FANdamonium
my day in the presence of Keane (w/ pictures whoa!). today was one of the best days of my life.
i woke up at 5am pumped up. took the 6:16am train to nyc. and in a moment of genius, i decided to forego taking the A train subway and walk 25 blocks to the store. thankfully at 7 in the morning the streets are quiet and somewhat empty. however, i sweated profusely the entire time.
Nice morning, eh?
No, a line!
after half an hour of walking i finally get to the Time Warner Center building and there's already a line with 50 people or so. the people in front of me were pretty friendly. at 8:50 or so, a Borders employee comes out and asks for people who didn't buy the CD to follow him. so off i go. i tag along with Jennifer from Austin and Andrew from England. we end up in a line outside the store. jennifer tells me she's been to 13 Keane shows in the US. i didn't even know they had that many shows here. she also tells me that she was at a very small venue in Phoenix where Keane played and the drummer gave her and another gal his drumsticks. nice. the store finally opens and we head in, get our CDs ($12 special, wow!), and head out to another line for wristbands. i talk to andrew this time and he says his girlfriend works for the band or something like that. i also got to look at his limited edition song lyric book released in the UK. pretty darn nice. while i'm waiting to get my wristband i notice that the concert area is completely empty of fans. people are starting the set up the stage but no one is waiting there yet. seemed odd to me but jennifer and andrew said they wouldn't wait for 5 hrs for the concert to start. we get our wristbands and i get number 36. yay! i forgot to take a picture of it though. after that i'm pretty relaxed. i was worried i wouldn't get one but rumor has it that there were 500 wristbands available. whoa. i do a little shopping at Borders for reading material, parted with jennifer and andrew, and headed out to the concert area to wait.
The stage with Keane equipment.
The concert area from me to the Borders bookstore.
when i got to the rope, which was around 10 ft from the stage, there were 2 people hanging out. the girl there looked embarrassed to be one of the few people camping out for the concert. we bonded over being fanatics. so Amy from Long Island and i hung out at the front center of the rope. she told me that we weren't allowed to sit down. uh oh. a few other people joined us soon after. my other neighbor turned out to be Theresa from South Carolina. she was in nyc for school orientation/vacation. i bonded with her the most throughout the whole experience. a bunch of us decided to sit down anyway and was promptly told by mall security to get up. ugh the worst! 5 hrs of standing?! walking those 25 blocks was a really bad idea. the next 5 hrs truly felt like forever. 15 minutes of waiting seemed like 45 minutes. i kept checking the time and only 5-10 minutes would have passed. ahhhhhhhh!
set-up took around 3 hrs. first the equipment, then the tuning, then the sound checks. oh the blasted tuning and sound checks. some guy had to tune the keyboard piano and kept playing each key over and over. i've heard piano tunings before but at least with those times i was able to walk away. the sound checks were soooo loud. at least the guy testing the mics said funny things. during this time i talked with everyone around me. two girls behind theresa and i went to find a bathroom and we started talking to a girl behind them. friendly tall gal from north jersey. on the other side by amy, some high schoolers were lined up. really friendly. we talked about Keane and music and random topics.
Press! oooooo.
the press arrived around noon. by this time i was tired of talking. theresa and i faced the stage and checked the time incessantly only to find 5 minutes had passed. we wondered how many songs the band was going to play. we wondered when the VIP were arriving. a local radio station had a contest for the event and those who won got to stand in the VIP space between the stage and us. boo. they didn't arrive until 12:45. how lucky. the VIP area also included the press, VH1 (who co-sponsored the concert), and some radio people. it was such a bummer when people started filling that space. all that faithful waiting and those people got the royal treatment.
This was the empty space between the VIPs and us behind the rope. To jump over or not to jump?
