this is super long, so i’m providing it after a cut. i wrote it for a message board and i’m copying it from there because it took me three hours to write. i haven’t edited it for content or cohesion, so keep that in mind. i was also extremely lax with the grammar, especially by the end. here’s my picture. my explanation of why i look stupid is in there somewhere. here’s the other picture that’s so much better. thanks mel!

so i just read andrea’s ‘i met incubus’ post and i guess i should write mine. i warn you now: it will be long, it will be meandering, it will have horrible grammar and i actually haven’t written the whole experience from beginning to end yet. here we go. the first, unabridged, completely unedited version of how i first met incubus.

unlike andrea, i didn’t get there super early in the morning. if i had posted to this board before the concert day, perhaps both andrea and my own meetings of incubus would’ve been far better. as it was though, and i’m sure andrea will agree, it was pretty damn dream worthy.

i spent the day shopping because i really didn’t have any clothes that were worthy of meeting incubus in. i wanted something cool because i knew the pit was going to be unbearable (it was worse, but more on that later), something casual yet visually appealing, and on the sexier side, but without being obvious or over the top. i’m pretty tomboyish with what i wear, so i figured whatever i bought should be good enough. i also knew i’d be meeting them because i got meet and greet passes for the feb date that were still good. i was going by myself because no one i knew would by the other. i tried many a time, but as soon as i wanted to set up a date to meet for the money exchange, no one ever came through.

anyway, i got home from shopping at about 3. i thought i was going to have to take the subway down, but i got a ride. the myf e-mail said to meet at 5:30 by the box office and not to be any later than 5:45. if we were, too bad and we may not be able to meet incubus. however, we were also given greg’s cell number in case of emergencies because they really do want us to be able to meet them.

i got to the venue at about 5:00. lot’s of time to size up my competition, if you will. i guess now is a good time to state my plan and mindset.

like andrea (i assume from the early arrival time), i had put some thought into how i was going to meet them. since i got my meet and greet tickets in november, i had been visiting the iov boards and lurking to see the setlists. while on there, there were quite a few people who had a) met them numerous times in the past or b) got into the after party on this tour. as soon as i knew random fans were being given passes to the after parties, i knew i had to get there somehow, someway. my original plan was to wait at the venue all day and eventually i -had- to see them. this was for the kool haus which is small and there’s only one entrance so you -have- to see someone doing some sort of prep if you don’t see the band themselves. see a crew member ask them for a pass, repeat until given a pass. easy enough at the kool haus. then the venue changed and my plan was all messed up. i knew that my only shot was at the meet and greet. so on with the story.

at the box office i see a group of people all sitting on the stairs waiting. i see one (just 1!) girl with her vip pass necklace on. i assume that’s where we have to wait because i see no other box office, plus it’s close to a driveway guarded by security. security=rock stars. 1+1=2. i wait there for another 40 minutes or so and more people start showing up with pictures or other things for them to sign or gifts etc. about 80% of the girls are not fit to be in a pit. they’re wearing dresses with heels or flip-flops. i’m shocked and appalled, but hey, they paid like me so they can do what they want. greg, the coordinator of the meet and greets, shows up and says ‘okay, myf people i’ve got your packages here. just form a group and get out your id to confirm who you are.’ sweet, the first step to happiness.i get out my id and i’m the 5th or 6th person to pick up my package. i show greg my id and he couldn’t see the envelope at first so i had to pick it up and show him. it was kind of funny and we both laughed. then he tells us to line up out of the way of the driveway. i was 5th in line. after we get all sorted and he tells us the rules, he leads us into the backstage area.

at this point i’m calm and almost stoic; practically standoffish. this is simply an outer appearance so i don’t freak out as i’m walking to where i’ll be meeting the people who i’ve adored for the majority of my life. we go over a bridge and past the buses to a little alcove that overlooks part of a stream; it’s actually an inlet from lake ontario. it’s scenic enough considering where we are. again, we line up and we’re all waiting. we’re right next to where they load in all the equipment. i have a fence and the stream on one side and guitar cases which read ‘mike’s fender’ etc. on the other. yes my friends, i’m freaking out. i’m by myself so i’m taking it all in. everyone else is looking at each other or somewhere else so i’m the first to notice the boys all standing and looking at us from a balcony above and in front of us. mike waves and then i wave and smile back and then people notice i’m waving so they look up and then people start screaming. they step out and say hi. we all say hi back. brandon says he was attacked by a duck and how they’re dangerous. someone says it’s okay they’re cool because they’re canadian. we all laugh. they wave some more and then say bye and we’ll see you in a bit.

i’m at the front of the line so i’ll be in the first group. greg states that we’ll be in groups of ten, so he counts us off but he gets an odd number. he says ‘are missing someone?’ i say ‘no, i’m a single’ and he says ‘oh ok. don’t worry, i’ll be your friend,’ and puts his arm around me and gives me a high five. the couple in front of me offer to let me go first. i say no thanks, i’d actually rather be last.

a minute or two later kilmore comes out of the load in door, past mike’s guitars and says ‘hey everyone, how’s it going?’ the usual responses occur and he says he’s great. he walks past us and then brandon, ben and mike come out of another door that’s in front of us. they wave again and then head to the table that’s been set up. just as we’re about to move, joser whizzes past on his skateboard making a memorable entrance. so we move up again and it’s time for the meet and greet.

