Only here can I say that I’m not a frequent concert-goer, because this was only concert 5 out of 6 planned for this tour. Hi, I’m Jasmine and I’m a David Cook Fan…

After a dry summer with no DC concerts I ended up with multiple seats at 2 shows on back to back weekends. I decided to ask my husband if he wanted to come to either York or AC, which would ease my guilt about flying out of town two weekends in a row. “Honey, would you rather go to a little state fair in York PA (someone told me they have great food), or would you rather go stay at a luxury hotel and casino in Atlantic City? Two seconds later I had my answer. It was after this that the Providence RI show was announced, and I had to buy tickets to that show because I could actually DRIVE there, in my OWN CAR. So now for the first time ever, I started to wonder if I was going to TOO MANY shows so close together that I would not appreciate them. I don’t know why, but I had bought the cancellation insurance on our flights to AC. I have never done that. I actually looked into whether or not I could cancel, and from what I read it sounded like I would have to be dead, or home lost in earthquake/fire/monsoon, or imprisoned before I could cancel. Since I didn’t plan on any of those options I accepted that I was going. And dammit I was going to have a good time!

One good thing about not going to “too many” concerts is that each one has stood out in some way as being unique. As the Declaration Tour is coming to a close, I have been reminiscing about the various performances I have been a part of, and how each was unique.

AMA pre-show – so close I could touch his boots; first time seeing the entire band! ; happy relaxed vibe, and total love from the 200 or so super fans; got to look into those eyes and speak to him, and made him crack up and laugh (nothing has ever topped that)

Niagra Falls - First full concert! Met my first DC fandom friend (Hi Cathryn!), who was awesome and got me 3rd row seats, which we vacated and ended up as close to the stage as they would let us; Hilarious beanie banter and ass-showing by Dave.

Northampton – This show was legendary for the setlist and the vibe. My first GA show, but I did not invest the time to get really close to the stage.

VA Beach – Great beach vacation with the family, with a huge DC concert to top it off. Good seats, good view, but not the most exciting of the first 3.

Of the final 3 concerts I had planned, each one was going to be a different type and size of venue, which I welcomed. You already know why the York Fair ended up special. I decided if I was going to do GA at Borgata then I was going to do whatever I needed to do to get up close. This would be my last chance. I am feeling like a newbie at this, and I don’t know all the cool kids who go to a lot of concerts and know how to play the game. That’s ok though, because I am among a fraternity of sorts, and we are all here in the name of DCaTA. JuneBelle says she is doing GA too, and wants to hang out with me. Now JuneBell is a self-described lurker, and truthfully, her name is only vaguely familiar. But hey, we are part of the Cook Fandome and I welcome someone to hang out with. She turns out to be a wonderful companion (and I learn that lurkers are not necessarily lurkers because they don’t have anything to say), and we managed to get our wristbands with the first group, and then lined up when the security guards allowed us to. (Now there was a whole hilarious process around this too, that I have a feeling the cool kids know how to manipulate, because even though we were RIGHT THERE, we ended up #54 and #56).

Now I have to say, this was probably the most cushy of GA waiting situations ever. No scorching heat or thunderstorms, no hunger or thirst. We were indoors, able to sit on the carpet, and had a luxury bathroom right there. We also had numbered wristbands so we could leave the line, go get something to eat, and still be back in time for going inside. I wanted to meet as many other DWoPers there, since I might not have another chance for a long time. Gueseppe was game, and she hung out with us for awhile. I only wish I had put more effort into scheming how she could have been wristband #55. See, the security guard must have gotten distracted and he marked me #54 and JuneBelle #56. We only needed her to go get a wristband and find a sharpie pen, and then she could be #55! But sadly, when she went downstairs they were not giving out any more wristbands and she was then banned from coming upstairs. I felt even worse after reading her recap! Next time, gueseppe. We also literally tracked down FoolsApril64 by walking the line calling out “Lisa?” Poor thing wasn’t sure she wanted to answer, but it was so nice to actually meet and thank her for all her work.

So they finally let us in, and there I was, second row between David and Neal, right behind John Salow and the other “cool kids”. I recognize a few faces but don’t know all the names. It is strange and exciting knowing I will get to see these guys perform literally right before my eyes! JuneBelle and I both just give eachother silly grins now and then and wait patiently. The crowd was really great. Not too pushy or loud or crowded, but very well -behaved and all excited about the show. The reserved seating folks start to fill in, and my husband and son call me and wave down to us. My son, the snarker in training gets on the phone and says “How is it down in the Cougar Den?” Ok, no more SNL for him.

Tonic was actually very good, and it was fun to watch them interact with eachother onstage. Other than the lead guitarist, who seemed be enjoying the attention of the audience (not only a great guitarist, he was very good looking, and I imagine the girls on his side let him know they noticed - yes, that was Kitunen’s side ), there was not much of a connection until the lead singer asked us to sing their one hit song, and he even got down on the floor to get close. It was a nice gesture, and I wish I had known all the lyrics!

DC and the Anthemics are on! From the very first few lines of Heroes, I am struck by the energy and power from David. I have seen him open with this several times, ok not so close, but something is different. Oh yeah – no guitar! And he is instead throwing his body into the song in other ways. I knew this was gonna be good! Next is Mr. S, IDIFY and WOHWWS – each of them just all out crazy. Now that I have experienced being right there under them when they come to the front of the stage on IDIFY, well I have no desire to see it from afar, that’s all.

The entire show for me (for you) was a perfect combination of sweaty passion ( a lot of this), sweet soft moments, overall band tightness and comraderie, and Dave’s spontaneous humor. The guy yelling “yea-ahh!” in pleasure when Dave said he wanted to say something else, and Dave responding to this was a perfect example of him tuning into each audience and making sure he connects with them. I love this about him! I have rarely seen any performer actually try to talk with an audience, but David does it almost every single show. David had done the audience sing-a-long for both verses of CBTM at York, so I was not surprised. The audience seemed to eat it up (even though I, after all this, still didn’t know all the words). He sings along and acknowledges the audience, which I am sure makes people feel a connection. The ending with the young girl coming on stage for ADAM was mostly out of my view, but still sweet to watch. I actually met her at a restaurant after the show, and I think both her and her Mom were just overwhelmed. We also met up with SybilT and LM – so great to actually meet someone you have been reading/talking to for months. And JuneBelle is an original TWoPer so she really has some history with both Sybil and gueseppe. It was funny to hear some of the old TWOP stories. Meeting all of these people was really one of the highlights of the weekend, second only to David in my face for an hour.

I have to comment on some of my observations being up front for the first time. The front row is full of people who have been to 20-30 shows or more I figure. You can tell, because there is a nonchalance of ho hum, another concert. There is some chatting but not visible excitement. I was very interested in this, as I was in a totally different sphere of reality. Also, I had been wondering if I would ever get bored at a DC concert, and at what point could that happen. I wondered where these folks were in this spectrum, and what drove them to go to so many concerts. During the show, there was a relaxed enjoyment vibe from most of the front row, which was a contrast to the jumping screaming vibe from second row and beyond. Interesting to see, but not surprising. I imagine I will always be one of those jumping screaming idiots as I go to my 25th DC concert on their 5th tour.