Fans running into a guard when they moved the rope. I almost felt sorry for him. But then I remembered how much my feet hurt because I couldn't freaking sit down!!!
the security guards moved the ropes in a bit and we rushed in. tall gal and two other girls ducked under the barrier and went to stand with the VIPs. i wish i had that much courage. and then around 1:15 Keane finally showed up. woot! it was fabulous. when they got to the stage the cameras went off like crazy. then the people behind the rope rushed up. haha! the band started off with Everybody's Changing. then they sang Crystal Ball, Somewhere Only We Know, and Is It Any Wonder? awesome! 3 radio(?) people that were standing in front of me didn't seem to be enjoying the concert that much. they just stood still and watched while everyone around them were shouting lyrics and snapping pics like crazy. they left the area after the 3rd song. wasted space i tell ya.
Tom the frontman. Totally cute.
Tim the keyboardist. Totally hot.
Richard the drummer. Totally far away.
after the concert, it was time for the signing!! i ran into tall gal and she had richard's drumsticks! so jealous. she said that she managed to get close to the stage and during the concert she kept pointing to the drummer and yelling his name. haha awesome. after their set he walked right to her and handed her the drumsticks. after a little while they announced numbers 26-50 could get in line for the signing in the store and i rushed away. that was the last time i saw theresa. didn't even say goodbye cause i thought i would see her after the signing. my fault. i followed two girls from Mass., Julie and Cindy, who had been on the other side of theresa while we were standing at the rope. they recognized me and we made a bond to take pics of each other while we got our items signed. the line in the bookstore wrapped around bookshelves which seemed kinda humorous. Keane walked right by us and we weren't paying attention. oops! they got to the table and the press went crazy. after 30 seconds, and i mean exactly 30 seconds, some woman shouts, "okay 30 seconds, everyone out" to the press. hahaha. poor press.
My best blurry shot of the band at the signing table.
There's me with the band signing my items. Yay!
the VIPs got to go first, of course. blegh. after the VIPs, they went to the bracelet line and it moved pretty quickly. i went snap happy but all my pics came out blurry. booooooo. luckily for me, the girls i had made a pact with promised to send me pics. hooray. while we were waiting i remembered that Keane's new cd had been featured in the Music section of People magazine, which i had bought at the bookstore. i decided to ask if they would sign that even though the rules limited the signing to just CDs and DVDs. cindy had a copy of People too and decided to do it with me. however as we got closer to them we got nervous about it and decided not to do it. i put the mag back in my bag and came up with another plan. when we got to the table i took pics for them. then it was my turn! when we were in line we wondered what we would say to the band. how do stand out from all the other fanatics? how do you express how much their music has touched you? here's what i said, "hey did you guys know you're in People magazine?" band: "oh, we heard about that." me whipping out magazine, "well here it is!" Tom (the frontman) was all interested and he started reading the article. :D when i took my magazine out, cindy did the same and gave hers to Richard. then he said in his fabulous British accent, "well we've always loved this magazine. what's its name again?" "People magazine." "oh yes, we've always been big supporters of People magazine." haha hilarious! the line was supposed to keep moving and i felt i was holding the line up with my magazine so i quickly asked Tom to sign it and he did! Richard signed the magazine for cindy. success! the next minute was a blur. i was so estatic that the band actually signed my magazine i was total shock. i think i thanked them but i don't remember. i remember taking my magazine and cd liner back, switching cameras back, getting my bracelet cut off, and being hurried out of the signing area. craziness!
me, julie, and cindy stopped to breathe once out of the area. we switched contact info for the pictures. then they mentioned food and i wholeheartedly agreed. they let me tag along to a sandwich shop and that's when we finally got to sit down. it was quite a moment. and the sustenance. finally! we looked through our pictures while eating. we had also recorded videos on our cameras. their videos turned out well. when i went to play mine, it sounded like radio static. we all burst out laughing. ladies and gentlemen, Keane at their finest. oh well. we parted after the meal. i went back to Borders hoping to catch Theresa so we could trade contact info but by the time i got back the signing was over. Keane was taking pics with the Borders employees. then security shouted for us to clear the area. the band members proceded to walk by me. there were a few fans still hanging around and we chased them down the bookstore. :D :D
My prize for being all paparazzi. One super clear picture of Richard! Definitely worth it.
and then they disappeared through a door and that was that. i was really happy when i walked back to the train station. a fantastic day.
