Amy Lynn's Stories
Amy Lynn's stories
I'm new to this club, Jenn1993 invited me to join and I'm very glad that she did. I love to talk about Andy and I love to hear other Andy stories.
I've met Andy 6 times and the last time I met him I asked him for a hug--it was very cool. The coolest thing about Andy is that he truly cares about his fans. I saw him and met him three times in about a week and a half. At the first meet and greet I had a photo of Andy and me that was taken at a Fair in CT. We were in NH at the time so he asked me where the photo was taken I told him CT. He asked where I lived I said MA. He had no idea how they were all connected so he simply asked "How far did you drive to the CT show?" "hour and a half"..."How far did you drive today?" "hour and a half" "OK, thanks". It was really cool how concerned he was over where I was from and how far I had traveled to see him. The next week I saw him in MA. At the Fan Club Meet and Greet I had him sign the photo of the two of us from the NH show. He apologized for the way he looked in the photo saying that he was a little sick. I told him he looked great, as usual. That's when I asked for the hug. I went through the general meet and greet line again after the show. When I got up to Andy he looked up and said "How far did you drive today?". I stood there in disbelief for a minute or so--then I said "Only 45 minutes". I had completely forgotten the incredible traffic that we got stuck in on the way there that turned a 45 minute drive into an hour and a half. How could you think of anything bad when Andy's asking you a question like that? I've met a lot of people, some a few times in a summer and I've never had anyone even ask where I was from. It was pretty cool. I can't wait to see Andy again!
RCA show at Fan Fair
Just wanted to let everyone know that Andy's portion of the RCA show was absolutely amazing. He only sang 4 songs, but they were all great. He really got the crowd into it. He started with "I'll Go Crazy" then he talked a bit about how this was his second year at Fan Fair and he wanted to know if the crowd was better this year. He yelled "Hello Fan Fair" and the crowd went crazy. I think he then sang "She's More" followed by "Waitin on Sundown" where he mentioned that he wants to do all that he can do to help end domestic violence. It was pretty cool. Then he went into "You Won't Ever Be Lonely". The crowd loved it. After that he said something about not knowing where Fan Fair would be next year and something about country music changing and he then said "I don't know about that--all I know is that I want to Rock and Roll right now" and he broke into "Ain't Living Long Like This". He only sang a little bit of it then he walked off the stage while the band continued to play and the crowd went crazy. He had everyone standing. It was really great. My sister went through the photo line to get pics so hopefully some of them will come out. When we get them back I'll post em here. Andy's show was really incredible. I can't wait to see him again in July!!!!
Hi, sorry to keep ya'll waiting. I spent the weekend at a relatives house in Vermont and didn't have internet access. I'm not gonna give you all the details of the two concerts just the highlights. The first concert was friday night at a fair in North Haverhill NH and the show was great but the crowd was horrible. They had reserved seats that I think were only made available to locals. I honestly have no idea how they got them. But they were the best seats in the house and they went to people who had no clue who Andy was and they didn't want to know. It was the saddest thing I've ever seen. He was pouring his heart out putting on a great show and the biggest response he got was a golf clap. If that. I was doing my best to scream and all but it was pretty obvious that there were only a handful of true fans there and they weren't anywhere near the stage. He kept saying over and over that he hadn't been to New Hampshire in a while and like it or not he was going to base all future apperances on their reaction. That scared me. I don't want one rude audience to keep Andy out of New England.
Now on to the better parts. Before the concert we back for the meet and greet. It was absolutely amazing. My sister went up first with her fan club party photo and he asked her where it was from and other stuff. Don't really remember now. Then I went up to get an autograph and a photo and the first thing he did was stick out his hand for a handshake and say "Hey, I haven't seen you in a while. How have you been?" I was absolutely speechless. He seemed to actually remember me. How cool is that. He then saw my photo from the fan club party and asked what I thought of it and I told him that it was absolutely amazing. Right before we got our photo I congratulated him on his gold record and he said thank you. After the photo was taken he said "I hope you enjoy the show" and I said "I'm sure that I will". I then told him that I would see him again on Sunday. It was a really great meet and greet.
The pictures quite funny though. Andy looks great in it and I don't look that bad. But it was taken right next to Andy's bus and Clayton Ryder was trying to get in the bus. I don't know if he thought he was getting out of the way of the shot or what but he's right up next to the bus giving a look to the camera. It's kind of funny. When I was talking to Andy I didn't even notice that Clayton was back there. Oops.
