incubus: the after party
same deal as the first one.
the concert is finished (finally! i kid, i kid) and i start looking around for security to show them my after party pass. they start moving the barriers inward to get people to leave. i see two girls approach the side and flash their stickers. sweet. i head over to the same place and flash mine; they let me through. i’ll just follow them. we end up in the backstage bar. i really just needed to sit down, so the first table i see i sit at. i figure all these people waiting are after party people too and incubus will be joining us at the bar later. from the stories i’d read earlier, the parties were always at a bar-like environment, so my assumptions led me to this bar being the spot. i had to pee and make sure that my make-up wasn’t too atrocious from the sweating and jumping and luckily for me the bathroom was outside of the bar. as i walk out i see a line of people waiting and i assume they’re waiting for incubus to show up and say hi because they can’t get into the bar because they don’t have passes. when i’m walking back from the washroom, i faintly see greg leading the line to the back, back to where we had the meet and greet. oh shit, i’ve been in the wrong place. it’s okay though, other people missed the first entrance too and soon there’s a new line. i see people with passes on their shirts and i ask if that’s the right line and they say yeah, everyone said it was in the bar, but we’re really supposed to meet up there. i go line up and wait. a lot of waiting on this day. all completely worth it though.
finally greg shows up and we all show the security guy our stickers. greg leads us right back to where the meet and greet was held. now there are a lot of round lawn tables and chairs set up. greg stops and leads us in. he says ‘hello again. you good?’ ‘yep,’ i’m back to my monosyllabic nervousness.
i’m alone, so i sit at a table that’s empty but there’s an older couple standing and talking to someone else right next to it. the other tables are filled with groups of 4 or 5, mixes of guys and girls and i see two people who i recognized from the meet and greet. that was it. right now, i’m feeling luckier than a horseshoe pooped from a lucky rabbit. and then i wait, again. i felt awkward because i didn’t know anyone (obviously) but i didn’t want to impose on other groups. what was i going to say, ’so, you like incubus?’ besides, it was clear that the majority of these people were industry types or friends from one place or another. by the by, there were about twenty people there at most when everyone was there. intimate indeed.
waiting, waiting and then ben and kilmore are the first ones out. kil comes straight over to me and says ‘hi whitney, you came out. nice’ ‘yep,’ again with the one words. he asks if i’m by myself and i say i am. he says that’s cool. he asks how i liked the show and i said it was great. he’s kneeling down next to me and i comment how he doesn’t even have a chair. he says he has to go make the rounds to everyone else, he just wanted to see if i was okay first. i say ok, yeah, i’m good. he asks if i drink? yep. do i smoke? not sure whether he means cigarettes or weed (duh, it’s kilmore. i blame nerves) i say ‘depends on how much i drink’ he says ‘okay, well me and some friends are probably going to go drink near the buses later if you want to join’ i say okay. he says great, i’ll see you later. he then left to say hi to other people and meet with previous friends. he starts talking to someone and they ask what’s taking everyone so long, he says i don’t know. he turns around and says oh b’s coming now. brandon was on his way. he walks in and scans the crowd. he spots me and thinks for a bit and then smiles. then he comes up to my table and the older couple start talking to him. they ask how he is and says, ‘well a bug just flew up my nose; should i be worried at all?’ they say no, it’s a canadian bug so he should be fine. he says he keeps hearing that. all these things are flying through my head, but i feel stupid just blurting in on a conversation that isn’t mine with something like ‘you’ll be fine unless it was a mosquito with west nile.’ yes, that was one of my main thoughts to utter out loud.
i should try to explain the angle i was going for here. they meet hundreds of people a day all of which tell them how great they are and ask them the same questions over and over. i think i’m not going to be like that. in all honesty, i was just calm and taking everything in. i’m trying my best to be myself and just take the experience for what is:meeting new people. yes, they so happen to be multi-millionaires and multi-platinum record selling musicians, but they’re also just people that want to chill and relax with people they’ve known or just met. with that in mind is probably how i managed to get the most attention from everyone but joser and brandon. afterwards i felt bad for other people that kind of just sat there and didn’t get to talk to them as much because i was ‘monopolizing’ their time, but it wasn’t my choice. they all approached me, so what am i supposed to do, say ‘i think you should go spend time with other people.’? i don’t think so. maybe after a meeting them a few time, but not the very first time. anyway, on with the story.
