The Benefits of Being Late for Work

((I know it's long, just shut up and read it))

I’ve never been so happy to be late for work before in my life. It was snowy and icy Wednesday morning and because of that I was running behind, regardless of the toll road. As usual I was listening to Alice on my way in and I’d heard the 7:15 edition of “Know Your Morning Show”, where the poor lady did not win Matchbox Twenty tickets. It was just a little after 8 when they began to announce the contest again, and I was almost to the office. I hit my speed dial and was mildly excited when it started ringing, but the real shock hit me when Mikey picked up and asked “Hi who’s this?” instead of telling me what caller I was. It took me a moment to remember who I was and where I was from, and my heart quickly felt nice and cozy in my throat. Pulling into the parking lot I stopped my car and waited to embarrass myself on live radio (again). But the strangest and most wonderful thing happened (as often happens to me in Alice contests), I won! I admit to screaming into the phone and professing that I was dying, but the DJs didn’t seem to mind. I’ll even admit to screaming louder once I was off the phone. When I finally made my way to my building and into the elevator, my hands were shaking, I could hardly breathe, and I certainly couldn’t hold still. Finally unable to hold it in any longer I announced to my other passengers, “I just won Matchbox Twenty tickets and backstage passes!” No one looked the slightest bit interested. But I’m sure someone was jealous…

Please note the following is not necessarily in chronological order. Having made it safely to my desk, the logistics of this endeavor began to hit me like a ton of bricks. Not only did I have to find someone to go with me, but I needed someone to watch the kids and I still had to find out from promotions what time all this was going down. Of course I called Dragon first. She had heard me on air and was incredibly excited, but she didn’t know when her boyfriend would get home to watch her daughter. After learning the meet and greet was to be at 4:30, she became a definite no. I strongly considered taking Aerrik, though now in hindsight I’m glad I didn’t. We would have had a good time, but I needed this night. Anyway, I was leery of taking him since he’s so behind in school work and the decision was really made for me by the child care issue. To my surprise, my dad was also going to the concert! He’d never heard of Matchbox Twenty but his wife is a fan so he got them tickets. Dragon couldn’t watch Even because we were sure he wouldn’t like being around her dog. That left Kiki, so once again I called and told her I’d won tickets and I needed a sitter. “You’re taking me, right?” The story I would tell the rest of the evening is that I was blackmailed. Kiki wouldn’t watch Even unless I took her to the concert. She no go, I no go. Not completely true, since she was on my short list of people to invite, but it made for a good story. The plan became for Aerrik and Chris to tough it out by themselves and Kiki’s husband would watch Even overnight while she drooled over Rob Thomas and I caught her if she fainted. Aerrik was thrilled to hear they’d be putting themselves to bed and has told me I need to go out more often.

