THE SHORT VERSION:

Plane ticket from Tucson to Tulsa: $523

Two Nights at the Crowne Plaza Hotel: $211

A nice new outfit: $285

Kneeling on the floor directly in front of a stage watching a live performance by someone you adore: Priceless

There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else there’s Mastercard.

THE LONG VERSION:

I love Andy Skib. Just had to get that out.

Before I launch into my tale from Tulsa, I feel the need to mention the fact that I approach fandom a bit differently from most people I know. When I become a fan of someone, it’s not just fandom to me. It’s more like a friendship in which my “friend” doesn’t know I exist. I’m fiercely loyal to him as I would be to a friend. Once I’m your fan, I’m always your fan...even if you put out a sub-par album or do some boneheaded thing that lands you in the Enquirer. In the words of David Cook: I’m permanent.

I’m also one to subordinate my own needs and desires to those of my friends. And because I see my fandom as a friendship, I subordinate my needs and desires to the person I’m a fan of. I want him to be happy, even if that results in my being sad. I want him to be successful, even if that means I never get a chance to see him or talk to him because I can’t afford the tickets or because the crowds are too big. I’ll take a bullet for him if I have to. His life is more important than mine.

Because I take fandom so seriously, I don’t become a fan of a lot of people. You know how they say that if you can count the number of friends you have on one hand, you’re lucky? Well for me, I want to count the number of people I’m a fan of on one hand. I’ve always said that if I become a fan of too many people, I won’t be able to be the type of fan I want to be to each one of them. So I limit myself.

You may think it’s hard for me to decide who I’m going to be a fan of and who I’m not. But really, it’s not. This may sound silly...but I just know when I’m supposed to be someone’s fan. I get this feeling in my gut that *this* is a person I need to be a fan of. And I never know when it’s going to happen. It happened when I was watching a commercial. It happened when I saw someone in one scene in one movie. And it happened simply by looking at a picture.

There are a lot of musicians putting out great music right now. But I’m only a fan of four of them: U2, A Sheep at the Wheel (whose lead singer I was already friends with before I became a fan of the band...so that situation is a bit different), David Cook, and Andy Skib.

Now let’s get this show on the road...

Quick background information for anyone reading this who may have never read my previous blogs:

(1) I was very nervous about the show. And “nervous” might actually be an understatement. I had been waking up feeling sick every day since December 18th...and sometimes my leg would shake or I’d show other signs of nervousness. I was nervous because I wanted a good spot in front of the stage...but also because I had a gut feeling that there was a very good chance that for the first time, I’d be able to meet a person I’d become a fan of. I was worried that it wouldn’t go well...that my friendship in which the artist didn’t know I existed would become a friendship in which the artist knew I existed, but had a negative opinion of me. And the possibility of that happening petrified me.

I had been assured by several people that I had nothing to worry about. My friend Nleigh in particular advised me that any nervousness I had would go away once I had a chance to talk to him. But I didn’t listen to her, because I’m a pessimist. It’s just who I am.

(2) For the last year and a half, I’ve worn the Stephen Colbert WristStrong Bracelet on my left wrist. I’m a huge Colbert fan, and I bought the bracelet right when they went on sale. For those who don’t know about it, it was created after Stephen broke his wrist while goofing off on his own set (true story). It’s meant to raise awareness of wrist injury...but in reality, it’s meant to make fun of the plethora of rubber bracelets that are currently out there. The idea behind it is that you buy one, wear it, and then give it to someone more famous than you. I decided when I first made plans to go to the show that I was going to try to give my bracelet to Andy. And ever since I made that decision, every time I put on or took off the bracelet, I thought to myself: I may not own this much longer.

(3) I love Andy Skib. Oh wait....I said that already. Moving on...

As much as I’d love to tell y’all about my nearly getting sick on my flight from Tucson to Dallas, and my food crisis at 11:30 PM on Friday night, that would already make this blog way longer than it already will be. So unfortunately, I must cut out those wonderful stories. So I’m going to jump straight to Saturday, the day of the show.

