Dear Hollywood....I Love @anthemlights
I woke up Saturday morning from a crazy dream….
I dreamt I was on Hollywood Blvd. For some reason I was super cold but I was standing outside in front of MI’s Pro Tools lab with Celest. At first I was looking through their window and drooling over the Pro Tools lab they had there (I know, total JP, right? Hehe!) Jodi and Juana were there and Jodi was making fun of me when I said, “Hey, Jon has those same speakers in his studio!!” She was like, “Of course you would know that.” We were standing by Journey’s star and a group of girls came and wanted to take a picture with the star. I guess it was my Disney CM instincts that made me jump in there and offer to take their picture, haha. After drooling at the Mi Pro Tools lab for a while I let Celest borrow my sparkly purple hat. Juana and Jodi were messing with their phone while I was taking photos of Celest. All of a sudden, ANTHEM LIGHTS walked by. Yes, ANTHEM LIGHTS!! All four of them, Alan, Caleb, Chad, and Joey, all four of them walked past us. There was a group of people behind them. They were there to share a message, a message to Hollywood. I listened to that message…and I agreed with that message. I more than agreed, having worked in Hollywood for the time that I did, I related to that message. It was more than a message than I wanted to support, it was a message that resonated within my soul; I was deeply touched by that message. The message was so powerful and it was so personal that I wanted to stand with them in agreement of that message. I grabbed Celest’s hand and followed the guys, showing that I fully, 100% agreed with that message. Jodi and Juana must have agreed too because they soon followed as well. As we continued to walk down Hollywood Blvd. with this message more people joined us. Yes, some were curious as to what was going on, some mocked us, and a couple of time some people flipped us off, but a lot did join in. We continued to walk down Hollywood Blvd, repeating those words over and over… “Dear Hollywood, I wish that you would see the truth. Dear Hollywood, there’s so much good that you could do.”
Danny woke me up Saturday morning because we had somewhere to attend together. Groggily I got up stretched, said my morning thanks, and then looked at my phone for the time. I noticed I had a lot of new photos on my phone, photos of a Pro Tools lab and photos of Hollywood Blvd…photos with ANTHEM LIGHTS on Hollywood Blvd!! So it wasn't a dream….
Okay, so maybe I knew the whole time it wasn’t really a dream. Still, the whole experience was completely surreal! Let’s back up and explain for a minute.
First of all, I doubt that I need to say this, but I love Anthem Lights! To keep it brief, I love their hearts and I love their talent. They are out in Nashville (NASHVILLE!!! <3 <3 <3), and like most other Christian artists they rarely come out to the West. Well, they were going be in town for the Revolve Tour. Yes, you know, the Revolve Tour, you know, the one aimed at TEENAGE GIRLS!! Since I no longer have a group of teenage girls to take there was no way I could go (okay, no way I could go and not seem like a total creeper, lol). I signed up to work the event like I have in the past, but since this time it was being held in a church much smaller than the large arenas it has been at before they didn’t need workers.
I noticed that the guys kept asking for volunteers to sell their merch for their other dates. I told Juana to keep an eye on their page for me to see if they needed volunteers (we can’t use our phone at work due to PCI compliance and a lot of sites including all social media sites are blocked from our work comps). On Thursday I received an urgent text from Juana. It had that emojicon of someone who is shocked and screaming and it said, "
CHECK ANTHEM LIGHTS LAST FACEBOOK POSTS!” I was on my break so I promptly did as instructed. What I saw left me with that same expression as the emojicon, there they had written, “So if we played an acoustic show like on a random beach somewhere tomorrow night here in LA...any of you be able to come??”
Immediately I responded, “I WOULD!! Please give us the details as soon as possible.” I texted everyone I thought would be interested to let them know. Eventually I saw each of them post a reply, hehe.
The next day I once again told Juana to keep an eye on their FB and let me know as soon as any details were posted. It was noon and still no details; I was super anxious!! I had other plans that night but they weren’t important enough as seeing Anthem Lights. Of course, my over active imagination was already thinking of how amazing it would be to see them sing on the beach under the stars.
Lunch was a little frustrating due to other factors. Om my way back from lunch I quickly checked twitter. On my feed I saw Anthem Lights had posted the video. The description of the video said, “Come be in a music video with us tonight in LA!” WHAT!!??!! Unfortunately I had no time to watch the video so when I got back to my desk I e-mailed Juana to look at the video and get back to me with what the heck was going on.
Eventually Juana replied back. Apparently it took her a while because she had to download the appropriate app to her phone to be able to watch the video. Her message said, “7PM highland and Hollywood at the Kodak theater they are shooting video for their new original song Dear Hollywood.”
WHAT!?!? I was now spastic!! I e-mailed everyone whom I knew would be interesting. We all made plans. Unfortunately not everyone that wanted to come was able to come. We had to think on our toes and coordinately everything and do it quickly!! We decided that Jodi would make the hour and half trek from Murrieta to my work. She would leave her car in our parking structure and then we would drive my house. There we would quickly get ready as we waited for Juana to arrive (who had to drop off Evan at his grandpa’s and have the girl she was babysitting picked up).
