Honor Society New Years Eve – Part II

Katie January 2, 2010 0 Comments

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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Honor Society New Years Eve – Part I

Katie January 1, 2010 0 Comments

Yesterday, Lauren and I planned to leave for Hershey at 10am, putting us there around 2pm with M&G; not starting until 4pm so we would have a 2 hours buffer in case of traffic. Except at 9am I rolled over in bed and saw SNOW.

A snow storm which was supposed to hit much later in the day (aka long after we had arrived in Hershey) ended up surprising everyone by coming early. The snow was fast and furious and within moments of me coming downstairs to check the weather, a tractor trailer jack knifed and closed down I-95 South – the highway we had planned on taking down to PA.

Lauren was still on her way to my house and when she got here we decided we would use our 2 hour buffer to wait the storm out, as a couple of friends in PA were keeping us updated and the snow had already finished there.

We hit the road at noon, fueled up the car and our stomachs and were on our way. We made it to the Hershey Theater just after 4pm and hopped in line with friends for the M&G.; It was freezing out but the line seemed to be moving quickly.

We debated what we were going to buy. We set a budget of $20 and decided that while posters were probably the cheapest option, we didn’t want to deal with getting those signed. However, our minds were made up for us when we got to the merch table and the only item left was the Fashionably Late Tour Shirt. I am really not a fan of shirts w/ the band on it (anymore. I rocked a huge JC Chasez and Joey Fatone head on my shirts in my youth) but we had no choice. And before we got to buy ours the only sizes left were small and medium!

While we were waiting, a news crew showed up and took the guys away temporarily to record a clip for their news show. After the guys came back, the camera guy filmed US in the crowd. We took note that the reporter’s mic said ABC 27 on it.

Made it through the line, showed Jason my pick locket that I had his pick in. He seemed impressed with it and gave me a hug. Then I told Alex that we had no rats on this trip and he laughed and was like “Rat free? Good!” and Jason over heard and was trying to figure out what we were saying. I don’t think he thought we would be talking about RATS… and Lauren told him he didn’t know the story. Alex excitedly turned to him and said, “ILL TELL YA LATER!” hahaha.

Mike was next and I told him that we almost didn’t make it down there and he asked why, but then was like OH SNOW! (All but Andy had gone down there the night before, which we would have done too, had we known the snow was going to come early!) And then we were on to Andy. He took my shirt and was laying it out to sign but I knew he hadn’t looked up and spotted me yet. When he did look up he was like OH HEY! and gave me a hug. I told him we missed him at Alvin and in his gift bag I photoshopped him in to our picture. He said he was upstate with family and he meant to photoshop HIMSELF in the photo but hadn’t gotten around to it yet. (Obviously not OUR picture, but the other ones of the guys that were taken that night lol)

Unfortunately we couldn’t give our gifts to them directly (it would hold up the line too much I guess) so I didn’t get to see their reaction to the panda poo journals 🙁 I will have to ask them about them next time I see them…

After the M&G; we went to check in to the hotel and of course I fell in a puddle. I don’t even know how it happened, but I marched right up to the room and put my PJ pants on and used our room’s hair dryer to dry my pants.

We relaxed a little bit and decided to get pizza from a local joint. Lauren went out while I hung in the room and then I got a call that NOTHING was open so we were getting microwave meals from Rite Aid across the street. So we had Vitamin Water, White Castle burgers and I had some Chef Boyardee. Throwback to the college days haha

I am going to finish the concert/midnight portion of this blog another time because I am suuuuper tired… and I feel like this has gone on for too long as it is.

Honor Society 11-15-09 Boston, MA

Katie November 16, 2009 0 Comments

Yesterday Lauren and I added Christine to our crew for the Honor Society show in Boston. Since Andrew had mentioned to Lauren that he didn’t even have to turn around after I came through the line, he knew who was there, we were planning all day to throw him off by putting Christine in between us for the M&G.;

We got to Boston a little after 2 and parked around the corner from the Paradise Rock Club. The line was a bit longer than it was when we got there over the summer for their Full Moon Crazy show. We went to Qdoba for lunch and then got in line.

