a great show with some great talent.

Thursday night Javier did a home town show in Ridgefield, CT (He is from Stratford), the only show he has done since being on The Voice and the only show he will do before heading out for the live shows. (Be sure to vote for him)

His opening act was Rebecca Correia, who is a friend of Javier’s since college. She performed 7 songs and has an absolutely amazing voice! Be sure to check her out on iTunes if you aren’t familiar with her stuff – I’m sure you will enjoy it!
After a brief intermission, Javier took the stage. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect because I had never had the chance to see Javier before, but he did not disappoint. He has an amazing voice and his original songs were phenomenal as well. His performance went on for nearly two hours – with him chatting about songs and his family in between performing.
He mixed in cover songs with originals and all of them were sang beautifully, he certainly is “The Voice” and if he doesn’t win it will be incredibly disappointing. Someone yelled out from the crowd that he has to win and he responded “I’m gonna try!” and encouraged us all to vote for him once the live rounds air beginning June 7th! (Right around the corner!)

He talked a bit about how he was never really in to country before, but is now – and played part of Achy Breaky Heart and Friends in Low Places to demonstrate a few songs about why he didn’t like country. Then he played “Love Me” and he said that song had turned him on to country and he liked how the songs told a story. I am not a big country fan myself either – but I do also enjoy the storytelling aspect.

He also mentioned that his song “Ok, Here’s The Truth”, was written in a country fashion in that it tells a story and that you really need to listen to the lyrics to figure out what is going on in the song. Of course, he told me to listen so I listened and was near tears by the end of the song! I think there are a couple of versions of the song on YouTube and I recommend you check it out for yourself and pay attention to the lyrics – I don’t want to give anything away!

Since there was a piano on stage, he played a couple of songs on it – specifically Song For Your Tears and then a song by one of his favorite female singers. At first he went in to singing “Oops I Did It Again”, but said that he was joking and then did a great cover of Sarah McLachlan’s Arms Of An Angel.

Honestly, I don’t think how amazing his voice is really comes out over TV, it is something that is best experienced live.

After the show he hung out at the merch table and signed autographs and took photos with anyone who asked! Many in the crowd were family and friends so it was nice to see him interact with them. It was also funny when he’d be talking to someone but spot someone else in the crowd who he knew, and would get all excited that he’d be chatting with them next!

Rebecca and Javier’s setlist under the cut. Rebecca mentioned all her song titles before songs but Javier did not – so I might have names wrong and I know I am missing a couple from his set.

Concert Meet and Greet

The Ready Set Dunkin Donuts Music Lounge 5/26

Katie May 28, 2011 0 Comments

Thursday afternoon I once again headed to the Dunkin Donuts Music Lounge, this time for a live chat and private performance with The Ready Set, thanks to Kiss 95.7 (and my friend Pam who won and invited me along!)

Jordan was already in the room when we got in and JC from Kiss 95.7 was also there to emcee the chat. The room was first asked if they had any questions for Jordan and then JC also had some questions submitted by listeners. Everything was broadcast on UStream.

More Than Alive
Young Forever
Love Like Woe