My friend Zilla (who I met at DCO and Yes.com) picked me up from my hotel at around 10:45 AM so we could go shopping for a new outfit for me. Now I know that sounds silly, but all I brought with me was a rugby shirt and some baggy pants...and frankly, I felt a bit boyish. And I worried that Andy wouldn’t give me the time of day if I didn’t look attractive. Looking back, it was stupid of me to think that way. And I’m never doing it again.

After a few hours of searching we had come up empty. I was starting to worry that I wouldn’t find anything. We had lunch at a place called The Wild Fork. I was lucky in that I was able to eat a small caesar salad and some french fries. I was expecting to be too nervous to eat lunch. But my shopping was helping me to keep my mind off of what was to come.

After lunch we finally found a shirt I could wear. Then we went to have our hair and make-up done. Now I know what y’all are thinking: Ok...that’s way over the top. And maybe it was. But it all goes back to wanting to feel attractive. And Zilla was paying for it...so why not, right? Although I never wear makeup, so that was a bit weird for me. I’ll admit, though, that it did look really nice.

After our appointment we went over to a mall and found a leather jacket and jeans for me to wear. Success! Yay! So with the exception of my shoes, everything I wore that night was brand new. The total bill was $285.

Zilla dropped me back off at my hotel at around 5 PM so I could change my clothes. She said she had talked to the owner of The Flytrap, and he said we didn’t need to get there until about 7:15. So Zilla said she’d pick me up at 7:15.

I got back to my hotel and quickly changed into my new clothes, because I had nothing else to do. I tried to go online, but no one I wanted to talk to was around. Now that shopping was over, I had nothing to stop me from thinking about the show and subsequently freaking out. So of course, I started thinking about the show...and subsequently freaked out.

I started pacing back and forth in my room with my cell phone clutched in my hand. I repeated a mantra given to me by nleigh. I told myself to control my nerves and not let my nerves control me. I sat down on my chair and prayed a silly prayer. I didn’t ask for much...just for me to be happy when I left the Flytrap. Nothing else.

Finally, I got tired of pacing in my room and went downstairs to wait for Zilla. I saw someone in the lobby I thought I recognized as Jeannine (zoo) from DCO, but I couldn’t bring myself to walk up to her and ask her who she was. I figured that if I saw her at the Flytrap, I’d know for sure. So I waited.

Zilla showed up and took some pictures of me in the lobby. Here’s one:

We drove over to the Flytrap, which was only a few blocks away. I went to pick up my ticket, and my hand was shaking when I signed the credit card slip, resulting in a very sloppy signature.

Once we entered the hall itself, the first thing I did was figure out where the stage was. I saw that a group of people had already moved tables to the front of the stage and were sitting there talking. My heart sank. I thought: Well there goes my chance at being at the front of the stage. Didn’t get here early enough.

Zilla asked me if I saw the woman I saw in the lobby. And there she was, sitting at a nearby table. So I walked over to her and asked her if she was Jeannine. And she was! We talked for a little bit, and then I noticed three girls sit down in front of the table, right at the foot of the stage (well...the foot of the speakers in front of the stage). I immediately left Zilla and Jeannine (sorry y’all) and made a beeline for the front middle. I turned to the gals at the table (who happened to be from DCO, although I didn’t know it at the time) and said: Is it OK if I sit here? They said it was fine as long as I never stood up and blocked their view. I said I wouldn’t...and sat down. At the foot of the stage. In the middle. I literally had to look up to see the microphone. I was *that* close.

Zilla took a picture of me in my excited state after securing my spot. Here it is:

I stayed in that spot for the next five hours...getting up only to stretch my legs. No way was anyone taking my spot. I came all the way from Arizona, gosh darn it!! I talked to the other girls sitting there, who had been MWK fans for quite some time. They were surprised that I had flown in from Arizona just to see Andy.