During the show he sang "Freedom" and asked the audience to let him know what they think of it and once again he barely got a golf clap. It was a great song and I screamed a few times for it. That audience really annoyed me though. In front of the stage was another stage type thing for juggelers and other people who were his 'opening acts'. When Andy sang "She's More" he came out on that part of the stage. I ran down to the front to get some photos of him there. I hope they come out allright. It was just really cool to see him come so far out. He was really trying hard to get the crowd going.
After the concert he did another general meet and greet and I asked my sister if we could go through again and she said sure. Right before we got to him it started to sprinkle. It wasn't that bad but the crew wanted to get out of the rain so they were rushing everyone through a bit. I wanted to tell him that the show was great but I didn't really have a chance to talk to him. He signed my coaster from the fan club party and once everyone had gotten an autograph he posed for some more photos with any one who wanted one. I was my flash might not have gone off for the earlier one so I got another photo with him. I hope he didn't mind. He didn't seem to.
The next day we went to the show in Rutland, VT. Andy was scheduled to take the stage at 3:30 and they announced that the meet and greet would be at 3.
We went over to get in line for the meet and greet and the local radio station's van pulls up and Andy gets out. He had bike shorts on and I think he was holding a helmet so I think he went for a bike ride. Which is pretty cool. He went to the bus to change and then we were brought around to his bus for the meet and greet. It was the most amazing meet and greet I've ever had. It was my 10th time to meet Andy and by far the best meeting! It makes me smile just thinking about it.
I walk over to him and he says "Hey there stranger, haven't seen you in a while" then he just wrapped his arms around me and gave me a hug. It was amazing. The only hugs I've gotten from Andy I've had to ask for. I was completely unprepared and it was by far the nicest hug I've ever gotten. I then showed him the photo for him to sign and he said "This is from the Haverhill, NH show on Friday night" and I said "That's right". I asked him to make it out to Amy because I realized that I hadn't told him my name all weekend. He did so. In order to sign the photo though he put it on my back. I figured that since he was writing on my back anyway I might as well ask him to sign the back of my shirt. It's the new black one where the back of him in on the back. I always thought it would be cool to have him sign it. He said sure and knelt down to sign it and even asked if I wanted it made out to me or if he should just sign it. I said "Just sign it please." He took his time and signed it just right and while he was signing it he said the best thing that he could have ever said.
He said "How far did you have to drive today?". So for him to remember that a year later blows my mind. Absolutely amazing! After at least 30 seconds I told him that I would have had to drive 3 hours to see but that I was staying with my Aunt so it was only about an hour. He then turned to me and said "Is that Ant or Aunt" and I said "Aunt" he said "Cool". Then we got our photo together. When I was leaving he said "Hope to see you soon". There was also a photographer from the local country station who was taking photos of people as they met Andy and he got a photo of Andy signing the back of my shirt. He told me that it might be on their website. That's pretty cool. I just wish he could have gotten a photo of my hug. That would have been awesome.
The concert was great as usual. The crowd was much more into it which was great. I hope they left a great impression on Andy and he'll be back soon. The best part of it was when he was going into "I'll Go Crazy" for some reason everyone int he crowd started to clap along without even being prompted to do so. It was soooo great. I could tell that Andy loved it. He was standing at the mic smiling and then he just kept making small talk so that they would all keep it up. It was wonderful! It was a truly cool moment. The other great thing about the concert was that it was the first time that I heard Andy sing "You Won't Ever Eat Bologna". Now that was cool. It was so subtle. You could hardly tell that he changed the words. I was glad I noticed though because I was afraid that he'd been doing that at other concerts and I just missed it. I don't think anyone else in the crowd got it. It would have been hard to hear that without knowing that he might say it. It was really cool. Andy spent most of the concert playing to the other side of the stage but when he broke into "She's More" he wandered over to our side of the stage. We could tell he was looking over at us. It was pretty cool. See we had front row seats but we bought them way too early. They were way over to the left hand side of the stage.
After the show Andy did another general meet and greet but we really had to get back home that night so we couldn't stay for it. By the time we got to where the line was it was already longer than a fan fair line. We thought we'd let someone else meet him for a change. We did see him pull up in the golf cart though. Someone else was driving and he had his feet up and was relaxing. It was a pretty cool sight. I was going to yell goodbye but I figured he wouldn't have heard me. It was great seeing him again though. I can't wait for him to come back to New England!