My mom was curious when I showed up to the house with Jodi and then left her while I jumped in the shower, and then got even more confused when Juana and Celest showed up. HAHA! It was great. We all hopped into Kurt and headed over to Hollywood & Highland, aka my old stomping grounds, hehe!
For 6pm on a Friday night we made REALLY good time; there was not much traffic. We parked and I quickly did my makeup before heading out. Jodi had seen that the guys had tweeted they were running late, so just to wait for them and be patient. We went to the entrance of the DOLBY theater (didn’t realize they had changed the name from Kodak to Dolby already) and saw no one there. We walked out to the street under the big sign that still reads Kodak Theater. We saw quite a large group there so I approached them and asked if they were there for Anthem Lights. Sure enough, they were. We all started chatting with each other and our group got a little larger. By the time it was all said and done, we easily had 30-40 people there.
Well, we were waiting there when I saw Chad approaching the group!! Like a total goon I pointed and screamed, “THERE THEY ARE!!!” All four guys came over with two other guys and two girls (one of the girls I immediately recognized as Caleb’s GF). Alan exclaimed, “Lightbulbs!?” We all yelled out, “YES!!” He was completely surprised! “Oh my goodness, you lightbulbs never cease to amaze me! I was expecting maybe about 6 of you to come, but there’s like a hundred of you! I want to meet all of you!” With that the guys went around meeting everyone. I believe Chad was the first one to come greet me. Of course, he looked at my hat and said how awesome it was, and of course I had to show him how it lights up. He loved it even more and asked if he would wear it in the video, HAHA!! I saw Joey meet Juana and Celest but he skipped over me. Alan come up to meet me and asked if I had met him before, I said yes and I told him I had gifts for his daughters. He knew exactly who I was after that, hehe.
After they mingled a bit with everyone, Alan called us to gather in tight around him. He proceeded to thank all of us for coming, saying how surprised he was that so many of us showed up. “One of these days I’ll stop underestimating the lightbulbs.” He introduced us to the people that they brought. One of them was the director. They explain his credits (pretty impressive!) and what other videos he’s worked on with Anthem Lights. They introduced the girls too. When Alan introduced Kelsey Caleb yelled out, “THAT’S MY GIRLFRIEND!!” Haha, ohmygosh! It was seriously the cutest thing. Alan said, “I know what you’re all thinking, she’s way too pretty for Caleb!” HAHAHA!! So, Alan went on to tell us how it was a last minute decision to film the music video for this song. “I had an idea, but since there’s like a hundred of you, we’re gonna change things up, I have another idea!”
He went over his background a little bit of how he lived in Hollywood and how Satan attacked him while being here. He talked about the cross that lights up over Hollywood and the how and why he wrote the song. He said how he told the guys, “If you don’t put this song in the next album I’m leaving the band!” Chad replied, “Yeah, we had to think about it. We told him, ‘Yeah, let us pray about it and we’ll get back to you.’” HAHAHA! He also warned us that they brought a rough demo for us to listen. “This is the first time I’m sharing an unfinished song with someone other than these guys, family, or super close friends. I have to give the disclaimer that this is not finished!!” He also gave us a brief overview of what we were going to do. He had warned us that he wanted us to sing along. He said, “I wish we could take y’all into the studio. Hey if you can get to Nashville you’re more than welcome to come.” I raised my hand excited saying, “I’ll go!! No, seriously!! I’ll go!! I love Nashville!” He asked if I was from Nashville, and I gave him a brief history how I love Nashville, I almost moved there but got sick, still want to move there, and I travel there whenever I get a chance, hehe.
Well, Alan went on explaining until it was time to go to our starting location. Before we headed off to our starting location Alan prayed over us and over the project. That was surreal, praying like that on Hollywood Blvd! Amazing!
We went off to our starting location. Okay, now this was SOOOO cute. Caleb and Alan took the front. Joey was somewhere in the middle. Chad stayed behind and took care of the back end with a friend. THEY WERE WATCHING OUT FOR US!!! Oh my goodness, how sweet! Then when we got to the light, Joey continued to the front, Alan waiting at the intersection and made sure everyone crossed safely. It was like they were taking care of a kindergarten! They seriously were so sweet!
We ended up on the corner of Hollywood blvd and La Palma. When we got there Alan was laughing, “We passed a Starbucks, that’s where we probably lost Caleb.” Haha! While we waited for Caleb Alan went around asking who drove the farthest. Jodi won by far! I explained she drove 90 minutes to my work, followed by 45 minutes to my house, and then another 45 minutes to Hollywood! Then Alan asked what other plans were supposed to happen that got canceled. A girl said she was supposed to see Phil Whickham at a show. I said, “I had a Jimmy Needham concert and a bowling tournament too!!” Haha! They were so glad we were there instead with them.
Caleb eventually showed up and was teasing for stopping at a Starbucks. “I really did stop at a Starbucks, but I had to use the bathroom!!” AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
<----Waiting for Caleb
Alan went over the song a little more. He was going to play it for us until he realized, um, they didn’t have the auxiliary chord! The girl that was in charge of it left it in her purse, which was left in the car. Caleb said he would run to the car to go get it. Alan said it would probably be faster to buy one. He disappeared on the quest for this auxiliary chord. Meanwhile Caleb and Joey came to entertain us. (They all played with my hat at some point, HAHAHA!) Caleb asked what our favorite color was and I yelled out, “PURPLE!!” He laughed so hard at me, it was great! Joey tried to teach us a game about a duck, but honestly, it was more amusing watching him explain the game, HAHAHA! We also played ninja and patty cake. Oh yeah, we were having a blast, haha!
