When Britt Nicole makes a 30 year old cry
Yes, I know, Britt Nicole’s audience is 6-13 year old girls, yes, I know that I am older than her by a whole month, and yes, I know that I never know I hardly show any emotion unless music is involved, but yes, Britt Nicole made me cry Saturday night.
The funny thing is, I wasn’t even going to see her. Well, let’s back track a little bit.
As we all know, I love Hawk Nelson. Like, really really love Hawk Nelson. Since Jon Steingard became the new lead singer (whom, let’s face it, was always my fave member of the band because he’s a sound nerd & we always had sound nerd conversations, but shhhh, don’t tell Jason that, cuz I truly do love Jason as well, just I could always connect more with Jon and sound….anyways, where was I? Oh yeah!) they had not toured Southern California. In fact, this past may I took what became an epic trip to Sacramento just to see them. So, when I found out they were playing in the valley, well, of course, I had to go! I found out they had VIP tickets so I told Michelle and we bought them.
Unfortunately, the day I had to help my mom out with something and I was running late, and I hit some traffic, and I feared I was going to miss the M&G. The M&G went from 3:50-4:10 and I probably pulled up to the park at 4:05. A staff member informed me the main lot was full and was directing people towards overflow parking. I told him my M&G was over in 4 minutes and that I would be more than happy to move my car as soon as I got through the M&G. He told me, “You are more than welcomed to go in and try to find a spot or park around here at your own risk.” Well, I took his later words and parked in a towing area. I ran out of car, praying that they would not tow my car, ran inside, showed the girl my ID, got my VIP pass, and ran to the Hawk merch where they told me it would be. I saw a line and asked if it was the Hawk Nelson line and the girl that it was the Britt Nicole line. AHHHHH!!
Luckily, at this point Michelle saw me and she told me to ask the guy in front of the line if he would let me in backstage for the M&G. I told the guy I was there for the Hawk Nelson M&G and he told me to wait in line. “No, that’s the Britt Nicole line, I’m here for Hawk Nelson, I’m just running late.” Once he understood what was going on he let me in to see *him* (He seriously said, “Oh yeah, he’s still here.” LoL!). I ran backstage to where Michelle pointed to where they were at and saw them take a picture with the very last fan in line.
This was so funny, as I was walking up Jon saw me and yelled, “JP!!!!” HAHAHA!! I don’t know why but I love it when my fave artists call out my name. It’s like, I admire your music and your talent so much and you know my name? That will never get old not stop being special. Anyways, I chatted with Jon a little bit. Of course, now looking back, there was so much I had planned on telling him, but because I was so frazzled I said none of that. We did, however, talk about him basically doing what he’s been signing about doing for years, haha! He first asked me where I lived and wanted to be very specific, well, turns out he’s moving to California and told me the areas he’s considering. Also got to chat with Dan (“You were at our show in Sacramento, right!?” Yes I was Dan, YES I WAS!), with Micah (“I remember your face!” Yes Micah, I only took you to Disneyland on Valentine’s day!! Haha), and got to chat with Justin for quite a bit about his babies. After our very spastic M&G (my heart was still racing) I said bye to the guys.
Right afterwards I raced back to my car to move it to the overflow parking. I’m so thankful it was not towed (I think the few times I saw “Parking Wars” have scarred me for life, haha!). Now, here’s a funny thing. I had gotten some gifts for Justin’s kids but in the rush of everything forgot them. I looked through my car because I knew I had other gifts in there (I always have gifts in my car, haha) and found a Minnie Mouse plush I had bought to give out. I thought I had the Mickey that went with it, but soon realized it was at home. Still, I got the Minnie and decided that if I happened to bump into Justin later I would give him the Minnie to give at least give to his oldest daughter.
When I came back I looked through the merch. I saw Britt Nicole had a purple & white shirt that said, “Love is coming through your headphones.” It’s a reference to one of her songs, and I love it so much I bought it. When I turned around to try and find a seat a man saw my pass and said, “You’re going to miss Britt Nicole” and he put his hand on my back and led me towards backstage. I was like, “Um, Ok?” Well, I didn’t argue with the man, I went to the Britt M&G. While waiting I sparked up a conversation with a real nice lady (who thought I was 19!) and talked a lot about music and makeup and life, haha!
