First things first, Bob was on Andy's side in Tulsa, so he wasn't close to Cat/Serena/Jess. They were on Neal's side. I gladly told Bob he could get in front of me, but he declined, saying he would feel bad to take a closer spot. He said he would just rather stand beside me, so that's what he did. I even got a picture with him and he wasn't in the least bit upset by anything that was going on.

Regarding Cat/Serena/Shauna/ Jess. I have not ONCE had a bad experience with them. I have known Jess for a while now and she's awesome. Cat/Serena/Shauna I have just recently got the pleasure in meeting. I had heard so many bad things about them I just didn't know what to think. These ladies are very nice, and very DETERMINED! I admire their tenacity. They have been nothing but nice to me. I think that if we all meet them with a preconceived notion in our heads, it's easier to pick out the slightly negative in the situation, that maybe we would just overlook in day-to-day life.

Just my two cents.

This is crazy!!! You gotta love opinions. All I have to say is I love dave, and that is really all that matters to me.... actually, to any of us.... at this point. We love you Dave!!! NO matter what just happened here...

Lnet, you and penny are making me lmao with that last post.

All i can think of right now is "Missing keys, bloody nose, consequences of what I chose..." lol...

Everyone try to have a great day!

"You have to take into consideration ALL that is said about someone, if enough people are saying something, it's generally true."
I do not believe this way. I have had too many experiences in my life to know that you cannot judge anyone with out KNOWING that person. I sure as heck don't want to be judged that way. I've heard many people say, "David Cook is gay." Do I believe that? No, not in the least but it wouldn't change anything if he was. But I don't know that because I don't KNOW him. But, I guess if enough people say it, it has to be true. Get my point? However, I am glad to hear everyone's opinion on this. It's a good debate. Last post of the day folks....I promise.

Give me a break....the seriousness of this has nothing to do with murder. That is stretching it a bit far. In my opinion, it all comes down to jealousy in one way or another in my eyes. People see what they want to see and hear what they want to hear. This conversation is about seeing Dave in concert. Period. There are good and bad people everywhere. Hell, some lady jumped in front of me at grocery store the last time I went but I didn't go all postal on her. Maybe I'm just to laid back. Why can't we all just get along? Happy times, people....happy times.

My experience was thus: I had had NO contact or interaction with the Uber Fans prior to Tulsa, BUT, I had been guilty of passing judgement on them based solely on reports from 'OTHERS.' Since I live my life how I WANT TO LIVE it, I tolerate NO ONE passing judgement ON ME. My passing judgement on OTHERS with NO FIRST HAND KNOWLEDGE made me a hypocrite in the worst way and THAT'S what I couldn't stand. I approached the girls to clear my conscience FOR MYSELF and for no other reason. I had had no interaction with them prior to that.

I will continue to base my opinions of EVERYONE in this fandom on personal experiences alone, since it's the only way I can live with myself.

I'm sorry for those of you who seemed to have had negative experiences. Those experiences entitle you to your feelings of antipathy and I won't fault you for them.

I have much the same problem at work. I am friends with a couple of nurses and techs from the day shift that many people have "issues" with. However, in MY experience, they've been nothing but friendly and nice and i get along GREAT with them. I can't let what OTHER people feel and think be the sole basis for my opinions. I have to go with what I see and hear myself.

I don't consider it sticking my head in the sand or anything. I simply consider it the only way I can live with myself, inside my head.

Angie, what i think your trying to say is that you went to a concert, spoke with three of the "group", had a pleasant experience with them, and now you feel bad about talking crap behind their back.... OR.... listening and believing rumors etc etc.

All i ask from anyone who reads any of these posts is to remember that there have been what, 50 or so concerts that some of these ladies have attended most of, and not all people have encountered such pleasant behavior from them.

Yes, one of that group shoved my daughter. No one can deny the fact. I have multiple witnesses. You can ask the security at the venue who went immediately to my daughters side then screamed at them for shoving.

there are multiple witnesses to multiple events regarding that particular group. How can so many people be wrong??

Of course they are going to be nice to the people behind them, whey would they need to be mean to someone behind them?

There has been blame placed on them that is absolutely ridiculous... but you can weed out the bull from the real experiences...

Why does anyone have to pick sides in this matter?

what a CONCEPT!!!! lol

I'm fairly sensitive to the stalker crap as well. So much so that I DIDN'T take a picture of Neal walking Dublin after the concert in Gainesville cuz I felt it was just INTRUSIVE as hell. However, I did see several people kind of encroaching on the space around Neal, who had Dublin in the grassy area (I actually saw Neal kind of duck behind a parked truck. Don't know if it was to avoid the cameras pointed his way or to give Dubbers a bit of privacy so he could do his "business.") We were walking to our car at the time and it would have been EASY for me to grab a very close up pic of what was going on. The though of doing that made me feel ICKY! The folks surrounding Neal WERE NOT the girls getting the blame for so much. They were still inside the bar area of the venue.

I refuse to SPECULATE on anyone else's motives for what they do. It's not my place to question OTHER PEOPLE'S motives. I can ONLY speak for and police myself. As long as I can live with myself, then I feel pretty good about what I do. THAT'S why I had to get the whole "hypocrite" thing off my chest. I could no longer look myself in the eye in the mirror. My conscience constantly poked at me for behaviour I REFUSE to tolerate or acknowledge when it's directed at myself.