<----Waiting for Alan and trying to entertain ourselves
A girl approached me and said she knew she had met before. She asked if I had done the whole Jonas bros and Miley era. I told her I went to a concert of each, but that was it. She asked if I had ever camped out at Leno and I said, “Yes, for the Backstreet Boys.” She was way too young for that. We eventually narrowed it down to the show last year at Oceanside. We had a very lengthy conversation and we also talked some in the Fullerton one. Well there ya go, hehe!
It was funny, we were all there talking and Chad came over, “So who do you think drove the farthest?” We all pointed at Jodi. “Oh, you guys already decided this? I guess I’m late to the conversation.” Hahaha! We also voted on coolest shoes (I WON!), and coolest hair.
Eventually Alan came back with the auxiliary chord. First he asked, “Is ______ here?” A girl said that was here. We went to meet her and shook her hand and meet her. “I saw your tweets and wanted to make sure you found us.” Apparently she had arrived after we had left and keep tweeting the guys asking where they were. How sweet that he noticed and made sure she found us! The hearts of these guys, I swear man, they are something else!
Now, this part was awesome. Alan had the auxiliary cord to plug in his phone but couldn’t figure out where the plug input was located so I HAD TO DO IT!! My music nerdiness shined through this night, hahahaha! Alan started to play the song, and that’s where magic happened…
The first line of the song belongs to Alan, and immediately knew I was going to love the song. It had such beautiful imagery of the cross over Hollywood. I was in tears. Alan was singing along and when necessary he would talk over the song and explain what would be going on the video.
Then I heard a beautiful voice coming behind me, IT WAS CALEB!! Caleb was singing along his part. I didn’t look around to see him, but he was literally directly behind me, so much that I could only hear his voice in my left ear!! Then, directly to my left, CHAD STARTS SINGING HIS PART!! So there it was, Alan passionately in front of me going over the song, Chad right next to me, and Caleb directly behind me, all with their beautiful voices, SINGING THEIR PARTS!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!! I go back and think and it’s still completely surreal! I can’t believe that happened, and that with all those people there, Chad and Caleb were basically surrounding me as it happened, and Alan in front of me separated only by a Newspaper dispenser box. Surreal I tell ya, SURREAL!
<----Alan going over the song with us (sorry, it was dark)
Now, I know, I’m not doing a very good job of explaining the song or the message of the song. That’s Alan’s job to do, not mine. I figured this song and video will come out (and hopefully we can get the video on JCTV!), and then Alan will explain it the way he wants it to be explained. Plus, I could never explain it as eloquently nor as passionately as he does (even though I fully agree with, support, and can relate with the message).
After he showed us the song he had us repeat the beautiful chorus several times. That was going to be how we closed out the video. He was cute, he kept saying, “Keep singing, this is how this song is ending, with these voices!” He was totally into the song a he was teaching it to us; it was just great to see him with such passion.
After we were ready we got each got placed. When we got to MI Alan asked who wanted to stand there, I raised my hand jumped up and down. He asked me why I wanted to be there, and I explained that I studied sound there (I went to LA Recording but took a mastering class there).
What happened next? Well, you that read at the beginning. I was drooling over everything at MI.
<-----MI's Pro Tools Lab
We did the shot several times. We were supposed act as if we were doing our own activities as they walked by us with our message. Then we were supposed to take note of their message, agree with them, and choose to follow them. I think we may have done it about 5 times or so. It needed to all be in just one shot so we took a few just to make sure we got it perfectly. Alan wanted a very raw view of Hollywood, so we were told to interact or ignore those around us as we please. I loved the whole thing.
<---I was pretending I was taking pictures of Celest wearing my hat
When we would go back to re-shoot Alan would come to each group and either give us suggestions or compliment what we were doing. Earlier the guys had each asked me to have my hat on. On the second shot I asked Alan if he really wanted me to turn on my hat. He replied, “Whatever you want! Just be yourself!”
Okay, pause time. Do you know how much that meant to me? No one EVER tells me to be myself. Everyone always tries to mold me into something I’m not. I once was told, “You try too hard to be different.” NO it’s just easier to just be me then pretend to be someone that’s not JP And darn it, JP is someone who wears glittery purple shoes, purple clothes, and a purple sparkly hat LIGHTS UP!
Well, I replied to Alan, “Being me is a light up hat.” “Then light it up!” he replied. Oh my gosh!! I love than man even more!
In between one of the shots I approached Joey. As the newest member I had not had the chance to meet him. I approached him and said, “Hi Joey, I haven’t met you yet, I’m JP.” He looked at me perplexed. “We’ve met already.” In my mind I was thinking how he was wrong, I never met him before. He said, “Yes, we talked about your hat!” Ooops, I guess I oversaw that. “Glad you remember,” he kiddingly replied.