The first opening act was a guy named Justin Cowell, who had known Andy since the 8th grade. He said they were in a band together called “Halo” and then “4:23 AM.” A band in the 8th grade. Mind-boggling. But the fact that he was Andy’s friend made me want to listen to him. It’s the “any friend of yours is a friend of mine” mindset that you have toward your friends.

After his set was over, Zilla came over to me and handed me a copy of one of his CD’s. She told me to ask Justin to sign it. It would be a “practice run” for when I would ask Andy to sign a copy of his EP. I hesitated to call him over to me, because he was in the middle of putting up all his gear and I didn’t want to interrupt him. Zilla was impatient, however, and yelled out “Justin!”. He turned, and I held up the CD and asked him to sign it. He asked me to give him a minute, and then when he was done, he came over and signed it. That started a trend...and suddenly there was a line of people at the stage wanting him to sign the CD. Sorry, Justin. My fault.

It really wasn’t hard for me to talk to Justin, though...because I’m not his fan. I don’t view him like I view Andy. So it was a different situation. No amount of practice was going to be enough, really.

There was a very long break between Justin and the next act. It became apparent that it was going to be quite late by the time Andy finally took the stage. I was really starting to hurt from sitting on the hard floor for so long. I kept changing positions. Sometimes I’d sit cross-legged, sometimes I’d sit with my knees propped up, other times I just stretched out my legs. Anything to keep from hurting so bad.

Finally, the next act took the stage. His name was Nick Gibson, and he was also a friend of Andy’s. And a friend of Neal’s, too. He had nothing but good things to say about Neal, which isn’t surprising, because Neal seems like a great guy. His set was very long, but was also very good. He did a cover of David Cook’s “Lie” which gave us quite a surprise! I knew from the opening chords that it was a song I knew...but it wasn’t until he actually started singing that I realized what song it was. And I sang along, because I couldn’t help myself. It’s one of my favorite David Cook songs. Nick also did a cover of “Hallelujah,” which was really, really good. Better than Jason Castro’s, in my not so humble opinion.

At one point during Nick’s set, Zilla sent me a text message telling me that Andy was at the bar. She thought perhaps I’d jump up and run over to the bar...but obviously she didn’t realize how determined I was not to lose my spot in front of the stage. I was NOT moving. Ever.

After what seemed like an eternity, Nick left the stage. I figured it would be another long wait before Andy came on, so I stood up to stretch my legs. By the end of Nick’s set I had been changing positions every couple of minutes. I decided that I would kneel during Andy’s set, because (1) it would be a different position, and (2) I could see better over the monitor sitting in the middle of the stage. Here’s a picture of the position I was in for the entirety of Andy’s set:

So anyway...as I was standing there stretching, zilla came over and started talking to me. She asked me if I wanted to meet Andy’s dad, and I said yes...but not if it meant I had to walk somewhere. It was only then that she realized just how determined I was not to move.

Then she told me that when I got the chance to meet Andy, I should tell him “I’m coolshades, you’ve heard of me” and hand him the EP to sign. I’m not a fan of scripted discussions, but I understood that she was just trying to help me get an idea of what to say when the time came.

As we were talking about what I was going to say, we both sort of glanced up at the stage. Zilla said: “Oh...and there you go.”

And there he was on the stage. His back was turned to me, thank God. Otherwise he may have seen me when I momentarily froze. I wish I could remember exactly what went through my head...but I think it was something to the effect of: This can NOT be happening.

I dropped to my knees and sort of ducked down behind the monitor as if I were hiding. Zilla said: What are you doing??. I don’t remember my reaction to that. I just remember her laughing and walking back to her table.

I situated myself right at the middle of the stage, in the spot I’d been inhabiting for the past four hours. Luckily for me and my sanity, not much time passed before he started his set. It wasn’t long before my knees were hurting like hell, but I didn’t care.

Here’s a pic showing just how close I was during the set itself:

I can’t remember the exact order of the setlist, but I do remember all the songs: Reasons, Story of Your Life, Dream of My Own, Taking the Blame, LA Girl, Stuck Under Wheels, Don’t Give Up On Us, Anodyne, Till I’m Blue, I’m Yours, Say, I Bet You're Beautiful, The Waiting...and I think that’s it. And of course, he sounded amazing on every single one of them.

