March 15, 2008: Jonas Brothers
Verizon Wireless Arena, Manchester, NH
This was the Jonas Brothers first headlining arena tour-- the "When You Look Me in the Eyes Tour." Super 6 (Me, Allison, Amy, Joanne, Jaye, and Alex) was ready to see our boys again-- it had been three months! We knew that things had changed, that they were becoming the biggest thing in pop music, and it was evident when we were waiting outside for the doors to open and Greg Garbo walked by (inside the arena) and there was a sudden push towards the doors and hundreds of "GARBO!!!" screams. Calm down crazy fans.
We went to the meet and greet and said hi to the boys-- Amy, Allison and I decided not to get a pic with them because we knew we would see them again that week.
I loved this tour. The obvious best part was when they sang "Underdog"-- the ONE song they did from the "It's About Time" album. Simply amazing. Other highlights were"Pushing Me Away" when Joe fell back and disappeared right off the stage, "Take a Breath," "Games." and the cover of A-Ha's "Take On Me" (yes, our nickname was AHA for Amy, Haleigh, Allison and they did this song-- weird!) One of the coolest parts of the show was the intro to "Burnin' Up"... each of the Jonas Brothers and each band member had a random object and used it as an instrument- Kevin had a fire extinguisher, Greg a trash can, etc. So awesome and rockin.
March 19, 2008: Jonas Brothers
Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, ME
UGH. MAINE.
This was the worst weather-- rainy, cold, gross. And the potholes on the drive there-- they never ended. We had to wait outside for over an hour and were not very happy campers by the time we got inside. This show, it was just AHA and Jaye.
We chatted with Fe for a bit before the meet and greet. This was the day that Joe was Captain Joe... just look at the picture.
The audience was strange for this show. Most people sat down and no one really danced or sang along. Needless to say, we rocked out even more than normal and the boys definitely noticed, haha.
March 20, 2008: Jonas Brothers
Aganis Arena, Boston, MA
Just the Stanway's went to this show. We got a great picture with the boys, one of my favorites. And also a pic with Felicia! The best moment of the entire day was when I ran into Greg!! I hadn't seen him in months, and we got to catch up for a minute. It was the best. We also got to sit with Tesla and Kelsey which was fun.
April 26, 2008: Hanson
Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, Hampton, NH
Amy opted to come with me to this show since I had no one to go with! We waited in line forever (Amy rocked a cool Hampton Beach sweatshirt) and got really close when we got inside. Hanson is magical live-- seriously, they are such amazing musicians. When I see them live, I never want it to end.
April 30, 2008: Paramore
Tsongas Arena, Lowell, MA
Me, Jenna and Allison went to this show. From this show, we found out that Paramore is one of those few bands that is actually better LIVE than they are on their CD, even when their CD is as amazing as it is already!! We rocked out to their awesome music.
May 18, 2008: Kiss Concert 2008 (JB)
Tweeter Center, Mansfield, MA
This concert was an amazing surprise from Joanne (with help from the JB). Me and Jaye got tickets last minute to this show. The line-up was Sean Kingston, Maroon 5, Natasha Bedingfield, Leona Lewis, Cascada, Gavin DeGraw, Sara Bareilles, Boys Like Girls, Metro Station, Flo Rida, Jesse McCartney, Jonas Brothers, Baby Bash, Ray J, New Kids on the Block, Ferras and Wylef Jean. We snuck up even closer with Tesla and Kelsey-- we were like 10th row or something. Wyclef John and Flo Rida were two of my favorite performers at the show.
I remember when JB was performing, looking around at the massive crowd they were in front of, and saying to myself "I bet they are gonna play here by themselves soon and sell it out." That happened only 3 months later.
This was the first time I experienced the awesome NKOTB! I absolutely love boy bands, so the choreographed dancing was right up my ally. They were great, and it was awesome to see them live in BOSTON!
June 22, 2008: Veronica’s
Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, Hampton, NH
Finally we were able to see the Veronica's again!!! It had been years since they had come around the U.S. Me and Allison went to this show, the Veronica's being one of our favorite bands in the world. I wasn't sure how I felt about their new music because their new album was different from their first, but after seeing it live I went out and bought the CD right away. They were so good!
