My Concert Reviews

My friends (Val and Carolyn) arrived at the theatre at about 3:45 in the afternoon in the midst of a snowstorm with coffee in hand. There were already people there, two of them since 10 am that morning and the others got there a little before us. We bonded with the later group over frozen hair and minds. Eventually we could all hear the sound check and put our ears to the cold glass and listened ?I see my friends huddled together, trying to stay warm in nasty weather? had new meaning to us as we heard those lines out in the cold.

The doors opened at 7pm and we made our way to the front in front of Jaron. We (Val and I) took off our layers to reveal our shirts, mine said ?evan? and her?s said ?jaron? in brass studs on black baby doll tees.

Cary Peirce opened and he was very entertaining. The spinning made me sick to watch I don?t know how he plays while he spins.

Paul Trudeau was second (and for those of you who don?t know he is Evan and Jaron?s piano/keyboard player) He was really good, I really love the song ?Any of my friends? it is too funny, and the way he says, ?I couldn?t find my friends so I went back to my hotel room and wrote this song? is hilarious.

After a long, seemingly endless wait Evan and Jaron appeared. Wow is all I can say. Jaron was sick but he still had all the moves. They opened with ?Outerspace? where Jaron showed us some moves. Then on to ?Luckiest of the Lucky Ones? which was the first time I heard it and my first impression was that I loved it. ?Ready or Not?, ?On the Bus? ?From My Head To My Heart?, ?Wouldn?t it be Nice to be Proud?, Evan sang ?The Distance? which made me want to cry. The Neil disco ?Sweet Caroline? cover which was so funny, them saying that they met a karaoke contest and teamed up and that they weren?t related, and they looked good in their Neil getup!. Then on to ?Done Hanging On Maybe?, ?Keep the Sky From Falling?, ?Crazy For This Girl?, ?Pick Up The Phone?, and encored with ?Make It Better? but their play list (that I took after the concert) said they were going to sing ?South of Tennessee? and ?You Don?t Know Me?. They also sang ?Shook Me All Night? but I don?t remember where in the program they sang it, unless it was at the other concert I went to and I am just incorporating it into the memory.

So after the concert we waited to see if they were coming out but security told us to leave. As we were about to leave, Greg, the bass, called us over to hide behind the bus, out number grew to about 20 girls, and Greg went into get Jaron and told him that there were some friends he wanted him to meat. Jaron comes out and sees the group and says ?A few friends huh?? signs a little and gets back on the bus, I never got his signature, keep in mind that Jaron was sick. Evan comes out with his outgoing part of his social personality and signs as many as he can before getting on the bus, so I got his signature on Jaron?s head.

Block Island, Rhode Island July 8, 2001
First off to those zea-lo's that were at this concert i was the one 
that was from Colorado, um yeah i know, but it was fun.
The day started out with rain.  the zea-lo's remained true and waited
through the rain to see our boys.
Opening acts:
Antingone rising- they were high energy and made it through their set
without any electrocution, which was nice considering they were kind of 
the sound check band.  the rain messed up some of the controls.

Evan and Jaron finally came on after making us wait for what seemed 
like forever, especially when you can see them up in the annex of the hotel.
they were their usually peppy selves cracking jokes and teasing the 
girls.  they played their usual set for this tour, they also played "the bitch
song" for all of us that have been begging to hear it, it was defiantly a
crowd pleaser because the audience was really into it, other songs were
also requested but they said they didn't remember them.  they sounded great as 
usual but i do love the 
sound of them singing together because their voices blend so well, must be a 
twin thing.  evan cracked up during "the distance" because he saw the bass
player leaving to get more wine.  during the whole concert one of them 
was laughing at one thing or another, i don't have a clue about half the 
things they were laughing at, but they are cute when they are laughing.  it was a
fun concert, they were really personal.

Out of the 9 concerts I have been to in the 15 years that I've been alive, the Evan and Jaron concert on May 23rd, 2001 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was the most memorable (and definetly the most bragworthy =D). It was not only the best because we were recognized, it was the best because the people performing were unbelievably talented and put on the best show ever!

My best friend Holly and I arrived at the entrance to M (a club that everyone still calls the Metropol) at approximately 3:15-3:30. **because any smart person will go to a "first come-first serve" concert as early as possible**. Holly and I, not even 2 minutes later, met April and her boyfriend. We were chatting about what the club was like inside because April had never been there before and Holly and I had recently seen BBMak there. After talking about stuff I honestly don't remember (lol), a guy in a red t-shirt (We happened to call him "The Red T-shirt Guy all night) came out to inform us that the Evan and Jaron show had switched venues to "Rosebud". Being myself, I questioned what he was saying. He told me that if I didn't believe him, I could go and look through the big panes of glass to see all of the equipment set up. Of course I was skeptical for a while, but decided to believe him. He explained his doings by saying he didn't want us to lose our first spot in line (which was very sweet of him to do, but hey, he gets PAID to do this stuff! LOL). So being smart, we moved to the entrance to Rosebud.