Andy in New Hampshire
12/9/00 12:02 pm
The concert last night was absolutely amazing. I'll post a little bit about it in each message. I'll start off with the first meet and greet. I brought a toy so that I could meet Andy, I thought that meet and greet would be at a different time then the fan club meet and greet but they were at the same time. If I had known that I would given my Toys for Tots pass to some little kid there. Anyway, I get in line for the meet and greet and I see Andy meeting people in front of me and he has on leather pants, a purple velvet shirt with a big military type jacket over it. I'd never seen that outfit before and it was kind of nice. When it was my turn I walked up to Andy and he said "I haven't seen you in a while, how have you been?" I think I said "good" not really sure though. I then gave him the wooden gift from the Anglers and I said "All of the Anglers' say Hi!" he said something like "They do now?" or something like that. Then he looked at the sign and said "I know exactly where this is going" he showed the sign to Mike and they both said "the back lounge" so I guess they have a place for fish stuff to go, I thought that was cool to hear. I was very happy that he liked the sign. I then had two photos that I wanted him to sign. I thought I'd try something different so I brought a metallic pen for him to use. The pictures were really dark and I thought that pen would look good with them. I asked if he would use the pen and he said "are you sure you want me to use this?" and I said "is it not working?" and he said "it's working, but I don't know if you'll be able to see it." It was nice of him to worry about it, but it made me feel bad that he was questioning it. So before he signed the next one I said "you can use your marker if you like" then I looked at the other photo and said "hopefully I'll be able to see it in a different light." I had on a Santa hat for the show, it was billed as a holiday concert so I figured why not wear it. Before I left he said "By the way, I like your hat" that was nice. We got a photo and my sister went up to meet him. The first thing he said to her was "I like your shirt" she had on a maroon suede-like shirt. I thought that was pretty cool. She had a newsletter that included a meet and greet photo of her and Andy in it. She pointed out where she was and asked him to sign it. He said that they showed him that photo and asked if they could put it in the newsletter and he said "Yeah, that's a good shot" I thought that was a cool thing to say as well. I then took the photo of the two of them and that was the end of the first meet and greet. Time to get ready for the concert!
Now, back to the concert. Well, we had 2nd row seats which are always great, but my seat was really cool. See the stage had a curve to the front of it and to make the seats fit the first row had to be diagonal on both sides and come to a point. I was sitting behind the two seats that came together. There was a six inch gap right in front of me. No heads blocking my way. It was great!!! He sang all the same songs that he usually sings with a few extra thrown in. During the first couple of songs there were a group of girls sitting next to me that would scream randomly. I honestly had no idea why they were screaming--Andy wasn't doing anything special and the screams usually came over the words. It was really confusing me that is until I looked over at CJ. Apparently the girls would wave at CJ and when he waved back they would scream. I think they watched CJ more then they watched Andy. I'll never understand that. After a couple songs Andy told us the story about going to Alaska and he got a big laugh from the audience. I knew he was gonna comment on the weather--it was really cold yesterday. He sang Freedom and "Where's the train when you need one"--which was great.
I still haven't heard "Practice Life" so I was hoping he would sing that, but he didn't. For cover songs he sang--"Your Cheatin' Heart", "Move It On Over", "Last Thing I Needed, First Thing This Morning", "Lady Down On Love" and a few more that I didn't recognize at all. Everyone else there seemed to know them though.
