Random – Page 2 – Concert Katie

90s Con – Hartford, CT

Katie April 2, 2022 0 Comments

90sCon solo.png

The second weekend in March, 90s Con made its debut at the Hartford Convention Center in Hartford, CT. When it was first announced last summer, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be ok with going to a convention with such large crowds yet, but as they added more and more guests I ended up buying a Saturday ticket and would give it a go. About a week before, we found out that Joey Fatone wouldn’t be able to be there on Saturday, but that he would be appearing Friday and Sunday, so we opted to buy a Friday pass and I decided to add a pro photo op with Rider Strong so on Saturday whoever we ended up meeting, we’d meet and I wouldn’t be in panic mode all day.

Friday finally came, and as we were pulling into the parking garage, we got word that Joey’s flight had gotten canceled and he would not be making it Friday OR Saturday. We managed to get in an ADA entrance and grab a spot for the MMC panel at 5pm. They held it for a while because so many people were stuck in line getting their credentials checked for their covid vaccines and weren’t making their way inside yet. 6-7 was supposed to be our Joey hour, so we just kind of wandered around a bit and then 7 was my photo op with Rider. We didn’t hang around too much after that, but it was nice to get the layout. I should have probably tried for another photo Friday to knock more off of my wish list, but I am very much so out of con shape.

Saturday we got in early, but again just kind of wandered around and did a few of the photo ops and the Spice Girls display. At noon I made a voodoo doll and I started realizing time was running out if I wanted to meet everyone. We got in line for Will Friedle, and then my friends had their Full House photo op so I was off to meet Matthew and Joey Lawrence on my own. Danielle Fishel’s line got capped, so I got in line to see the Boy Meets World panel at 3 and was able to stay for the Full House panel at 4. After we went back downstairs, and Daneille’s line was capped once again. I did end up going in the order of how badly I wanted to meet them so I was ok with missing out on Danielle. (With any luck, next year they’ll be back AND with Ben so I can do a cast photo!)

Next year, I’m hoping to go again and I’ll have a better game plan figured out. And maybe I’ll stay on site as well to not have to drive back and forth an hour for 3 days straight. It sounds like it’ll be back in CT – just waiting on dates!

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Year In Review – 2021 – Virtual & In-Person

Katie December 30, 2021 0 Comments

The beginning of 2021 was definitely a lot more virtual shows, with a few other sprinkled in. While I was happy to be back to shows in person, being able to watch from bed did spoil me a bit… As far as in person shows, I like to try and get a concert a month in and while I didn’t do it completely in person, I was able to make it happen combined with virtual. I’m not sure how that streak will hold up for 2022 as I’m still not in a big rush o go to many shows, but we’ll see what I can pull off.

Since I’m trying to combine – virtual will be the first numbers and in-person the second.

Most expensive show:
Kris Allen & David Cook from London was $24
Jonas Brothers at almost $500 for a “Citi Presale” ticket I am pretty sure was Ticketmaster Platinum in disguise.

Least (not free) expensive show:
Hanson was $11.50 for the MON/TTA shows
Stephen Kellogg at the Kate was $36

Free shows:
Hanson’s BTTI streams were free, there was 2.
None of my in person shows were free (how rude)

# artists seen: 17+ / 28
# unique artists seen: 6+ one show was a compilation and I didn’t keep track / 10
# shows seen in CT: All Virtual / 9 in person
# of shows out of state: 2 / 12

Show farthest away: I watched Matt Nathanson while in Arkansas / Oklahoma for in person
Closest show: All the ones from bed / Wallingford, CT
$$ spent on tickets: $165 / $1593
Miles traveled: I’m calling it 0 / 18,296

Top 6 shows of the year?
Kris & David from London was probably my favorite. The O-Town ones were also very fun because I haven’t seen them in FOREVER.
Hanson TTA Acoustic, Kris w/ the symphony were probably my tops, although for a while there after every show I was like “THIS IS THE BEST SHOW EVER!”