Due to my location, I was able to see Andy’s setlist sitting on the stage in front of him. I made it a point not to try to read it, though, because that would have spoiled the fun. Although there were a few times I glanced at it just to see if I could figure out where he was in the set. In doing that, I noticed he was performing the songs out of order. Zilla says it’s because my presence at the foot of the stage caused him to get flustered...which is obviously silly and a complete and utter fabrication. Ha!

There were times during the set that people yelled out songs they wanted Andy to sing. “Fairweather Friend” was a popular request. I was tempted to yell for “Killing More Than Time,” just to be silly. I don’t think that song could be performed without a full band. Although you never know, I suppose. I also almost asked for “Till I’m Blue,” which would have been funny considering he eventually did in fact perform it.

I wasn’t planning on singing along with any of the songs, but at one point during the set, Andy said he knew that some of us knew the songs, and that he wanted us to sing along. Well heck, I’m not gonna say no to Andy’s request. So I sang along when I knew the words. I confess I didn’t know the words to the covers, but I’m not a fan of the original artists, so I guess that’s not such a bad thing.

For some reason, Andy was concerned that he wouldn’t do very well on LA Girl. I got the feeling that perhaps he hadn’t performed it live in quite some time. But I know lots of people had been asking him to sing it, and he said Justin wanted him to sing it, too. So he asked us to help him get through it by singing along...which we did. But of course, he did a perfectly fine job on his own, and didn’t need our help at all.

Towards the end of the set, my curiosity got the best of me, and I attempted to read the remaining songs on the setlist. I saw “Wheels” and thought to myself: Holy cow! Is that Stuck Under Wheels?? I love that song! Then the next one said “TIB.”

I sat there trying to think of what TIB could stand for, and then it hit me: Till I’m Blue. One of my favorite MWK songs...perhaps my second favorite, actually, after Killing More Than Time. Needless to say, I was extremely excited at the possibility of hearing that song live.

Andy invited Nick to come up and play the MWK songs with him, and then they launched into Anodyne instead of Stuck Under Wheels...and I thought that maybe he had replaced Stuck Under Wheels with Anodyne. After that is when they started Till I’m Blue, which was incredible. I think I may love it even more now than I did before.

After Till I’m Blue, he said they only had one song left. And *then* it was Stuck Under Wheels. I don’t know if it was because it was the last song, but I sang louder on the chorus of Stuck Under Wheels than I did on any other song. Really belted it out, for some reason.

Zilla has joked that during the set, Andy looked in three directions: down at his guitar, out into the audience, and down at me. Again, she’s clearly imagining things. But I will admit that there were a few times I think I may have gotten eye contact. I’m the type of person that often looks at someone’s eyes when I’m looking at them or talking to them. I just like making eye contact with people. So maybe the fact that I was looking for eye contact is what caused me to get it. Who knows.

I had two interesting realizations during the set that I have to share. One came at the beginning, when he first started singing. That was when I realized that nleigh was right when she said that my nervousness would melt away when I met him. Heck, I didn’t even have to meet him. It melted away the second he opened his mouth. There are certain people that just radiate warmth and kindness. Andy is one of them.

My second realization came a few songs into the set. I don’t even remember which song it was. But I realized that David Cook had become my second-favorite member of the David Cook band. And I thought to myself: How will I ever tell David that he’s been bumped to #2? Remember that David is on my short list of people I’m a fan of. So for me, it’s like telling a friend that I like another friend more than I like him...even though I have the same loyalty to both friends. Not cool, really. But I’m the type of person who tells it like it is, so I’m not going to hide the way I think or feel. And that’s the way I feel.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and Andy’s set was no exception. When it ended, I immediately stood up because my knees hurt so badly. In fact, my left knee *still* hurts a bit if I touch it. But you know what? It wouldn’t bother me if it hurt for the rest of my life. In fact, someone standing nearby said: It was worth it, right? And I answered: Oh yeah. I could have done done it for another hour.