Fast forward to find Kiki and I right on time but circling the Broomfield Event Center trying to find the right place to park. Most of the roads are closed off for construction or VIPs, and the parking garage has all its entrances blocked by cones. Giving up, we move a couple cones and park in the garage (but shhh, don’t tell). We hurried to the Alice tent, met the other winners and gathered our tickets. Cast of characters: winners include pink shirt & white shirt, mama fan & teen fan, and Heidi and friend who were almost late; we also have Tim (Alice event staff I guess, and built like a truck) and promo girl whose name is Merrick (which for the sake of argument I shall spell like Anne Rice does, undoubtedly wrong in this instance). Shortly after 4:30 we’re gathered up and informed we will be known as Group 1. We must remember we’re Group 1 and we must always follow Tim and do what he tells us. We’re down with that. There are 5 groups total and we were led to a corner on the first floor. We were given directions which probably no one heard because everyone was starting to drool (except the couple guys in the other groups). When the band came out (oooo aah! - wait, they’re short?) each group stood close together for a tight shot of all of use with the guys. We were 4th in line for this and I definitely saw some swooning when Rob (Thomas, that is) pushed his way to the middle of our gang and put his arms around a woman on either side. The other three band members stood on the other end by me and Paul commented he liked me ink (go me!). Picture was taken (three actually, people kept walking in front of us) and Kiki breaks off from the pack and gives Rob a big hug. I nonchalantly dragged her away and thinking about it now I’m surprised his security didn’t holler at her for it. We all then formed a single-file circle (if that makes any sense) and got our autograph equipment out. We were each allowed one autograph and were provided with a band pic if we didn’t bring anything, which is what I got. Pink & white shirt were next to me and Kiki and we all gabbed in between schmoozing. Kyle was the first to come to us. With his skinny chicken legs in oh-so-tight jeans, he’s a good looking guy who bears a striking resemblance to Nickle’s ex-husband in person, and her current husband on his photo. How messed up is that??? But he was really nice with a big smile and a firm hand shake, and when I said I was glad the band was back together (trying to make conversation) he started talking about their new producer and his style etc etc and looking at me and Kiki apparently expecting us to make some intelligent reply. Now, I’m a Matchbox Twenty fan but I don’t know this guy from Adam. Regardless, I was still a little star struck to be talking to a REAL member of Matchbox Twenty and hell if I could think of anything! So I smiled and nodded and he went on his way. ((Autograph sig: JR, thanks!)) Rob was the next to come our way, looking OH say handsome in a long coat w/ dark blue scarf. I got my hug in and Kiki mauled him again (but just a little) and I put an arm around her just in case ;o) I told him my 11yo had written him a note and asked me to give it to him, and he did take it, but his body guard was there in two seconds flat and I laughed at him, joking about writing threatening letters to Rob Thomas. Aerrik’s note said “Dear Rob I love your song lets see how far weev come” and he signed it and put his e-mail address. Rob told me to thank him and said he liked his name, and of course later that letter ended up in his body guard’s pocket but who cares, he got it. Rob joked that my husband had probably written the note and I grinned and told him I was single. He called me fresh ;o) We chatted for a while, Rob said his favorite place to perform aside from Red Rocks was a place in Washington State, it was either the Canyon or the Gorge, I can’t remember now. He said the best show is one where the audience is really on their feet and getting in to it. I told him I had a kind of rude question, and I asked him if Jewel was nice, explaining I was a fan and I’d seen them on tour together. He said “Some of the time, but Alanis Morrisette is nicer.” Kiki says”Oh, is she here?” Keep in mind I won tickets that morning, I had no idea who else was touring and I am a HUGE Alanis fan. Rob says, “Yeah, she’s opening for us.” And I went just a bit goofy and said “Oh my God, Alanis Morrisette!!!!!” Rob just kind laughed at me ;o) Kiki snatched another hug and I think she would’ve followed him down the row if not for security. ((Autograph sig: JR - you’re fresh!)) Paul was next to come up to us and he was super super nice. We chatted for quite a while about kids and traveling and such, and he seemed very down to earth and a proud daddy (Mathilda turned 3 in December, doesn’t like ballet because she can’t teach the class and he wants her to learn the piano). Paul used to be the drummer, now plays guitar, and also plays the violin. He called Rob a space hog for signing of top of his picture so he ended up writing “space hog” and drawing an arrow to Rob on Kiki’s photo haha ((Autograph sig: JR Hello)) Our last guy was Brian, but he said everyone calls him Pookie. I’m fairly sure he was drunk. He was slurring and not making a ton of sense, but he was a real trip to talk to! ((Autograph sig: JR - Me Pookie à ))

Once the guys were gone (sigh) our group was gathered and our ticket stubs were removed. We were led upstairs to one of the lounges where we’d be hanging out until show time (it was nearly 5:30). Everyone started making cell phone calls or running to the restroom, and then we all got settled in for dinner. There was a cash bar ($7.50 for a mohito??) and a buffet spread. There were many comments that the food looked way too fancy, since we were just humble Alice listeners. A server did bring in a big tray of fresh fruit but as soon as she set it down she realized she was in the wrong room and carried it back out again. Tease. Okay, so let’s run down the line. There were these funky looking mini taco salad things that turned out to be a parmesan shell with a variety of veggies diced in it. I didn’t try this, I avoid vegetables if possible. There was bruschetta with little mozzarella balls that had a bad habit of rolling away while you tried to eat them. Sliced French bread, not bad. Golden-colored fried white meat of some kidn that we guessed was fish or chicken, and I did brave a piece of this. It was chicken, and EXCELLENT too, I got seconds. White shirt and I discussed some red meat on skewers. “Is this lamb? It’s on a stick,” she said. I think I missed a joke but I told her I thought it was beef. There was a server standing there so I asked him if it was sheep or cow. “Yak,” he said without missing a beat. And thus the great yak joke began and didn’t end until, well, probably never. Incidentally, Tim missed this banter and seriously thought it WAS yak for quite a while until he finally couldn’t take it any more and went to find it. It was sirloin tips ;o) There was also some kind of white soupy saucy stuff that I didn’t see anyone touch though I did try a taste. Bleck. And so, we all had a very nice dinner though to our INCREDIBLE disappointment (mine more than most) our beloved morning show never showed up. Merrick said it was a school night for them, but she thought party boy Mikey would’ve showed up. We visited and had a good time until finally someone mentioned it was 6:40 and we all gathered our things to go find our seats!