Total number of shows in 2021? 15 virtual shows / 21 in person

First show of the year? Hanson / Hanson

First show with actual tickets: N/A / Stephen Kellogg at the Kate

Last show of the year? Matt Nathanson / Stephen Kellogg at FTC

Most surprising show? I liked them all but nothing was really out of the ordinary / Alice Cooper

Most disappointing? None / Still the canceled and postponed ones and the one I had to miss because I was sick (not covid)

Farthest traveled? None / I think Oklahoma

States attended shows in? CT & AR for virtual / CT, OK, NY, AR for in person

Venue most visited? My bed / Cain’s Ballroom, Tulsa

Band seen the most? Hanson then O-Town / Hanson

Best new discovery? I mostly stuck with what I knew / Carrie Welling opening for David Cook

Bands seen this year that also broke up this year? None

Friends made at shows? The floppy bunny that lives in my bed was still my virtual concert BFF. / None

Band members met? No Zoom M&Gs this year / Hanson, Stephen Kellogg, Kris Allen, Jon McLaughlin

Best souvenir from a show? None

Longest time in line? None / I don’t remember waiting for any of them too long – maybe like 30 mins before the Hanson ones.

Shows seen from the barricade [front row]– Technically all, I guess. / AJR, sort of. Hanson at Cain’s this summer.

Most shows in one month?

January – 5 / 0
February – 2 / 0
March – 1 / 0
April – 1 / 0
May – 1 / 2
June – 0 / 1
July – 2 / 0
August – 0 / 4
September – 0 / 7
October – 1 / 2
November –0 / 2
December – 2 / 3

Most shows in one week? The Hanson January shows was 3. / Any of the OK trips was 2. AR was 2.

Biggest crowd? Probably the Hanson shows / Alanis & Jonas

Any drunk encounters? Definitely not! lol one major perk to watching by yourself from the safety of your own bed. / None in person either, phew!

Missed shows:

Hanson’s Back to the Island in January was postponed.
David Cook was postponed but happened later
The Hop Jam was postponed.
David Archuleta was postponed to 2022
Mandy Moore was postponed to 2022
Backstreet Boys was postponed to 2022.
Jason Mraz was canceled (due to hurricane)
I skipped Eric Hutchinson due to being sick
I sold Harry Styles due to not being ready to be at the casino.

Random

Anti Bucket List 2021

Katie December 30, 2021 0 Comments

Made it to 21 concerts in person in 2021. Saw Alice Cooper for the first time. Finally saw Alanis Morrissette in concert. Finally saw AJR in concert. Worked from home for a full year. Visited Iowa and the Field of Dreams. Visited Arkansas. Stayed ahead on scrapbooking by making a page each time I bought concert tickets. Continued to embrace the virtual concert. Took a road trip to Annapolis and stole a bus. Got stung by a bee. Got my hair semi-professionally done for a charity ball. Did a lot of volunteering. Found some Oklahoma stout beers I love. Tried beer soft serve.

2020 Anti Bucket List
2019 Anti Bucket List
2018 Anti Bucket List
2017 Anti Bucket List
2016 Anti Bucket List
2015 Anti Bucket List
2014 Anti Bucket List
2013 Anti Bucket List

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Anti Bucket List 2020

Katie January 1, 2021 0 Comments

Work on Grad School homework on a patio in Jamaica. Deal with a cyber attack from vacation. Get some sort of food poisoning (salmonella?) while on vacation. Deal with 3 canceled concerts, 17 postponed ones and 2 canceled cons. Attend 37 live stream concerts. Didn’t leave my house for 100+ days. Managed to set up a work from home setup with nearly no notice. Didn’t wear my brace for 250 days. Attended every in-person Hanson concert there was (13). Bought way too many masks to find the perfect fit. Blew my reading goal out of the water. Made an update to my website that was in the works for 8 years. Finally caught up on scrapbooking and even got ahead. Graduated grad school – in a tornado, virtually. Fight Russian bots. Felt like I was in a SciFi movie every time I flew. Have my credit card number stolen 3 times despite rarely leaving the house. Gave myself 2 COVID tests. Got excited when in-person races I otherwise wouldn’t be able to participate in went virtual.

