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I thought I’d start a topic all show related.
Mine is tomorrow night! I’m so sorry I haven’t been online… it’s been one of those \"well at least it can’t get any worse\" kind of weeks… that ends up getting worse.
First, my husband had to drive to Atlanta (8 hours one way) to work and was supposed to be reimbursed, and his company still hasn’t paid him back for all the gas money.
Somebody stole my husband’s debit card information, made $100.00 purchase and then all our purchases bounced.
I have $60 cash for my whole two week trip because of above deficit of money
My video card in my PC blew
I was almost late for my plane, and my daughter’s carseat got put on the plane that landed after mine, so I had to wait at the airport over an hour for it.
My father-in-law hit a deer on the way home (thankfully it didn’t do any damage)But I am here and tomorrow is going to rock!
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Jesus christ, that sucks.
But, you and your hubby are in good health and you are going to meet BC/JC tonight. All is well.
[/quote:1vf20wf1]We do? This whole time people have been asking me if we did, and I kept saying that I didn’t think so. I’m still not going to get my hopes up too high…. Either way the concert is going to rock and DC is such a wonderful city
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So I’m very busy and am trying to find the time to write up an entry for you tonight. I’m downloading 4GB of photos and 3GB of videos of the concert. I did indeed fight for backstage passes and got to meet everybody but Lisa, the violinist, and the other keyboard/flute dude.
You will laugh at my one question to Billy Corgan… since I was thinking all day what I would ask him if I could. I did something silly and got him to laugh. More to come on that one
Everybody signed my poster
Gabriel (trumpeter that also toured for No Doubt) was amazing to meet. He was so sweet and kind, and sad to say I’ve been a fan of his longer, so the fact that he was so kind to me was double amazing. Billy and Ginger both seemed tired and under the weather… but all in all it was such an amazing experience.Details later! Thank you all so much, this has been one of the best experiences ever, and it helped me reconnect with one of my best friends that I haven’t seen in 3 1/2 years!
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When I first found out that I won the SPfreaks.com I was completely shocked and elated. What an amazing feeling of accomplishment. The next step was to figure out which show I was going to attend. Since I live in the state of Florida, Iâd have to fly. Several of the shows overlapped dates that I already had planned to be on vacation, so those were out. Several dates were already sold out, so those were obviously out, and several were too far away for my budget. On top of that I had to figure out how to manage my husbandâs schedule so that he could attend with me, since Smashing Pumpkins has been his favorite band much longer than mine. Yes, Iâm one of the younger generations of fans. Sadly, it didnât work out for him, so I had a free ticket. You wouldnât think it would be hard for me to find a friend to go with me, but it was. I chose to go to the Wednesday night concert in Washington DC. Most of my friends had work/school or other responsibilities that prevented them from going.
Finally the day of the concert, one of my friends couldnât find a replacement for his work and couldnât go. So I called up my best friend when I was a teenager, who I hadnât seen in 3 ½ years and told her to get ready because she was going with me. She had a whole 40 minutes to get ready, and pack an overnight bag for an amazing night in Washington DC.
When we arrived in DC we ate at one of my favorite spots, Pizza Paradiso. On our way from dinner to the concert hall, we saw the Motorcade. Very fun to watch. We arrived at the concert an hour and a half before the doors opened. Why? Because when my husband and I went to Hard Rock in August to see âA Night With the Smashing Pumpkins,â we arrived two hours early and the line was so long, I can hardly describe it. But the concert going must not be as hardcore in DC, because there was no line. So we walked around the DAR and I took photos of the tour vans, bus, and other interesting things. I was already screaming, and my heart was racing. Just knowing you are in such a close proximity to your favorite band is breathtaking.
We arrive at Will Call and I receive my envelope with two tickets. My friends said, âHey shouldnât you have gotten backstage passes?â I was too shy to ask and said, âI guess not.â Thankfully my friend stood up for me and told the lady at the window that I had one the SPfreaks poster contest. She then asked me in a brass tone, âWhat do you think youâre ENTITLED to.â In a sheepish little voice I said, âBackstage passes?â She said that she would check, and sure enough she handed me two beautiful backstage passes with my last name written on them. My heart was beating through my chest as I text messaged my husband in complete excitement while somberly wishing that he was with me.
As we entered the concert hall I was amazed that there was no security or bag check. I had snuck in my Canon 30D along with my little Canon digital camera that recorded video. Earlier I had called the operator and she said to me, âWell you can bring it, but you canât use it.â Watch me woman! The concert hall was beautiful and ornate. They had a huge lounge in the lower level, beautiful seating, and high ceilings with amazing lighting fixtures.