When I finally got up to the front and we greeted each other. She signed my shirt and we snapped a picture together. Now, I don’t know what prompted me to do this, but I felt led to give her the Minnie Mouse. When she opened the bag her eyes lit up. “MY DAUGHTER LOVES MINNIE MOUSE!” She explained and then gave me a hug and told me I was so generous. Well, there you go! That Minnie Mouse was totally meant to her. (side note: can I just Britt Nicole has like the cutest accent ever!?!?)
Afterwards I went back out, grabbed a Gatorade, found Michelle, got some awesome belated birthday presents, and saw Seventh Day Slumber.
*Music Nerd Side Note*
Some people just don’t understand just what a song can actually mean to a person. For example, as Seventh Day Slumber was playing “From the Inside Out,” people just saw a girl who liked the song and was singing along. However, they don’t know what that song means to me. They don’t know how leading up to my mission trip to Panama that song kept showing up and was basically my prayer on the trip. They don’t know that we played that song in Texas and how much it meant to me there. And they definitely do not know how on a remote island off the coast of Panama we sang that song together in 3 different languages. They didn’t know what that song meant to me, they just a girl singing along.
(And these thoughts happened later when Hawk sang “Outside the lines,” but more on that later)
*/End Music Nerd Side Note*
So, because I’m JP and just hate sitting down, I left our VIP seats and joined the standing crowd center stage. Finally, it was time for my main guys to come out.
Of course, stole the set list. This is what they played:
· Million Miles Away
It was nice to see several people singing along to this one as it is their new single. It’s one of my faves of the new album so I enjoy seeing it live.
· Elevator
I remember in Sacramento this song came towards the end of their set. I really like how Jon does this live. While on the album it is Blanca (from Group 1 Crew) who raps this, in live sets Jon puts this awesome synth over his voice to do the rap. I’m pretty sure I was the only person singing along to the rap as I do love this rap, hehe.
· Live Life Loud
I can’t believe this is an “Oldie,” feels like I was just waiting for this album to come out yesterday. They do a different arrangement of it for Jon’s voice, and I enjoy it a lot.
· Outside the Lines
OH MY GOODNESS!!! I am so glad they did this song! I can’t even begin to tell you how much I can relate to this song. Although no one has told me that God “paints outside the lines” like this song claims Jon was told (I’m fairly confident Jon wrote this as an autobiographical sense), it’s something that I needed to hear and can totally relate with, especially that first verse. Just love this song so much, it’s cute, it’s fun, and it has a great message for weirdos like me!
· Love Like That
Love everything this song says and I love it love.
· Crazy Love
Love the new liv arrangement that they do for this song, again, I feel it fits Jon’s voice quite well.
· Through the Fire
OH MY GOODNESS!!! I never thought I would hear this song live. It was so beautiful, I was worshiping like crazy! More on this later!
· Faithful
Man, I love this song! One of these days I hope to remember to tell Jon exactly why! (Hint: Winter Mission trip 2012!)
· Thank God For Something
Since I heard it in Sacramento I’ve loved it! I seriously cannot wait for the new album. Both this song and what Jordan showed me have made me very excited for this new album!
· Words
Everyone was also singing along, it was GREAT!
This was definitely a different set from the one they did in Sacramento.
When Jon said they were going to play a song they rarely play and “Through the Fire” started up, I was like, “WHOA!” I did not expect to ever hear that song live, ever. Like, you know what songs they might do love, and you hope to hear other songs live (still never got to hear “Lest We Forget” live and still supper bummed that will never happen now), and there’s some you’re pretty sure you will never hear live. Well, since this song was co-written by Mike Donehey (who sings in it too) and sounds so different from their usual sound, I thought for sure I would never hear it live. After Jon explained what the song was about they played it, and it was so awesome and special to hear it live! (Can you imagine how awesome it would be if we could hear it WITH Mike on there!?!?!?)