Re: Andy in New Hampshire
12/9/00 2:06 pm
Towards the end of the show he told us a story about being at a private function not too long ago. He was asked by some one in the audience if he planned to record a Christmas album and Andy said that it wasn't on his top 5 list of things to do. He says that everyone has a Christmas album and what song could he cut that hasn't been cut before? Well, the guy asked him to sing his favorite Christmas songs. Andy said that he didn't know if it was a Christmas song, but it's the song that he would sing with his brother at Christmas time then he sang a part of a gospel song. He stopped and said now everyone in the room has "chillbumps" and they ask me to sing another song that has as much meaning to me. At this point people in our theater start laughing. Andy stops his story to try to figure out what is so funny. Someone told him that they are "goosebumps" not "chillbumps" he said "y'all got a lot of geese up here" then went on to say that he learns something new every day. It was a good story that he was telling and I thought it was rude that the audience would laugh at him for saying "chillbumps"--the word does make more sense. Anyway, he retold part of the story, paused for dramatic effect and then sang a part of "Santa Looked Alot Like Daddy"--it was so cool. The coolest part about it is that in the last few days before the concert I kept thinking "What Christmas song do I want to hear Andy sing?" and honestly the only one that I could come up with was "Santa Looked Alot Like Daddy" so it was really cool that he sang a part of it. Really cool. A few songs later Andy sang "Ain't Living Long Like This" and I knew the show was coming to an end. Andy and the band left the stage the crowd cheered and Andy came back for an encore. He sang one song for the encore and the concert was over. It was just over an hour long. I really loved seeing the light show, alot of work went into it and I don't usually see Andy in a theater so I've never really seen the light show before. It made the concert that much better. Oh, the other cute thing about the concert was that there were two little girls behind us and when Andy started singing "She's More" they sang along to every word. It was so cute to hear. After the concert there was another general meet and greet and my sister and I got in line for that.
Re: Andy in New Hampshire
12/9/00 9:39 pm
We got in line for the general meet and greet--I can't miss a chance to say Hi to Andy once again. The line was sort of confusing, but we just stayed to the back for a while. Knowing Andy we weren't worried about him leaving without meeting everyone who wanted to meet him. I wanted to get another photo but didn't know how that would be possible. Andy was sitting behind a table and it would have been a very awkward shot and as much as I wanted a photo I wasn't sure if it was worth it. Luckily when we got up to Andy we were told that if we wanted photos with him to wait around and he would pose after everyone went through the line. I was very happy to hear that. I walked up to Andy and put my photo down and he said "So, how far did you have to drive today?" I love those words!!! I said "40 minutes" and he said "That's not bad" or something like that. It always amazes me that he remembers to ask that! I walked away and waited for the photo line to form. After a while the same guy who informed us about the photos told us to come with him and he lead us and about 6 other people into another room. He explained that if they did the photos where the meet and greet was everyone would stay to watch and they didn't want that. We had to wait in the room for a little bit longer but it was worth it. We noticed a nice little wreath hanging on the wall and a couple people decided that our photos should be taken in front of the wreath--I can't tell you how happy I was about that decision. We had to move some chairs to get the spot right, but it was worth it. Andy came in later on and a few more people joined the group, but it was still only 11 or so people. Andy wanted to have the photos taken near the coat rack, but they asked him to pose near the wreath. He decided it was easier to go along with it. I watched everyone go through and then it was my turn. I walked up to him and he said "Santa hat" and then pushed the hat down on my head. It was kind of odd, but funny. He then said "Only 45 minutes, this must be your neck of the woods--way up north" and I said "yeah" then we posed for the photo. As I was about to walk away I said "I'll see you in 9 days" and he said "9 days--in CT?" and I said yeah. That caused everyone in the room to start asking questions--CT? Where in CT? This was all while my sister was getting her photo taken. She was the last one. So someone asked Andy where will you be in CT? and he said "I don't know" so my sister and I said "Mohegan Sun" and he just gave us a puzzled look and so I said it again. As hard as he tried he could not say it. I was thinking of adding that it was in Uncasville, but I figured that would only add to the confusion. One of the employees at the theater said that it was the Indian Reservation down there and then everyone knew what he was talking about. Then Andy said "Well, I'm gonna be horizontal for a while" and walked away. It was cool. I can't wait to see him again! Usually when I say that the next concert is months away, now it's in 8 days!!!! Sorry if this is a bit long--just wanted to share it all.
Connecticut Concert
12/19/00 4:34 pm
Here's some little tidbits about the concert. Well, before the concert there was the fan club meet and greet. CJ was hanging around and joking with some of the people in line. That was pretty cool to see. We were waiting and I was watching as people gave Andy gifts to see if he was looking at them. He was looking at some but not all. I really wanted him to look at our gift so I was trying to get my nerve up to make sure that I asked him to open it. It didn't help that the third person in line was having a conversation with Andy and Mike jumped in and said "We've got to move the line along, there are a lot of people here--he doesn't have all day" he was joking, but I wasn't sure for a while. It didn't phase Andy or the guy he was talking to. I probably would have walked away after that. So anyway, it's my turn and I walk up to Andy and he says "Hey stranger, long time no--wait it wasn't that long was it, just a little over a week" and I was so happy to hear that. It was great that he caught himself. I gave him the card and told him that it was from the Anglers. I then asked him if he could open the gift since it was from a bunch of us and they really wanted to know if he liked it. He said "sure thing". Well, he went to open it upside down. I never would have thought to open it that way so I was just thinking "Well, that's an odd way to open it" my sister who was watching and taking the photos was so nervous that the ornaments would fall out and break, but it never crossed my mind. Luckily they all landed in the cover and it was nice that they did fall out, Andy had to look at all of them to put them back in. The rest of the story is in the slideshow. Except for one thing while Andy was looking at the ornaments Mike came over to look at them. He thought they were pretty cool as well. Andy really seemed to like them. It was great to see that. I was so nervous about giving them to him. It was nice to know that he liked them. Walking away from him I looked at the photo that I had signed and I guess because I had a santa hat on in the photo he wrote--"HoHoHoHoHo............." It was cute.