Actually, I could have have done it all night.

Zilla came running over to me with two copies of Andy’s EP in her hand, and she had to grab on to me to steady me as I was getting up because my knees were wobbly. I had to sit down on the speaker for a bit so I could get feeling back in my legs. Once I felt I could actually walk, she stuffed the EPs in my hand and motioned to an area to the left of the stage, where Andy was already talking to fans. I walked over and stood off to the side waiting my turn. Here’s a pic:

Jeannine talked to him for awhile, and then another woman asked me to take a picture of her with Andy. So I did. And then suddenly it was my turn.

Before I could get a word out, in swooped Zilla. She says: This is coolshades! You’ve heard of her! His eyes got wide, and at that exact second I thought to myself: He already knows who I am.

And at this point I have to interject and thank both Zilla and nleigh for telling Andy “hi” for me at his last show at the Flytrap and at the Columbus Jingle Ball. That’s the reason he had already heard of me.

So yeah, his eyes got wide and he said: It’s YOU! And reached out his hand for a shake. Of course, I obliged. I think Zilla said something else about how they had told him about me at the other shows. Then I gave him the two EPs to sign, and he asked me who to make it out too. Without thinking, I said “coolshades” rather than my real name. That was probably the best choice, though, because that’s who he knows me as. He wrote “To coolshades” and then signed it. Then he signed the other one for zilla.

After he signed the EPs, Zilla told me she wanted a picture. Now in all honesty, pictures were the last thing on my mind. I didn’t need photographic evidence to prove I had met him, you know? And I also take horrible posed pictures. But I obliged, because I knew zilla wanted a picture.

At this point, I had already taken off my WristStrong bracelet and was holding it in my hand. I thought to myself: Do it. Now.

So I turned to him, held it up, and said: “This is for you.” I explained that it was the same bracelet Colbert gave to David after Good Morning America, and that I was supposed to give it to someone more famous than me. So I was giving it to him. He laughed. I told him to wear it with pride, because I had worn it every day for the last year and a half. He took it and put it on his wrist...and he was still wearing it when I left.

After I gave him the bracelet, Zilla said that the first picture didn’t take, and she needed another one. But this time someone else took the pic with her camera. Turns out it was someone that Zilla thought was a better photographer. Ha!

After we took the picture, I waved to Andy and he waved back. I walked over to the speaker where I had sat down before, and sat there trying to make some sense of what had just happened. Zilla showed me the picture she took of us, and of course, the first thing that came to my head was: I REALLY take bad posed pictures. No seriously....I do. And that’s why you guys aren’t seeing a picture at this point in the story.

I figured that we’d leave now that I had talked to Andy...but Jeannine mentioned that she had something else she wanted to say to him. I said: Wait...do you think he’s going to be around long enough for you to talk to him again? She said that yeah, he’d stick around for a long time. So I turned to Zilla and said, I’m staying right here!!!

At this point I started trying to think of questions I wanted to ask, should I get the chance to talk to him again. I narrowed it to two that I really wanted to know the answer to, one of which I actually blogged about awhile back. I talked to Jeannine for awhile while we waited for the crowd around Andy to thin out. Finally, it got down to a small enough group of people that we were able to walk back over to him. Jeannine had me take a picture of her with Andy:

And then it was my turn. Again.

So I went up to him and said: “Me again. I have a couple really weird questions for you.” And being the sweetheart that he is, he let me ask them. I mean, he could have said no, right? But he didn’t.

My first question was: “What is the origin of your last name?” A group of us at Yes.com had been discussing it the other day, and google searches were giving us multiple origins, none of which turned out to be the right one. He said it was Polish...originally a longer name that was chopped when the family came to the United States. You all know about that, right? Lots of European families came here through Ellis Island, and if the folks at Immigration couldn’t pronounce their last names, they just changed them to something more “American’ and easier to pronounce. That would probably be a civil rights violation were it to happen today. Ha!