“Well, I knew I needed to meet you because this is your first time in So Cal. I guess I had it in my mind that I haven’t introduced myself to you.” So we shook hands. And…well…I just had to do it.
“Joey, I need to ask you a question.”
“What’s that?”
“Has anyone ever told you that you look like Cristian Castro?”
“Who!?”
“Cristian Castro’”
“Who’s that?”
“He’s a Spanish singer. He was a big heartthrob back in the early 90s.”
“Are you saying I look Spanish?”
“I’m saying you look like him.”
“No, I’ve never heard that before. That is definitely a first. I just might have to google this guy.”
At this point in the conversation we had caught up to Juana. She was like, “Oh, you told him?” “I had to!” was my reply. Juana pulled up one of Cristian Castro’s album covers on her phone. Jodi agreed that he looked just like him. When we showed it to Joey though, he disagreed. “Uhhhh, hmmmm, I don’t know! Maybe a little bit.” HAHAHAHAHA!! No, trust me, the album cover we pulled up was dead on, hahaha
Anyways, we eventually finished the shots and all the guys went around and gave us all high-fives. Alan gathered us and thanked us. He said they were bringing us copies of the “Covers” album for each of us. He also said, “And, we’’, we’re here. I always feel so weird when I say this because it’s hey,” he pretended to flip the collar of jacked with a cocky attitude before finishing, “hey, we’re here for pictures.” Well all laughed when he said that.
We walked over to the sign that still reads “Kodak Theater.” There Alan announced we could pick up copies of “Covers.” Since I had already purchased mine on-line I didn’t pick one up. Of course, our rather large group started taking pix with the guys. They got together so we would take groups shots. As I was waiting my turn several tourists kept approaching us. “Who are they?’ “Do you know who these guys are?” “Are these celebrities?” “Who is everyone taking pictures with?” HAHA! It was great, people kept coming over to ask. When we told one couple they were Anthem Lights the lady said, “Oh, they are not in the UK yet.” HAHAHA!! It was great! I’m also pretty sure at least one group of people took a picture with them who was not a lightbulb, AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Man, it was GREAT!
It was finally our turn and we all got to take our picture with the guys. It was my turn they were yelling at me, “Come on purple, your turn!” Hahaha! They kept calling me purple, it was so cute!
Juana and Celest were also getting autographs. I decided to get solo shots with each of the guys as well. They were all so sweet to oblige. When I asked Caleb he said, “But I’m not wearing any purple, is that OK? Are you OK with that?” HAHAHAHA!!
Caleb asked if that was my phone that used to the take the picture, I said yes. He asked me what it stood for. I told him the arrow is always pointing up, reminding me to always look up and remember what’s in control. He said he liked that. We then got to chat with him for a little bit. There were so many music nerd questions I wanted to ask (he is the music nerd of the group), but I choked! However, there was an amusing conversation between him and Jodi:
“Was this a better night than what you had planned?”
“Much better?”
“What would have been doing instead? Babysitting your siblings?”
“No, my siblings are too old for that.”
“So, were you just going to watch ‘The Bachelor’?”
“No, I was going to watch ‘Dr. Who.’”
“Oh!”
Hahaha! It was great! He also asked Jodi if he was driving home that night. When she said yes Caleb got all concerned, “Ok miss 2 hour drive, you be safe. Stay awake, drink a Red Bull if you have to! Make sure you call her to let her know you got home safe.” So cute that he cared! We got chat with Caleb for a little while longer before he got called away for more group shots. We stood around chatting for a while before the guys freed up again.
I approached Joey for pictures. Jodi was taking too long taking the picture, then she started laughing. Joey asked, "What's so funny? is there something in my teeth?" "I just don't think I'm gonna get a picture without him in it," was Jodi's replied. Both Joey and I turned around and saw Chad standing there as if he had no clue as to what was going on. "WHAT!? I'm just standing here!" he commented. Both Joey and I looked at my phone and started laughing at creeper Chad in my pictures. "THAT'S GREAT!" exclaimed Joey. It really is great, haha!
Alan also freed up so he came over to chat with us. I gave him some gifts for his girls. He told me that his oldest loves Disney, so he’s sure his newest will as well. He loved the princess dress for his oldest and said, “If it doesn't fit she will MAKE IT fit. I’ll cut this part if I have to!” Hahaha, he’s so sweet. He was also a total sweetheart. He thanked us all again and gave us each a hug.
We hung around a little longer chatting with everyone before we headed out. We our last hugs and byes from the guys, I thanked their team for their hard work, and we headed out. We put in the “Covers” CD and we sang our little hearts out (I forgot that “This I Promise You” was on there and had a mini-spazz moment when it came on, hehe!). We drove back to my work to drop off Jodi, then I drove back home. Said bye to Juana and Celest, hopped into my bed, and had the biggest smile as all the events of that surreal evening ran through my mind and slowly drifted off to sleep.
So, no, I didn’t get to see them a Revolve Tour and I didn’t get a beach concert from them, but I did get something much more special and long lasting. Oh, I can’t wait to see my light up hat on JCTV! (Oh, I’m making sure this thing plays on JCTV when it comes out!!) Many thanks to Caleb, Chad, Joey, and of course Alan. I am so thankful and grateful to have been part of such amazing project!
