Saturday, September 17, 2011: My day started at 6:45 am, 45 minutes before our wake up call, when I woke up with heart palpitations and anxiety because I was seeing Lifehouse in 12 hours, after waiting 3.5 years!!! Once the alarm went off, I jumped out of bed and brushed my teeth (too detailed?) and got ready, while Perri sat in bed. At 8:00, I started yelling at her, and by 8:08, I ripped her sheets off, put my arms around her stomach, and pulled her out of bed to get ready! Around 8:30, after plenty of yelling on my part, we finally left the hotel and drove into Cambridge, where we were taking the T to Charles St/MGH station by the venue. So we drove to the T, and because I am one of those people who blindly follow a GPS, turned left too soon and had to get back on the highway and loop around, giving me a small anxiety attack. Eventually, we got onto the T (and got off at the right place, thankfully!). When we got out, the day was beautiful! The venue wasn’t a far walk, and the walk was along a lake where there were a ton of morning joggers, and everything was so gorgeous! We finally arrived at the venue at around 9:40, and to my excitement, were first in line!
Perri did not share my enthusiasm.
We ended up walking around the venue, looking around the backstage tent to see if the boys were there yet, but didn’t see anyone. Eventually, I took a chair from one of the tables to sit down and eat and plopped myself right in front of the entrance. By around 10:30, quite a few people had shown up. Every time new people would come by, I would ask them who they came to see, hoping to find some crazy Lifehouse fans. Almost all of them answered “Sara Bareilles”, to which I responded “Oh.” By 11:30, there was a pretty big line up, and almost everyone in line knew who I was and who I was there to see. At this point, I started stretching to get ready for my sprint to the front row! At around 11:45, during soundcheck, I suddenly heard the first line of “Spin” being sung on stage, and I turned around so fast in the middle of a conversation with someone, but I couldn’t see if the guys were on stage because it was too far! By 12:00, the doors opened and they started letting people in! Even though I was first in line, they let some other people in front of me because they didn’t have bags. So I gave my bag to Perri, sprinted like a mad woman, and ended up passing all of them and still being first to the stage! I got to the front row and center, just like I had dreamed about! Unfortunately, at this venue, first row is stupidly about 30 feet back from the stage, so it was still pretty difficult to see anything. So by the time we got to the front row, there was still 3.5 hours until the show started and it was HOT outside! Perri got us some lunch and we waited around for a while, just chatting with some people around us. Eventually, my pale skin couldn’t handle it anymore, so I went to a grassy area in the shade by myself and took a little 45 minute nap. By 3:00, I was getting really anxious! The first guy, Javier Colon, came on stage around 3:40, after a little interview that mix104.1 did backstage and showed on a big screen. He had a great voice and was fun to listen to! Next, Michelle Branch came on, and I actually adored her set! I didn’t realize, but I knew most of the songs she played and she was so cute! She also was flying out somewhere else right after the set and had no one with her, so Winnie helped her out, which she mentioned during her set!
Sometime after her set, Christy came up to the front and said hello, and I signed the card for Winnie, which I was glad I got the chance to do! The next artist to come on was Sara Bareilles. I was never a huge fan of her, but she really impressed me. She was really funny and adorable, and had great stage presence! Around 5:00, towards the end of her set, I happened to notice a bus pull up on the right side behind the stage. I then saw a guy walking down who kind of looked like Ben, then a guy with a leather jacket and blonde hair, at which point I realized it WAS in fact the boys. Rick and Jason walked out of the bus right after, and at this point I started FREAKING out! I grabbed Perri’s arm and may have given her a bruise, I was so excited about my first Lifehouse sighting! From this point on, I could no longer concentrate in the least on Sara Bareilles’s set, and even though I’m sure it was great, I honestly don’t know.
After her set, I went to the bathroom, and it took at least 10 minutes to walk to the back of the venue, it was so PACKED! Grace Potter & The Nocturnals were the next artists to play. I would have enjoyed her set a lot more if I hadn’t been dying of anxiety and anticipation to finally see my boys in less than an hour! Even though she was a great performer, the set kind of seemed to drag on and I was just waiting for Lifehouse to finally take the stage. She finally announced that she had one song left, which ended up being this crazy performance that lasted a good ten minutes, during which my anxiety got worse and worse. I did end up catching a drum stick after their set though haha!