b’s talking to this couple and i’m kind of listening. i’m looking at him talk because what else am i supposed to do? i’m by myself and like i said, i don’t want to just burst in on a conversation. he knew this couple from before. i later found out she works at universal and let them go on all the rides and shows them all the backdoor entrances etc. whenever they go there. while i’m watching b intently, kil somehow introduces me to some of his friends. they were nice girls, but dressed like prostitutes. okay, i exaggerate, but her shorts were ti-ny. and open . . . yeah. anyway, they go way back (further than before the concert) so they continue with their fun.
the older couple then get up to leave and b leaves to sit on the railing but he’s busy looking at his blackberry. he was waiting for someone to show up. a lot of people went up to him then to talk to him, but i didn’t want to intrude again. looking back on it, maybe i should’ve, but i didn’t know i was going to be talking to mike all night. by the way, can you tell i really wanted to connect with brandon? pfft, i know i’m shallow and typical, but you can’t deny the man’s beauty. besides, i’m a singer so i’m always most into lyrics, lyricists and main singers of the bands i love anyway. seeing as how fate had gotten me this far, i thought i’d let it do it’s magic for the rest of the night. alas, b wasn’t in fate’s plan much, but i digress. on with the story.
so, i’m sitting there for a good five minutes just watching everyone. i’m kind of waiting for a ‘good’ chance to talk to b;i really want to pick his brain. kil puts on some music and i’m kind of interacting with him so i’m not completely off by myself. but ben comes over and sits down and asks why i look so sad. i say i’m not sad, i’m just taking it all in. he asks if i’m alone and i say yeah. he asks why and i tell him about how hard it was to find anyone to go with. and he says ‘yeah, i know. we suck that bad huh?’ and i say ‘i know. i can’t believe it. i wish someone else had been in my place because i would’ve jumped at the chance,’ he says it’s funny because he had a similar experience that night. he called up a friend who’s mutual friends with ian thornley. he asked if i know who he is and i say oh yeah, i’m a fan. he continues to say he’s a big fan of his and he invited him to the show tonight and he wanted to meet him and talk etc. he eventually declined because ‘he couldn’t find anyone to go with’. i say that sucks. he says yeah, who doesn’t want to go to a concert, for free, because they can’t find someone to go with. i continue saying i do lot of things by myself just because. he says he’s the same. then we get into a conversation about how many dumb people there are and how it’s nice to be just by yourself not having to explain things etc. i say it’s so hard to find smart people, why is that? he says because smart people don’t breed. i smile and say that’s so true, because i don’t want kids. we continue with the conversation as conversations go. we eventually get to discussing drinking. the previous night he drank a little too much and ended up in the parking lot in his underwear and hat. apparently, after they’d all gotten redy for bed, the wireless internet on the bus wasn’t working so he got all sad and decided that by sitting in the parking lot with his mac, it would make him feel better and maybe he could get the internet to work. i’m laughing through the whole story, because it’s funny. after more talking he asks if i’d like a glass of wine. i’m all shocked: ‘uh, okay.’ he says he thinks he’s in a mood to drink. oh yeah, before i’d asked him how he did with the show. he said he played terrible and he wasn’t having a good night at all. i said you couldn’t tell at all. he said that as long as the other guys didn’t notice, whcih they didn’t, then he didn’t mess up so bad. i said they always sound flawless and he said ‘aw, thank you’
so he leaves to get us our wine (oh my god, ben from incubus is getting -me- a glass of wine) and then kil invites me over to his table with his other friends. earlier, greg had passed him about an ounce of weed. we all start talking, me mostly just listening again. then they go off to smoke and kil invites me, but i say maybe later because i knew i’d never remember anything if i smoked. i wanted to remember every little detail of that night. ben comes back with our wine in two styrofoam cups. he gives me mine and says cheers. other people at the table complain and ask where their wine is. he says this was the very last of the wine and he had to steal it off their production manager. let me tell you, it was very high quality good wine. it was red and smooth as silk. best glass of wine i’ve ever had, bar none. i also shared a cigarette with him at some point too. he offered it to me, i didn’t ask.we had talked earlier about how we’re both the same when it comes to smoking: we smoke only when we’ve started drinking.