What I was really digging about the entrance to the Rosebud, was that everyone who wanted to get inside of this place had to walk through the entrance that we were standing in front of. So we got to talk to everyone that went in. (Even though I believe there was a back entrance.. and we didn't talk to Evan and Jaron there). "Their" tour bus was parked outside of the place, right along the very high sidewalk. Holly saw Peter (Evan and Jaron's amazingly talented guitarist) and we decided that she should ask him if the bus that was parked outside of the Rosebud was honestly Evan and Jaron's. Holly was cool about it, and asked him. **Now take into consideration, we didn't know that Peter was a member of their band, or that he knew Evan or Jaron personally** After speaking w/ Peter for what seemed like quite some time, Holly came back with the answer April and I (and hopefully her boyfriend) were looking for.. a Yes! So since we're standing in front of this door, and everyone had to keep knocking and ringing the door bell to get in, so knowing me and how I wanted to "get places" (ahem.. meeting Evan and Jaron), I offered the idea of me holding the door for everyone to the Red T-shirt Guy. But he said I didn't have to, and he shoved a news paper in the door and told me that I couldn't let anyone suspicious in. So after letting practically everyone in *laughs*, he shouts "Hey! You're letting suspicious people in!" and so the next person that came to the door (who I believe was Dave, their drummer for "Make It Better" at the end of the show, blonde hair.. blue eyes) I said "Hey! You look suspicious. I can't let you in" and whoever it was just laughed. But I do remember Dave saying stuff like "How you doin'?".. like really fast and I would say "Huh?" and he wouldn't repeat what he said. Well hey, at least Holly understood what he said (lol).

People were coming in and out with guitars and drums, the works! There were people dressed in all black who worked there (we thought maybe it would have been smart to wear all black.. you know, maybe we'd get somewhere, lol). We were lucky enough to hear a sound check for Angie Aparo, who came through the door and jokingly asked us, "How many gay guys do you think will come to this show?" and I replied while laughing "Oh I don't know... my dad's not coming though" (Excuse me for saying that, lol, but my dad is gay.. and I find stuff like that funny sometimes... it's good to be light about stuff like that). Paul (their keyboardist) and Greg (their bass guitarist) were coming through the door and they said they had eaten too much sushi, so I asked (b/c I hadn't eaten lunch or dinner or anything) if I could have some and they said no and walked through the door, lol! We actually saw Peter a few times on the bus, and we were waving to him just for fun to see if he'd wave back, and he did =). Okay so we pretty much talked to every person possible, alright?! lol!

After bugging the hell out of the Red T-shirt Guy about when they were going to let us into show **b/c it was a little before 6- the time the doors were supposed to have opened**, he came out with a "Crazy For This Girl" poster, for me for free!! I thought that was pretty damn spiffy! Then, sooner than we know it, an Armani- Aqua Di Gio smelling guy (I only know this b/c Ste from BBMak wears it) opens "the door" (lol) and I ask "So are the doors actually open now?" or something in that sense, and he replies yes, and I hand him my ticket, wait for Holly, and jog to the stage to grab "front row-center".

7th House (Evan and Jaron's first opening band) were having a sound check when we got in. BB (7th House's drummer) was jammin on his way cool-fuzzy drum set, and stopped to ask

"Are those posters for Evan and Jaron?" and I looked at Holly and I said "Well, what if they're for all of you?" and he seemed pretty psyched about that and said "Well that's a good way to think of it! I'll give you guys a broken drum stick after the show!". So when 7th House's completely awesome gig was over, and all these girls were screaming for guitar picks/drum sticks... especially BB's broken drum stick, he remembered his little promise and he said "Hey, these girls made posters!" and he handed me the drum stick! (Did I mention this guy was blindingly hot?! LOL jk jk.. but he was VERY attractive).

Everyone at Rosebud thought that our one sign said "Can We Have A Pie & A Kiss After The Show?" but it actually said "Can We Have A Pic & A Kiss After The Show?" (our other sign said "Throw Your Guitar Picks Over Our Way!"). So there was this guy who walked in the door, who worked for the Rosebud, who was fixing the stage each time a new performer came on, Holly and/or I would talk to him and he would say "Yes, I know.. it says pic, not pie!".