Now, up to this point I was singing along to every single song, and so this lady behind me asked me what that song was called. I pulled out my phone to show her the song title and album cover. I told her how it was co-written with Jon and Mike Donehey and that he sings on it. This guy to my right asked me, “I’m sorry, did you say that song was written by Mike Donehey on Tenth Avenue North?” I replied yes and how he sings on it. He proceeded to tell me that 10th is his favorite band and how the whole time they were playing that song it reminded him a lot of 10th. I told him how I had read that they wrote a song together and the minute I got to that track the first time I heard the album I knew that was song. “Mike and Jon sound so great together, you gotta check it out!” I also showed him my phone so he could see the song title and album cover.
It was funny, Jon asked who has seen them before and there a small minority they had. He kept saying how they hadn’t been there in a while and they are sad because California is great. Then Dan said, “As a wise man once said, ‘Let’s pack up and move to California.’” HAHAHAHA!! Afterwards Jon was all like, “I’m going to make it official, guys, I’m MOVING TO CALIFORNIA!!” Hahahaha! It was awesome!
Before they did “Thank God for something” Jon said that most of their songs from off the album “Made” but the next one was from their new album. “I hope we don’t mess it up!” Hahaha! When it started I was all like, “YAY!” The guy to my right was like, “How do you know this song? It’s brand new!” I was like, “I saw them play it before and I recorded it and so I’ve listened to it several times.” The guy asked, “But I thought they said they hadn’t been here in a while.” I was like, “I know, I went up to Sacramento to see them 3 months ago.” And this is around the time it hit me…I’m a Hawk Nelson stalker :/
Moving on…..
After the awesome Hawk set the lady behind me asked me a lot of questions about them. Then I got into an awesome conversation with the guy to my right. We both love 10th so we talked about them a lot and other music we enjoy. He’s a big fan of Britt and this was the first time he would see her so he was super excited. He was cool, now I’m kinda bummed I didn’t get his name.
Now, I was going to leave right after Hawk to work on my essay, but I like Britt and after our little encounter earlier I decided to stay. I bumped into Tiffany, a girl I had met at the For King & Country industry showcase and we chatted some as well.
As the time grew closer for Britt to start a bunch of little kids started to creep up towards the front of the stage. Now, I was in the front, and everyone was like less than 4ft tall, so I let like 6 kids (mostly girls) in front of me. The guy turned around and saw me further back and was like, “Where did you go!?” I was like, “Dude, they are 4ft tall, I couldn’t do that to them!” Hahaha!
So, Britt started with “Amazing Life,” and well, this is the true point of this whole recap…
I’m gonna skip a recap on her set, just know it was amazing, truly the best I’ve ever seen her. But during “Set the world on fire” she changed the lyrics to the verse up a little bit and sang “YOU’RE gonna feed the hungry children” and “YOU’RE gonna reach across the farthest lands.” Now, get this, she looked and pointed RIGHT AT ME when she sang those line. Like, unquestionably looking RIGHT AT ME and pointing at me saying this. She sang the rest of the lines to other people. OK, I don’t know if she did it on purpose or what, but man, she had me in tears. THAT’S what I want, that’s what my heart desires, and out of all the people in the crowd, she chose me to point it out and say it.
Later on she was talking about how she was praying before she went out there and sharing some of the things that were on her heart. She was basically calling people out of what they were feeling, and in one instance she pointed at me and said, “You’re having problems at your job and you don’t know if you’re ever going to reach your dreams.” Ummm, yes Brit Nicole, you are right.”
Later on, and for the life of me I cannot remember what she singing/saying, but once again, she looked right at me and pointed at me and said, “YOU’RE GOING TO CHANGE THE WORLD!!” Ummm, what!? (I said that oh-so-long ago: http://janetplanet.livejournal.com/205590.html)
Then, the kicker! Again, I can’t remember what song it was or what she saying before this, but again, the stood right in front of me, pointed right at me, and for a few minutes kept saying how I’m not invisible, how I need to realize I’m a star, how I have to get to my old hunger and change the world, and just so many things. I mean, it was so obvious she was talking to me. The guy next to me even looked at me and asked if I knew her, but I was too busy crying.