Tom's autograph woohoo! He touched that page, yo!
My souvenir!
i woke up at 5am pumped up. took the 6:16am train to nyc. and in a moment of genius, i decided to forego taking the A train subway and walk 25 blocks to the store. thankfully at 7 in the morning the streets are quiet and somewhat empty. however, i sweated profusely the entire time.
Nice morning, eh?
No, a line!
after half an hour of walking i finally get to the Time Warner Center building and there's already a line with 50 people or so. the people in front of me were pretty friendly. at 8:50 or so, a Borders employee comes out and asks for people who didn't buy the CD to follow him. so off i go. i tag along with Jennifer from Austin and Andrew from England. we end up in a line outside the store. jennifer tells me she's been to 13 Keane shows in the US. i didn't even know they had that many shows here. she also tells me that she was at a very small venue in Phoenix where Keane played and the drummer gave her and another gal his drumsticks. nice. the store finally opens and we head in, get our CDs ($12 special, wow!), and head out to another line for wristbands. i talk to andrew this time and he says his girlfriend works for the band or something like that. i also got to look at his limited edition song lyric book released in the UK. pretty darn nice. while i'm waiting to get my wristband i notice that the concert area is completely empty of fans. people are starting the set up the stage but no one is waiting there yet. seemed odd to me but jennifer and andrew said they wouldn't wait for 5 hrs for the concert to start. we get our wristbands and i get number 36. yay! i forgot to take a picture of it though. after that i'm pretty relaxed. i was worried i wouldn't get one but rumor has it that there were 500 wristbands available. whoa. i do a little shopping at Borders for reading material, parted with jennifer and andrew, and headed out to the concert area to wait.
The stage with Keane equipment.
The concert area from me to the Borders bookstore.
when i got to the rope, which was around 10 ft from the stage, there were 2 people hanging out. the girl there looked embarrassed to be one of the few people camping out for the concert. we bonded over being fanatics. so Amy from Long Island and i hung out at the front center of the rope. she told me that we weren't allowed to sit down. uh oh. a few other people joined us soon after. my other neighbor turned out to be Theresa from South Carolina. she was in nyc for school orientation/vacation. i bonded with her the most throughout the whole experience. a bunch of us decided to sit down anyway and was promptly told by mall security to get up. ugh the worst! 5 hrs of standing?! walking those 25 blocks was a really bad idea. the next 5 hrs truly felt like forever. 15 minutes of waiting seemed like 45 minutes. i kept checking the time and only 5-10 minutes would have passed. ahhhhhhhh!
set-up took around 3 hrs. first the equipment, then the tuning, then the sound checks. oh the blasted tuning and sound checks. some guy had to tune the keyboard piano and kept playing each key over and over. i've heard piano tunings before but at least with those times i was able to walk away. the sound checks were soooo loud. at least the guy testing the mics said funny things. during this time i talked with everyone around me. two girls behind theresa and i went to find a bathroom and we started talking to a girl behind them. friendly tall gal from north jersey. on the other side by amy, some high schoolers were lined up. really friendly. we talked about Keane and music and random topics.
Press! oooooo.
the press arrived around noon. by this time i was tired of talking. theresa and i faced the stage and checked the time incessantly only to find 5 minutes had passed. we wondered how many songs the band was going to play. we wondered when the VIP were arriving. a local radio station had a contest for the event and those who won got to stand in the VIP space between the stage and us. boo. they didn't arrive until 12:45. how lucky. the VIP area also included the press, VH1 (who co-sponsored the concert), and some radio people. it was such a bummer when people started filling that space. all that faithful waiting and those people got the royal treatment.
This was the empty space between the VIPs and us behind the rope. To jump over or not to jump?