Lauren and I decided to go into Goodwill to see if they had folding chairs for sale and they did so we bought a pair of them. The plan is to puff paint them and make them our official Honor Society waiting chairs lol

We sat around and joked about what we would do if Alex forgot my drumstick and then we all decided to tweet him to remind him.

I had gotten a flip camera last week so Christine and Lauren went to the front of the line to interview some people for a video for our fansite. Shortly after the gents arrived and got on the bus, they were leaning out the windows so Lauren and Christine went to the bus to document while I held down our spot in the line.

Then we waited and waited and waited for doors to open. While we were waiting they announced there was only 2 tickets left. A few minutes later the show sold out making it Honor Society’s 5th sold out show in a row.

A little after 6 we were let in. Christine and I went to grab a spot and Lauren was put on merch duty. We were also given pears for the “Snackin On a Pear” music video they were recording so Christine and I decorated our pears and ourselves with glo-sticks while we waited for Lauren to come back with our M&G; wristbands.

The gents came out and did snackin’ on a pear a few times and then it was a wrap! We thought Esmee Denters would be out next, but it was some girl from TX who sang 4 songs too many and kept calling them “The Honor Society”

Esmee didn’t come out until about 8. So much for her playing at 7! She did her usual set and then it was time to wait for the gents to come out! The crowd (99% with X’s on their hands) kept surging forward so they kept getting told to move back.

The setlist was the same as New York, except THEY BROUGHT BACK THIS BED IS AN OCEAN!! This is one of their old songs that didn’t make it to the Fashionably Late album, but was Lauren’s favorite song. (HSLive used to be called “Far From Shore” which is a line from that song) This was even MORE awesome for us because Lauren, HSLive and a couple other twitter fan friends had spearheaded a campaign to #BringBackThisBedIsAnOcean on twitter the night before!!

After See U In The Dark, we thought that Andy was pointing to us, but we weren’t sure if he could see us or not so we just kind of looked at each other confused.

Once the show ended, we met Esmee Denters and then got in line for the Honor Society M&G.; It was a signing and Christine kept going back and forth telling us what order they were in while they tried to calm me down because I was trying to NOT get my hopes up over Alex remembering a drumstick for me.

They sent me through the line first, so incase there was no drumstick, both Christine and Lauren would have a chance to yell at Alex. Andy was first, and I asked him if he had a pick for me. He made a face and felt in his pocket and said No, made a sad face and then said “I failed you again” Then he was saying how he saw us during the show and was pointing at us and we had no reaction and we said how we thought he was pointing to us but didn’t know if he could actually see us. And he was like “I SAW YOU!” Meanwhile, I hear Lauren making funny noises and I turn towards Alex and see him putting something behind his back…

Mike was next and we just said hello and that everything was going good. Then it was Alex who had the drumstick out in front of him at this point. I said thanks and asked him if he remembered himself or if Kat reminded him and he was like “no I remembered! and i told Kat.. we have to do this.” Then I told him I was glad he remembered because if not I might have burst into tears and he was like “NO! I remembered” 🙂

Next was Jason and I told him that our friend Ashley from Syracuse said hi. His eyes lit up and he was like “OH! Tell her I said hi!” and then I told him it was my 20th show so he gave me a high five and said he would see me at #21. Then Lauren came up and told him Ashley said hi and he said “So I’ve heard from multiple sources! Tell her I miss her and I will see her soon” And then Christine was like “Oh, if you didn’t hear, Ashley said hi!”

Then I went to leave and I think Lauren and Christine were still talking to Jason. and I hugged my drumstick all the way back to the car. And then I almost poked myself in the eye with it when I was trying to get my shoe off in the car LOL And I almost poked myself in the eye with it again when I was leaving Christine’s car and getting into Lauren’s. I guess I am just prone to being poked in the eye at Honor Society shows now.

Also – at one point during the show Alex flipped his drumstick but caught it backwards. I kept trying to show Christine and Lauren what he did (because I was cracking up when I saw it) and finally when we got to the car I was able to give a legit demonstration with my drumstick! 🙂

Coming up Next – Honor Society Show #20!