Angie Aparo came on (I thought he was brilliant- british word, excuse me, lol) and did an astonishing job.. it was just.. how could I say this? Too great!!!

So now my dream begins- Evan and Jaron come on opening w/ Outerspace and their red-flashy "hazard" like thingies... and I literally peed my pants **take into consideration I hadn't gone pee since like 3 and it was now practically past 8, lol**. I couldn't believe the figures in front of me were real. They begin singing and Holly and I are singing along (how can you NOT sing along?!) and are being kind, trying not to block everyone's view w/ our not-so-big signs. So we held them in front of our chests, tilting them upwards so they were somewhat readable. Everyone in a while they would glance down and look at us while smiling and/or laughing about our posters... and probably how stupid we looked singing/dancing/clapping along to their songs. (During "On The Bus" **my favorite song on the s/t album**, Holly and I were doing the little clap thing that they have recorded onto the album, and Jaron saw us doing it and decided he would hit his guitar in the same manner. It was a cool feeling.) Evan being the cool cookie that he is, gave us props for our posters during the show! He said something pretty close to "Even though this show is the smallest show I think we've had this whole tour, I think it's one of the best! I mean people even made really nice signs for us!!" and Jaron was standing beside him nodding and smiling =D! They were always close enough to touch, but immature fans would sit there and grab and pull, so because Holly and I are still young and growing out of immaturity, we decided we'd just touch their shoes/boots just to say we touched them (lol)!

Speaking of Jaron (lol jk), I was holding up the sign that said "Throw Your Guitar Picks Over Our Way" and Jaron was totally amazing about it and tossed me his lime green guitar pick (How he knew my favorite color.. I don't know. Maybe he's telepathic! LOL!). I'll say sooner more than later, Evan tossed Holly his yellow guitar pick and being the sweetest person ever, Evan made SURE that I got a guitar pick and actually took a step over to me and handed me his orange guitar pick. Since I am way too nice, and I felt really bad about getting 2 guitar picks while noone else besides Holly had received one, I gave the girl behind me the orange guitar pick b/c she asked if I had gotten 3, and I replied "Well... yeh, basically. But here, you can have this one" and she screeched "OMG! THANK YOU!" and hugged me **it felt good to make someone so happy!** and Evan mouthed to me asking w/ a confused look "Did you get one?" and I nodded mouthing "Yeh! Jaron gave me one" while smiling! And he just mouthed "Oh" or something.

You know how Evan plays "The Distance" by himself for a little while... well Jaron went off stage (because there was no backstage) to grab something, and came back on took his drink and sat on one of those Music Vox thingies and was scanning the crowd and ended up at Holly and me. I happened to be holding the "Can We Get A Pic..." poster and he looked at it well and I motioned to him that we really wanted to know if we could and I made sure he knew that it said "Pic" and not "Pie" by doing a little snapping picture thingy w/ my hand and he laughed and smiled while nodding, and after he was done sipping his water, he gave a thumbs up I believe. A little while later, Evan took a good look at the poster as well, and I did the same routine for asking him and he nodded. So Holly and I took that as a "Yes. We'll meet you after the show".

So after one crazy concert that didn't seem real to me or Holly at all, after only half of the dream was done, after they introduced their truly talented back-up band, Holly and I decided to rush out of there to get to their tour bus with our lame excuse of "Oh my God...We have to go pee!!!" **even though going to the bathroom has nothing to do with going outside, it worked**. We met a very nice lady, who was lucky enough to have met Evan and Jaron 5 years ago, and another woman who had wanted to get a signature of theirs' for her niece's graduation present **so sweet of her**! We chatted with these 2 for quite some time and asked Peter if we could get a picture with him, but whole groups of girls wanted to get pictures with him, so we waited.. a very long time to get this picture. And then Paul came out, and we asked to get a picture with him. He was so sweet about it and we huddled in, and Holly's "one time use" camera was being completely bitchy and wouldn't work. But Paul was cool and we got the picture (with technical difficulties and all) thanks to the lady who met them 5 years ago who took the picture! We talked with Paul about how Evan and Jaron had mentioned a girl getting onto their unlocked tour bus, and asked if it this statement was true. He said that it was somewhat true, but a partial lie, because it hadn't actually been a girl who had snuck onto their bus, it was a man.. because this is an all guy bus, a girl is definetly going to stick out! *So the secret's out now! lol!* We told him he did a wonderful job at the show, and we said our goodbyes... and soon Dave came out! We wanted to get a picture with him so we asked. He was very cool about it as well, after we complimented him and everything, lol jk. Since he was pretty much shorter then me, and I felt a little too tall, I told him that I would stand on the stree while Holly and him stood on the sidewalk, and he responded to this very well saying "Good! So now I get to be tall!" while laughing!
! Holly and I took some dorky poses by the door to the bus, and then Peter came out once again and we actually got a picture with him. Maybe the compliment on his talents got him to get a picture with us too, lol jk.