It’s been over two weeks since I began writing this and I really don’t know where I was going to end it. What Brit Nicole said and did is still amazing to me that she managed to nail everything without knowing me one bit. She sis make me cry…and I just don’t know what to do with this information.
The funny thing is, I wasn’t even going to see her. Well, let’s back track a little bit.
As we all know, I love Hawk Nelson. Like, really really love Hawk Nelson. Since Jon Steingard became the new lead singer (whom, let’s face it, was always my fave member of the band because he’s a sound nerd & we always had sound nerd conversations, but shhhh, don’t tell Jason that, cuz I truly do love Jason as well, just I could always connect more with Jon and sound….anyways, where was I? Oh yeah!) they had not toured Southern California. In fact, this past may I took what became an epic trip to Sacramento just to see them. So, when I found out they were playing in the valley, well, of course, I had to go! I found out they had VIP tickets so I told Michelle and we bought them.
Unfortunately, the day I had to help my mom out with something and I was running late, and I hit some traffic, and I feared I was going to miss the M&G. The M&G went from 3:50-4:10 and I probably pulled up to the park at 4:05. A staff member informed me the main lot was full and was directing people towards overflow parking. I told him my M&G was over in 4 minutes and that I would be more than happy to move my car as soon as I got through the M&G. He told me, “You are more than welcomed to go in and try to find a spot or park around here at your own risk.” Well, I took his later words and parked in a towing area. I ran out of car, praying that they would not tow my car, ran inside, showed the girl my ID, got my VIP pass, and ran to the Hawk merch where they told me it would be. I saw a line and asked if it was the Hawk Nelson line and the girl that it was the Britt Nicole line. AHHHHH!!
Luckily, at this point Michelle saw me and she told me to ask the guy in front of the line if he would let me in backstage for the M&G. I told the guy I was there for the Hawk Nelson M&G and he told me to wait in line. “No, that’s the Britt Nicole line, I’m here for Hawk Nelson, I’m just running late.” Once he understood what was going on he let me in to see *him* (He seriously said, “Oh yeah, he’s still here.” LoL!). I ran backstage to where Michelle pointed to where they were at and saw them take a picture with the very last fan in line.
This was so funny, as I was walking up Jon saw me and yelled, “JP!!!!” HAHAHA!! I don’t know why but I love it when my fave artists call out my name. It’s like, I admire your music and your talent so much and you know my name? That will never get old not stop being special. Anyways, I chatted with Jon a little bit. Of course, now looking back, there was so much I had planned on telling him, but because I was so frazzled I said none of that. We did, however, talk about him basically doing what he’s been signing about doing for years, haha! He first asked me where I lived and wanted to be very specific, well, turns out he’s moving to California and told me the areas he’s considering. Also got to chat with Dan (“You were at our show in Sacramento, right!?” Yes I was Dan, YES I WAS!), with Micah (“I remember your face!” Yes Micah, I only took you to Disneyland on Valentine’s day!! Haha), and got to chat with Justin for quite a bit about his babies. After our very spastic M&G (my heart was still racing) I said bye to the guys.
Right afterwards I raced back to my car to move it to the overflow parking. I’m so thankful it was not towed (I think the few times I saw “Parking Wars” have scarred me for life, haha!). Now, here’s a funny thing. I had gotten some gifts for Justin’s kids but in the rush of everything forgot them. I looked through my car because I knew I had other gifts in there (I always have gifts in my car, haha) and found a Minnie Mouse plush I had bought to give out. I thought I had the Mickey that went with it, but soon realized it was at home. Still, I got the Minnie and decided that if I happened to bump into Justin later I would give him the Minnie to give at least give to his oldest daughter.
When I came back I looked through the merch. I saw Britt Nicole had a purple & white shirt that said, “Love is coming through your headphones.” It’s a reference to one of her songs, and I love it so much I bought it. When I turned around to try and find a seat a man saw my pass and said, “You’re going to miss Britt Nicole” and he put his hand on my back and led me towards backstage. I was like, “Um, Ok?” Well, I didn’t argue with the man, I went to the Britt M&G. While waiting I sparked up a conversation with a real nice lady (who thought I was 19!) and talked a lot about music and makeup and life, haha!