I dreamt I was on Hollywood Blvd. For some reason I was super cold but I was standing outside in front of MI’s Pro Tools lab with Celest. At first I was looking through their window and drooling over the Pro Tools lab they had there (I know, total JP, right? Hehe!) Jodi and Juana were there and Jodi was making fun of me when I said, “Hey, Jon has those same speakers in his studio!!” She was like, “Of course you would know that.” We were standing by Journey’s star and a group of girls came and wanted to take a picture with the star. I guess it was my Disney CM instincts that made me jump in there and offer to take their picture, haha. After drooling at the Mi Pro Tools lab for a while I let Celest borrow my sparkly purple hat. Juana and Jodi were messing with their phone while I was taking photos of Celest. All of a sudden, ANTHEM LIGHTS walked by. Yes, ANTHEM LIGHTS!! All four of them, Alan, Caleb, Chad, and Joey, all four of them walked past us. There was a group of people behind them. They were there to share a message, a message to Hollywood. I listened to that message…and I agreed with that message. I more than agreed, having worked in Hollywood for the time that I did, I related to that message. It was more than a message than I wanted to support, it was a message that resonated within my soul; I was deeply touched by that message. The message was so powerful and it was so personal that I wanted to stand with them in agreement of that message. I grabbed Celest’s hand and followed the guys, showing that I fully, 100% agreed with that message. Jodi and Juana must have agreed too because they soon followed as well. As we continued to walk down Hollywood Blvd. with this message more people joined us. Yes, some were curious as to what was going on, some mocked us, and a couple of time some people flipped us off, but a lot did join in. We continued to walk down Hollywood Blvd, repeating those words over and over… “Dear Hollywood, I wish that you would see the truth. Dear Hollywood, there’s so much good that you could do.”
Danny woke me up Saturday morning because we had somewhere to attend together. Groggily I got up stretched, said my morning thanks, and then looked at my phone for the time. I noticed I had a lot of new photos on my phone, photos of a Pro Tools lab and photos of Hollywood Blvd…photos with ANTHEM LIGHTS on Hollywood Blvd!! So it wasn't a dream….
Okay, so maybe I knew the whole time it wasn’t really a dream. Still, the whole experience was completely surreal! Let’s back up and explain for a minute.
First of all, I doubt that I need to say this, but I love Anthem Lights! To keep it brief, I love their hearts and I love their talent. They are out in Nashville (NASHVILLE!!! <3 <3 <3), and like most other Christian artists they rarely come out to the West. Well, they were going be in town for the Revolve Tour. Yes, you know, the Revolve Tour, you know, the one aimed at TEENAGE GIRLS!! Since I no longer have a group of teenage girls to take there was no way I could go (okay, no way I could go and not seem like a total creeper, lol). I signed up to work the event like I have in the past, but since this time it was being held in a church much smaller than the large arenas it has been at before they didn’t need workers.
I noticed that the guys kept asking for volunteers to sell their merch for their other dates. I told Juana to keep an eye on their page for me to see if they needed volunteers (we can’t use our phone at work due to PCI compliance and a lot of sites including all social media sites are blocked from our work comps). On Thursday I received an urgent text from Juana. It had that emojicon of someone who is shocked and screaming and it said, "
CHECK ANTHEM LIGHTS LAST FACEBOOK POSTS!” I was on my break so I promptly did as instructed. What I saw left me with that same expression as the emojicon, there they had written, “So if we played an acoustic show like on a random beach somewhere tomorrow night here in LA...any of you be able to come??”
Immediately I responded, “I WOULD!! Please give us the details as soon as possible.” I texted everyone I thought would be interested to let them know. Eventually I saw each of them post a reply, hehe.
The next day I once again told Juana to keep an eye on their FB and let me know as soon as any details were posted. It was noon and still no details; I was super anxious!! I had other plans that night but they weren’t important enough as seeing Anthem Lights. Of course, my over active imagination was already thinking of how amazing it would be to see them sing on the beach under the stars.
Lunch was a little frustrating due to other factors. Om my way back from lunch I quickly checked twitter. On my feed I saw Anthem Lights had posted the video. The description of the video said, “Come be in a music video with us tonight in LA!” WHAT!!??!! Unfortunately I had no time to watch the video so when I got back to my desk I e-mailed Juana to look at the video and get back to me with what the heck was going on.
Eventually Juana replied back. Apparently it took her a while because she had to download the appropriate app to her phone to be able to watch the video. Her message said, “7PM highland and Hollywood at the Kodak theater they are shooting video for their new original song Dear Hollywood.”
WHAT!?!? I was now spastic!! I e-mailed everyone whom I knew would be interesting. We all made plans. Unfortunately not everyone that wanted to come was able to come. We had to think on our toes and coordinately everything and do it quickly!! We decided that Jodi would make the hour and half trek from Murrieta to my work. She would leave her car in our parking structure and then we would drive my house. There we would quickly get ready as we waited for Juana to arrive (who had to drop off Evan at his grandpa’s and have the girl she was babysitting picked up).