Our seats turned out to be two sections away from where we came down in the elevator (side note - Kiki banged on the elevator door impatiently and when it did open there were 6 people in it hahaha) but do to the “backstage” area they had closed off, we ended up having to walk around the entire complex to get there. We were in 108 which turned out to be directly stage right. We were row 11, so about half-way up the section. I was complaining about these “side seats”, but they turned out to be very good because the artists used the sides a lot and we were really pretty close. White & pink shirt ended up a row in front of us and a few seats down and teen fan and her aunt were next to us. Her mom had bought floor tickets before she won so she’d given them to family, then traded when she saw her paid for seats were better than the freebies. Heidi had ended up with floor tickets, so who knows where she was! I’m not even going to go in to the belligerent drunk woman that was sitting behind us. Let’s simply say she was toasted before the concert started, there were some words exchanged (hers, not mine) and her whole family ended up leaving (with her) a little while into Matchbox Twenty when she unbuttoned her pants and fell asleep. I talked to Dad’s wife on the phone and managed to spot them down on the floor, though I never could during the show. The opening act was a group called Mute Mouth that Rob had told us we would like. Their music was okay, but the highlight was definitely the side show (as I called it) when the lead singer started doing hand stands on his keyboard and such. There was a break while Alanis’ crew set up and I took the opportunity to check on the boys again (I’d been doing it every now and then all evening). When Alanis came on I was on the edge of my seat. What an amazing voice! I love her CDs, she sounds better in person! Plus she was very energetic, moving around a lot and having a great time. The energy was tangible and she put on a fantastic show. Her tribute to Furgy while wrapped in a pink feather boa and singing her own version of My Hump was hilarious! At the end of her last song she started spinning and I swear she must’ve gone on for a minute or two (I was getting dizzy!) and she walked straight back to her mic with no problem, it was just really fun to watch. There was another break after that so I made one last call to the boys and told them goodnight and Kiki and I went to meet up with some friends of hers that were there too. Part of the fun of wandering around was carrying our autographed pictures, we got SO many curious/jealous looks and showed off to a few people. Matchbox Twenty went on stage just after 9:00 and the whole place was on its feet! I stayed on mine for their entire set, which I’m regretting today haha It’s hard to describe a rock concert to someone that wasn’t there. The vocals were awesome, the crowd was into it, the energy was high. It was an AWESOME show. Rob played the crowd well, as did Kyle. Paul and Pookie were mostly doing their thing but they sounded great too. I don’t remember what song it was, but Rob asked the audience to all hold up our cell phones to make “stars” for him. It was really cool watching all those shining lights waving around the auditorium! At 10:30 they went off stage and of course came back on a couple minutes later, Pookie with a lit cigarette in his mouth haha, and they did another 30 minutes worth of tunes. It was a fantastic show and honestly just what I needed with my crazy life right now. I feel so incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to be there, and I’m glad I could take Kiki because she had a fabulous time too.

I’d like to shout out to some people I noticed during the concert. To the little boy in the front row who was head banging his heart out, rock on! To the blond in the awesome jeans and using your light-up rose as a microphone, you’re a rock star! To the older couple who sat in front of me, I’m sorry I screamed so loud… To the gentleman on the floor, 6^th row, bald head and long beard, you know how to have fun! To the girl who let me pet her ears, yes, I guess I am a little weird… And to the half a dozen Barbie dolls in the front row who got oh so excited when Rob Thomas touched your outstretched fingers? I had his body pressed against me ;o)

ps~ There are so many little stories I could tell about last night, but for now those will be relegated to the files of my own memory. It was an amazing experience, a fun time, and great therapy. Thanks to everyone that made it happen!