Katie November 14, 2009 0 Comments

One of my goals for this year was to get my total number of Honor Society shows up to 20 by the end of the year. When I told Alex about this in September, it seemed like I would only be able to hit 19. (Which led him to ask if TV shows counted and then told us to go to The Today Show and The Early Show to see them lol)

However, after seeing Hanson in Albany (show #40!) and driving 3+ hours home, getting home at 3am I thought – “Wow, I can totally go see Honor Society in Boston!” Now any sane person would say “Wow, I got home at 3am, that totally sucked! I am never doing that again!” But not me!

Tomorrow I will get up at 10 – which is early for me on a Sunday. (Hey, I stay up late watching SNL and then some, ok?) and we will begin our adventure, this time with Christine. Christine has only seen Honor Society open for the Jonas Brothers this summer – so I know she is in for a real treat 🙂

And Honor Society will be tied for 2nd place with Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers for # of times seen! I wonder how long before they catch up to Hanson…

Honor Society 11-12-09

Katie November 14, 2009 0 Comments

Thursday was my 19th Honor Society show. Originally Lauren and I were going to go see Maroon 5 instead, but after the whole drumstick drama in PA, we decided to see Honor Society instead. I’m not sure how the Maroon 5 show went, but I’m pretty sure we made the right choice.

We missed our first train, but luckily there was another just 15 minutes later. We got to Grand Central and hopped on the 6 to get to Union Square. Got out of the elevator and made our way over to Irving Plaza.

We walked to line looking for our friend Ashley, but ended up finding Dominique and Dierdre who we met at the CD release party and see at the NY shows. When Dom and I hugged, somehow it ended with her poking me in the eye. I don’t know how it happened, but I could see out if it and it feels fine now so I think all is ok.

Then we found Ashley, she was with Octavia that we know from the AHSF board. We were also informed that Kevin Covais – aka Chicken Little – from American Idol was there! We ended up seeing him a bit later and I got a picture with him 🙂

Once it looked like security had come out, we asked about getting a seat for me. They said there was only 1 seat and that it was near the bar, which is in the back, but I could still see. They took us up on the elevator and there was no seat! One of the bartenders grabbed us one and I sat waiting for the crowd to start filling in. Security told me that once the show started, the chair had to be back in a cubby – I could still sit on it in the cubby though. Considering this was like as back as you could possibly get, I opted to sit and get my energy back during Esmee’s set and then before Honor Society hit the stage we found a spot closer.

It was a good spot until the Yankee fan Dad next to me ended up just about ON TOP of me by the end of the show. (And my screaming, singing and clapping didn’t phase him.)

The setlist was changed up a little bit from last month’s shows. Emsee sang with Mike for “My Own Way” and Jason did an awesome rendition of “Use Somebody” – he really needs to sing more.

We had our merch M&G; wristbands, but I didn’t want to have to go all the way down the stairs to come back up again (and their stairs are kind of steep) so we asked security and he let us go up in the line right away!

There were only a few girls in front of us. We saw the guys walk by and say hi to their families. (Lucy Hale was also there) And then it was time to say hi to the guys. I had made them discs of summer memories from the viewers of honorsocietylive.com so I handed them those and I also gave Alex a copy of the scrapbook from last summer that he liked so much.

THEN I was on a mission. I went up to Alex and was like “Remember that time that you said you would give me a drumstick and then DIDN’T?” and he was like “was that tonight?” and I was like “No, last month in Pennsylvania” and he was like “OH MAN!” and assured me he would have them in his pocket in the meet and greet in Boston. So we’ll see if that happens. And then I asked Andy if he had a pick for me and he was like “NO! I DONT!” and was like stomping around that he didn’t. So I told him BOSTON! and he was like YES! So once again we’ll see if he remembers!

We got the elevator back downstairs and left! Caught the 11:22 train and got home about 1 – but I had to stop and get gas because there was NO way I was waking up early before work to have gotten it and I wasn’t sure I would make it all the way to work!