When I finally got up to the front and we greeted each other. She signed my shirt and we snapped a picture together. Now, I don’t know what prompted me to do this, but I felt led to give her the Minnie Mouse. When she opened the bag her eyes lit up. “MY DAUGHTER LOVES MINNIE MOUSE!” She explained and then gave me a hug and told me I was so generous. Well, there you go! That Minnie Mouse was totally meant to her. (side note: can I just Britt Nicole has like the cutest accent ever!?!?)
Afterwards I went back out, grabbed a Gatorade, found Michelle, got some awesome belated birthday presents, and saw Seventh Day Slumber.
*Music Nerd Side Note*
Some people just don’t understand just what a song can actually mean to a person. For example, as Seventh Day Slumber was playing “From the Inside Out,” people just saw a girl who liked the song and was singing along. However, they don’t know what that song means to me. They don’t know how leading up to my mission trip to Panama that song kept showing up and was basically my prayer on the trip. They don’t know that we played that song in Texas and how much it meant to me there. And they definitely do not know how on a remote island off the coast of Panama we sang that song together in 3 different languages. They didn’t know what that song meant to me, they just a girl singing along.
(And these thoughts happened later when Hawk sang “Outside the lines,” but more on that later)
*/End Music Nerd Side Note*
So, because I’m JP and just hate sitting down, I left our VIP seats and joined the standing crowd center stage. Finally, it was time for my main guys to come out.
Of course, stole the set list. This is what they played:
· Million Miles Away
It was nice to see several people singing along to this one as it is their new single. It’s one of my faves of the new album so I enjoy seeing it live.
· Elevator
I remember in Sacramento this song came towards the end of their set. I really like how Jon does this live. While on the album it is Blanca (from Group 1 Crew) who raps this, in live sets Jon puts this awesome synth over his voice to do the rap. I’m pretty sure I was the only person singing along to the rap as I do love this rap, hehe.
· Live Life Loud
I can’t believe this is an “Oldie,” feels like I was just waiting for this album to come out yesterday. They do a different arrangement of it for Jon’s voice, and I enjoy it a lot.
· Outside the Lines
OH MY GOODNESS!!! I am so glad they did this song! I can’t even begin to tell you how much I can relate to this song. Although no one has told me that God “paints outside the lines” like this song claims Jon was told (I’m fairly confident Jon wrote this as an autobiographical sense), it’s something that I needed to hear and can totally relate with, especially that first verse. Just love this song so much, it’s cute, it’s fun, and it has a great message for weirdos like me!
· Love Like That
Love everything this song says and I love it love.
· Crazy Love
Love the new liv arrangement that they do for this song, again, I feel it fits Jon’s voice quite well.
· Through the Fire
OH MY GOODNESS!!! I never thought I would hear this song live. It was so beautiful, I was worshiping like crazy! More on this later!
· Faithful
Man, I love this song! One of these days I hope to remember to tell Jon exactly why! (Hint: Winter Mission trip 2012!)
· Thank God For Something
Since I heard it in Sacramento I’ve loved it! I seriously cannot wait for the new album. Both this song and what Jordan showed me have made me very excited for this new album!
· Words
Everyone was also singing along, it was GREAT!
This was definitely a different set from the one they did in Sacramento.
When Jon said they were going to play a song they rarely play and “Through the Fire” started up, I was like, “WHOA!” I did not expect to ever hear that song live, ever. Like, you know what songs they might do love, and you hope to hear other songs live (still never got to hear “Lest We Forget” live and still supper bummed that will never happen now), and there’s some you’re pretty sure you will never hear live. Well, since this song was co-written by Mike Donehey (who sings in it too) and sounds so different from their usual sound, I thought for sure I would never hear it live. After Jon explained what the song was about they played it, and it was so awesome and special to hear it live! (Can you imagine how awesome it would be if we could hear it WITH Mike on there!?!?!?)