We found our seats and waited patiently. Half an hour before the show, the concert hall wasnât even half full. But by the time the show started it was packed! My seats were in the balcony on the left when looking at the stage. We were right above the backstage door and got to watch the band enter and exit the stage. The only downfall is that the speakers blocked the horn section.
The lights went down and the band emerged, Billy in a long black and white coat. In his hand he held a pumpkin bucket. He grabbed the mike and dove into Ava Adore. My heart skipped a beat since this was one of the songs that we named our daughter after. (The first being Lily My One and Only).
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I might sit on this a little bit and see if I’m missing any details…. but the whole thing is four pages long in Microsoft Word…. so PMM will probably have to edit it down to post a news article!
The lights went down and the band emerged, Billy in a long black and white coat. In his hand he held a pumpkin bucket. He grabbed the mike and dove into Ava Adore. My heart skipped a beat since this was one of the songs that we named our daughter after. (The first being Lily My One and Only). Billy shook his pumpkin and spread glitter across the front row of fans and all over the stage. Then Billy disrobed to showcase his tour getup; The white spider shirt, black spacesuit skirt, classic black and white leggings, red socks, and Nike sneakers. During the show, the lighting went from deep purples and pinks to cool blues and greens, alternating with patterned stripes, flowers, triangles, and spots.
The crowd went wild when the band tore into 1979. Just a taste to feed the beast of the past. I had almost as much fun watching the fans in the first few rows, as I did watching the band. Almost. In the front rows was a man who video taped the whole show. Iâd love to see the video pointing up Billyâs nostrils all night. There was a woman who danced through every song, mouthing the words to most of them. There was the metal head with huge hair throwing his fists up and head banging. There was the man in the hat whose body gyrated for two and a half hours straight. Of course I took photos of all these amazing fans, because without fans like these the Smashing Pumpkins wouldnât exist.
The first half of the concert was definitely for the fans, with favorites including Soma, Cherub Rock, Zero, and Bodies. I personally was almost in tears when Bodies started. My arms had goose bumps up and down them most of the night. We were also blessed with some new material as well as some amazing classics, a Simon and Garfunkle cover, and I think even a demo (that according to spfc.org had only been played 3 times previously).
My throat was sore from screaming so much. I felt bad because there was a mom with her young son sitting right in front of me. Later on I saw them backstage. What a rockinâ mom! I wish my parents were that cool when I was that age! (I related this to my mom and had to tell her that Dan Fogelberg and Weird Al donât count)There were lots of fans who wanted to get a closer look. Two gentlemen in particular had to be escorted out several times by a huge security guard with enormous gauges in his ears, along with other body modifications. Intimidation tactics? The funniest part is when the boys decided that they were going to sit in the special balcony chairs in front of me. The guard came up and laid one rather large hand on each of the boyâs shoulders instantly bringing them to their feet. I threw my arms up in the air and shouted âGO SECURITY! Woo Hoo!â
Although Ginger didnât look like she was feeling well (she didnât move very much throughout the night) Billy seemed to still be able to have a good time. He didnât interact with the crowd at all, like he did during the August tour. He did, though, dance around the stage with tambourines, shred his guitars, and dance around in a top hat. When post processing my 4GB of photos, I had to zoom in on a few photos of Billy with his black guitar. It was sporting some stickers that I hadnât previously seen. Some hearts, a green cloverleaf that says âItâs Easy Being Green,â and a few label made sentences that said, âI passed the man test,â âItâs cocoon time,â and âDani of the moon.â (If anybody knows what Dani of the Moon means, please let me know)
Okay, so I realize that I havenât said much about the other members of the 9 piece band. I adored the horns, especially because Iâve been a fan of Gabriel, from No Doubt, for much longer than Smashing Pumpkins. I remember buying my first tape and it was a No Doubt album. My dad played the trumpet for a few years, so Iâve always had an affinity for trumpets, especially during my SKA phase.
The violinist, Gingger, used an amazing double violin that added a rich deep sound to the music. According to a previous article on SP.com her violin covers the entire range of the orchestra’s double bass, cello, viola and violin. I was completely lulled to hear the sound of a full orchestra in âMelancholy and the Infinite Sadness.â It was a complete lighter waving moment, to which there was no lighter or cell phone waving. DC crowds really arenât that exciting are they?
