Minneapolis, MN, Orpheum Theatre 3/2/06

[penny74]

Posted by: hammeredinmn

:)This show was well worth the wait! OMFG! A bunch of us got up into the pit and totally rocked out!

We arrived about 7pm and the show started a little after 8. Made our way to the pit (after sucking up to the security!) So glad I didn't pay the $400 a ticket!

The boys came out to a cheering crowd! Marty was in fine form as usual-- no white pants ladies. I don't know the complete set list but I am sure it will be posted soon. I was so excited they played "Rain on My Brain" and of course my favorite "Eyes..". Marty was all over the stage and ran upstairs to hang off the balconey! The MN fans were so shocked but totally got into it!

At the end of the set the INXS guys came out to "sweep up" during "Trees" and the boys totally played into it. Andrew Farris had a video camera and was all over the stage-- that's got to be some great tape! Billy proceeded to moon the camera- it was a full moon and what a grand moon it was! It was exciting to see the boys in full fun mode!

We were waiting outside in the lobby to meet the band when I spotted Dino coming in with a beer. No one else saw him so I went over and talked with him for a while! He was cool as he signed my L'Strange Cd and said " Hey I don't even have this one". I was surprised to learn he remembered me from the last concert I was at-- Charlotte. I tried to worm tour info out of him but he just said "soon...we will make an announcement soon." I explained that they are like herion and I can't wait that long for my next fix-- he laughed and said he liked that comparison.

About 20 minutes later all the guys came out. Marty was first and he looked up at me and said "Hey I've seen you before!" I told him I've seen them 5 times and he was like "Give me a hug!" Any time.......

Unfortunetly the guys were heading out to Chicago so I wished them safe travels and lots of rest.

What a tour! If they didn't win over new fans with this one those people must be dead!

ROCK ON HAMMERHEADS!

[penny74]

Posted by: wendy

I agree- - The Mpls show totally rocked! We got there early and met a few others from the MC.org site. We had 2nd row pit seats, but found out from security that if they wrote "pit" on the ticket, others could come down, as well. They started right on time with the Ultrasound Intro, then went into "Straight as an Arrow." I was up against the stage all night, and it was so cool. My husband was behind me and used a roll of film during the show. The pictures are being developed now, so I hope to get them to Cindy & Amy tonight for posting. (Not sure exactly how to do this, but I will read the site and figure it out).

Billy was playing right in front of me most of the night. He came over a few times and "bowed" his guitar down at me and winked with a smile. It was soooo awesome! It was awesome when Marty ran to the balcony and hung down by his knees! They interacted so well with everyone in the audience.

At one point, Dino came over and bent down for me to strum his bass guitar. I was so excited that I could barely stand. Not quite understanding why he did this, I reached out and grabbed a hold of it. My husband then yelled to me to "strum it," which he and I both did. I know, I'm a dork, but this was my first time seeing them, and I was just blown away by their performance. It was ten times better than I expected.

It was very cool when Kirk and Andy from INXS came out in janitor suits to "sweep up" during the set. The band seemed thrilled by their surprise appearance, and INXS was in the wings, then on stage filming part of the concert.

After the show, a roadie gave me a copy of the set list. I put it aside, watched INXS. They were good, but it was hard to hear the vocals over the instruments. JD totally licked his microphone stand from top to bottom, which made me a bit queasy. He then knocked knuckles with my husband (not sure of the significance of that either).

Anyway, after the show, we got in line in the lobby for autographs. I had my cd insert, the set list and a picture of Marty in white pants. Ted told me only one item, so I shoved the other two at my husband and said they were his. I kept the set list. Marty signed it, and all I could think to say was "thanks." (Again, I'm a nerd). Tom was next and handed Marty the picture. Marty said to him, "Ah, the white pants picture." Tom could have died, but it was very funny. I'm sure Marty figured out that it was not Tom's idea to get that autographed. Marty had to find a gold pen to sign on the white pants, as his silver pen would not have shown up well. The other guys were very nice. I touched their hands, just a little with my finger. I was pretty giddy, and they all took my hand in turn and I told them how awesome the show was.

