So I’m here in the hotel room after the Aerosmith concert
and I still can’t believe today actually happened. This week was crap, no other
way to say it, so today more than made up for all of that.
Cori and I arrived at Nationwide Arena about
an hour before I was supposed to be there for the Wheels Up meeting time. I got
to meet a fellow Aerosmith fan/friend from Twitter named Chelsea when we
arrived. After standing in line for a long time in the cold when they let us in
Chelsea noticed that Taj, Steven Tyler’s son was the one giving out the V.I.P.
lanyards and tickets at the table. I had seen lots of pics of him but he is SO
SHORT in person. Like shorter than me, weird. Yeah he seems nothing like his
dad, just a regular looking 20 year old kid.
Once I got my ticket & Wheels up stuff I hit the merch
table. This time they had the shirt I wanted at the last show in my size so I
bought that & this leg of the tour’s concert shirt with the dates listed on
the back, I also bought a tour book.
Once the Q&A started I met another fellow Aerosmith fan
that is a new friend on Twitter as well, Natalie. She was super cool and I sat
with her throughout the Q&A.
I had gotten a slip of paper with Joey Kramer
(the drummer’s) name on it so I got to go to the microphone & ask him a
question. Yeah that’s right, ME of all people; miss shy awkward girl. I was freaked
out but asked Joey If there was any music artist he liked that we might
be surprised by. He didn’t really seem to have one, so I was like so you don’t
have like a secret love for Britney Spears or anyone??? Hahaha I thought it was
funny but not sure if he did, other people laughed. So he just basically just
said he really likes the bands No Doubt & Foo Fighters which he said
probably isn’t too surprising, so I just said fair enough.
Me at the mic asking Joey a question.
(Photo courtesy of Natalie Smith)
I like the Q&A because it’s such a great time just to
hear what Joey, Brad & Tom have to say. There is so much emphasis put on
Steven & Joe that the other guys don’t usually get heard and I like hearing
from them, they’re cool guys, truly.
The meet & greet was up next so we went to the back of the arena and were ushered backstage to stand in line in a hallway until Steven & Joe
arrived. This time the wait wasn’t long and everybody was getting pumped as we
waited our turn. While in line another Aerosmith fan/Twitter friend showed up
named Frances, so I got to meet her and hear about her experiences chasing
Steven down earlier today.
For a few months now I've joked about giving Steven a ring pop & fake proposing next time I meet him...even made some fun pics about it and posted them on twitter and tumblr.... I tweeted Steven about it with a ring pop picture attached and told my friends and coworkers I wanted to slip a ring pop on his finger. haha Everyone thinks I am nuts, but I'm a shy girl & knew I wouldn't go through with it. (Even tho Cori did buy like 5 different ring pop flavors and gave them to me before we left for Columbus!)
So when the time came and we inched closer to the room
Natalie went in front of me and met them first.
Then it was my turn, Taj was opening the curtain and I told my legs to
start walking. Haha I was just so excited, but a little more calm this time
around. As soon as I walked into the room I walked up to Steven & Joe and
said Hey guys and once they looked at me I told them I made them bracelets. So
Steven put out his left wrist and said , “Right Here” and he had me put them on his wrist. Joe started digging through
the necklaces he had on and showed me a red and black one that matched one of
the bracelets I had made him perfectly. I was like, "it matches" and I put them on
his wrist.
Next I turned to Steven & asked if I could have a hug.
So he hugged me and kissed me on my cheek. I hugged him so tight and couldn’t
help but say I love you so much. Then he pulled back still holding my sides
and looked right in my face and said I was cute & I made him blush. I could
have died on the spot. He thanked me for the bracelets I made him and at one
point again said something about me being pretty or gorgeous…can’t remember
exactly what he said cause I was wigging out. It’s like your brain is in a fog
when you’re in there and it goes so fast. So then I position myself between
Steven & Joe for the picture and Steven put his arm around my waist and I can
feel them beside me but Steven is even closer than Joe. I think I was grinning like an
idiot AGAIN this time. I was just so happy I couldn’t help it. So then the
security guy hands me my signed poster and I leave the room, I like skipped out
and was so excited a security guy outside the room was laughing at me. I ran
out and told Natalie what Steven did and basically announced to everyone still in line
what happened. Haha
(Here is an update since I wrote this, my M&G pic with Steven & Joe.)
The show itself was incredible. I was right on the side of
the catwalk so I was pretty close to Steven most of the show this time. Steven
was wearing a long sleeve shirt for most of the show, but after a while of him
moving around I realized he was WEARING THE BRACELETS I MADE HIM ON STAGE. Are
you kidding me? Is this real?????
(Cori made this collage for me from pics I took tonight. Steven is soooo wearing my bracelets)
The set list tonight was pretty much the same as past nights
which ended up being alright. I wanted to hear What Could Have Been Love
desperately but they didn’t put it back in the show. During “Livin’ on the Edge
Steven was coming down the catwak and stopped not far from where I stood. He
looked right at me and I saw recognition on his face so I smiled at him and he
pointed right at me. OGFJGJKDJLJFLJGLJGG
Here is the Set List from tonight's show:
Mama Kin
Love In An Elevator
Jaded
Oh Yeah
Livin' On The
Edge
Movin' Out
Walkin' The Dog
Last Child
***Drum Solo***
Rag Doll
Boogie Man
Combination
Lover A Lot
What It Takes
No More No More
Come Together
Dude Looks Like A Lady
Mother Popcorn/Walk This Way
***Encore****
Home Tonight/Dream On
Sweet Emotion
The guys sounded amazing tonight, truly amazing. I have no
idea how they have so much energy at their age but they definitely put on a
good show, playing and singing better than ever. They had worked out a new stage design with totally different graphics and lighting than they'd used on the first leg, IT WAS EVEN BETTER!!! I got some amazing photos; I
took over 400 pics of the Q&A, Cheaptrick & Aerosmith combined.
After the show I met up with Chelsea and we took a pic
together. It was nice meeting some people who like Aerosmith as much as I do. It
isn’t typical of people I know to be into them much so it was really fun.
Tonight was just the best and I can’t wait to get back to
Bloomington tomorrow so I can pick up my photos from the Wal-Mart photo lab!!!!AND I can't wait for AF1 to post the meet & greet pics from tonight so I can see how mine turned out. I wish the photographer (Amanada) would have gotten pics of Steven hugging and kissing me on the cheek. I can't be sure if she didn't but she doesn't always take pics before you turn to face the camera. oh wells. Tonight was fantastic. A few pics from the show:
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