Unfortunately, my mum came sooner than I had hoped. I told her that if she could just wait ½ of an hour, there was a 99% chance we could actually meet Evan and/or Jaron! So my mum was very awesome about this, and waited for us! Then Greg, the king of making dreams come true, came out and said "Hey! You 2 are the girls that were the first ones here!" **he must have remembered us because he and Paul walked in the door saying they ate too much sushi..** and I replied to his somewhat of a question saying "Yeh, and we made these signs and Evan and Jaron kind of said they'd take pictures with us". He was shocked by that, and said "So you guys didn't even get to meet them yet? You didn't even get autographs?!" and Holly and I sadly replied no. He was very excited to say that he'd take us back to meet them. And me, being the skeptical girl I am, I said "Are you SERIOUS?!" and while walking back to The Rosebud with him.. he said "But I drink too much" and I said "Hey, well that's okay"!

So the girl who took pictures for us and this other lady who I lied and said was my mother, so she could come back b/c she really wanted to get an autograph for her neice's graduation *i hope she did*, I wanted to come along w/ us.. but this whole group of girls then said they wanted to go with us, but The Red T-shirt guy told us only the 2 of us could come back.. so we went in w/o the 2 other ladies =/ Sorry!! And Amy (one of the employees of B94) said "Hey there are those girls with the signs" and I was thinking "Yeh, we didn't need Amy to get back here", lol.. and Evan looks over and the Red T-shirt guy says "Yep, they were the first ones here" and Evan asks to see our signs and we hand them to him and he's really complimenting them and saying how great they are, and how he's a huge fan of art work. He actually asked to keep them. But we had nothing else for him to sign, and I said "These are our lucky signs now.. I mean I can get pictures of them and e-mail them to you. But you don't have to give me your e-mail address or anything, because I know you don't want me to e-mail you all the time or anything" and he said to just go on their website and to e-mail him anytime **yes.. exact words.. anytime, lol**. And he was showing Kassi them(his wife who came to the bus to get his PJs..which he was in when we met him.. w/ his cute leopard slippers and I asked to see the little Evan and Jaron card thing she had around her neck) He kind of showed them to Jaron. And Evan really loved the one guitar w/ the hawaiin flower.He was touching the glitter and stuff like it was something foreign.. like it was amazing **like how I found them not to be real or something**. (I found this to be funny).*** Holly and I have decided to actually send Evan and Jaron replicas of the posters now because Evan really liked them** So he asked what grade we were in, and me, I couldn't even think of how old I was at the time... so Holly told him 9th, and said we're freshmen, lol.**we're actually so!
phomores now** And he said that we're talented, and Holly and I were like "We love your music, you're so amazing" and stuff like that. Then Holly asked Evan to get a hug, and I don't really remember what happened there b/c I was busy staring at Jaron *laughs*, but he couldn't give her a hug for some reason *most likely security, and all the people in the room at the time*. Then we asked him (this may be out of order, it's such a blur to me) to sign our posters and it became some.. like weird ordeal, lol. He was asking us how he wanted him to sign it and we're just like "oh to Holly and to Rachel" and then we was like "but how do you want me to write it?" and we're confused so we just say "Like.. write to Holly, and then sign it Evan" lol. And he understood and we stood their like dumbasses, becaise he's smart and we're clueless so we're always confused! LOL Then I can't remember what happened next, if Holly asked if we could get a picture or if Evan told Jaron to come over and sign the posters.. but Jaron came over and looked at the posters and signed it. And then we got into a group (Jaron, me, Evan, Holly) and had someone take a picture for us =). We only got one picture with them, because someone told us we only had so long with them. So we were trying to rush things. So after Holly and I got to shake Jaron's hand (we shook Evan's too, lol), and we got the problem of who's sharpie was whose.. we left. And that was pretty much the end of the night. It was the most amazing night for me! I can't believe I was lucky to be right in between the to two most talented men in the world, front row and center! I'm kind of bummed that we couldn't take pictures during the show, b/c I honestly would scan them so everyone could see =/. But hey, every thing was perfect that night, so I won't complain! And that was the end of my dream... and that's why I'm shutting up now =D *laughs*!!

Lots of Love,

Rachel