| Ace's Homecoming Party Denver, CO ~ June 2, 2006 |
| I decided to go to Ace�s Homecoming Party in Denver at virtually the last minute, only a week in advance. I knew I wanted to go as soon as I heard about it, but it took a while for me to talk myself into actually going. I don�t know why I lagged, common sense perhaps. But as usual, eventually common sense lost the battle of wills to the fangirl in me. Unfortunately I had to work until noon the day of the party, which meant that I couldn�t get to Colorado until later in the evening. I still made it in plenty of time for the party, but I missed out on all of the Ace fun in the morning and afternoon. Oh well, nothing I could do about it. I met up with some AYN friends outside the club, Spy, where we proceeded to wait longer than I had anticipated. In the meantime we caught the arrival of Bobby Bennett, who was part of the AI5 top 24 and is also from CO (he and Ace have become friends and kept in touch throughout their AI experience), as well as saw a glimpse of the filming of MTV's The Real World: Denver. Random. The club finally started admitting people after 9 pm, and we made our way to the VIP area, where we waited some more. Marc Young was inside finalizing all of the preparations. Apparently he worked his butt off to get everything ready, including literally hanging the lights and building the VIP stage. Um, shouldn�t someone BESIDES Ace�s brother be in charge of that? Like a club employee? Whatever. Marc seemed like a very chatty, friendly guy, definitely the most extroverted Young brother IMO. He said that Ace and his brother Ryan were out getting something to eat since they had been too busy to eat all day. Poor guys. I don�t know what time they finally arrived, but I�d bet it was after 10 pm. Of course there was a crazy flurry around them as they entered. Ace had changed (and perhaps showered) since his appearances earlier in the day. He was dressed very casually: jeans and a fitted white "Forbidden" t-shirt (a definite plus for this arm lover), no beanie. He made his way through the crowd of a few hundred people to the small platform in the VIP area, which was partially shrouded by black curtains. That was his perch for the majority of the night. Fans crowded around the steps to the platform and were allowed up to meet Ace in groups of 3 or 4. He greeted every single person with a huge smile and a hug, and he took the time to actually speak with everyone too. It wasn�t just one of those, �Hi, nice to meet you, here�s my autograph, bye� sort of things. It was a genuine exchange� hundreds of genuine exchanges. Ace made every fan feel special and valued and important to him, which I�ve not seen from many celebrities. Perhaps with more experience in the spotlight, Ace will be less generous with his time (and his hugs), but I truly hope that he remains the sincere man we all met on Friday. For that matter, Ace�s entire family seemed very gracious. I was impressed that so many of them were there: both parents, 3 brothers, 2 sisters-in-law. And they stayed all night, till after 2 am. They�re definitely a tight-knit, welcoming group of people, and it was a pleasure to see and meet them all. The somewhat disorganized meet and greet lasted for probably an hour. We waited impatiently, first just to get close enough for a glimpse of Ace behind the curtains and then for our chance to meet him. The crowd was chaotic, but my anxiety was eased every time I saw Ace smile at another fan. A few times he caught me staring (how could I not?) and waved, which made me even more excited to meet him. However, it was eventually announced that Ace needed to get ready to perform, so the m&g would have to continue after. Thus, my turn would have to wait. The VIP crowd made its way to the main part of the club where the performance was to take place. Melissa Lujan, another CO native, was the first performer, and most of us couldn�t have cared less. She was making a tremendous effort to win us over, bless her heart, but I was far more interested in trying to catch a glimpse of Ace or any of the other Youngs waiting off stage. The next performer was Tha Villian, a rapper with whom Ace has recorded several songs in the past. I know, Ace + rap doesn�t sound like an obvious combination, but it really works, trust me. Ace was on stage for much of Tha Vill�s set, including the opening song So Fly, and when he wasn�t actually on stage, he was standing just off to the side in plain view. I was fascinated watching him groove along to the music, and I can honestly say that I didn�t even glance in Tha Vill�s direction while Ace was in sight. The two of them also tossed out some Vill t-shirts towards the end of the set. Ace had signed the tag on one of the shirts, and during the brief intermission after Tha Vill�s performance, the lucky recipient of that shirt also won an electric guitar autographed by Ace. Finally it was time for the main event, Ace�s performance, and the man did not disappoint. To my surprise he even had a live band and back up singers! The first song was Father Figure, and he came on stage very subdued, like he was trying to put himself in a serious frame of mind. It wasn�t long though before he cracked one of his trademark smiles that revealed his genuine enthusiasm to be performing for his �hometown� fans. (of course, there were dozens of us who had traveled from out of state as well) Gone were the nerves that often seemed so obvious on AI. He was totally at ease and worked the stage like a pro. Ace smoothly glided through his sensual performance of FF and, next, Butterflies. At first it caught me off guard that he was singing the WHOLE SONG of Butterflies. AI has trained me to hear mere fragments of songs, so the full version was definitely a surprise. Naturally Ace sprinkled in his patented sexy moves: grabbing his shirt, touching his abs, caressing the mic stand, singling out individuals to serenade. How could he possibly do these things subconsciously when they so obviously drive his fans wild? Ace concluded his short set with an original song called Scattered. It�s kind of