we continue talking and mike’s made his appearance at this point. he’s leaving and b calls him over to introduce him to the people he’s been talking to the whole time. two blonde girls. they looked intelligent and not slutty, so at least that was a plus. he says hi to them and i continue my conversation and then mike’s heading toward the bus. i really wanted to talk to him about his cts and the surgery because my mom has the same thing. so has he’s leaving (this must’ve been the wine) i yell ‘hey mike!, are leaving already?’ he stops and smiles and says i’m just going to get a drink. i said don’t leave and he calls me over to him. i say i wanted to talk to him about his surgery etc. he says he’s getting a drink from the buses, do i want to come with him? awkward, bewildered smile and pause from me and then ‘okay.’ i’m on my way to the out of bound areas with mike. at that point i didn’t know how good it was going to get.
we talk about the cts and how it all went. we get to the bus and he puts in his keycode (damnit, i should’ve watched what it was) and holds the door open for me. i just stand there because i’m thinking ‘i can’t go on the bus, i’m just a fan’ he says ‘go on in.’ ‘okay’ i walk in and then he walks in. the tv is on the discovery channel, only it’s one of those special discovery channels that you only get with satellite or special cable. it’s 32″? flat screen tv mounted next to the inner door of the bus. right underneath is chest fridge. he gets a bottle of water out. i’m still standing in the doorway, completely flabbergasted that i’m on incubus’ tour bus. this is unreal. i’ve only seen this on dvds that’s ive watched over and over again. he says ‘have a seat,’ oh my god! i’m sitting on incubus’ leather couch on their tour bus. he sits next to me and commence talking. first about cts and then about music. i get some musical questions that i’ve always had finally answered. he asks about me blahblahblah. i somehow get the full tour of the bus. i see where each of them sleep, the ‘lounge’ in the back and the half-assed kitchen. there was a plum pie on the counter. wow, even as i’m writing this and listening to b sing in my headphones, i can’t believe it happened. we sat back on the couch and talk some more. i check out the kitchen some more and he plays with his new iphone. they all got one except for b and joser? or ben. i don’t remember. i state my hatred for them and all things mac. anyway, eventually he asks if i want to go back and i say okay. he says he didn’t intend on coming back when i stopped him from leaving. he says he’s just going to stay there and try to sleep. there was an itinerary on the door that said they had to leave the after party asap because they had a ten hour drive to, i can’t remember where, but i mentioned that to him too. he walked me off the bus and i said well, bye, unless i see you again somehow he said. bye, it was nice meeting me and asked if he could have a hug. i said of course and hugged him. at that point my cell phone rang and it was my dad. i had to answer my dad’s phone call in front of mike. it was around 1am at this point and my parents were worried because they didn’t think the afterparty would be this long. it went on for much longer. mike said ‘uh-oh, sound like a boyfriend’ i said, no. no, not at all.
i headed back to the party zone and kil was back on that balcony thing with his friends. he yelled out hi to me, i said what are you doing up there? he said, nothing bad. just chilling. i said sure, sure. at this point i was quite confident i was doing exactly what i wanted and was coming off as a cool person instead of an obsessed fan. i felt like i was running the show with ben getting me wine and mike inviting me to the bus. i can’t believe this is happening. how great is this night? i join the table of ben and the girls and guys and they’re in a heated a debate over politics. one of the girls named rebecca who i was the most sociable to filled me in on what i missed. a few minutes later ben said the wine had gone right to his head and he had to go to bed. so he said goodbye, it was pleasure meeting me and have a good night. he came back later but just to use the offices for the phone.