So anyway, next I asked my Hunger Strike question. It went something like this: When you played Hunger Strike in Columbus, David introduced you, and you smiled...and David smiled. And I’m just wondering: What was going through your head? Picture:

Zilla yelled out: I’ll bet you’ve slept since then!! But then other folks standing near us started talking about how much they liked Hunger Strike, and I mentioned how much *I* enjoyed it and what was going through *my* head when I saw it. This gave Andy time to formulate an answer. I mentioned that when I first watched it, I wasn’t able to watch it again for two hours because of how amazing I thought it was. Andy got a great look on his face when I said that.

So eventually the question was answered...and it went something like this (my apologies for not remembering his exact words): He felt that David’s smile was asking him: So what do you think of this? As if he were saying “Now you know what it feels like to sing solo in front of a huge crowd of people.” David had done it a lot since winning Idol, but Andy hadn’t.

Now whenever I watch that video...I’ll know what David and Andy were thinking.

I also took the opportunity to mention how much I loved Man in the Box...and he said Thanks. I said that I had listened to it on loop for three days straight. He says: Three days?? And the look on his face was PRICELESS. I wish I had a picture. He gets some of the most awesome looks on his face. Seriously.

So after I asked my questions, someone else asked another question...and we all stood there in a circle for about 10 or 15 minutes just talking away. I think it was about five of us plus Andy. Small group. It was surreal, really. I mean, it’s one thing to meet someone you admire and say “hi” and get an autograph. It’s another thing entirely to actually have a conversation with him.

Topics of discussion included how long Andy has played piano, the infamous red pants, his hair, and the trip to Iraq. I’ll take each one in turn.

Andy said that piano was his first instrument, and that he played for five years before he switched to guitar. However, it was easy for him to go back to it when the time came. He also said that his first time playing piano live was a performance with David pre-idol. Jeannine asked him if he writes music at the piano, and he said no, but that he’d like to.

As for the red pants, someone asked him where they were, and he said they were in a drawer somewhere. He made a funny analogy between the red pants and a dress that a girl wears. She wears it once and then never wears it again. However, he did say that he’s not as crazy about it as the girl would be with the dress...and that lead me to believe that *maybe* he’d bust them out again at some point down the road.

Jeannine asked him how much longer he was going to grow his hair out. He said that like all things in his life right now, he doesn’t know. I liked that answer.

Someone asked if they were going to have security/protection while in Iraq, and he says: I hope so!! So do we, Andy. So do we. I think I might start praying now.
Eventually Andy said he had to go do some stuff (we were seriously monopolizing his time. But since he’s so nice, he let us do it), and our group “disbanded,” so to speak. As I was leaving, I waved again, and he waved back. And I saw the bracelet on his wrist as he walked away.

Zilla and I left, and I had so much energy that I sort of half ran, half walked to the car. If there had been snow on the ground, I may have dropped and started doing snow angels. I was so over the moon. I think Zilla got a kick out of it.

We went over to the Blank Slate/Cappellas/Exit 6C so I could see where David once worked. They had already closed, but we got in when someone else walked out. Ha! I talked to a few people who had known David since before Idol, which was cool. We weren’t there too long, though. By this time it was about 1:30 or so, which is much later than I usually stay up.

Zilla drove me back to my hotel and we agreed on a time she’d pick me up in the morning to take me to the airport. I went to my room, walked over to the desk in the corner, and just stood there with my elbows on the top of the desk chair. I was trying to let it all soak in, but I realized that it was going to take a lot more than a few minutes for that to happen.

I decided to go ahead and get into my pajamas...even though I was wide awake. I had to go to bed eventually, after all. Whenever I get into my pajamas, the first thing I do is take off the jewelry and rubber bracelets. I took off the white ONE bracelet and the purple “David Cook Rocks” bracelet that I always wear on my right wrist.

Then, by rote, I moved to my left wrist to take off my WristStrong bracelet. I looked down at my wrist, and froze, momentarily in shock. And then the shock turned to laughter, and I started jumping for joy.

The bracelet was gone.