What the hell am I doing in Tennessee, USA?!
This is what me and my roadtrip girls were asking each other the whole weekend, especially myself who had flown from Leeds in England to see my music hero David Cook. I have been following him via the internet for about a year now and took the plunge and decided to do something spontaneous and you know what : It was the best thing I've ever done!
I set off from Leeds at 1.30 in the morning to make my way to Heathrow airport in London, my flight for Toronto left at 12.35 so i had chance to get Kim and Jamie (my ticket angels) some gifts. When on the flight I was excited that in the audio section of the inflight entertainment I could listen to Dave's album. We were delayed and so I had a mad rush to my Nashville flight (the plane was literally waiting for me!) but i made it and as we were high in the clouds I put on Heroes knowing that I was on my way to living my dream of going to America
Arriving in Nashville : http://www.dailymotion.com/video/edit/x8zm0k_mvi0091
Arrived at my hotel in Nashville and completely crashed, went to bed at 8pm.

Knoxville 10/4/09 preshow

So I got the shuttle bus from my Nashville hotel to the airport to meet my roadtrip girls (there's no way this trip would of happened without them) sat in starbucks and heard someone singing Light On, spun around and there was my first Word Nerd California Jamie who had been there all night, at that point it was finally starting to register that everything was working out! Texan Jamie (birthday girl) arrived moments later with a big hug at the airport as we set off to get our Cook Wagon and Daina. At the first rest stop (crackerhouse ladies!hehe) we had no choice but to pimp the cook wagon
http://yfrog.com/3ximg0098uj
http://yfrog.com/3ximg0101kj
http://yfrog.com/3ximg0103oj
so we travelled the 3 hours to Knoxville via Cooksville and picked up Kim who had had a nightmare with luggage but tried to keep our spirits up (when there's no point in grieving) by welcoming her into the Cook wagon blaring Barbasol and getting some very funny looks from passers by.
When we got to the venue there was actually not too many people there and instantly started to recognise people. What was really weird was that people recognised me and came straight up and started hugging me. I was in a country that I had never been to before and about 40 people knew my name!
Me and some of the crew : http://yfrog.com/3xdweebtennesseeroadtrip0j
Eve (the lady at the back with the shorter hair) was such a sweetheart and let us all use her room to get ready in although by this point it had already started raining.
When were just about finished getting ready Jamie got a call that everyone was getting put in the basement so we ran back (via Andy and Jennye in the lobby) to the venue and just about made it back to our group but were split up as there was no enough room in the basement so we put under a pillar (that's the best way to describe it) I was not too worried at this point because in England, rain is a daily thing but alot of people were getting worried about Tornado. You can see the lightning in this video : http://www.dailymotion.com/video/edit/x8zmej_mvi0107
This is one of the points where we were wondering what the hell we were doing here. I was standing under a pillar in Knoxville Tennessee in thunder and lightning for a David Cook concert, surreal is all I can say!. All we could really do was laugh about it and Daina was hilarious telling us all the ways she going to insult Dave from the stage because he had made her stand out in the rain.
http://yfrog.com/3ximg0108xgwj
After a subway lady came and told us there was Tornado warnings we were moved to the grotto a little bar to the left of the square room where I had a Jack Daniels and got to hang out with Lisa and Cassie. This is where I made my makeshift poster with a Union Jack saying 'Come Back to Me in England' . When we were eventually taken to the venue it was strange because I had seen so many pictures but it looked completely different. We rejoined our group and I realised I was about 4 rows in and couldn't get it in my head that David Cook was gonna be playing there in about 2 hours.
Just before the concert I had chance to meet alot more people, Tiffany , (who had saved me a David Cook autograph from valentine's day) Karen, Kristen and Robin also stood out as complete sweethearts. Infact, throughout the whole concert everyone around me in Knoxville were amazing. Nobody pushed me or got in my way, they were incredible.
I had checked out Ryan in preparation for the concert for it didn't prepare me for how amazing he was, his band didn't have time to set up so he sang acoustic and it was incredible. His voice and energy are enchanting. but more about him later. Video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrdwxPN8IwU