My opinion of the group as a whole is little different. I have spent time with them at various shows (i've been to 5). Had a blast with Serena and Cat in Knoxville.... Had a blast with Stacey and Corinne in Tulsa for the AI tour.... I don't hate anyone, i just didn't like what happened in Macomb.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with getting to a venue at 0600 and getting in line and expecting front row. If this group does that every day, more power to them. Why should they be punished for that? I spied with my own little eyes the whole group there bright and early as we all took turns holding each others spots in line at macomb. What happened at other concerts i have no first hand knowledge of. At Valpo the rest of their group was told by the line nazi to get to the back of the line, so there was no chance of them cutting in line. Hell, i would have given a spot to Stacey as she is/was a friend of mine.

Anywho - my bad experience was posted, and im sure you have all read it... or ignored it... or whatever. I called these girls my friends, and i can honestly say that really only one person was the culprit... the others just followed. Im not going to rehash that incident here, what is done is done, and with Serena saying "it never happened" i guess you'll just have to believe what you want to believe.

My contribution to this blog is this - You have MANY people on both sides of the fence. It's a battle of who can yell the loudest. Everyone is going to have different experiences and opinions about it all. BUT - you need to respect each others thoughts and opinions on both sides of the fence.

I had a bad experience, yes - but i dealt with it in my own way. I only posted about it because im sure you all read the rumors and stories being posted and twittered before my post. There were some really far fetched things being said. i posted to set the story straight. I said nothing on my site i didn't say directly to Serena, Corrine, Stacey and Shauna.

Respect each other is all i ask, and mayyyyyyyyyyyyybe there are two sides, and one side is not always right. Maybe there actually is a GRAY area where this group is concerned.

I also have noticed that no one has reported on the woman in Gainesville (who was probably in her 50's or 60's) who RUDELY refused to allow a couple of LITTLE GIRLS (maybe 8 or 9 years old) to move in front of her so they could see. These girls were kept to the OUTSIDE of the crowd and probably couldn't see a thing. This was witnessed by the 2 people I attended the concert with and after I heard the report. I remembered hearing a bit of the conversation going on behind and to the side of me. I wish I'd know about it, I would have seen if I could have moved them in front of me. Of course, THEN they would have been crushed by the woman who SHOVED her way in front of me to try and give David a beer. She pretty much SAT ON ME during one entire song, making it a pretty miserable experience for me (it was ALREADY hot as hell in there and having someone who towered over me practically SITTING on me made it even worse). She was eventually told in no uncertain terms to BACK THE F*CK OFF, since she was pretty much lolling all over the people in front of and behind her.

There is bad fan behaviour ALL THE TIME, which is incredibly sad. The above reports are ones I, or the people I was with, witnessed ourselves. THAT'S all I'm going to report on and what I will base all my opinions on from here on out. FIRSTHAND KNOWLEDGE ONLY for me.

Good Job, lnet. As you know, I was with you at radford. The girls were great to us- super nice, super informative. If not for them, we would not have met dave after the show. We all have the ability to choose when we get to the venue and how we want things to happen, be it your 1st show or your 100th. BIG KUDOS to their efforts with this tour. You have to get there early enough to be in line 1st. Been there, DID THAT... and it paid off. We are all adults here. It's your own fault if you did not make it to the front with these girls. And if you did not get the chance to meet these girls, you should be sorry. They are great. It all stems back to jealousy. In the famous words of Terry, keep on keepin' on, girls!

My first show was Radford, VA. Amazing show btw! I had never heard anything about these girls prior to the show. And I can honestly say, they were so helpful. And they were totally excited for me and my friends because it was our first show. We were there at 7am and we were the first ones in line. They showed up after us. They talked to us all day and told us all kinds of stories. I have to admit, when they first got there and we heard them talking, we were so jealous! To be able to do what they do! I do wish for the life they have but responsibilities and money won't allow that. However, as I said before, they guided us through the whole thing. We were given wrist bands to be with them in "the pit." It was the craziest/best day of my life. Seriously! I would have never dreamed it turned out like it did. It was the BEST day of my life...except for my wedding. And getting to meet the guys after the show....it was just CRAZY! Got my Dave hug thanks to them and I will forever be grateful! Rock on girls!

I think the biggest complaint is that they make it hard for anyone who has a job and a life to get close to the stage. Not everybody can follow the band around and stand in line from dawn until the show, but they pay the same money to see other people's heads and arms at every show. They stand in line at the buses the same amount of time, yet, by the time David gets around to them, he has no time left to deal with them because these people have taken up his time talking....when they've already talked to him and met him over and over and over. I don't think it's unreasonable to be upset about it.

Well said again and it appears witnessing first hand the actions of others is a better way to judge someone other than listening to rumors. it is so hard to know what is truth since there are so many rumors flying around out there on posts and on twitter. How sweet of them to save a seat for Neal's mom! So glad you were able to witness this and set the record straight. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Lesa

nothing to see here

Angie - thank you for pulling this blog together.

I too had opportunity to talk to and spend time with the individuals you mention above in Atlantic City - both nights and also got to speak with a couple of the individuals after the last concert in NJ and they are the sweetest individuals you ever want to meet.

I look forward to the opportunity of spending time with the individuals mentioned and also yourself (we have enjoyed times together over the past so many months) in the future.

I have always been taught as well - treat others the way you would like to be treated yourself.

Be well,
A