My mom was curious when I showed up to the house with Jodi and then left her while I jumped in the shower, and then got even more confused when Juana and Celest showed up. HAHA! It was great. We all hopped into Kurt and headed over to Hollywood & Highland, aka my old stomping grounds, hehe!
For 6pm on a Friday night we made REALLY good time; there was not much traffic. We parked and I quickly did my makeup before heading out. Jodi had seen that the guys had tweeted they were running late, so just to wait for them and be patient. We went to the entrance of the DOLBY theater (didn’t realize they had changed the name from Kodak to Dolby already) and saw no one there. We walked out to the street under the big sign that still reads Kodak Theater. We saw quite a large group there so I approached them and asked if they were there for Anthem Lights. Sure enough, they were. We all started chatting with each other and our group got a little larger. By the time it was all said and done, we easily had 30-40 people there.
Well, we were waiting there when I saw Chad approaching the group!! Like a total goon I pointed and screamed, “THERE THEY ARE!!!” All four guys came over with two other guys and two girls (one of the girls I immediately recognized as Caleb’s GF). Alan exclaimed, “Lightbulbs!?” We all yelled out, “YES!!” He was completely surprised! “Oh my goodness, you lightbulbs never cease to amaze me! I was expecting maybe about 6 of you to come, but there’s like a hundred of you! I want to meet all of you!” With that the guys went around meeting everyone. I believe Chad was the first one to come greet me. Of course, he looked at my hat and said how awesome it was, and of course I had to show him how it lights up. He loved it even more and asked if he would wear it in the video, HAHA!! I saw Joey meet Juana and Celest but he skipped over me. Alan come up to meet me and asked if I had met him before, I said yes and I told him I had gifts for his daughters. He knew exactly who I was after that, hehe.
After they mingled a bit with everyone, Alan called us to gather in tight around him. He proceeded to thank all of us for coming, saying how surprised he was that so many of us showed up. “One of these days I’ll stop underestimating the lightbulbs.” He introduced us to the people that they brought. One of them was the director. They explain his credits (pretty impressive!) and what other videos he’s worked on with Anthem Lights. They introduced the girls too. When Alan introduced Kelsey Caleb yelled out, “THAT’S MY GIRLFRIEND!!” Haha, ohmygosh! It was seriously the cutest thing. Alan said, “I know what you’re all thinking, she’s way too pretty for Caleb!” HAHAHA!! So, Alan went on to tell us how it was a last minute decision to film the music video for this song. “I had an idea, but since there’s like a hundred of you, we’re gonna change things up, I have another idea!”
He went over his background a little bit of how he lived in Hollywood and how Satan attacked him while being here. He talked about the cross that lights up over Hollywood and the how and why he wrote the song. He said how he told the guys, “If you don’t put this song in the next album I’m leaving the band!” Chad replied, “Yeah, we had to think about it. We told him, ‘Yeah, let us pray about it and we’ll get back to you.’” HAHAHA! He also warned us that they brought a rough demo for us to listen. “This is the first time I’m sharing an unfinished song with someone other than these guys, family, or super close friends. I have to give the disclaimer that this is not finished!!” He also gave us a brief overview of what we were going to do. He had warned us that he wanted us to sing along. He said, “I wish we could take y’all into the studio. Hey if you can get to Nashville you’re more than welcome to come.” I raised my hand excited saying, “I’ll go!! No, seriously!! I’ll go!! I love Nashville!” He asked if I was from Nashville, and I gave him a brief history how I love Nashville, I almost moved there but got sick, still want to move there, and I travel there whenever I get a chance, hehe.
Well, Alan went on explaining until it was time to go to our starting location. Before we headed off to our starting location Alan prayed over us and over the project. That was surreal, praying like that on Hollywood Blvd! Amazing!
We went off to our starting location. Okay, now this was SOOOO cute. Caleb and Alan took the front. Joey was somewhere in the middle. Chad stayed behind and took care of the back end with a friend. THEY WERE WATCHING OUT FOR US!!! Oh my goodness, how sweet! Then when we got to the light, Joey continued to the front, Alan waiting at the intersection and made sure everyone crossed safely. It was like they were taking care of a kindergarten! They seriously were so sweet!
We ended up on the corner of Hollywood blvd and La Palma. When we got there Alan was laughing, “We passed a Starbucks, that’s where we probably lost Caleb.” Haha! While we waited for Caleb Alan went around asking who drove the farthest. Jodi won by far! I explained she drove 90 minutes to my work, followed by 45 minutes to my house, and then another 45 minutes to Hollywood! Then Alan asked what other plans were supposed to happen that got canceled. A girl said she was supposed to see Phil Whickham at a show. I said, “I had a Jimmy Needham concert and a bowling tournament too!!” Haha! They were so glad we were there instead with them.
Caleb eventually showed up and was teasing for stopping at a Starbucks. “I really did stop at a Starbucks, but I had to use the bathroom!!” AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
<----Waiting for Caleb
Alan went over the song a little more. He was going to play it for us until he realized, um, they didn’t have the auxiliary chord! The girl that was in charge of it left it in her purse, which was left in the car. Caleb said he would run to the car to go get it. Alan said it would probably be faster to buy one. He disappeared on the quest for this auxiliary chord. Meanwhile Caleb and Joey came to entertain us. (They all played with my hat at some point, HAHAHA!) Caleb asked what our favorite color was and I yelled out, “PURPLE!!” He laughed so hard at me, it was great! Joey tried to teach us a game about a duck, but honestly, it was more amusing watching him explain the game, HAHAHA! We also played ninja and patty cake. Oh yeah, we were having a blast, haha!
