4/23 Mankato
I got into Mankato around 3:00 and i drove by the Civic Center and didn't see a
line anywhere so i figured i was safe to stay at my hotel a while and try to
take a nap,i didnt get any sleep the night before (how am i supposed to sleep
when i'm about to see my favorite band in concert!? lol) so i kinda rested a
bit,i didnt fall asleep though cuz i felt too crappy,i had NO energy and i was
almost too tired to sleep if that makes any sense. Then Gellie called me (one of
the girls from the Switchfoot message board) and said she was waiting in line,so
i jumped up and got ready and as I was walking over,i suddenly got the energy i
needed! Just seeing all the people walking around was cool,then i walked to the
back and saw their bus,and the road was blocked off. So i made a mental note of
where THAT was,for later LOL So i called Gellie to find out where she was and
found her and her sister inside in line (thank God i was able to stand by them
otherwise i would have had to go to the back of the line which was probably 50
people long at that point!) It was a long wait to get inside. They finally
opened the doors and we BURST inside,running for the stage! We got like 2nd
row/whatever a row is LOL It was a long wait for Lovedrug to come on. They were
ok,not great,not terrible,but it was something to watch to keep our minds off
the fact that Switchfoot wasn't on yet LOL After them it was about 20 minutes
til the one and only Switchfoot took the stage! First song was Shadow Proves the
Sunshine,which featured suddenly-a-drummer Tim banging away on this huge red
drum really loud and hard,it was AWESOME! That is my favorite part of that song
and now its even cooler after seeing Tim drumming it! I suppose someone else had
to,because Chad doesn't quite have enough arms LOL Then they went right into
Stars and this is where the crowd really started to move. I got pushed back
about 3 or 4 "rows". Then they did (not in order) Ammunition,Lonely
Nation,Company Car,Gone (with Chad AND Jerome on drums! Geez who DOESNT play
drums in this band?!),Easier than Love (which i could not see any of this
because i was stuck under a constant flow of overhead crowdsurfers LOL),On
Fire,This Is Your Life,More Than Fine,We Are One Tonight,Dare You To Move (crowd
singing louder than Jon),Twenty Four (Just Jon,while the rest of the guys took a
break),Awakening,then for the encore they did Meant To Live. They also sang
Happy Birthday to this guy named Chad in the audience,the lucky guy got to get
up on stage while Jon sang to him!
After the show,we made our way back to the bus and stood with the crowd of
about 25 people,and waited for the band. After about half an hour,Tim comes out
wheeling his gear behind him! He was like "hey guys!" Of course he had to go
straight for the opposite end of the line that we were on! Finally he gets to
us,and I was too busy freaking out that I dont even think i said anything to him
except asking for him to sign my shirt and to get a pic LOL Plus he was the
first one I met so I wasn't used to talking to such gorgeous famous musicians
LOL He kept saying to everyone "have a good night!" 2nd out was Romey,pulling
his gear behind him (geez don't they have someone to do that!? lol) This time he
came straight for me first! I shook his hand and said hi and had him sign my
shirt. Then Chad came out. This one talked a little more than Tim and Romey LOL
Some girl was asking him what "Nothing is sound" meant and he didnt really say
anything so i answered "it can mean whatever you want" and Chad looked at me and
smiled and pointed at me and said "yeah!" Then someone asked him where they were
going next and he guessed "Billings?" and i said "Brookings! I know cuz i'm
going there!" (good thing i was standing by Chad because I had to answer his
last 2 questions for him LOL) He goes "really,you're gonna be there too?" I
said "yeah" and he goes "Do you have your own private jet?" I laughed and said
"I wish!" (i shoulda said "no,can i ride in your bus? lol) Then he said
something like "how does that work?",then some other kids shoved their stuff at
him to sign LOL. Then it suddenly seemed to get colder because we had to keep
waiting for like what seemed an eternity for Jon and Drew to come out. Gellie
tried to catch Romey and ask him if the rest were coming out but he snuck into
the bus too fast. Meanwhile,Tim is on the bus probably sleeping by this time LOL
All the event staff kept trying to get us to leave by saying they weren't coming
out. Finally right before we were about to give up,out comes Jon and Drew! Drew
started at our end,Jon at the other. Drew signed our shirts. Then Jon comes,and
he was apologizing for taking so long,and i said "we almost left because
somebody said you weren't coming out!" As i was saying that,some kid shoves his
cd in Jon's face to sign it,but Jon still kept listening to me! :-) Then i had
him sign my shirt,and we got our picture taken (he was the only one who put his
arm around my arm a little bit! But you cant see it in my picture) He was
talking a lot but for some reason I dont remember everything. Then we left and
we were practically jumping back to the car cuz we were so excited!! The BEST
day of my life!!

4/24 Brookings
It took me 2 1/2 hours to drive here,and my car's engine light kept coming on so
i was freaking out,praying i would at least make it to the concert (wasnt
worried about getting home,just the concert was all i wanted at this point LOL).
I ate at Perkins for energy then headed over to the show. When i walked in there
were only about 15 people standing around. Once again,it was a long wait til the
doors opened (what is it about waiting for concerts to start that makes it feel
like a week went by!?) Doors open,we RUN to the stage,and lo and behold the
front row was mostly open yet! So i got my ideal spot right between Jon and Tim.
Once again,a week went by and then Lovedrug came on. I don't think these guys
have many clothes because I think they all had the same outfits on from last
night! lol At least the guitarist did for sure. I know because it reminded me of
one that Tim wears LOL So they played and got done then it was Switchfoot time!
They played the same exact setlist as last night,so i was bummed I didnt get to
hear "The Blues",that's my favorite! But i had front row so that made up for
that. Jon crowd surfed 2 or 3 times (once last night). Oh,i forgot to mention
the state song he does ("here's a song i wrote 15 seconds from now" he says LOL)
and it sounded like we were at a country ho-down for a while LOL He made a joke
about square dancing to it LOL I dont remember the words but at the end of each
one he puts the name of the state in there. So that was cool. Before one
song,Chad got down off his drumset and walked up to Jon's microphone,Jon goes
"Here's Chad Butler!" and Chad started doing this little drum thing on it and
then he started doing a little tambourine on it,then ran back to his drum,and
Jon goes "Now we just recorded you guys clapping,so when your arms get tired,you
can put them down and you'll still be clapping!" lol (how thoughtful of him to
care about our arms!) Then the show was over and they walked out of my life :-(
After the show I so badly wanted to go back by the bus and meet them again but
1) it was 30 degrees out and kinda raining, 2) i was worried about my car so i
just wanted to get back to my hotel before it got to be too late and 3) i
already met them last night so i didnt HAVE to meet them again,but trust me,i
would have if it was nicer out and my engine light wasnt on!
So that was the best weekend of my life! :-D