the girls all dispersed and hung out with joser or went to see kil. i turned around and in my original table b was talking to three people. there was a seat between him and someone else, so i sat there. i mostly just listened to him because again, someone else’s conversation. they were nice guys, but they asked about if he’d taken lessons. he gave the answer any fan would know: he took two but then he had to stop because he couldn’t afford it anymore. i seriously almost answered it for him. i really wanted to jump in, but he barely ever looked at me. the reason why is because i sitting next to one of those creepy fans who’s all over them and saying how much he loved them and everything. you just got a creepy vibe from him. he did everything i knew you should never ever do. i sat there and listened to him talk, occasionally adding things here and there about singing, because that was the topic of conversation. he eventually left and shook all of our hands and thanked us all again. i sat there waiting about to say something as he left, but he headed over to the other meet and greet girls who had brought a painting they did. damn.
i sat there by myself for a little bit. joser was dancing with people. we all laughed. i got up and was about to head over to kil when mike appears. he says hi and i say hi again. i thought he was staying on he bus. he got bored and couldn’t fall asleep. somehow got to me and he asks if i want a drink. i say umm, he says if i drink with you will you have one. okay, i’m in.
we go inside the building that houses the balcony and we find the beer. there are two left. it was sleeman’s honey brown. i say that to say they’re rock stars they don’t really have a lot of alcohol. he says that’s because one of us can’t drink. i ask can’t drink, what do you mean? he says like can’t drink because they used to be an alcoholic. oh. i’m shocked. i think it’s joser, but i can’t be sure he means someone in his group or the tour altogether, but i still think he meant joser.
we talk more about lots of things. i get his version of why dirk left: he was kicked out because he was negative and didn’t contribute nearly as much as he should’ve and they wanted him out since science. i was shocked again and he continued with how it was much worse than people know or suspect. we talked more about rumours and straightening them all out. talked about music and wow, i don’t know a mix of everything i guess. finally i look outside and everyone’s gone. i say we should probably go and he agrees. we head out and continue talking. i thank him for telling me everything that i wanted to know and discussing the truth with me. he says it was no problem and he enjoys setting the record straight. i explain i didn’t want to bore him with things people ask him about countless of times and he says not at all, no one asks about that stuff. at some point we see the girl with the tiny shorts and he says ‘those are some tiny pants’ i laugh and agree.
kil and these two girls (probably the same ones andrea saw waiting on him earlier) were there along with people from the bravery. we were all saying goodbye. i say it’s been great, i don’t want it to end. he says, well maybe we’ll see each other again. you never know. i say yeah. he says he like my shoes (he also asked on the bus if my purse was converse and i said yeah and he said awesome) and i say thanks, they were $10. he says i’m a bargain hunter, i say yep. finally he says ’til next time and hugs me and then kisses me on the cheek. i say you’re amazing. thanks so much. bye. he leaves and gets on the bus. i see b on the bus talking to the driver. he looks out the front and sees where kil and mike and waits ’til mike gets back on the bus. oh yeah, mike asked if i had myspace and if i’d added him or talked to him. i said no because all of my questions had been answered before. he asks my myspace name and tells me to send him a message.
i talk to kil some more. the two girls left said they had to pee, he offers them the bus bathroom and they say no, that’s okay i can hold. i said (this is a creepy thing i shouldn’t have said) i could use the bathroom. but then i’ll just hide in there and go wherever you go. we all laughed, but i could tell kil was a little freaked out by it. i said, i’m just joking. that’s just weird. to cover for myself and we laughed again and things were okay again. he hugged me and said it was nice meeting me and have a good night. i walked down the driveway that i entered and that was the end of my magical evening with incubus.
i apologize for the lengthiness. this already took me three hours to write and i got lazy at the end because it could be longer, but i cut a lot of the conversations to just the important/key parts. there was a lot of filler of random things with all of them. the point is, it was beyond real.
they are all exactly what they seem like. in interviews you’ve seen or heard or anything like that, they are exactly to the t what you think they’re like. just as nice, just as open, just as crazy, funny and creative. i felt more accepted and appreciated by them than i do with most people i’m with on a daily basis.
best night of my life. if i wasn’t so sure i can make it happen again, i could die now and be ultimately happy. i still have dreams about it nightly. i’ve had dreams that were equal to or crappier than what actually happened. unbelievable.