Kari's Concert Collection

Winning By Default Is Always Fun

Day of show Kelsey and I are dropped off at Grace Church in Eden Prairie. In the lobby we found the sign that said to meet there for the poster contest at 6:15. So we sat to wait for it to begin. We watched people come in, but none with posters. They all stopped to read the sign, though. I saw some people who were waiting for their friends to come in. When they did come, they all greeted each other with an �O-Pah!� (think My Big Fat Greek Wedding) Near 6:15 Tommy from tommy2.net/Radio Disney came in. He sat down by us and also was waiting. 5 minutes later Tommy asked us if we were waiting for the poster contest. There was a delay because the guys were late coming from the mall.

Waited another 10 minutes, and two little girls and their mom showed up also with a poster. Since there were going to be two winners, it was starting to look like we were going to win by default. Another 10 minutes we were handed passes. All I can say is, for being the biggest thing I ever won, that was way too easy. Tommy took photos of us with our posters. The girls had photos of the guy's pasted on with Mickey Mouse ears colored on. There was another two girls working who mentioned there were only three guys in the band. Jeremy was gone. But, more on that later.

We were brought around to the backstage area. The guy watching the door commented "Some of you look a little old for Radio Disney." Dude, you're never too old for Radio Disney! Went around a corner and entered a large room with some round tables. There was a long table along the wall with catering and a big screen with a movie playing. It was the original version of "The Parent Trap." And of course there was the Plus One guys hanging out. The two little girls got their autographs and pictures first. And next was us. They introduced themselves and we all shook hands. I had them sign the poster. They each identified correctly which character was who on the poster. Nathan did ask first. Then we got pictures taken. Gabe was on my left, and Nate and Nathan were on the other side of Kelsey. They said we were the perfect height, and Gabe used my shoulder as an elbow rest. I think it was Nathan who commented on the pass. It read, "I'm obviously with the band."

We went and sat down next to the little girls. Tommy came over to 'interview' us for a commercial that will air on Radio Disney. He started with the other girls, but ended up having us talk because they were all shy. Basically we talked about the contest and how we met the band and described the posters. One of the girls working had us all write down our names and phone numbers. The names of the two girls working I later found out to be Jessika and Molly (thanks for the email, Jessika!) And then we watched the band record their part for the commercial. They talked about the contest and the posters, and said all our names. First was Nathan, he was describing the artwork and said it must have taken at least an overnighter. More like two days straight, but okay. And then it was Nate. He was talking about the posters, and I held mine up and presented it like Vanna White. Got them laughing. When he was finished, Nate was like, "Whew, got through it." I gave a quiet golf clap. Nathan at least noticed. And then Gabe did his thing. He was funny and faked giving out my phone number, "...and Kari's phone number is 95... kidding." When Gabe was finished, Nathan made this gesture like, "Clap for Gabe, too." So I did.

Next we gathered around a table for a "Round Table Discussion." Tommy interviewed the guys. They talked about their new setup. I found out Jeremy left 'cause he's getting married soon and wants to settle down. Said they're all still friends and still talk. Mentioned the record label change and some of their new songs. They were asked what they do while on tour- Playstation. Nathan talked about a new Ninja game they got where you can chop people. He did a chopping action with his hand. They talked about computers crashing and having to start songs over from scratch because it was all on the computer. They all have Macs, but Nate said he wasn't as cool 'cause he had an older version than the other guys. Nate said, "If Mac is listening, we would like some free stuff." They also mentioned something about experimenting with hairdye, but didn't really get into that story too much.

They were asked about going to the Mall of America. That was the funniest story of the night. They were late arriving because the car ran out of gas on the way. Tommy asked if they had anything to say about that. They were basically like, "No comment." It was pretty funny; Nate made sure to clarify that it wasn't Julie's, the lady that drove them to the mall (and Molly's mom), fault. At the end of the interview Tommy asked if they would sing part of a new song a cappela. They responded that with the new songs it wouldn't be a cappela, just Nate singing. There was a piano behind them, so Nathan played an older song. It was "The Promise," and he played the acoustic guitar part on the piano. Nate sang and Gabe, uh, stood at drank Gatorade. The private performance was definitely a highlight. Watching a band performing hearing them through the mics and speakers is one thing, it's a whole other thing when they perform exclusively for the dozen people and no one else. And it sounded so good. The piano sounds echoed beautifully in the room. So cool, that's all that I can say.

After that they took photos with the two girls and Tommy. They posed "Gangsta," but doing the "Westside" sign upside down to represent "Midwest" or "Minnesota". Nate said something like, "That's where we are? I dunno, we just get on the tour bus and go." One of the girl's had Gabe record a message for her voicemail. He said something along the lines of "Make it quick, because she probably won't listen to it anyway." The guys came back over to us and said it was nice meeting us and we shook hands again. They also talked to the little girls. Nate asked how old they were- 9. He said that was Plus One's lucky number because it comes up a lot.

Nate and Gabe talked to us some more. Nathan went to eat because they hadn't had dinner yet. Eventually Gabe wandered off to eat, too. Nate commented on my shirt, and wanted to know where I bought it. I had ordered it online, so we had a conversation about shopping for clothes online. He said his friend recommended a website vintagevantage.com, but said it wasn't that great. Nate also said in Nashville there's not many places that sell cool shirts. He asked, "So, you're in highschool?" I said yeah, 12th grade, graduating this year. He asked if I knew what I was doing next. I said not sure yet. Nate said, "That's cool, take your time." Kelsey and I then got our picture taken with Nate. After he said, "I feel short," because we were both taller than he was. It was then time for us to leave, so we said our goodbyes. One of the girls showed us out. She asked if I was at Plus One's concert in Mankato, because she recognized me from that. I was surprised she would remember me from that because it was almost two years ago.

