Cross Country Insanity!

I know I said I would be better at writing more often and that I have failed miserabley but I hope you will all forgive me when I tell you about following one of my obsessions across the country. Crazy? Me? Absolutely!

In my last post I told you I was lucky enough to find tickets to Michael Buble concerts in Indianapolis and Cincinatti...well I also managed to snag tickets for Cleveland, San Jose and Fresno. The last two being on the opposite coast from where I live.

My first show in Columbus was in the cheap seats, my next show in Cincinnati was 3rd row, and I have to say it made all the difference. I have now sat in 1st row twice, 2nd row once, 3rd row once, and 5th row once.....I will never be able to sit in the cheap seats again, and not just for a Michael Buble concert but any concert. All of the concerts were amazing and rather than go over each in detail I will give you a few highlights...

Cincinnati: I went to the concert with another obsessed fan and we had a blast...3rd row was fantastic and we made it to the stage toward the end of the concert. Michael is amazing at making eye contact and it felt like he was singing just to us. He was his usual funny, charming, sexy self. This time I stayed til the very last note was sung and was moved to tears by "Song for you".

Indianapolis: This time I went to the show with my best friend and the other author of this blog. She's a huge fan as well, but not quite as crazy as I am....Thank God! Once of us has to stay sane.

Poor Mikey was under the weather and unlike the previous shows didn't come out into the crowd. While the show was slower paced it was still AMAZING!!!! I couldn't believe I had seen him three times.

The highlight of this show was actually his opening act...Naturally 7... a couple of days before there had been a earth quake that scared a lot of people....they decided it was a sign to add a special touch to thier show. They did an incredible version of Amazing Grace.

Amazing Grace is my favorite hymn and I don't like it when people mess with the arrangement. Having said that, Naturally 7's version is the most powerful, inspiring, heaven sent version I have ever heard.

The funny thing is, other than that one song I don't remember thier act that night at all...I was too busy watching Michael read a thank you note I gave his bodyguard Steve. I had hoped he would read it, I never expected to WATCH him read it. I thought my heart was going to explode.

Cleveland: BEST NIGHT EVER! I got to meet Michael Buble....Yes, the concert was amazing, the people I met were great, the drinking afterwards with my MB obsessed concert buddy and coherts was a blast, but it boils down to I GOT TO MEET MICHAEL BUBLE. I even got a hug and a kiss from him. What more is there to say?

I thought this would be my last concert this tour and felt a little blue about it for a couple of days after the show....then my concert buddy and I started looking for good seats at some of the other shows, and what do you know, she found us 1st row seats to the San Jose CA show....the plan...fly in the night of the concert and fly home the next day.....Yes! Fly from the east coast, stay 19 hours and fly home. I told you I was crazy!

I managed to find 2nd row seats to the Fresno show and I figured what the hey? I was going to be in CA already, might as well stay a couple of days.

San Jose: Before the show I ran into Steve, Michaels bodyguard....apparently I have reached groupie status because I see Steve and he's like "I haven't seen you for a few concerts, where have you been?" As for the concert Mikey was definately feeling better, the energy at this concert blew all the other concerts I have ever been to out of the water. It was also the home of one of his band member and that added something special to the night. I watched Michael sing a couple of lines from his hit "Everything" straight into my friends eyes, from maybe a foot away. He was close enough to grab but I restrained myself. It was an incredible moment and made both of us melt!

I almost forgot....silly me...I also got a kiss from Michael when he came down into the crowd. YIPEE!!!

Unfortunately the night had to end and my concert buddy couldn't stay. I was left alone in CA, with an extra ticket to a Michael Buble concert...Whatever is a girl to do?

Well this girl decided to offer the extra ticket to her absolute favorite broadcast team. If you haven't heard of Martini in the Morning let me give you a quick education.... It is a internet radio show that plays all the great standards from the 50's and 60's as well as contemporary artists covering the Great American Songbook....such as Michael Buble.....yes, all roads lead back to Buble!

I have been listening to Brad Chambers and Michelle Briddell at http://www.martiniinthemorning.com/ for a couple of months now and I have to say they are the greatest. The show is 100% listener supported and they had mentioned on air how they weren't able to go to any of Michaels shows this tour....I had an extra ticket and a couple of days to kill, so I called them up and asked them to join me and if I could come by thier studio for a visit.

They said yes to the visit, but wasn't sure they could make the concert on such short notice and with having to be back in the studio at 4:30 the following morning. They thought I was crazy for driving from Fresno to North Hollywood but I didn't mind. We all know I am crazy! Anticipating talking them into coming with me I put a bid on a 2nd pair of tickets on ebay...that way Michelle, Brad and his wife could join me.

I spent 5 hours with them at thier studio and it was a blast, 2nd best part of my trip for sure. (Sorry guys, Mikey wins 1st place) They talked about me on air, made fun of me on air and were in general very very sweet to me. I offered to leave as I didn't want to out stay my welcome but they kept saying to stay. I got to hear alot of great stories about Mel Torme, Michael Buble, Kevin Spacey, Peter Cencotti and many others.

Here is a YouTube video from when Michael was in thier studio.

Unfortunately neither Brad or Michelle were able to make it work out for the concert so I gave them the extra pair of tickets to give away on thier show. For my extra seat in the second row...I had a plan....

The night of the show as the arena was filling up I walked up into the nosebleed seats and started shouting out for a person there on thier own.....I had numerous wives and girlfriends offer to ditch thier fellas and friends but I couldn't find a single person there to save my life.....a group of kids followed me into the next section and begged me to give one of their friends the ticket....She was turning 18 the next day and was at this concert as a birthday gift to herself. I caved and went to find her....She was so excite that she couldn't get her name out...it was cute. I think I may have ruined the poor girl for life..it was her first concert ever and she made it all the way to the front...Michael even grabbed her hand while singing. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEIDI!!!

In between Naturally 7 and Michael's set, I got up and congradulated the Martini in the Morning winner, who by sheer chance was also a member of Michael's fanclub. She had joined the day before and read my post about the ticket giveaway on the boards. She said she managed to get her entry in about 30 minutes before the contest closed....I figure it was meant to be.

The concert had even more energy than the last one and watching it with someone who has never seen live before added a whole new vibe to the night. Since I was 2nd row center I didn't have easy access to the aisle to run up to the stage at the appropriate time, so without a care for my dignity I climbed over first row making sure Heidi followed me. Hope Mikey wasn't watching!
Well thats all for now, I have run out of steam. I am sure I missed several things, but I will try to blog again as soon as I think of them. Thanks for letting me ramble!