Then it was time for Mr Cook...
Knoxville show
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLEh2CqG_bQ
This video for me captures everything I was feeling when he came on stage, you can see that he is so happy and in very high spirits and that feeling was projected right back to the audience.
I especially love the part where he says 'we are gonna have fun tonight' We had been standing in rain, up since 6 and had no food since breakfast but for the next hour or so we just didn't care.
I didn't take any pictures because I knew there would be alot out there and I wanted to concentrate on my videos and just being there. My vids of Knox are here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uExJIvfS9lQ and notice how much he stares at my camera esp during Life on the Moon. He definitely looks at each and everyone in the audience and takes some skill.
he noticed my UK sign and gave me a huge smile, you can see it here around 0.30 :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsNXaLucpFQ
Best banter from the night : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw-5ryA59AA
I apologize to the band because I couldn't keep my eyes off Dave throughout the whole show.
So after the show we did wait out but the guys had to leave so we all went to Eve's room for snacks and a good ole girly chat before our 6 hours ride to Memphis. On the way to eve's hotel room we saw Ryan outside the square room he was so lovely to speak to, I explained that I had come from the UK so see Dave and he wanted me to spread the word so I told him I would set up a street team, great guy : http://yfrog.com/0oimg0127utqj.
Memphis 11/04 preshow
On the way we stopped at a waffle house on my request which was lovely but at 3am in the morning you tend to lose your appetite slightly. It was also another moment where we all thought 'what the hell are we doing at a waffle house at 3 in the morning!' We stopped for Kim's luggage and continued to Memphis where we found our hotel, after showering and some slight breakfast we headed to the line which was in blistering heat, so different to the rain of the day before, and the 10 hours of waiting began...
After seeing Dave on his 2 min run to Wendys then let us inside.
It didn't go by too slowly maybe because we had signs to make but at times I did have my down moments, when people asked about my trip I was telling them it was fun but had been difficult, I was so tired and had not eaten much and didn't really know what was going on. I was in a foreign country which I had never been to and I was in a queue, I wanted to explore but was just too exhausted and this point was pretty negative about meeting David because we knew he had some friends at the show so would probably hang out with them after the show which was understandable. The sign making really perked me up however, the award for best one probably going to Kim and Daina : http://yfrog.com/0bimg0136pzkj Just after this Ryan went by us to go the Cookout and Daina pulled her sign up, he looked over and gave her the biggest hug and looked very impressed. Mrs Ryan Star as I now call her was happy all day. They really did look like the best of friends. Whilst in the Cookout I took a funny video of Ryan and Alexis which looks like some kind of paparazzi video you see on TMZ and I proceeded to show it to everyone with a funny commentary about their made up affair : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNSU6qpbBNk
It was difficult getting into the venue and was not a great experience but when I saw how close I was (third row in) I never dreamed I would ever be this close when I planned this trip.
Memphis show
I was genuinely happy to see Ryan again and sang like a crazy fool to Last Train Home.
Video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0UQqSJp4-k
I was excited about Dave coming on but at the same thinking it was my last show until he comes to the UK so I made a mental note to enjoy this experience and remember it for the rest of my life...and I did.

Dave was looking hot in plaid and it was amazing to hear The World I Know. The lighting in the venue was amazing and at times it felt like we were in a really small room. You could tell he was really enjoying this show and the feel of the place and he even noticed my sign around 1.30 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNUEcBj00io it said '10 hour flight from England, call it a souvenir, however I think he thought me and Jamie's signs were together. Jamie had offered to buy David a drink in Knoxville via the crowd to which he said 'it's your birthday and you want to buy me a drink' So Jamie made a sign for Memphis saying 'how about that drink' she then went on to buy him and the band one, moment of epicness, you can see her handing Dave the drink in my video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odKc6KiuiRE and Hot for Teacher : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw1pUKfYfEg He was in action that night defiantly playing up to the audience and he clearly loved that we shouted 'we want more' for an encore The concert was coming to a close and a whipped out my English flag for Light On , you can see it clearly here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he7ero8xdrQ
After the show we ran to the buses but to be honest I was not expecting anything. I was so tired and exhausted so I was waiting for them to say he's not coming out so I could just go to sleep, we waited about half hour then the security said he would be coming out but we had to be organised. There was alot of people there so I didn't really expect a picture so I got my present for him ready and put my album covers in there ready to sign.
My present for him was a dvd of tribute videos that I had made for him, I've made loads but included my favourites :
Heroes : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUwKMYF9EHM
Come Back to Me : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6ezUTV6ZlM
Mr Sensitive : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piTNix9hDu4
A Daily Anthem : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHjQ7aygycQ
Life on the Moon : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAGAUrWOyDA
I also threw in my English flag so he knew where it had come from.