Maroon 5-sounding, with smooth, steady verses and a really rocking chorus. Ace even did a kind of head banging move at one point. lol (he also dropped to his knees and seductively inched towards the fans during the bridge) It�s amazing how ALIVE he seemed singing this song. It was obvious that he not only loved performing it but that he was excited to show if off. I can only imagine the frustration AI causes for songwriters like Ace, Chris, and Taylor who have their own material but are forced to sing cover songs in unusual genres. Ace definitely seemed thrilled to show off HIMSELF, finally. IMO Scattered could easily be a radio hit. It�s contemporary and vibrant and very catchy. Hopefully AI won�t stand in his way for too long so he can show off his own style and material to a wider audience without having to jump through too many hoops. We�ll see. Before leaving the stage, Ace brought Melissa back out so he could sing Happy Birthday to her, which was both sweet and sexy. Then he retreated �backstage� and we retreated back to the VIP room for another m&g opportunity. Again the VIP area was chaotic, but since many people had already met Ace earlier, it was slightly more calm than before. Rather than waiting in the crowd again immediately, we decided to sit until it thinned out a bit more. (my feet had been killing me since BEFORE I got into the club, so 4 hours later they were basically numb) A super sweet friend of Ace took pity on us and pointed us out to security to try to speed up our m&g chances. I don�t know if it helped at all, but it was an extremely nice gesture regardless. We eventually went back to waiting in the crowd by the platform, and sometime after 1 am it was finally our turn. After waiting so long, you would think that I had planned out what I wanted to say and do. Um, no. I had been so focused on making sure I got the opportunity to meet Ace that I never thought beyond getting up to the platform. As I approached him, all I could think was, �What do I do now?� Thankfully Ace is very easy going (even after being awake for over 20 hours), so even though I was probably acting like a fool, he was entirely wonderful. As with all the other fans, he greeted me with a huge smile and a tight, warm hug. He was still sweaty from his performance; I remember his back feeling damp and muscular. I distinctly recall inhaling as I hugged him, but he didn�t smell like anything (for those who like knowing those kinds of details). His hair felt soft though. I�m surprised I remember anything about the experience because he was standing SO CLOSE � literally just a couple inches away � and looked me in the eyes so intensely. I think I began by rambling about how much I love Scattered, and Ace thanked me and said, �It�s my baby.� He also mentioned something about playing the piano, though I can�t recall why. I remember saying the word "amazing" a few times and thinking ding! in my head. lol At one point I suddenly felt compelled to tell him my name, so mid-conversation I awkwardly blurted out, �By the way, I�m Angela.� I think he said something like, �Hi Angela,� or �Nice to meet you,� and then he added, �Angela, do you have a camera?� I guess that was a not-so-subtle hint to move things along. lol I turned around to hand my camera to someone as Ace said these magic words: �Give your camera to my friend� and then come cuddle with me.� CUDDLE. SERIOUSLY. How my brain kept functioning, I�ll never know. Katharine McPhee was right when she described him as flirty; only a flirt would tell a complete stranger to cuddle with him. I managed to exclaim, �Of course I�ll cuddle with you!� Yes, I�m a dork. As we posed for our picture, I put my right arm around his back and my left arm around his waist. (I never take �hugging�-type pictures with celebs, but if Ace wanted to cuddle, who was I to say no?) He put both of his arms around me as well, his left hand on my left shoulder and his right hand on my left forearm. After the picture he pulled me into another short hug. I think that�s when I told him that I had flown in from CA for the party, and he said, �You�re the bomb.� Yes, he�s a dork, too. He also added, �I�m going back there tomorrow.� The irony � Ace was heading back to CA but I was staying in CO for two more days. I told him that he needed to do shows like this in CA and that if he did, I�d definitely be there. Then it was all over. I don�t even remember how we ended our exchange. I think the �cuddle� comment still had me floored� still does actually. The meet and greet continued for a little while longer, but the crowd was obviously smaller than it had been earlier. The other Youngs were mingling with the fans (Jay even took a super cute picture for us) while Ace continued to give out autographs and hugs. As 2 am approached, the club staff started to clear everyone out. They were pretty harsh actually, yelling and kind of bullying people into vacating the building while Ace and Tha Vill were still on the platform chatting with people. Of course no one wanted to leave � who would voluntarily walk away from Ace? � but we didn�t really have a choice. Some friends decided to say one last goodbye to Ace and the family, so I followed. As I approached he said, �Come here,� and pulled me into another hug. Apparently thousands of AI votes = 3 hugs. Works for me! I whispered, �Thank you,� in his ear before walking away for the last time. It was kind of bittersweet � such a great night with Ace, his family, and my new friends, but as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. It all went by so quickly that it doesn�t even seem real. I have to keep looking at my pictures to remind myself that it really did happen. Hopefully I�ll have another chance to speak with Ace again sometime in the future, but I�m grateful that I took advantage of this opportunity to meet him and see him perform in such an intimate setting just as his career is beginning. Ace has the potential to be a tremendously successful recording artist, and I look forward to the day when I can say, �I saw him when�� |
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