Finally, around 6:45, they showed the interview with Lifehouse backstage, and I started going crazy! Then the announcer came on stage, and introduced Lifehouse, only to be followed by a procession of about 90 (irrelevant) people, who he proceeded to introduce and tell us what each of them did as a job at the radio station. FINALLY, they all get off stage and a few seconds later, Ben walks on, followed by Bryce, Rick, and then Jay! I had a minor heart attack, and then went nuts! They started with Hello There, as usual! Next they played All In, which was awesome. After that song, the people around me who I had been talking to all day were asking if I was okay because I was shaking and going crazy! The next song was Here Tomorrow, Gone Today, which I really enjoyed live, even though it was one of my lesser favorites on Smoke & Mirrors. The fourth song was Spin, which was one of my favorites of the set! I love the outro to that song and it was so amazing to see it live! During Nerve Damage, Jason walked down the platform from the stage (which was very high up) and started walking to the crowd. He went down to the right and stepped up on the gate and started singing in someone’s face (who I immediately hated out of jealousy lol!) Then he moved closer to me and started singing there, about 5 people down from me! He then went back on stage, I had another heart attack, and he continued singing. The next song was You And Me, which was really fun! Of course, Jay started by saying “do you guys want to sing a song with me tonight?” which I’m pretty sure I’ve seen him do in about 100 videos on youtube, and was very excited to see in person! The next song was Whatever It Takes, which I loved, and then Wrecking Ball. Bryce totally ROCKED it, and his voice sounded amazing! The next song they played was Beast Of Burden. Even though it sounded amazing, I was a little bummed that they played a cover when they had a shortened set.
The next song was Falling In, which sounded amazing (I feel like I’m getting repetitive lol!) and a lot of people seemed to know it! Hanging By A Moment was next, and that was AWESOME! Everyone knew that one, of course, and it got pretty loud, and everyone was swaying and pulling out their cell phones. The next song was Halfway Gone, which also wasn’t one of my favorites on the album at first, but I loved live! After that, they played First Time *takes deep breath*. During the song, Jay came down into the crowd again, and this time, he came RIGHT in front of my face! He jumped up onto the gate and I immediately grabbed him and put my arms around him and hugged him! Yes, that’s right. I PUT MY FACE IN JASON WADE’S STOMACH AND IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I then grabbed his hand, which was kind of rough. I think I just kept touching him everywhere for those glorious 30 seconds, possibly bordering on harassment, but he did not seem to mind, or even notice, really. Jay then went back on stage, and I had a MAJOR heart attack, and possibly died for about a minute, then came back to life. First Time will never be the same song for me anymore, and I will never be able to listen to it again without thinking of Jay’s stomach. Finally, they ended with Broken, which is the song that first made me fall in love with them. It was so beautiful and even though I expected the variation at the end, it was so much better than I imagined. I couldn’t help crying, and it didn’t help that I knew it was probably their last song! There was not a single thing that I could possibly complain about their performance, other than the fact that the set was a little short, which was beyond their control.
After the show, I was completely shaken and in utter disbelief that I had actually FINALLY seen Lifehouse! As I was walking out, I ran into a bunch of superfans and we all walked to the back where we saw their tour bus. After only about 15-20 minutes, I see Bryce standing by the back of the stage and had another minor heart attack. Then I noticed that Ben was walking towards us and I waited while he talked to some other fans. Ricky came out then, and came right near me, so I said hi to him and told him we came from Montreal to see them play and how much I loved them and their set. I didn’t talk to him for long, but I got a picture with him and he signed a piece of paper for me (which was the back of my directions from Montreal to Boston since I didn’t have a ticket!)