After the show my friend and I ran around to the curtain to wait to go backstage. We proudly sported our backstage stickers and waited with schoolgirl glee. I pulled out my portfolio containing the winning watercolor and also the DAR poster that I repainted (the original submission was digital, this is a watercolor version of that). Finally our name was called and we headed backstage. I was shaking as I held my portfolio close to my chest. We first saw Jeff in the hallway. I sheepishly asked him if he would sign my painting, and he graciously obliged. Then we walked into the room and waited. I didnât want to interrupt any conversations, so we just stood there and stared⦠and stared. Billy was on the couch in a white robe talking to several men involved in a radio station. They were asking him question after question and I wish my mind was clear enough at that point to have listened. Ginger walked by me with a salad and I again sheepishly asked her to sign my poster. Sheâs much smaller in person than she appears onstage. Unfortunately Billy asked that nobody take any photos backstage. I completely understand, I mean, he was wearing a bath robe!
A woman walked in and handed Jimmy Chamberlain a golf ball from the White House. I finally caught his eye and was brave enough to get his signature and tell him exactly what my husband asked me to tell him. Iâm sure he hears it all the time, but he is the best drummer ever. My husband was so disappointed that he didnât get to make it to the concert, but he sacrificed this opportunity to finish his orientation with his new job so that he can take care of me and our little girls.
I met so many other people who enjoyed the winning poster. One guy worked for the White House. Remember earlier when I said that we saw the motorcade? We indeed saw Barak Obama driving to the White House! Well his car at least. He also confirmed that Billy accepted the invitation to have lunch at the White House. He was very nice and I wish I would have gotten his business card and given him mine. I had my business cards with me, but didnât give them to anybody because my phone number has changed since I got them printed.
Finally I worked up the nerve to speak to Billy. All day I had been racking my brains with what I would ask Billy Corgan if I got a chance to. All I could do was look at my shoes as he signed my paintings. My friend asked him how he keeps his voice so strong through such a long concert. Billy chalked it up to genetics. After signing our tickets he didnât return my Sharpie⦠so I said, âUh, can I have my Sharpie back?â Then I started laughing and said, âOkay, so I just have to tell you that Iâve been trying to figure out all day what the one question that Iâd ask Billy Corgan if I had the chance to, and I just wasted it on âCan I have my Sharpie back?â Billy chuckled and said, âYeah, you only get one question.â As I walked away and told my friend, âThat was such a South Park moment, like when they got to ask god one question and Stan totally wasted it.â
Then I finally turned to Gabriel, he was the first band member to offer a handshake. I was blown away. I didnât hold my hand out because I was too shy to force somebody to shake my hand. He took a while to look over my poster and seemed thoroughly impressed. I melted. I had told everybody else that this was the winning poster for SPfreaks, and they just smiled and said it was nice. Gabriel examined every inch and even asked me what some of the symbolism was. I even admitted that I drew the bombs backwards and he helped me make excuses as to why they were just fine. He inquired as to my art background, and encouraged me to keep going with it. He is also the only one who addressed his signature to me. Donât pelt me with rotten tomatoes, but looking back it was so much more exciting to meet Gabriel because he took an interest in who I was and the art that I made for the contest. Not that I expected Billy to be interested in me, he meets so many fans per show. But to have such an amazingly talented musician take an interest in me for even the smallest momentâ¦.. yeahâ¦. I was on cloud nine.
Then I pulled a blond moment while looking for Lisa, Gingger, Kristopher and Stephen. I walked out of the room and asked Jeff to sign my poster AGAIN. So instead I got him to sign my DAR poster. I felt like such a moron, but really, I was completely star struck. Seeing them in person is actually a calming feeling where you remember that they are just human beings like you. They have thoughts and feelings, they get tired, have to eat, and have friends and family, just like you and I. At the same time you just canât believe that you were this close to somebody whoâs work has inspired you and millions others for so long. This closeâ¦. For all the fan girls, need I repeat the fact that Billy was in a bathrobe? I saw him shirtless as he came out for the encore (he threw on his T-shirt while walking onto the stage) and I saw his thigh when his bathrobe fell open. Go ahead, squeal with glee. I joked with my friends that I want his brains not his babies.
Then security pointed us to the exit before we could find the rest of the band. Thankfully we found Stephen outside and got to talk to him for a little bit. He signed my poster and we thanked him and excused ourselves. We got to walk past all the fans waiting to see the band emerge from backstage. It felt like walking the red carpet. As we walked back to the car I spun and danced gleefully. This will be something I tell stories about for a very long time.
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I fixed some grammar and mistakes that I made… First drafts are always rough
I can’t post my photos yet because PMM wants some of them exclusively … it kind of sucks because I fear by the time it is all said and done people won’t be searching for info from that concert anymore… they will be on to the next best thing
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I’m perplexed Della… They didn’t tell ME that you were allowed to go BACKSTAGE! Wow! Awesome!