first is joser(the most aloof by far): hi, i’m jose! (shakes my hand) you are?
w:i’m whitney
j:how are you?
w:i’m great. (thinking to myself that i want to blab on and on about how this is the best day of my life but i just keep it cool and simple)
j:thanks for coming out. enjoy the show.
w:oh, i will
next is ben:hey, i’m ben. what’s your name?
w:i’m whitney
b:hi whitney, (shakes my hand)how are you doing.
w:i’m (laugh) doing great.
b:that’s good. thanks for coming out. hope you like the show.
w:oh, definitely.
next is brandon and the most stupid thing i’ve ever done. i’ll make up for it next time i meet them.
b:hi, i’m brandon. you are? (shakes hand)
w:whitney
b:whitney?
w:yep
b:w-h-i-t-n-e-y? right? (slight look of concern/puzzlement)
w:yep, that’s it.
b:ok, great. thanks for coming.
w:my pleasure. (about to walk away and then realize that i’m not going to leave without saying something more to the man i wish i would’ve grown up with) you know, i might lose my job for this.
b:oh really? what’s your your job?
w:i’m a bartender
b:i see. is it important? do you really need it? (look of concern again)
w:oh no. this is so worth it.
b:well good. you’ve got your priorities lined up right then?
w:yep.
b:thanks again
there you have it folks, the dumbest, least interesting thing i ever could have said to brandon boyd, except for ‘you’re so hot’ ‘i love you’ or ‘can i have you babies?’
next was mike:hey (in suave mack daddy voice)
w:hi
m:i’m mike (shakes hand)
w:i’m whitney
m:nice to meet you whitney. hope you like the show.
w: thank you. i know i will.
next was chris: hi, i’m chris.
w:i’m whitney. (finally by this point i’d loosened up a little and could blurt out more than ‘yep’ or ‘good’) do you prefer chris or kil?
c:well, the ladies prefer to call me chris . . .
m:(interrupts) you mean ladies like your mom?
c:(laughs)yeah man. but the guys usually call me kil. you can call me either one. it’s all good.
w:that’s good to know. (this is it. my last ditch effort to get my pass.) well, whatever i need to call you to get an after party pass.
i back away a little, willing to accept my defeat and just take the meet and greet as good enough-
c:oh, an after party pass. sure? hey greg, hook her up!
greg:sure. (to me) so just wait to the side after the picture’s taken and everyone else leaves and i’ll give you the pass then, okay?
w:okay!
that was it my friends. i was in. i was beyond elated. i could’ve missed the concert, been fired and found out my dog was dead at that moment and i would’ve said, with full gusto ’so what? i’m going to the after party!’

we lined up for the picture. at this point i didn’t even care what was going on. kil walks in and says ‘i’m gonna get behind whitney here’ some other guys were like ‘oh, i see how it is kil’ and they all laugh. mike gets right next to me. we all talk about how the tall people are in the back and the short people in the front. i made some comment which sounded indignant about being short and mike says, ‘i’m short too, we’ll be short together.’ he puts his arm around me and i put my arm around him but i don’t lean in because i don’t want to be weird. he says ‘gee, you could pretend to like me just a little bit.’ i start laughing and turn to him, which is when the first picture was taken and why i look so stupid in the photo. i then lean my head into his fro and really close in and he says ‘that’s better. there we go’ the second picture is taken and i wish i could see it but it was not put up for me to download. we all say our goodbyes shake hands and talk once more with the guys. i’m waiting around for people to leave and brandon’s doing the same thing, so we’re kind of left there to the side just me and him, so he looks me in the eyes and says ‘thanks so much for coming out.’ he shakes my hand and then we’re both still there separate for a split second and he strokes my arm. the top of my left arm from the shoulder down to the elbow. i think he walked away then, i don’t really remember because i was so inundated with all the amazing things that were happening. and at how i just said/did the dumbest things ever to people i love.

everyone leaves and wishes them a good show. they fool around before going back into their table seats and while that’s happening greg hands me my golden ticket:the after party pass. ‘just stick this to your clothes after the concert and then show it to security. they’ll show you where you need to go,’ ‘thanks,’ ‘you’re welcome. have fun. i’ll see you after the show.’

i then made my way to the pit and proceeded to call anyone who remotely cares about incubus to tell them i just met and touched all of them and that i was going to be drinking with them afterwards. i even made a long distance phone call to my friend in seattle who was working and was going to hang up until i said ‘i’m going to the after party’.

the concert was good. not as much energy as usual, but perfection nonetheless. the crowd was the wildest i’ve ever been to. i didn’t even need to jump myself because we were so crammed, when the people next to me jumped, i was lifted with them. i moshed my way to the front of a nine inch nails pit and this incubus pit was much, much worse. i finally had to get out of there so i made my way further back and found a nice little spot with quite a bit of space. i have to admit, this was my first time actually wanting an incubus concert to end. i’m ashamed to admit it but i actually thought ‘i can hear these songs anytime, when are they going to finish?’ yes, that’s what the after party pass madness did to me. it was also because of the insane crowd too. who moshes to wish you were here? really people.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 27th, 2007 at 7:02 am and is filed under concert, crazy, dream, fun, happy, incubus, me, music, party. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.