Following the show, we went out by the bus and waited for the guys to show up. Marty was coming down the street with two men I did not recognize. I yelled his name and he came over by Tom and I. Tom told him, "Can I take a picture of you with my wife? She drove 400 miles to see you." Marty put his arm around me, and let Tom take the picture. He was very kind about it. Then, he walked over by everyone waiting by the bus door, and shook all of their hands. He went into the bus, and pretty soon Dino and Bobby showed up. They each took turns talking with us, and said they were anxious to get back to Chicago. They were leaving that night and not staying in Mpls. We then left.

The set they played (off the set list) is this:

Ultrasound intro
Straight as an Arrow
Hold On
The Riddle
Call of Distress
Rain on the Brain
The Tunnel
Eyes Can't See
Ring of Fire
Trees
This Town

Very cool show, and truly one of the best nights of my life. Meeting JoMarty and NDluv and the others was great! Hope to see you at another show. If they ever play in Green Bay, you are welcome to stay with us.

As soon as I get the pictures, I will try to get them posted. Also, I will scan in the white pants picture for the white pants chix club, if I can figure out how to use my scanner. Thanks for reading- Wendy

[penny74]

Posted by: jomarti

Henry, it was actually very funny and the guys were loving the jokes from INXS. So, it's all good.

I had the most kickass time as hammeredinmn said. We were right by each other in the pit. So many of us got in the pit and just stood right in front of the stage. All the women I met from all the boards were great. We had a great time and it was so fun to meet all of you. I was street teaming, so ended up meeting many of you for the first time at the front door.

The concert was rockin out. At one point, when Marty was hanging from the balcony, I had a chance to look out at the crowd - everyone was standing. I asked my hubby who stayed in our original seats (Row v) whether he thought that all the people were standing up and he said everyone was standing up from the first song!!! I was trying to pump up the crowd at the doors. If they, in anyway, implied they were excited to see Marty & Lovehammers then I just tried to pump them up and let them know this was the last concert, so let's give them a lot of love!

We talked the security guard into giving us pit and we stood almost center stage, but a little closer to Dino. The guys were really having a good time - maybe being the last concert they were a little more playful. Of course, Marty was all over the place. He was constantly going back and forth on stage. He came up to the boy standing next to me several times and he gave him a lot of attention. It was very sweet. Actually, all the guys gave the kids a lot of attention. Marty gave the little peek of his belly with his shirt, but I guess we didn't yell loud enough cause the shirt didn't come off.

Then came my Martified moment that will remain in my brain forever. He was going, as normal, across the stage and I was constantly moving my arm back so I didn't hit him when I was pumping my fist. So, he comes right in front of me and so I start to pull back my arm. He grabbed my hand and put it on his thigh THUD! as he crouched down. He slid his hand up my arm and grabbed my upper arm and just kept it there and sang. I am totally dying!!!! OMG I was in heaven falling thru the clouds and am still falling thru I hope he catches me (or maybe my hubby) when I come down.

I've been to several shows, but this one seemed a little more playful. I totally missed Billy mooning Kirk - There's so much to see and when you're so close it's hard to see the whole picture. Not that I'm complaining LOL They were all so into it. We kept yelling to Dino and a few times to Billy when he came closer. They were happy to get shout outs! I was so happy that a lot of us hammerheads were right down in the front to give these guys some loving.

They deserved it for putting on a kickass tour!

Bobby said, I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow - I haven't had this thought in a long time. I think they all deserve a little bit of rest.

If anyone's interested in street teaming sometime with me just send me a pm.

[penny74]

Posted by: rockergal

I went to see Marty and Lovehammers on March 2nd in
Minneapolis.It was the last night of the tour. They Rocked!!! When my friend and I were going to the Theatre where the concert was we walked by the buses. A guy came out of one of them. I thought that looks like Marty. I didn't speak up but I wish I did because it was him.. When he came on stage he looked so good!! so did the rest of band.They all are hotties!!!
I could of listen to them all night!!!