So, now it's time for the actual concert. Skillet was almost half way done when we got in. They had a ton of flashing lights, which made it hard to focus on reading signs to find your seat. We walked down the aisle practically to the front and watched. Then a security guy came and said they needed to keep the aisles clear. So we went around to the area where we thought our seats were supposed to be. But because we came in late the seats were occupied by these other girls. We talked to some other security people, and they told us there were some open seats down in the third row we could sit at if we so chose. Hmm, 13th row or 3rd row? That was a no brainer, so we went down there and sat down.

Skillet was okay, I guess. Kinda liked them 50/50. Some songs were boring, but some were pretty rockin'. I did realize I knew more of their songs than I previously thought. The guitar player was crazy. He was jumping around, dropping to the ground, and playing solos with the guitar behind his head. The led singer talked a lot and it got boring. He did say some funny things. There was then a 15 minute intermission. Skillet had this lighting rig up in the front that blocked our view of the stage. I was so happy to see it taken down. I noticed a girl sitting in front of us was wearing a "Trading Spaces" shirt. Tommy came out and talked about the contest and what we got to do. And then more waiting. I watched the stage smoke and tried to see figures in it. I sorta heard a conversation the guys behind us were having. They definitely came for Skillet. One guy said, "I don't care what you think, Linkin Park is the best band of all time." That was cool. I had brought with some of my LPST stickers, and I was going to give him one. But right at that moment Plus One came on.

Plus One really started the set off with a bang with "I Don't Care." Album wise it's their most rock sounding song, and pumping it up to their new level, it was just crazy. Whoever said a couple months ago online that they sounded like The Strokes meets Euro Punk rock wasn't kidding. It was just... wow! Plus One never ceases to amaze me. They sound so good! The song went straight into "Camouflage." It happened so seamlessly, it took me a minute to even realize the song changed. Nate hid behind Gabe for part of the song. I think Nate was hyper from drinking too much Gatorade backstage. He was nuts- completely insane. He was jumping around and actually kicking himself in the butt. I wish we could have video taped it, because it was pretty funny. The best was I could describe Nate's actions on stage is too compare them to Chester Bennington's onstage antics. Just no raptor-like screaming. It was totally awesome.

Next was "Forever." There was some nice acoustic guitar on that song. There's a little "Pulling apart at the seams," where Nate pulled on his shirt. Nate talks a bit before the next song. There was a ton of stage smoke floating around and Nate commented about choking to death from it. He talked about their new setup, and introduced their brand new song "Poor Man." I absolutely love the new song. When it started, the first thing that came to my mind was Coldplay. It kinda sounded like a harder sounding Coldplay. The chorus was a bit of a headbanger. Nathan used the "Keytar" for the first time during this song, and Nate did this funny marching thing. And I must comment on Gabe's guitar playing. I don't remember what song they were doing, but Gabe pulled out this awesome Santana sounding guitar riff. It just completely blew me away. So awesome.

Next was "God Is In This Place." It normally is sort of a mid-tempo song, but they like doubled the tempo. Nate was going up the stair a lot, and almost tripped himself. Okay, now I'm gonna go backwards a moment and talk about "Poor Man." Towards the end they had some feedback. Nate said, "Feedback four songs into the set, now that's rock 'n roll." Next song was "Start To Fly," although it took me a minute to even recognize it. You know they changed it a lot when it's barely recognizable. Me likey! Next was Gabe's turn to talk. He said, "This next song should be familiar to you. If not, you're a loser. No, kidding." It was "Written on my Heart," but with a twist. As Gabe said, "It's with a twist, like Pepsi with lemon." And the twist was... disco! Okay, it wasn't straight up disco, just had a disco-y beat. Sadly, Nate didn't pull any disco moves. But we did and he gave us a strange look. Nate did play a little tambourine. He was back by the drum risers, jumped out of the shadows with it, and stopped playing before I could get a picture. Oh, and Gabe talked with a fake Minnesota accent.

Next song was "Going Crazy." And as the title suggests, they went crazy. Nate ran into the audience, down an aisle. Back on stage he put his foot up on one of those wedge monitor things and almost tipped it over. They stopped the song at the bridge for a moment, and brought it back kicked up a notch. As if that was humanly possible. More of Nate's jumping. And then it was the encore. Nathan sat down at a grand piano center stage. He asked the audience is they could see him all right, or if the spotlight was in the way. Some girls yelled yes. He asked, "Is that yes you can see me okay, or yes the spotlight's in the way?" He said they were gonna play the first song they ever sang together as a group. He also mentioned they hadn't performed it in, like, forever. It was "The Promise," the same song they played for us just hours before. He must have meant forever on stage in front of a crowd of more than a dozen people. So, that was nice to hear again and all the way through.

And they ended the show with a performance of "Here I Am To Worship." And that was the extremely amazing evening. I seriously can't believe this is the same band I saw in concert only two years ago. They're so different... I just love it. I can't wait for the chance to see them in concert again.

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