It was a hot summer night as far as I can
remember. We were on tour for the first time in the US
and were playing Houston. The show was sold out
and I knew that there were going to be tons of
fans screaming. But I wasn’t wildly enthusiastic.
I mean, how could I be? No one knew me, just
what they saw. And I have to admit they
had to like what they saw because for an 18 year old
guy to be asked to marry someone he didn’t
know, well, they had to like what they thought was
me.
But honestly, I’m not that different from
that guy next door. In fact, I’m just that average guy who
just happens to have a good voice and
who just happens to be in a popular group. It’s all very
coincidental.
Anyway, I didn’t know what to expect. All
shows were different and this one was going to be
unique like the others were. Two hour act
in the most humid city on the planet. But a nice city at
that.
As I got ready backstage I wondered why
I was doing this. Granted I love to sing and perform
but sometimes it’s too mechanical. Like
I can’t have fun with what I do. I mean, the fame thing
still blows my mind but after a while
I just want to crawl under a rock with some paper and
pencils and just some time to be me. No
fans, no gifts, no bodyguards, no little siblings. Just me.
And just a dream.
Our opening acts took quite a while. Aaron
was cute as usual. I watched part of his set from the
wings and noticed he kept walking over
to the left side of the stage. I guess it was the right side
for the audience. And whenever he was center
stage he snuck looks over to the side. I wondered
what was out there.
Soap came out and did their whole little
act. No one really knew them so the audience wasn’t
wildly hyped. They were waiting for main
act anyway. After they finished Jimmy went on and
the audience perked up a little. I noticed
he was over at the side where Aaron was a lot. That
struck me as strange. I started getting
images of a 5’8” model in my head. But I had to laugh at
myself for daydreaming two minutes before
they began a quick stage set up and sound check for
us.
After a while the crowd started getting
rowdy. They wanted what they came for. Us. They
started chanting and screaming when the
stage hands poked at the curtains. They thought it was
us or something. I thought it was cruel but who was I to comment?
Anyway, the curtain went up and we rose
from the boxes in the back of the stage. As soon as I
was up I looked over to the left of the stage.
Can you blame me? I finally saw what everyone had
been looking at. Front row were five girls,
all of them pretty, all of them laughing and singing. I
knew right
away this was going to be the unique part of this Houston concert.
As we walked down the boxes and finished
up the opening song my eyes fell upon one of the
five. She was small but obviously older
than what I was thinking. She had small features, dark
hair pulled up into a ponytail and
a great smile. My eyes met hers and she looked at me. I
couldn’t pull away for the longest time.
I felt as if she knew all about me just by looking at me.
Finally she smiled and looked away slightly bashful.
I couldn’t help but to smile. I knew I’d
never see her again and I wished that I could but things
like that aren’t possible. I could’ve
called her backstage afterwards but we had to leave right
after to get to Dallas. It didn’t
occur to me to get her number or name. I really just wasn’t
thinking past that.
Fortunately the rest of the guys saw what
I saw and for the rest of the night they were our center
of attention. Literally. They
knew all the songs, sang along, danced and laughed within
themselves. They didn’t throw things on-stage
or scream out senseless I love you messages. I
knew they were there for the music and not for the obsession.
Howie threw two roses down at them and two
of them caught them. I have to admit it was cute
when they clutched hands and screamed.
I knew the reaction well but this was different. Kevin
was sweet on one of the girls who caught
a rose. Not the one I noticed, but the one next to her.
He sang to her and always smiled at her.
AJ was pretty sweet on the girl I noticed. He always
glanced over at her to see if she was watching him. It was pretty cool.
The night did pass by and I never talked
to her. She left the concert, with her rose and with her
friends and I didn’t even know her
name. As our bus pulled away I saw her and her friends
walking with an adult. They were all talking
and laughing and for a moment I wished that I was
there.
I wished that I was with my friends and
that I had just left a concert where my favorite group
performed. I wished that I could walk away
with the stars in my eyes, a hot breeze blowing, and
my friends surrounding me. We talked about
the five girls on part of the way up to Dallas. Kevin
said that they all knew part of the Quit
Playing Games dance and that they were dancing with us.
I thought that was really nice.
I did notice them dancing with the band
while we did the instruments to that song. They were on
the floor and our band was on stage but
they were all dancing the same way and laughing and
pointing at each other. It was pretty
cool. I can’t wait to go back and play in Houston. Maybe
they’ll be there again, the five girls
in the front row. They five girls looking up, the five girls
with stars shining in the eyes and smiles
upon their lips. You never know. But none of us will
forget them, none of us can. It seems as
if they connected with us without words, but through the
music. They walked away knowing us more than we knew ourselves.