2019 Anti Bucket List
2018 Anti Bucket List
2017 Anti Bucket List
2016 Anti Bucket List
2015 Anti Bucket List
2014 Anti Bucket List
2013 Anti Bucket List

Random

COVID concert update

Katie July 2, 2020 0 Comments

The end of March I gave an update on my upcoming concerts – or lack thereof. Things have just gotten worse since then as the number of people allowed to gather together inside is not enough to allow for an indoor concert and probably won’t be for the foreseeable future if cases continue to spike. (Wear a mask!)

March 11 – John K radio show – canceled due to health concerns the afternoon of the show
March 28 – Mandy Moore – postponed, date TBD
April 2 – BBMak – rescheduled to October 2020
April 4 – Dashboard Confessional – postponed to November – canceled after Chris’ accident, waiting on refund
April 18 – Stephen Kellogg – went virtual and became an * in my stats
April 19 – Stephen Kellogg – went virtual and became an * in my stats (Will count for 2020 yearly count, but not overall as I don’t count virtual)
April 28 – David Archuleta – postponed, most likely to May 2021
April 30 – Eric Hutchinson – postponed, date TBD
May 1 – Niall Horan – canceled, refund received.
May 10 – Ben Folds – postponed, date TBD
May 15 – Hanson – postponed to 2021
May 16 – Hanson – postponed to 2021
May 17 – Hop Jam – postponed to 2021
June 11 – Stephen Kellogg – show got pushed to August, still not sure it’ll end up happening
June 27 – Alanis Morissette – postponed to August 2021
June 28 – David Cook – pushed to October 2020
July 12 – Harry Styles – postponed to October 2021
July 18 – Backstreet Boys – postponed to July 2021
August 20 – Stephen Kellogg – rescheduled from June *fingers crossed*
October 15 – rescheduled from April *fingers crossed*
October 23 – rescheduled from June *fingers crossed*

With all the free time, I managed to get 100% on my Capstone research paper (that came in right on target at 15 pages), I have finished all my concert scrapbook pages AND created pages for all the upcoming shows (some of which turned into cancelled show pages) that are “one offs” (ie not Hanson in Tulsa or Jamaica, but I expect outlines for those pages will be coming soon) and I have just about 13 more baseball games to scrap (I hadn’t done any since I think 2016…) and I will be totally caught up on scrapbooking past events. This is a bit of a shock as I am usually just about a year behind on scrapbooking. And now I’ll be AHEAD with the pre-made pages for the postponed shows. I’ll continue to showcase these pages on Saturdays until I run out of content!

Random

Scrapbook Saturday – December

Katie May 30, 2020 0 Comments

Kris Allen, Waitress

Anti Bucket List 2019

Katie January 1, 2020 0 Comments

Spend over 5 DAYS in the air. (Not in airports but actually in the air!) Get pooped on by a koala (again) Continue Grad School with Straight As. See a Hanson show (make that two) in a Zoo. Work Merch for a band. Take a train several states away for a show. See a former boybander I’ve been wanting to see for years (Robbie Williams). See a new state: Minnesota. Become a go-between for Joe Jonas and Taylor Hanson and somehow make it work. See concerts in casinos other than my own. See a new state: Indiana. Plan a trip to Hawaii in no time flat. Celebrate Christmas with Hanson at 6 Wintry Mix Shows.

2018 Anti Bucket List
2017 Anti Bucket List
2016 Anti Bucket List
2015 Anti Bucket List
2014 Anti Bucket List
2013 Anti Bucket List

Meet and Greet Random

Rhode Island Comic Con

Katie November 17, 2019 0 Comments

After a couple of successful years at RICC, we had decided we would skip this year and use the funds to go to LeakyCon instead since it was an all Harry Potter related con. When RICC added Evanna Lynch (Luna from HP) we figured we’d try to go one day to meet her… but once they added James & Oliver Phelps (Weasley twins) and Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley) we were all-in for the full weekend.