July 1, 2008: Chad Perrone
Rock and Blue Cruise, Boston, MA
One of the most fun nights me and Allison ever had, just the two of us! Chad Perrone music on a boat while enjoying some delicious drinks= pure awesomeness.
August 7, 2008: Jonas Brothers
Tweeter Center, Mansfield, MA
AHA celebrated Amy's 17th birthday at a JB concert! We had surprised Amy with an amazing bday cake (made by Joanne) and a surprise meet and greet with the boys! The meet and greet was funny (after the 2 hours of waiting in line that was not funny)-- I told Joe that it was Amy's bday and made him say happy birthday to her.
The best part of this show-- OUR AMAZING SEATS! SECOND ROW! The security kept telling us "keep going" and as we got closer and closer to the stage, we were like "no way, we can't be this close," but we were!! The pictures me and Amy got were the best EVER. Whenever the boys came to our side of the stage, they were literally hovering over us-- we laughed a lot because of the funny/awkward eye contact and faces they kept making at us. The part where they use the foam guns was SO fun, because Nick was right in front of us and we were like "BRING IT!" and we got covered completely in foam.
August 10, 2008: American Idols Live
Verizon Wireless Arena, Manchester, NH
David verses David! A bunch of us went to this show-- me, Allison, Allie, Ryan, Olivia, and Nate! We were up in the balcony, but it was still a great show. We were obsessed with Archuletta, so it was awesome seeing him live.
August 16, 2008: Backstreet Boys
Meadowbrook, Gilford, NH
I don't know how to exactly put this experience into words. It was such an incredibly special night in my life. Me, Sarah and Erin went to this show. Me and Erin went in the morning in hopes of being able to meet the boys, but the security people were so strict. But we met a new friend, Allison and had fun people watching all day.
We had 5th row seats I got from the fanclub. Being that close to the boys in a small venue like that was so cool. The Unbreakable Tour was the BEST. It was a new beginning for the Backstreet Boys, having only 4 members, but they were dancing again and their new album was the best!
Of course, the BEST moment of this show was when they STOPPED the concert to talk about the sign I was holding up that said "AJ- We're finally legal." I was completely in SHOCK, I legit don't remember anything that happened during the 3 minutes after that. Someone captured the moment on video thank God! Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqNi5z9ChGY .
After that, AJ completely paid attention to us the entire night. It doesn't get better than that. Sarah held up our other sign that said "AJ=SEX" and he did a little pelvic-thrust moment for us. Haha!
(Nick looking at my sign, just before she started talking about it!)
August 31, 2008: Jonas Brothers
VT
We traveled to the middle of nowhere (also known as Vermont) for this show (me, Joanne and Jaye). It was our first JB concert without a meet and greet... so sad. It was outside at a fair, which reminded us of the Summer 2007 tour!
I loved the Burnin' Up Tour. When they did "BBGood" the violin girls used the signs to have the crowd sing along. Also at the beginning of "Pushing Me Away" Joe became the conductor of the band-- hilarious!
We got to meet Demi Lovato. She is teeny tiny! We saw Big Rob, and he was SO happy to see us! We got a picture with him to. The Stanway's LOOOOOVE Big Rob!
September 26, 2008: Kate Voegele
Somerville Theater, Somerville, MA
Me, Allison and Lauren went to this show particularly because Chad Perrone was the opening act. We knew about Kate Voegele from One Tree Hill. After seeing her live, we found out we really liked her music. She's a great performer.
October 18, 2008: Hanson
Showcase Live, Foxboro, MA
Hanson concerts are unlike anything else for me. Allison and I went to this show and stood in the very back of the room, but the affect of the music was still just as powerful. It was the first time I had been to this venue, and I loved it. Basically a big open room with a gorgeous bar. Great for live shows that have that intament feel. Dave Barnes was the opener and he was awesome too!
Hanson did a cover of the Beatles song "Oh Darling"... I couldn't even handle how amazing it was that one of my favorite bands was covering a song by one of my favorite bands. It was awesome. I also got to hear a lot of songs from their newest album "The Walk" live and made me love the record even more.
