WOW! How do I sum up our Keith Urban No-Frills concert in San Francisco? Wes and I had such a wonderful time...it was definitely a once in a lifetime experience! This is long...you might need to read it in chapters!
First of all, most people know how fanatic I am about Keith...and having tons of pictures of him from the concerts I attend. I took my camera (because we were told that we would be allowed to take cameras), and right before the doors opened I was told I was going to have to check in my camera...that only pocket cameras were allowed in this venue. My camera is no paparazzi camera, but it's not a pocket camera either. My pocket camera was in the car...good place for it, right? UGH! I was so bummed. So all I was left with was my cell phone, Wes's cell phone, and the pocket cameras some friends had. BUT...it all ended up okay, because I was able to focus more on Keith and the concert rather than trying to get good pictures.
Wes and I left our house at 8:30am yesterday (Tuesday, March 24th). Let me just say how absolutely completely wonderful my husband is. He is such a trooper and I love him dearly! We took our time getting to San Francisco, and ended up finding The Fillmore around 11:40am. There were already four people in line, and since this was a general admission show, we quickly got in line. Wes went to our hotel, checked us in, unpacked the car, and then walked back to The Fillmore. We chatted with people as they began to arrive, and the time actually went by pretty quickly.
A friend I met through the fan club (Kathy) and her friend (Cindy) met up with us around 2pm. Around 3pm my eagle-eyed husband noticed a white van cruising by with Keith's band members in it. There are only two entrances to The Fillmore...the main entrance and the back stage entrance. We were only about 100 feet away from the back stage entrance, so we figured we might get a glimpse of Keith and the band members. Anyway...Chris R., Chris M., Jerry, Brad, and Brian all got out of the van. A few of us rushed over to them to talk to them. I shook their hands and made a little small talk before they went into the venue. About 40 minutes later, my eagle-eyed husband saw a black SUV show up and he motioned me over to him. He figured Keith HAD to be in it. Sure enough...out came Keith. My first glimpse of Keith...there would be many more, though, but it was so wonderful to see him!
About an hour and a half later we noticed the SUV come back. My lovely husband "ordered" me to go to where the SUV was parked...and sure enough, here comes Keith again. We figured he must be leaving to get ready for the concert. He signed an autograph for someone, chatted with us a little, and shook my friend, Kathy's, hand. I got a hand tap, but it was enough for me. Boy were we on cloud 9. Around 7ish here came the SUV again...this time a VERY handsome Keith got out, all decked out for the concert. No time for small talk this time because he had to get upstairs for the meet and greets (which, unfortunately, I did not have).
So, after almost 8 hours of waiting in line, it was getting time to enter the venue. Because of the fact that we had upgraded our Verizon cell phone, we had what was called mobile tickets. Wes and I were 5th in the original line, but the mobile cell phone ticket people got priority over everyone else in line, so we were actually FIRST in line. The only people in the venue before us were VIPs and the people who had the meet and greets. Since Wes is such a social person, he started a conversation with one of the security guys while we were waiting for the doors to open. Apparently this guy had worked at a bar in Chico and knew some of the same people Wes knew. I think Wes's friendly personality helped, too, when Kathy said that she REALLY needed to go to the bathroom, and the guy had a lady take us into the venue so we could use the restroom. That gave us a glimpse of where the door was, and what everything looked like. After we came back from the bathroom, and were waiting in line again, I was told I would not be able to take my camera in. I was devastated not only because I couldn't take pictures of Keith, but also because I did not want to have to stop at the coat check. SO...the same guy let us go up to the coat check before the doors opened and check in our bags. It was perfect because that meant we could go straight to the floor instead of stopping at the bathroom or the coat check.
SO...8:00pm came and we were finally let in. I walked (okay...maybe ran) to the stage. We got there and there was a PERFECT spot right at the stage. I mean...there was NO ONE between me and the stage. I was able to put my arms on the stage...no barrier at all. Talk about excitement. Eight hours of waiting in line was DEFINITELY worth it! We still had an hour to wait for the concert to actually start, so we spent most of the time chatting with people around us. Since Verizon sponsored the concert, they had a screen on the wall where people could send a text message and have it displayed on the screen. Wes sent me one (without me knowing it) at the same time I was sending him one. His said "Di...Lv...U--Wes" and mine said, "Wes...you are my Sweet Thing! Luv, Di". It was pretty cute. There was a contest to give away a signed guitar and one of the gals who was in front of us in the initial line (she had been there since 11am) won. We were excited for her...although secretly jealous, of course!
Okay...9:00pm...the moment I had been waiting for! Out comes the band and Keith. Now remember...I was right up to the stage...a little to the left of Keith's microphone. It was absolutely the perfect spot to be! My heart was pounding...I was so excited! Keith was literally three feet away from me the majority of the concert. About five times he came right to where I was...two inches away...and sang and jammed on his guitar. Oh my gosh! I reached out my hand a couple of times just so I could touch him. I was careful not to grab him...I didn't want him to fall. Of course, he could have fallen on me and I wouldn't have cared! I did take some pictures with my cell phone, and Wes took lots with his phone, too. Cindy and Kathy promised to send me the pictures they took. Although at times I was going through camera withdrawal (especially those times when he was right above me), I found that it was actually nice not worrying about taking pictures. I just stood with my arms resting on the stage and stared at Keith and enjoyed the music and his voice. I have never been that close to him at a concert...it was about an hour and 40 minutes of pure bliss!
After the concert Wes and I went to the merchandise booth and bought a shirt for me. That now makes seven Keith Urban shirts I have...one for each day of the week if I want! We then cruised on over to the back stage entrance outside "just in case". We were lucky enough to see Chris M., Jerry, and Brian, who were kind enough to sign one of the posters I received from the Verizon reps. We hung out for a little while longer because we thought Keith might be there...but he wasn't. We left the venue, went to Mel's Diner, got dinner to go, and went to our hotel room. I was still on a natural high! It was absolutely amazing.
It's not over yet...this morning (Wednesday) we woke up around 8:06am. The radio station sponsoring the concert (The Wolf) had given us a flier that said if we listen to The Wolf between 7 and 8am Wednesday morning and call in when "Sweet Thing" is playing, and actually get through, then we will get a copy of Keith's new CD "Defying Gravity" sent to us. This CD isn't even out yet...it comes out on March 31st. So, my wonderful husband decided to call the radio station...just in case. The DJ answered the phone and Wes explained to him that we went to the concert, thoroughly enjoyed it, and he was wondering if they had any more CDs left. The DJ said, "Yeah. We have one left." Oh my gosh! So I talked to him and gave him my mailing address and other information. So...I am now going to get the CD mailed to me. What a way to spend a wonderful two days!
It was absolutely the best concert EVER! It was an amazing time in the city with my absolutely wonderful husband. He is such an awesome guy...I'm a very lucky lady!
I will go through the pictures on our phones and post them soon.
11 years ago