Fans running into a guard when they moved the rope. I almost felt sorry for him. But then I remembered how much my feet hurt because I couldn't freaking sit down!!!
the security guards moved the ropes in a bit and we rushed in. tall gal and two other girls ducked under the barrier and went to stand with the VIPs. i wish i had that much courage. and then around 1:15 Keane finally showed up. woot! it was fabulous. when they got to the stage the cameras went off like crazy. then the people behind the rope rushed up. haha! the band started off with Everybody's Changing. then they sang Crystal Ball, Somewhere Only We Know, and Is It Any Wonder? awesome! 3 radio(?) people that were standing in front of me didn't seem to be enjoying the concert that much. they just stood still and watched while everyone around them were shouting lyrics and snapping pics like crazy. they left the area after the 3rd song. wasted space i tell ya.
Tom the frontman. Totally cute.
Tim the keyboardist. Totally hot.
Richard the drummer. Totally far away.
after the concert, it was time for the signing!! i ran into tall gal and she had richard's drumsticks! so jealous. she said that she managed to get close to the stage and during the concert she kept pointing to the drummer and yelling his name. haha awesome. after their set he walked right to her and handed her the drumsticks. after a little while they announced numbers 26-50 could get in line for the signing in the store and i rushed away. that was the last time i saw theresa. didn't even say goodbye cause i thought i would see her after the signing. my fault. i followed two girls from Mass., Julie and Cindy, who had been on the other side of theresa while we were standing at the rope. they recognized me and we made a bond to take pics of each other while we got our items signed. the line in the bookstore wrapped around bookshelves which seemed kinda humorous. Keane walked right by us and we weren't paying attention. oops! they got to the table and the press went crazy. after 30 seconds, and i mean exactly 30 seconds, some woman shouts, "okay 30 seconds, everyone out" to the press. hahaha. poor press.
My best blurry shot of the band at the signing table.
There's me with the band signing my items. Yay!
the VIPs got to go first, of course. blegh. after the VIPs, they went to the bracelet line and it moved pretty quickly. i went snap happy but all my pics came out blurry. booooooo. luckily for me, the girls i had made a pact with promised to send me pics. hooray. while we were waiting i remembered that Keane's new cd had been featured in the Music section of People magazine, which i had bought at the bookstore. i decided to ask if they would sign that even though the rules limited the signing to just CDs and DVDs. cindy had a copy of People too and decided to do it with me. however as we got closer to them we got nervous about it and decided not to do it. i put the mag back in my bag and came up with another plan. when we got to the table i took pics for them. then it was my turn! when we were in line we wondered what we would say to the band. how do stand out from all the other fanatics? how do you express how much their music has touched you? here's what i said, "hey did you guys know you're in People magazine?" band: "oh, we heard about that." me whipping out magazine, "well here it is!" Tom (the frontman) was all interested and he started reading the article. :D when i took my magazine out, cindy did the same and gave hers to Richard. then he said in his fabulous British accent, "well we've always loved this magazine. what's its name again?" "People magazine." "oh yes, we've always been big supporters of People magazine." haha hilarious! the line was supposed to keep moving and i felt i was holding the line up with my magazine so i quickly asked Tom to sign it and he did! Richard signed the magazine for cindy. success! the next minute was a blur. i was so estatic that the band actually signed my magazine i was total shock. i think i thanked them but i don't remember. i remember taking my magazine and cd liner back, switching cameras back, getting my bracelet cut off, and being hurried out of the signing area. craziness!
me, julie, and cindy stopped to breathe once out of the area. we switched contact info for the pictures. then they mentioned food and i wholeheartedly agreed. they let me tag along to a sandwich shop and that's when we finally got to sit down. it was quite a moment. and the sustenance. finally! we looked through our pictures while eating. we had also recorded videos on our cameras. their videos turned out well. when i went to play mine, it sounded like radio static. we all burst out laughing. ladies and gentlemen, Keane at their finest. oh well. we parted after the meal. i went back to Borders hoping to catch Theresa so we could trade contact info but by the time i got back the signing was over. Keane was taking pics with the Borders employees. then security shouted for us to clear the area. the band members proceded to walk by me. there were a few fans still hanging around and we chased them down the bookstore. :D :D
My prize for being all paparazzi. One super clear picture of Richard! Definitely worth it.
and then they disappeared through a door and that was that. i was really happy when i walked back to the train station. a fantastic day.
Tom's autograph woohoo! He touched that page, yo!
My souvenir!