October 19, 2008: Phil Bensen
Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA
This was technically a Push Play show, but we (me, Allison, Amy and Jaye) just went to see the opening act, Phil Bensen. We were all screaming for him to sing the song "Shoes" but he wouldn't! It was dissapointing. We met him after and got pictures with him.
November 2, 2008: Backstreet Boys
Wallingford, CT
This was it. The moment I had been waiting for for TEN YEARS. I finally was getting the chance to meet the Backstreet Boys. I had bought a VIP pass through the fanclub and me and my new BSB buddy Allison that I met at the last show were going to experience this amazing moment together. We got to the venue early and waited for what seemed like forever. Then Justin (yuck) let us through the doors where we waited in line to go into soundcheck. The realization that I was actually going to meet the Backstreet Boys still hadn't hit me yet. This crazy fan behind us started talking to us, telling us of the 80+ times she had stalked, I mean met the BSB, and we were kind of freaked out.
So they finally let us in, and we got to sit in the first couple of rows for the soundcheck. I was DIRECTLY in front of AJ, only like 3 rows away. My jaw DROPPED. It finally hit me that this was MY time with this band that I had adored since I was 11, that was my first real obsession in life, and that made me who I was at that moment. The soundcheck was AMAZING from the first 5 seconds of it. It was like having a private concert with a small group of friends. The boys were hilarious, just goofing off and being themselves. They took requests, and I shouted out "Sunday Afternoon!!" and they sang it!! At the end of the soundcheck, they jumped off the stage and one by one we got to go up and meet them and get our picture taken with them. The girl in front of me was saying hi to them and they security guard passed them a scrapbook page I had made with my picture of me with my "AJ we're finally legal" sign on it for them to autograph, and right away AJ was like "I remember this sign!" and loved it. When I went up to them, Howie was first... don't care too much about him haha. Then I went to AJ and was in total shock and asked for a hug and he said something like "sure sweetie" and in that hug/sweetie moment it's like I blacked out! Then I turned to take the picture and AJ leaned on my shoulder and the whole thing was like a dream, it didn't feel like it was really happening! Then I said something to Nick about being a fan for 10 years and he was like out of it like he was on drugs or something, and I don't even remember saying anything to Brian. It was the first time I've ever been really star struck.
We were on such a high after that. The concert was amazing of course. Allison and Sarah joined us for the show. We had 6th row seats but it seemed like we were even closer than at the last show. During "You Can Let Go" Allison was waving to Brian when he was right in front of us with both hands, really excited, and Brian mocked her by doing the same thing back to her. We DIED laughing. I held up a sign that said "Love me some AJ booty!" and got an ass-shaking dance from AJ for it. Then we held up a sign that said "VIP pass=$280, Ticket=$65, One night with AJ= NAME YOUR PRICE" and Howie noticed it first and kind of pointed and smiled, and we shook our heads and yelled "Noooooo! Tell AJ!!!!" So Howie tapped AJ and pointed out the sign, and AJ pointed at it, smiled, and gave us the thumbs up. You can see it here in this video at 0:00-- Howie tried to get the attention from us though and creepily rubbed his fingers and thumb together symbolizing "money"... back off Howie. Haha.
I love going to BSB concerts with Sarah now that we are older. We always seem to have a best friend moment at the shows were we hug forever and say how we are bff's for life, because the Backstreet Boys music was what made us become best friends in the first place. We've had these amazing experiences at their concerts over the course of 10 years, and every single one was one of the best nights of my life!
December 11, 2008: Kiss 108 Jingle Ball
Tsongas Arena, Lowell, MA
The line-up for this one: Ne-Yo, Natasha Bedingfield, Jesse McCartney, Kevin Rudolf, Katy Perry, Hinder and David Archuleta. Me, Allison and Jaye rocked band t-shirts and Santa hats to the show. Jesse McCartney and David Archie were the best. Jaye discovered her obsession for JMac at this show. Kevin Rudolf SUCKED. He was soooooo horrible live. When Hinder came on, the smell of weed filled the arena. We left during Natasha Bedingfield and completely skipped out on Ne-Yo.