After talking to Rick, I saw Jason walk out and my heart STOPPED! He started walking right near me and I started freaking out! I must say, even though I knew he was handsome, in person he is so gorgeous that it hurts. Haha! He noticed Christy right away and told her that they would be recording Wish for the next album!! He said they’d be recording a newer version, and I can’t wait to hear how it turns out! He talked to a couple of other girls, and then I said hi to him, and also told him how we came down from Montreal to see them. I said it was my first time seeing one of their shows after waiting 3.5 years and none of the dates working out in the past. He seemed thankful that we would come that far for the show, even though I’m sure lots of dedicated superfans have driven a lot farther! I then asked if they’d be up in Montreal anytime soon. He said yes, they’d be up there during their tour for the next record. I jokingly asked him “do you PROMISE?” and he laughed and said he couldn’t promise me but that they would definitely try. I also told Jay that Emily from Washington said hi and was hoping they’d get back up there soon. He then said he remembered meeting her last time they were up there! I loved him even more after that (if possible) because I never even mentioned that they had met, and just based on a name and location he knew exactly who I was talking about! I also told Jason that I was hoping to hear Simon and that I had made a sign that I was holding up! He told me he thought that he saw one in the crowd, but that he couldn't really tell. He said he didn't like that the crowd was so far from the stage because he couldn't see anything, and I agreed! Some girls next to me then started telling him about how they were originally from Pakistan and that Lifehouse is HUGE there! Jason seemed surprised and really excited about that! The girls told him that they should go play there, and he was like, well you should talk to this guy and tell him that and pointed to Bryan. He was talking with fans the whole time and was SO down to earth and easy to talk to! I was afraid that I’d meet him and freeze up and not be able to say anything to him, but I had an easier time talking to him than any other artist I’ve met before. I obviously got a picture and had him sign my paper! I also asked him for a hug, and had a very hard time letting go lol!
Next, I met Bryce, and immediately told him that we were also Canadians and came down from Montreal to the show. He said that was awesome and that seeing other Canadians made him feel at home. He then said how it sucked that Boston beat out the Canucks for the Stanley Cup, which Perri agreed with wholeheartedly. I told him how amazing their set was and we took a picture!
After speaking to Bryce, some guy walked up and handed me a setlist, which was awesome! Then I went and said hi to Ben! He was really sweet and of course, I had to mention to him also that we came from Montreal for the set. Perri told him she loved his accent (which I agree with!) and he signed my paper and took a picture with me!
After that, I kind of just watched Jason talk to some other fans for a while, feeling a little woozy and unable to believe that this had all actually just happened! After maybe 15 minutes, Jay said they had to go and the boys went back to the bus. After that, we regrouped with some other superfans and took a picture! I found Christy again, finally found Meg, who I was looking for after the show, and also met Cindy and Paul, which was awesome!
After that, a bunch of us decided to go for dinner together. We were in a group of 9 and decided to go to the Cheesecake Factory. We walked for about 10-15 minutes and as we’re next door to the Cheesecake Factory, Christy asks us if we just saw Lifehouse. I had no idea what she was talking about, and she told us they were sitting in the restaurant next door! So Meg and I walked back and saw the boys sitting at a table right by the window!! This was kind of funny since I had spent the night before searching Boston for them, and then we found them so unexpectedly! I immediately wanted to go to that restaurant instead, but then I thought about it, and as a group we decided it was SLIGHTLY too stalkerish, especially after having met them 15 minutes before! The Cheesecake Factory had a really long wait, so we ended up walking back to California Pizza Kitchen, which was great!
We were there for a few hours, and spent most of the night talking about Lifehouse. I had an AMAZING time and it was so exciting to finally meet people who understand how I feel about Lifehouse and knew how great it must feel to put my head in Jay’s stomach! We all determined that the next goal is to see what he smells like haha! It turned out that Dan came from Montreal also, which I didn’t know before the show, and so we ended up making plans to drive back together, which was great! Eventually, we all walked back to the T together, and by the end of the ride, we all split up to go home. I loved everyone and felt comfortable instantly with people I had just met. I already miss being there. I can’t WAIT for the next time Lifehouse has a show in Boston, and I hope everyone comes to the show again! We ended up getting back to the hotel around 12:45, where I instantly uploaded all my pictures and videos, and then skyped with Emily to tell her all about the show! To top off the night, I got a twitter reply from the boys for the first time!
In conclusion, I feel like I should be turning 14 next week instead of 21! EVERYTHING about the night was just beyond perfect, and better than I ever dreamed it possibly could be. After 3.5 years of fantasizing about seeing them and meeting them, the real thing was better than anything I ever imagined. I never expected to meet them at my FIRST show! I still can’t get over it, and feel like last night couldn’t possibly have happened. My life will honestly never be the same.