Friday

We didn’t have too much to do on Friday, as it was a short day and not all of the guests would be there. I did the Weasleys team up photo and we went to see the panel “Richard Dreyfuss: A Legendary Career Retrospective” We were happy that they had a new moderator, but the panel was not all what we were expecting. The moderator asked him what he didn’t want to answer and he said Jaws was off the table – he knows everything about Jaws and any question about Jaws he has heard before – but if you had something he hadn’t heard before he’d give you $10. If not, you’d have to give him $10. He also went on a… rant? about Civics no longer being taught in schools and he is writing a book about it that should be out soon. *shrug emoji* Not quite at all what we were expecting and we hoped that didn’t set the theme for the rest of the con.

Saturday

We had a pretty packed schedule for Saturday and our only potential conflict – with the Stranger Things panel being the same time as Elijah Woods. Once we found out that you needed to get there early to get a wristband for Stranger Things we decided to sleep in, roll up a little later and just go to Elijah’s panel. We had 3 straight panels starting at noon – but didn’t figure into our sleeping in plan that the parking garage may have been full! We had to park at the Providence Place Mall which actually worked out ok as it was not a long walk and we were starting and ending our day at the Omni Hotel which was closest to the mall!

Our first panel was “Catherine Tate: A Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey Career”. She had no moderator and just fielded the questions herself and chatted about her career. I don’t really know who she is but my friend I was with wanted to see her but she was very entertaining. Our second was “Saved By The Bell Reunion: A Trip Back to Bayside” and was supposed to be Mark Paul Goselaar and Elizabeth Berkley, but Elizabeth canceled at the last minute so it was just MPG. Front row in front of him was almost too much for me to handle. He even did a tumble tuck and roll onto the stage after (purposely?) tripping up the stairs. He had a moderator who really knew his SBTB stuff and it was really entertaining that MPG remembered next to nothing from the series. Next up was “John Barrowman: A Hero, A Villain, A a Hero Again.” This was the first panel we were told no photos for and we were BUMMED. But John took the mic from the side of the stage and said his fans could take all the photos and videos they would like! He also had no moderator, was absolutely hilarious and sooo much fun. He even sang A Thousand Years to end the panel. He went over time and we had a little bit of time to get to the convention center for my Evanna Lynch photo op. We were rushing, got up to the top of the elevator and were blocked by… John Barrowman. Would have loved to briefly chat with him – but just had to say excuse me so we could hustle to the NIGHTMARE that was photo ops. You had to enter the complete other end of the room, get past the massive Saturday crowds only to find a wall of 800 people you have to push through to get in line. Fortunately I made it in time – but wanted to put on a different shirt and didn’t have time for that. Oh well. Then we had about an hour to kill before a photo with Christina Ricci, so we wandered around a bit and then made it through the masses AGAIN for the next photo. Things were running behind and were SO unorganized but fortunately it all worked out and I ended up first through to meet her and she was so sweet!

With some more time to kill before our last panel, we went and got Gaten’s autograph and Mark Paul Gosselaars. I couldn’t even speak to him but got an autograph and a photo with him. I guess better to not speak at all then say something stupid. “Beyond the Shire with Elijah Wood” was in the smaller room (with Stranger Things in the bigger one) which was maxxed out in occupancy. It also was only 30 mins instead of 45 like the bigger panels and it was just not enough time! He was adorable and funny though and I just love him. Then it was time to leave our busiest day.