Now, up to this point I was singing along to every single song, and so this lady behind me asked me what that song was called. I pulled out my phone to show her the song title and album cover. I told her how it was co-written with Jon and Mike Donehey and that he sings on it. This guy to my right asked me, “I’m sorry, did you say that song was written by Mike Donehey on Tenth Avenue North?” I replied yes and how he sings on it. He proceeded to tell me that 10th is his favorite band and how the whole time they were playing that song it reminded him a lot of 10th. I told him how I had read that they wrote a song together and the minute I got to that track the first time I heard the album I knew that was song. “Mike and Jon sound so great together, you gotta check it out!” I also showed him my phone so he could see the song title and album cover.
It was funny, Jon asked who has seen them before and there a small minority they had. He kept saying how they hadn’t been there in a while and they are sad because California is great. Then Dan said, “As a wise man once said, ‘Let’s pack up and move to California.’” HAHAHAHA!! Afterwards Jon was all like, “I’m going to make it official, guys, I’m MOVING TO CALIFORNIA!!” Hahahaha! It was awesome!
Before they did “Thank God for something” Jon said that most of their songs from off the album “Made” but the next one was from their new album. “I hope we don’t mess it up!” Hahaha! When it started I was all like, “YAY!” The guy to my right was like, “How do you know this song? It’s brand new!” I was like, “I saw them play it before and I recorded it and so I’ve listened to it several times.” The guy asked, “But I thought they said they hadn’t been here in a while.” I was like, “I know, I went up to Sacramento to see them 3 months ago.” And this is around the time it hit me…I’m a Hawk Nelson stalker :/
Moving on…..
After the awesome Hawk set the lady behind me asked me a lot of questions about them. Then I got into an awesome conversation with the guy to my right. We both love 10th so we talked about them a lot and other music we enjoy. He’s a big fan of Britt and this was the first time he would see her so he was super excited. He was cool, now I’m kinda bummed I didn’t get his name.
Now, I was going to leave right after Hawk to work on my essay, but I like Britt and after our little encounter earlier I decided to stay. I bumped into Tiffany, a girl I had met at the For King & Country industry showcase and we chatted some as well.
As the time grew closer for Britt to start a bunch of little kids started to creep up towards the front of the stage. Now, I was in the front, and everyone was like less than 4ft tall, so I let like 6 kids (mostly girls) in front of me. The guy turned around and saw me further back and was like, “Where did you go!?” I was like, “Dude, they are 4ft tall, I couldn’t do that to them!” Hahaha!
So, Britt started with “Amazing Life,” and well, this is the true point of this whole recap…
I’m gonna skip a recap on her set, just know it was amazing, truly the best I’ve ever seen her. But during “Set the world on fire” she changed the lyrics to the verse up a little bit and sang “YOU’RE gonna feed the hungry children” and “YOU’RE gonna reach across the farthest lands.” Now, get this, she looked and pointed RIGHT AT ME when she sang those line. Like, unquestionably looking RIGHT AT ME and pointing at me saying this. She sang the rest of the lines to other people. OK, I don’t know if she did it on purpose or what, but man, she had me in tears. THAT’S what I want, that’s what my heart desires, and out of all the people in the crowd, she chose me to point it out and say it.
Later on she was talking about how she was praying before she went out there and sharing some of the things that were on her heart. She was basically calling people out of what they were feeling, and in one instance she pointed at me and said, “You’re having problems at your job and you don’t know if you’re ever going to reach your dreams.” Ummm, yes Brit Nicole, you are right.”
Later on, and for the life of me I cannot remember what she singing/saying, but once again, she looked right at me and pointed at me and said, “YOU’RE GOING TO CHANGE THE WORLD!!” Ummm, what!? (I said that oh-so-long ago: http://janetplanet.livejournal.com/205590.html)
Then, the kicker! Again, I can’t remember what song it was or what she saying before this, but again, the stood right in front of me, pointed right at me, and for a few minutes kept saying how I’m not invisible, how I need to realize I’m a star, how I have to get to my old hunger and change the world, and just so many things. I mean, it was so obvious she was talking to me. The guy next to me even looked at me and asked if I knew her, but I was too busy crying.
It’s been over two weeks since I began writing this and I really don’t know where I was going to end it. What Brit Nicole said and did is still amazing to me that she managed to nail everything without knowing me one bit. She sis make me cry…and I just don’t know what to do with this information.