First, I should warn everyone that this review is very long, and it’s more of a narrative, but hey, I’m a creative writing major, so that’s my excuse! I’m sorry it’s very late, but I’ve been so busy with school (I’m graduating on Sunday!), and then I was having computer issues, so I’m finally posting it!
When I bought the tickets for this show, I got the dates mixed up for when they went on sale. It was right around the time when the tickets for Hershey and a bunch of other venues went on sale, so somehow I must have gotten confused. When I woke up early to log on to Ticketmaster to get “good seats,” I discovered that the tickets had been on sale for a full 48 hours already, so I ended up with concourse level tickets (woohoo! nosebleed section! The view was still great though). I was disappointed, but when I won the M&G, it made up for it entirely.
I still can’t believe I was lucky enough to win a M&G, because I never win anything! It’s funny, because in some weird way I almost had a feeling that I would win…which again is strange because I usually have terrible luck. So when I received the email, I was even more shocked because 1) I actually won, and 2) My instincts were right. I’m not that superstitious, but maybe I should be!
I met Carrie two years ago at the York Fair when she signed autographs after shows, but they wouldn’t let us take pictures with her because she had a plane to catch. When it was my turn to meet her, I told her “Every time you sing ‘Don’t Forget to Remember Me,’ it makes me cry!” And Carrie stopped signing, laughed, and said “I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing!” So then I said, “No! It’s a good thing! I’m a college kid and it makes me think of home.” I was so worried that I had insulted her, but I’m guessing she was only joking because she laughed. I saw her again two weeks later at the Bloomsburg Fair, but I didn’t stay to meet her because my fiancé had to get home to write a paper, and I remembered hearing a little girl crying at York when the security guards cut the line off in front of her, so I figured I would let someone else have a spot in line since I had already met her. I was really disappointed, though. I wasn’t sure if I would ever have another opportunity to meet Carrie, but again, it sounds strange, something told me that I would! Darnit, I wanted a picture with my favorite singer in the whole world!
So, my fiancé and I drove to State College from Selinsgrove, where I go to college, and it was a beautiful day and a really nice drive. We ate dinner at the Honey Baked Ham Company (yum) and got to Bryce Jordan at 5:00. The passes didn’t arrive until around 6:00, and I was so nervous waiting in the ticket center! I could hardly keep hold of the bag holding the present I had bought for Carrie because my hands were so shaky.
When Matt took us backstage, we ended up in a little curtained-off section of what looked like a gymnasium, and it was really dark in there. While I was waiting in line I met Kourtney, and I discovered that she was the other M&G winner I had PM’d about how to reply to the M&G email! Once again, it’s funny how fate works out! Kourtney, I’m so glad I met you and got to talk about all-things-Carrie with you! (Yet another unexpected plus of winning a M&G!)
The line seemed to move really quickly, and all of the sudden it was my turn and then I realized I was standing face to face with Carrie. I kept telling myself to be brave and not say something dumb like I did when I met her at York. Here’s what happened:
ME: (Shaking her hand): Hi, Carrie. I’m Angela. It’s nice to meet you!
CARRIE: Hi, it’s nice to meet you, too!
(Her voice really is calming. We started to pose for the picture and she put her arm around me, and then I remembered the gift I had for her.)
ME: Oh…this is for you.
CARRIE: Aw, thank you!
(I was thinking “Oh my gosh I’m standing beside her!” We took the picture and somewhere in those few seconds I handed her the Some Hearts c.d. jacket, but I don’t even remember handing it to her! It was all such a blur, but somehow we ended up at that little round table.)
CARRIE: I like your necklace.
ME: Thank you!
CARRIE: Who am I making this out to?
ME: (pausing for a second to remember my own name!) Angela
CARRIE: A-n-g-e-l-a?
ME: Mmhmm!
(Then it all hit me that I was actually talking to CARRIE! My mind started to go blank, but I finally managed to remember part of what I was going to say)
ME: So, I wanted to tell you that it is such an honor to be able to meet you because I am graduating from college next month, and this is definitely the best graduation present I could ever ask for!
CARRIE: (smiling) Aww. What do you want to do?
ME: Well, I’m a creative writing major, so I’m thinking about going to graduate school and maybe teaching college.
CARRIE: That’s great. Congratulations.
ME: Thank you!
CARRIE: Here you go (she said this in such a soothing voice while she handed the c.d. jacket back to me. I couldn’t believe how she was able to devote her attention to just one person during such a rushed, almost hectic process.)
ME: Thank you so much!
CARRIE: You’re welcome (in the same soothing, friendly voice)
(This is the part when I froze and completely blanked out. I could hardly even look Carrie in the eye because I’m already shy to begin with, but wow was I super-shy talking to her! For a second I almost grabbed the gift bag that I had given her off the table, because I had been used to carrying it around for so long and my mind was in a total state of Carrie-star-struckness (Hey I made up a new word! Maybe the word should be Carrie-struck??? That’s it. I was Carrie-struck.) I stopped myself and then just stared blankly for a while, and I have absolutely no idea what happened in those few seconds! It was like time stopped or something and I was completely on another planet.)
ME: (finally coming back down to planet earth): Tell Ace I said hi!
CARRIE: I will!
ME: Bye, and thank you again!
CARRIE (as I’m walking away): Good luck! With college, and graduation I mean.
ME: Thank you! Thank you so much! (I think I said this about five times!)
When I walked away I realized I hadn’t even told her half of what I wanted to say to her. My mind kept saying “no, wait, don’t walk away, you haven’t told her everything,” but my nerves kicked in and it seemed so rushed that I somehow couldn’t manage to say everything. What I wanted to tell her was how much of an inspiration she has been to me, that the reason I brought Some Hearts for her to sign was because it had been with me through so many “ups and downs,” and that I had met her before at the York Fair (I doubt she would have remembered me, anyway, but I still wish I would have told her). I did tell her some of this in the card I gave her, and I really hope she reads it at some point. I’m not sure when she has time to open all of these fan gifts, but I truly hope that she keeps them! It meant so much to me to be able to meet her. I signed the card “Your fan for life, Angela,” and I hope that sometime in this life I have the chance to meet her again, and I hope all of you get the chance, too.
Anyway, the concert was great, of course, and my fiancé took some awesome pictures. I can’t believe how clear they are, given that we were so high up in the arena. I also took a few videos, which I will post links to once I figure out what I’m doing (I’m technologically impaired, for the most part). I hope you all have enjoyed this review. Again, I’m sorry for being long-winded.
