My turn! Okay I'm gonna make this as short and sweet as possible becauase Winnie did cover most of the concert. So let's get some things wrapped up:
1. We cut everyone in line (oops!) We thought the end was the beginning and vice versa. We didn't mean to cut everyone, but we did hand out the bootlegs to the people we cut so as to not anger them.
2. We met Alix from Love When You Love and Christine from Completely Broken In, along with two Amanda's from the official discussion board. They were all incredibly cool, but I didn't expect any less :)
3. Screw bag check! Winnie and I bolted past the police with the casual disregard of a criminal. And we'd do it again, dammit.
4. The most satisfying feeling was slamming into the small wall that separated general admission from the stage. And then realizing we were in the FRONT ROW. (This is something that never happens to Winnie and I, the ones terminally doomed to wander through life without any sort of connections to anyone).
5. We had our sign (one side said "We're sorry about your guitar Adam :(" and the other side said "..But we'll always love you! :)" [Corny, yes. Honest, yes. Deal]). The security guards took our sign (We thought they were confiscating it at first) and brought it over right in front of Adam during the first song. He read it and looked over at us after the security guards pointed and at first he just looked so dejected, but then when he saw the other side I guess that made him slightly happier because he smiled. And this point is too long, so I'll continue it in the next point.
6. See, before the concert Winnie and I had made an agreement. As arrogant (or maybe hopeful) as it seemed, we agreed that I would get Adam's guitar pick and she would get Paul's drumstick. If and only if those situations arose. So when Adam came over to us and gave his guitar pick to the security guard in front of us and pointed to the two of us, it was..well...totally unbelievable. Since the guard was closer to Winnie he offered it to Winnie. And I guess both of us just started at it for a second, and then Winnie took it and gave it to me. Since Adam saw there was two of us, he went back and got ANOTHER pick and gave it to Winnie. SWEET MOTHER OF BOB! Then he looked down at both of us and said "Thank you," and walked back to his spot to continue playing. At this point both Winnie and I are hysterical (we're talking sobbing, hyperventilating, screaming) and..just...wow.
7. The times Adam looked over at the two of us and smiled or came over and played in front of us were the absolute best times, in my opinion.
8. I was glad that Winnie got the drumstick and I'm kinda glad that I fell, because if I hadn't, other people could have had a better opportunity to wrench it from her. But I think there came a point when people were more interested in watching me fall than in getting the stick. I remember everyone watching me and no one helping, but when I saw Winnie grab the stick I didn't care what happened.
9. Did it really happen? If this is a dream, I hope I never wake up.
Oh, and let me tell you about what happened AFTER the concert. We wanted to go down to the place where the buses were, but the guard wouldn't let us go because it was "off limits" ::snorts:: Yeah, whatever. So then one of my friends says my dad is down in the "secure" area and lo and behold, there he is. I had told him before the concert that if he could someone make it down there, it would be absolutely phenomenal. So he did! See, my dad is a big guy. I mean, BIG. If you didn't know him, you'd be terrified of him. And he had this official looking flashlight. No, it gets better, keep reading. So he's driving to the secure area and the person in the security shack stops him and asks him who he is. My dad holds up his official looking flashlight and says "I'm special security." AND THE GUARD WAVES HIM ON! So my dad goes into the "secure" area and parks and waits for the concert to be over. So while he's standing there waiting for my friends and me, security officers keep coming up to him. They ask him questions like "So are we still letting people down?" and my dad says "Nope." A police officer even came up to him and asked him if he was security. My dad laughs casually and says, "No, I'm here because I like the MUSIC." (Not that my dad is anti-matchbox twenty, but he is a middle aged man with other things to worry about). So the police officer and my dad had a good laugh over that and the officer walked away.
So when the concert was over, the only reason why I got down in the backstage area was because my dad was already down there. Now, there was me and four friends. But as my dad recalled it, when he saw eight people running down the stairs screaming "Dad! Dad!" he remembers thinking "Oh God, what did I get myself into?" Luckily the people who came with us (dunno who the hell they were) didn't actually go up and hug my father, like I did. They wandered away...
So they said the band wasn't coming out. ::laughs:: Security. Or, should I say, "security". We didn't leave. We didn't leave after the buses left (might be decoys, who knows?) We only left when they threatened the remaining few of us with criminal charges, and even then we only pretended to leave. After the whole "you better leave or we'll charge you with trespassing" ordeal, we got into our big ass car and just parked in a dark corner of the "secure" parking lot. And then, after "security" left..well..we left too..but hey, we didn't need to meet the band to make it a wonderful night. :)