And awesome story also, I’m getting very curious about the pics and the story on SP.com. Go Della go!
And you even mentioned SPfreaks.com in there? That’s awesome too!
[/quote:2jg08ugl]I told each and every band member about SPfreaks
I pimp the stuff and people that I love, I just struggle to pimp myself as you can tell my my sheepish questions and lack of confidence to stand up for myself in person. We didn’t know if I would get backstage passes, my friends just decided that we should try!
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In a few hours from now we will hopefully be able to make News articles on the homepage again, I’ll make sure that the first thing to write is a little Contest Update story including a link to this post. This feature (the maintenance items and uploading of news) of SPfreaks.com needed to be re-installed also, and that is what is being done by RedWolf now. Fingers crossed!
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I told each and every band member about SPfreaks
I pimp the stuff and people that I love, I just struggle to pimp myself as you can tell my my sheepish questions and lack of confidence to stand up for myself in person. We didn’t know if I would get backstage passes, my friends just decided that we should try![/quote:277i5tex]
I am the same way Della -
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Della is on SP.com!
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The amusing thing about all this Della, is that I’d take your writing over a couple members of the paid writers, without a doubt.
You’ve got a lot of heart and passion, and it seems to bleed through what you wrote.
Thanks for sharing
PS: The sharpie moment…oh my God. Not only is it like that South Park moment, but it’s also like The Simpsons, when Homer and Apu went to that 1st Quickie-Mart, far in the isolated mountains to speak to the guru, and Homer wasted all three of their questions by asking \"Are you really the head of the quickie mart?\"; \"Really?\"; \"Really?\" or something to that effect, thereby blowing it for the both of them
Hehe.
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The amusing thing about all this Della, is that I’d take your writing over a couple members of the paid writers, without a doubt.
You’ve got a lot of heart and passion, and it seems to bleed through what you wrote.
Thanks for sharing
PS: The sharpie moment…oh my God. Not only is it like that South Park moment, but it’s also like The Simpsons, when Homer and Apu went to that 1st Quickie-Mart, far in the isolated mountains to speak to the guru, and Homer wasted all three of their questions by asking "Are you really the head of the quickie mart?"; "Really?"; "Really?" or something to that effect, thereby blowing it for the both of them
Hehe.[/quote:1ae8ucxh]
Aw thank you! I don’t have all the info resources and background knowledge to write all the time. Journaling experiences…. just send me to every concert
I never saw that Simpsons episode! I’ll have to look it up!
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😆
Did you taked with him about your paintings and the contest?
What did he said?[/quote:3g59jaap]Every band member pretty much just said, "oh, that’s nice" and that was it. Gabriel was the only one who was truly interested and impressed and wanted to know more. Stephen liked it a lot too, but he was outside and it was cold, so we didn’t talk too much
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[EDIT] The one I labeled \"Owata\" is actually \"99 Floors\" (oops, my bad!) and the one of Billy and the tambourine is the into to \"March Hare\" [/EDIT]
My little digi-cam had trouble with the louder songs. Next time I’m bringing my better video camera
I downloaded the live version of Zero that they sell online, and you couldn’t hear me scream. Pooh. I just about freaked out when Zero came on because I had wanted to hear it at the last concert. It’s not my favorite song, but I just wanted to hear the beginning guitar live… woo hoo.http://www.youtube.com/user/DoubtfulDella <– my YouTube page
Hopefully soon I can download the whole album from that night. They are using one of my photos for the download preview! I also wasn’t able to get one of the Tour T-shirts that night, and they don’t sell them online… but I’ll try and find one somewhere.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv6smgEXLP4[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNFEYWmyDAI[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeUwdrOjYlw[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb4q2W09B5Q[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z09uWpXDV8[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqTBs71ZbrE[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3jNRbdUhIU[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJeK_3E0HmU[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IUY_ASJzyo[/youtube]
So even if you hate me for winning, at least I got my stuff in to share the experience with you! (that was just a little bit of sarcasm not aimed at you guys) In other words, for those of you who really really really really wanted to be there too, here’s what I got to see!
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Sorry, I realized that I should have started this post in the tour forum and not this one
Okay, I just finished stitching together a high resolution scan of the signed poster. (my scanner only fits 8×11 and the painting is 11×14, so I have to scan it in two pieces and then mesh them together in Photoshop.
Here is the regular painting, and then I made another version that was like the winning poster with the digital text and textures
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