Meeting Dave

Just before he got to me Cali Jamie shouted out 'Dave, this girls come from England to see you' and he looked right at me and pointed out the next few people he was going to come to, one of them being me. When it was my turn I gave him the bag with the dvd in and the flag was visible. He said Thank you very much for the gift and I told him the flag was to bring back with him when he comes to England. He was very flattered and was like 'awww man, thank you so much' He said he has been begging 19 management to send him to England and I mentioned he needs to come to Manchester and he said he wanted to play in Hull (I live an hour away!) because he has a friend there called Phil and I said 'oh Phil Marshall' he seemed pleased and said 'yeah' I said 'well, i've come all this way so you need to come to England' He smiled and thanked me again, I asked for a picture and he said sure so I got to put my arms around that beautiful man for a couple of seconds. I was surprising cool and even when I was talking to him I wasn't shaking which I thought I would be, he seems to have a way about him that makes people cool. It took me a while to find Jamie in the crowd who was taking the picture and explained to David that they all knew me as the English girl. When Jamie passed the camera back to me it somehow got dropped and Dave was a real sweetheart, making sure it was okay before he moved on to the next person. I left to show other Jamie then realised I had left my album covers in the gift bag. I shouted back to Dave (like we were old friends, lol) and told him and he passed it back and said 'you take what you need and give it back' and I did and he thanked me again for the present. I went to the hotel with a huge smile on my face.
Me and Dave : http://yfrog.com/0eimg0155ubrj
I said goodbye to my roadtrip girls which was very sad but I happy to be able to sleep. Here we all are : http://yfrog.com/0bimg0156mj
They all had to head back but I had decided to stay in Memphis to do a bit of sightseeing and it was probably the best decision I made.....

Story of awesomeness
I could of stayed in that hotel room all day I was so tired but knew I had to check out at 11 so went downstairs to give my key in. Happened to bump into some fellow word nerds (Sandy, Mandy and Heidi) I had bumped into the day before and kinda invited myself to spend the day with them which they wonderfully agreed. We were gonna go to sun studios but were running late so went to the Gibson Guitar factory instead and made fools out of ourselves in the foyer with the protective glasses we had to wear : http://yfrog.com/6gn1475678695298221541028j
Went on the tour and were surprised by all the cool words we learnt f holes, knob holes and analog, very informative, hehe! We were eyeing up Dave and Neal's guitars and wondered when they would have some kind of display about Dave. Went back into the gift shop and was looking around when I heard someone say 'What does the AC stand for?' and another guy replied with 'It's my brother's initials' I looked around by the window and saw the bottom half of the guy who had been talking and absolutely knew those shoes anywhere. DAVID COOK WAS IN THE BUILDING! I ran to the girls and was like, 'David Cook is over there' and some them didn't believe me thinking it was just someone talking about David Cook. I went over to him, shouted Dave and he looked round and me and weirdly remembered me from the night before. I said and Hi and that it was nice to see him again and he shook my hand. I told him we were wondering when him and his AC were gonna be hung up and he said something like I'm working on it. Moment of epicness and made the trip even more rememberable and so meant to be. It was just too weird how everything worked out that way.
spent the rest of the day with Sandy and had an amazing day, she truly was a testament to how Dave has brought together people of all ages and how kind fans really are, We went to sun studios which was amazing and hung out at Beale street.
I then went back to Nashville, then back to England the next day.
To any international fan I completely recommend that you do this but I would defiantly organised to meet up with some fellow fans who have maybe been to a show before so they can help you out , but it's completely worth it.
Thank you so much to everyone I met and said hi too, the America people is what made this trip what it was and I thank you all so much for being so welcoming, there are way too many names to mention, however my roadtrip girls were amazing! :
Texas Jamie : I had a feeling we were going to get on like a house on fire, you are truly one of the best and coolest people I have ever met, I'm so glad I got to share this experience and your 25th birthday you, I love you hun.
Daina and Kim : You two girls are the best example of DC fans out there, you are best people to hang out with if it's your first time at a show because they will help you out, tell you some amazing stories and make you laugh so much , I loved every minute with you guys
Cali Jamie : You were such a sweetheart and so determined for Dave to know where I was from, it was lovely for you to be the first Word Nerd I met.
And of course thank you to Dave and the band. David is completely what everyone says he is, amazing on stage but sweet and humble off stage. There was 100 people round us but he was only talking to me, he was such a nice guy and I hope the world gets that eventually.
This was the best thing I have ever done, It was stressful and hard work and was an adventure but it was completely worth it and something I will never forget. I think we all know that when you see David Cook in concert, you are not just seeing a show, you are seeing the birth of a star!