Sunday

We started Sunday by going to meet Evanna Lynch. Then we had to hustle back over to the hotel and didn’t make it in time for close seating for “Growing Up On Camera: Q&A with Christina Ricci” but made it into her panel just the same (more no photos) She was sweet and so fun to listen to talk about her career. After leaving Christina we went to “Puppet Party: A Sunny Day in the Smallest State” which ended up with everyone crying because Carroll Spinney (Big Bird, Oscar) had retired from Sesame Street earlier and was now retiring from Cons. Who knew that the Sesame Street panel would be the one to make us cry? Then we did a GREAT job getting the rest of the signatures we needed – Catherine Tate, Bonnie Wright, James & Oliver Phelps (who were SO sweet and chatty.) Some of these autographs I mention might just be featured in the Fanthropy Running Club’s Yule Ball Auctions soon… 😉 😉 Bid on them for a good cause! Then we made it to the “Avada Kdavra! Wizarding 101 in Harry Potter” which was a great way to close out the weekend!

Wish photos were allowed even for the first minute during the later panels so I’d have something for my scrapbook – last year RICC posted some photos and I snagged those but I haven’t seen anything posted yet 🙁 Next year is already scheduled but not an off Friday so I guess I’ll have to see if I can save a vacation day or if I’ll be ok to just do 2 days based on the guest announcements!

Random

New Hampshire Highland Games

Katie October 15, 2019 0 Comments

A couple of friends invited me along to the Highland Games at Loon Mountain in New Hampshire. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it turns out I can get into any sort of competitive sport if I try – whether it be Caber Toss, Hammer Throw or Weight Over Bar. (We missed the Stone Carry) Maybe it was the kilts or maybe I just like I good competition. We also attended the opening ceremony when the bag pipers came in and I said, “Oh, I like this song!” only to be told by one friend – “just wait until the end of the day.” And yeah… maybe I’m over it now because I did hear it quite a few times! I got stupidly sunburned (another one of my trademark “Katie doesn’t know how to properly apply sun screen” burns) and then we tried to get ice cream before leaving for the day after seeing a Weight over Bar world record! I decided that there was nothing I needed more in that moment than a root beer float – only for the guy in line in front of us to order the last one they had. (I wonder if my hyping it up how badly I wanted it made him change his mind and order it…) We had some time to kill so we wandered around a shop for a bit before the concert that evening – featuring the Red Hot Chilli Pipers. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised. Who knew bagpipes and rock music worked so well? Well, RHCP I guess… Most of the songs didn’t have anyone singing, but I am fairly certain AC/DC Long Way To The Top was in there somewhere (and how could it NOT be?) It was a lot of late nights and early mornings and I’m not sure I’d do that drive again (4+ hours!) but I enjoyed myself.

Random

Impractical Jokers at Mohegan Sun

Katie June 11, 2019 0 Comments

Friday June 7 The Impractical Jokers brought their Cranjis McBasketball tour to the Mohegan Sun Arena for night 1 of a 2 night stay. My Mom managed to score free tickets and my brothers who got me into them in the first place said that it wouldn’t be any fun to see them live because it’s not like the TV show and decided they didn’t want to come.

I went back to the machine I had won on my last 2 trips, only for it to take all of my $20. I had been eyeing a polar bear machine behind me and went over there with $10 and was hoping to get back up to $30 to come out even for the night. I kept getting “BIG WIN” which was about $6. Then it said “MASSIVE WIN” and I won $84 and not too long after “HUGE WIN” and won even more. Since we still had time until doors I decided to first play to come home with $50 over my $30 but ended up leaving with $70 over my original $30. Not bad!

We ended up in the back of the lower level of the arena for the show. I’m not a huge fan of comedians and the opening act was blah. Usually I just don’t like anyone – but my Mom agreed that he was very weak.

The jokers came out and they each told some stories while the others interjected and made fun of them. They also showed some videos and we were laughing pretty much the whole time. (although Murr sucks at telling stories and Sal is definitely the best at it.) They also asked how many people had seen them before and how many it was their first time – there were only a handful who had seen them before which led them to realize “they never come back” lol I’m not sure I’d go see them multiple times on the same tour since I’m pretty sure it is just the same stories each night, but I’d definitely consider seeing them again in the future on another tour! For now, I’ll just stick to watching them every week on TV (and hope there is also an after party episode with Joey Fatone!)