<----Waiting for Alan and trying to entertain ourselves
A girl approached me and said she knew she had met before. She asked if I had done the whole Jonas bros and Miley era. I told her I went to a concert of each, but that was it. She asked if I had ever camped out at Leno and I said, “Yes, for the Backstreet Boys.” She was way too young for that. We eventually narrowed it down to the show last year at Oceanside. We had a very lengthy conversation and we also talked some in the Fullerton one. Well there ya go, hehe!
It was funny, we were all there talking and Chad came over, “So who do you think drove the farthest?” We all pointed at Jodi. “Oh, you guys already decided this? I guess I’m late to the conversation.” Hahaha! We also voted on coolest shoes (I WON!), and coolest hair.
Eventually Alan came back with the auxiliary chord. First he asked, “Is ______ here?” A girl said that was here. We went to meet her and shook her hand and meet her. “I saw your tweets and wanted to make sure you found us.” Apparently she had arrived after we had left and keep tweeting the guys asking where they were. How sweet that he noticed and made sure she found us! The hearts of these guys, I swear man, they are something else!
Now, this part was awesome. Alan had the auxiliary cord to plug in his phone but couldn’t figure out where the plug input was located so I HAD TO DO IT!! My music nerdiness shined through this night, hahahaha! Alan started to play the song, and that’s where magic happened…
The first line of the song belongs to Alan, and immediately knew I was going to love the song. It had such beautiful imagery of the cross over Hollywood. I was in tears. Alan was singing along and when necessary he would talk over the song and explain what would be going on the video.
Then I heard a beautiful voice coming behind me, IT WAS CALEB!! Caleb was singing along his part. I didn’t look around to see him, but he was literally directly behind me, so much that I could only hear his voice in my left ear!! Then, directly to my left, CHAD STARTS SINGING HIS PART!! So there it was, Alan passionately in front of me going over the song, Chad right next to me, and Caleb directly behind me, all with their beautiful voices, SINGING THEIR PARTS!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!! I go back and think and it’s still completely surreal! I can’t believe that happened, and that with all those people there, Chad and Caleb were basically surrounding me as it happened, and Alan in front of me separated only by a Newspaper dispenser box. Surreal I tell ya, SURREAL!
<----Alan going over the song with us (sorry, it was dark)
Now, I know, I’m not doing a very good job of explaining the song or the message of the song. That’s Alan’s job to do, not mine. I figured this song and video will come out (and hopefully we can get the video on JCTV!), and then Alan will explain it the way he wants it to be explained. Plus, I could never explain it as eloquently nor as passionately as he does (even though I fully agree with, support, and can relate with the message).
After he showed us the song he had us repeat the beautiful chorus several times. That was going to be how we closed out the video. He was cute, he kept saying, “Keep singing, this is how this song is ending, with these voices!” He was totally into the song a he was teaching it to us; it was just great to see him with such passion.
After we were ready we got each got placed. When we got to MI Alan asked who wanted to stand there, I raised my hand jumped up and down. He asked me why I wanted to be there, and I explained that I studied sound there (I went to LA Recording but took a mastering class there).
What happened next? Well, you that read at the beginning. I was drooling over everything at MI.
<-----MI's Pro Tools Lab
We did the shot several times. We were supposed act as if we were doing our own activities as they walked by us with our message. Then we were supposed to take note of their message, agree with them, and choose to follow them. I think we may have done it about 5 times or so. It needed to all be in just one shot so we took a few just to make sure we got it perfectly. Alan wanted a very raw view of Hollywood, so we were told to interact or ignore those around us as we please. I loved the whole thing.
<---I was pretending I was taking pictures of Celest wearing my hat
When we would go back to re-shoot Alan would come to each group and either give us suggestions or compliment what we were doing. Earlier the guys had each asked me to have my hat on. On the second shot I asked Alan if he really wanted me to turn on my hat. He replied, “Whatever you want! Just be yourself!”
Okay, pause time. Do you know how much that meant to me? No one EVER tells me to be myself. Everyone always tries to mold me into something I’m not. I once was told, “You try too hard to be different.” NO it’s just easier to just be me then pretend to be someone that’s not JP And darn it, JP is someone who wears glittery purple shoes, purple clothes, and a purple sparkly hat LIGHTS UP!
Well, I replied to Alan, “Being me is a light up hat.” “Then light it up!” he replied. Oh my gosh!! I love than man even more!
In between one of the shots I approached Joey. As the newest member I had not had the chance to meet him. I approached him and said, “Hi Joey, I haven’t met you yet, I’m JP.” He looked at me perplexed. “We’ve met already.” In my mind I was thinking how he was wrong, I never met him before. He said, “Yes, we talked about your hat!” Ooops, I guess I oversaw that. “Glad you remember,” he kiddingly replied.