There wasn't much time between the meet and greet and the show. We had waited in line for seats all day and got, I guess what would be call second row DEAD CENTER. There was no way to be more in the center then where we were. It was nice. Plus they didn't make any announcements about not using your flash which was great. I was dead center and I could use my flash--what more can you ask for. Not much. Now this may sound weird, but I have to say that the sound was absolutely amazing. I've been to concerts at this venue before and have had a hard time hearing what the artist is saying. I could hear every little thing that Andy said. All the instruments were mixed perfectly. It was really great. It was possibly the best sound I've heard at any concert. It really made me appreciate not only how hard his crew works to get the sound right, but also what a great singer Andy is. His range is amazing. He sang Silent Night this time and wanted everyone to sing along, but I wanted to hear Andy so I kept quite. I never thought he'd sing it at the casino though. You have to understand the place where the shows are is right in the center of the casino and there are no walls so if it gets quite you hear bells ringing on the slot machines and that doesn't usually work well with Silent Night, but it was still pretty cool.
Andy kept telling us that they'd be going off the road for a while and he didn't know when they'd be back on the road so he needed us to make the night great so that they'd have some great memories. I thought that was neat. Of course he was also saying that he didn't know if they'd ever be back in CT and I hate hearing things like that. I know he'll be back, it's just nice if he knows that he'll be back.
Let's see other cool things that happened during the show. There were a group of girls sitting at a booth and throughout the show they were trying to get Andy's attention by waving and other things and he stopped to talk to them. He said that he was nervous that his fly was down and they were trying to tell him, then he noticed a lady in the front row with binoculars and that got him worried. It was quite funny. Then he turned back to the girls in the booth and said "Now what do you want to say" the girls were quite for a while then one of them said something about her friend loving him or something, I really couldn't hear any of it. It sounded like the teachers on Charlie Brown and Andy said "Do you know what that sounds like up here?" and I don't know if he was saying that he couldn't hear them or that it's an odd thing for them to say. Wasn't really sure.
Also during the show I saw something flying into the audience and I noticed that Clayton had thrown a drumstick into the audience. His aim was obvious it was another group of young girls in tight jeans and t-shirts. Well, the drumstick hit the top of their booth and landed on a table behind them. At that table were two older women. It was justice, I thought.
The only bad thing was that I was all set to put my third roll of film in my camera. You have to understand I never go through 3 rolls at a concert. NEVER. Not even at festivals. So I was all excited to be at my 3rd roll when he had at least 3 songs to go. Well, I put it in and had a hard time loading it, but my camera's pretty good at loading the film so I just tried again and shut it. Well, it only went to four photos. That really bummed me out. I was all set to get these cool shots and I couldn't get any shots. I really felt bad. Especially since I had noticed earlier that Andy was watching for flashes and seeing when they went off. I'll survive though. I guess it's just a sign that I shouldn't try to get more then 2 rolls at any concert.
After the show Andy did another meet and greet at the merchandise table. He walked over and sat down and was about to sign one of the shirts that was on display. That was weird. I guess he was ready to go. Well, we went through the line and I gave him my photo to sign and he was all set to sign it when I asked him if he could make it out to Amy this time. He said sure and wrote my name. Then he paused for like 30 seconds or possibly longer before writing "Here's to ya!" I guess he was coming up with something to write. It was funny to see him have to stop and think up something to write. As I was leaving he said "I'll see you soon" and I turned around and said "hopefully" that's all that I could think to say. They were doing the photos after they went through the line so we decided to leave so that he could get on the road and get home.
