Philadelphia, PA ~ 5/10/03
My friend Krissy and I got to the venue around 3:00. We walked around for a while and scoped out the tour bus area which was enclosed inside a large fence. At about 3:30, a bus pulled in and I saw Jason the bodyguard get off the bus followed by Rob and Paul. They were both very nice and came right over to the fence. There were 4 other people there and Paul went to them, so Rob came over to me and Krissy. He said hello and stuck his fingers thru the fence so that we could "shake his hand" He signed my CD liner and signed Krissy's arm. LOL. He told us that we should have jackets on, but then was like, oh you are from around here! you are used to the chilly weather. I asked Rob If I could take a picture of him and he let me. This was the third time I had met rob, and for the first time, I kept my cool and didn't cry! lol. Rob wasn't wearing sunglasses like he was the previous 2 times I met him and let me tell you his eyes are so beautiful! To have your life's inspiration standing in front of you looking into your eyes is somewhat overwhelming. I was shaking like crazy! lol. Then I moved to Paul who was now free to talk to. He was like What's up! How are you! LOL he is so cool. He signed my CD liner and he looks at me and he's like "You have a 20 on your chest" and I was like "Yes I do." and he goes "Is that a real tattoo" and I'm like "Yes it is." LOL he was like wow! I told him I had had it since 1999 and then they went and changed the name on me. I like yelled at him, it was so cute. And he was like aw! I know! haha but we still use the number for some things. It was great. So finally Paul and Rob had to go inside cuz they were doing an Interview for some German magazine or radio or something or other. About a half an hour later, Another bus arrived carrying Brian, Adam and Kyle. Kyle couldn't come over cuz he was having a "family issue." He was holding his daughter and she was crying, Brian walked by but he didn't come over. Then Adam came over and was like I can't stay long guys! Jason is gonna yell at me! So he quickly signed stuff for everyone and I took his picture and then he was off. After all that, we hung out to see if anyone would come back out, but they didn't. We went to Will Call and picked up our fanclub tickets. We got 4th row Kyle's side (left side) We were all the way on the aisle. The opening band was a local Philadelphia band but I don't remember their name. It was something something John. Sugar ray came on at about 7:30 and they rocked the freaking place. I had so much fun watching them. Mark Mcgrath is so hot and he is the funniest dancer I have ever seen. They had a lot of energy and sounded great. At 9:00 it was time for matchbox. The entire aisle next to our seats was cleared of people and we were like, what is going on?! One of the event staff people told us that the band was going to come right down the aisle next to us!! They came out walking past us and we snapped some pictures and I reached out and touched Rob's arm. LOL I'm so cheesy. They Played all the songs from More Than You Think You Are except for The Difference. They Played Long Day, Push, 3am, Real World and Busted and also Bent, If you're gone and 2 cover songs. A black crowes song and a Paul McCartney song. The highlights of my evening were Busted, You're So real, Hand Me down (which made me cry), Downfall, and So Sad, So Lonely which I shook my butt to and freaked out. It was so fun! One of the best shows I've been to. I am getting the pictures developed as we speak and I should have them up on my website in a week or so. To all of you that have yet to go to a show, I hope you get to one soon, they are amazing! Have fun!
Love and Twenties.
MANDY