“Well, I knew I needed to meet you because this is your first time in So Cal. I guess I had it in my mind that I haven’t introduced myself to you.” So we shook hands. And…well…I just had to do it.
“Joey, I need to ask you a question.”
“What’s that?”
“Has anyone ever told you that you look like Cristian Castro?”
“Who!?”
“Cristian Castro’”
“Who’s that?”
“He’s a Spanish singer. He was a big heartthrob back in the early 90s.”
“Are you saying I look Spanish?”
“I’m saying you look like him.”
“No, I’ve never heard that before. That is definitely a first. I just might have to google this guy.”
At this point in the conversation we had caught up to Juana. She was like, “Oh, you told him?” “I had to!” was my reply. Juana pulled up one of Cristian Castro’s album covers on her phone. Jodi agreed that he looked just like him. When we showed it to Joey though, he disagreed. “Uhhhh, hmmmm, I don’t know! Maybe a little bit.” HAHAHAHAHA!! No, trust me, the album cover we pulled up was dead on, hahaha
Anyways, we eventually finished the shots and all the guys went around and gave us all high-fives. Alan gathered us and thanked us. He said they were bringing us copies of the “Covers” album for each of us. He also said, “And, we’’, we’re here. I always feel so weird when I say this because it’s hey,” he pretended to flip the collar of jacked with a cocky attitude before finishing, “hey, we’re here for pictures.” Well all laughed when he said that.
We walked over to the sign that still reads “Kodak Theater.” There Alan announced we could pick up copies of “Covers.” Since I had already purchased mine on-line I didn’t pick one up. Of course, our rather large group started taking pix with the guys. They got together so we would take groups shots. As I was waiting my turn several tourists kept approaching us. “Who are they?’ “Do you know who these guys are?” “Are these celebrities?” “Who is everyone taking pictures with?” HAHA! It was great, people kept coming over to ask. When we told one couple they were Anthem Lights the lady said, “Oh, they are not in the UK yet.” HAHAHA!! It was great! I’m also pretty sure at least one group of people took a picture with them who was not a lightbulb, AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Man, it was GREAT!
It was finally our turn and we all got to take our picture with the guys. It was my turn they were yelling at me, “Come on purple, your turn!” Hahaha! They kept calling me purple, it was so cute!
Juana and Celest were also getting autographs. I decided to get solo shots with each of the guys as well. They were all so sweet to oblige. When I asked Caleb he said, “But I’m not wearing any purple, is that OK? Are you OK with that?” HAHAHAHA!!
Caleb asked if that was my phone that used to the take the picture, I said yes. He asked me what it stood for. I told him the arrow is always pointing up, reminding me to always look up and remember what’s in control. He said he liked that. We then got to chat with him for a little bit. There were so many music nerd questions I wanted to ask (he is the music nerd of the group), but I choked! However, there was an amusing conversation between him and Jodi:
“Was this a better night than what you had planned?”
“Much better?”
“What would have been doing instead? Babysitting your siblings?”
“No, my siblings are too old for that.”
“So, were you just going to watch ‘The Bachelor’?”
“No, I was going to watch ‘Dr. Who.’”
“Oh!”
Hahaha! It was great! He also asked Jodi if he was driving home that night. When she said yes Caleb got all concerned, “Ok miss 2 hour drive, you be safe. Stay awake, drink a Red Bull if you have to! Make sure you call her to let her know you got home safe.” So cute that he cared! We got chat with Caleb for a little while longer before he got called away for more group shots. We stood around chatting for a while before the guys freed up again.
I approached Joey for pictures. Jodi was taking too long taking the picture, then she started laughing. Joey asked, "What's so funny? is there something in my teeth?" "I just don't think I'm gonna get a picture without him in it," was Jodi's replied. Both Joey and I turned around and saw Chad standing there as if he had no clue as to what was going on. "WHAT!? I'm just standing here!" he commented. Both Joey and I looked at my phone and started laughing at creeper Chad in my pictures. "THAT'S GREAT!" exclaimed Joey. It really is great, haha!
Alan also freed up so he came over to chat with us. I gave him some gifts for his girls. He told me that his oldest loves Disney, so he’s sure his newest will as well. He loved the princess dress for his oldest and said, “If it doesn't fit she will MAKE IT fit. I’ll cut this part if I have to!” Hahaha, he’s so sweet. He was also a total sweetheart. He thanked us all again and gave us each a hug.
We hung around a little longer chatting with everyone before we headed out. We our last hugs and byes from the guys, I thanked their team for their hard work, and we headed out. We put in the “Covers” CD and we sang our little hearts out (I forgot that “This I Promise You” was on there and had a mini-spazz moment when it came on, hehe!). We drove back to my work to drop off Jodi, then I drove back home. Said bye to Juana and Celest, hopped into my bed, and had the biggest smile as all the events of that surreal evening ran through my mind and slowly drifted off to sleep.
So, no, I didn’t get to see them a Revolve Tour and I didn’t get a beach concert from them, but I did get something much more special and long lasting. Oh, I can’t wait to see my light up hat on JCTV! (Oh, I’m making sure this thing plays on JCTV when it comes out!!) Many thanks to Caleb, Chad, Joey, and of course Alan. I am so thankful and grateful to have been part of such amazing project!