At 8 we met up with our friends and walked a few blocks down to where the stage was set up. It took us about half an hour to get down there since a lot of areas were slippery. As soon as we turned to the stage they started singing 'Over You' and we found out it was still soundcheck. I joked I should lend Alex my hat because he wasn't wearing one. (And I thought my hat was pretty ridiculous)
Then they left the stage and we waited for 9pm to roll around. During this time our friend Cara spotted us and brought us over to meet Allison and Erin. We chatted with them a bit and then went to snag a spot for the show.
For a while I was off to the side and Lauren wandered around. Umbrellas were making it hard to see all the guys. My camera battery died (which we had charged on the way down, what the heck?) just as I got a clear view of Alex. In a rush I put the battery in backwards and it got stuck. I spent some time messing with it and gave up before realizing I could probably pry it out with a coin, but I had dumped all my coins in the hotel to make my purse lighter! Then I remembered I had a secret stash of quarters and pennies for penny collecting and was able to get it fixed. And then an umbrella was blocking Alex again! Haha
Later Lauren took me in to the crowd for the show. I had never really been in 'the middle' of a GA crowd, but I survived (with lots of Lauren's help!)
The set was basically the same as it was at the end of the Fashionably Late tour but they did add 'Down' in the middle of don't close the book. The song was on my list of most annoying songs in 2009 (a mental list I had been keeping haha) but it was a nice surprise.
After their set we went to find a warm place to sit. We hung out iin a hallway for a bit and then headed back out at about 1130 to catch some of Cherry Poppin Daddies set and get spots for the kiss raising.
Honor society came back on stage for the countdown and then there were fireworks. The guys took pics and wished fans a happy new year but considering it was like a stampede when the guys hit the barricade, I stayed back. I kind of wanted a pic of Alex and I in our ridiculous winter hats (he put one on after the show – and a jacket too he was drumming in a tshirt!!) But it wasn't worth breaking through the crowd.
We said Happy New Year to some of the guys parents and then watched the police blow a whistle to get Alex to leave the crowd!
We made our way back to the hotel, slipping and sliding. There had been talk of hot showers but we were far too beat to even stand in the shower and crashed in bed watching a lifetime movie haha
It was a great way to ring in the new year – great friends and great music though the freezing rain we could have done without!!
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