[penny74]

Posted by: ndluv

Holy crap! I had so much fun! JoMarty picked me and my hubby up and we headed to the Orpheum. Of course we had both scoped out the bus earlier that day,lol. So we had to go check it out and my hubby took some pics of me an Jo by the bus. Then we headed to Rock Bottom Brewery to meet everyone else. Lets see.. There was Lil R and her hubby, barbara, SHR and her friend.. was that moon litemelody? and Sandy, dont know her screen name. Everyone was cool, and we found outBilly and Bobby had just left. We chatted about our street team plans and ate and drank. Then we head back to the theatre and decide to check out the bus. And who do you suppose was looking casually out the window? MARTY!! We holler up to him and talk to him. Jo tells him we are gonna be street teaming and he says "NO s***? Alright!" Lil R's hubby asks if we could take a pic and Marty says "sure, I'll come down, give me a minute." So he comes out and takes pics and hugs all around! Me and JoMarty and Lil R got a group pic as you saw. Then marty took his arm off my shoulder and I told him "no no.. now I want one with JUST you and me." he looks at me and smiles and laughs. We chit chat with him for a few minutes then let him go back on the bus. We head in side to talk with people and start handing out stickers and stuff. JoMarty got Ted's attention at some point and we had a little talk with him. Most people we handed stuff to were very excited and receptive. I think I had only 2 people that turned their nose up. lol
I got thru security fine. just open the purse and your coat,, they didnt even really look in my purse. Jo got hung up with security apparently they had a problem with her LH pins or something. Not sure what that was about. We had met alot of other fans before the show, so we spotted 'wendy' and her hubby down front and went to talk to them. We ended up chatting up the security dude. ok kissing his ass is more like it. And he told us his boss was going to be bringin people to the pit. So of course JO and I did some major butt kissiing.lol. he told us he didnt make the decision his boss did. So we had to go chase down the mullet haired boss. We found him and told him "david" that was the other dude. told us you were letting people to the pit.. and kissed his heiny as well.lol. He finally told us 'go tell david i said youre in.' (YES!) I said 'thank you sir, whats your name?" and he said with a smirk. "SIR." So we go back and tell David "sir" said you can let us in. He laughs and writes PIT on our tickets. Then continues chatting with us..

Of course the show rocked. First Ultrasound... Bobby thumpin on the drums. we all scream BOBBY!! then Dino and Billy come out. again we scream DINO BILLY!! then Marty slinks out to stage in full conductor mode. Icant really remember the set list right now, but I did get one from Dan after the show. At one point Marty went up to the balcony and was litterally dangling head first off and some woman was holding him by one leg! i hope someone got a pic of that, cuz I didnt. After that the crowd was INSANE! It was great! I rocked out with JoMarty, HammeredinMN and another friend of ours Kim and her son. oh i forgot to mention, I left my hubby in his original seats, he doubled nicely as a coat rack.lol kidding... he was content to stay there while I went nuts. When Marty went to the other side of the stage, we rocked out with Dino and yelled his name.. of course we could tell he heard us.he'd give us the 'look' and point to us and stuff. Of course we rocked out to Billy and Bobby as well. There was a few time Billy and Dino got up on the platform that the drums were on and rocked out together up there with Bobby. again. I missed a pic of that. Marty was talking thruout the show, but when he talked I couldnt understand what he said, we were so close to the speakers. The crowd loved Ring of Fire and Trees! I loved Straight as An Arrow best cuz that is one song you can hear ALL elements of the band so well. At the end, Kirk P comes out pushing a broom by Dino janitor style, then Andrew farris comes out taking pics paparazzi style, and they all were goofing on each other. Then I about died when Billy mooned INXS! The LH all came to the front of the stage, Dino slipped me a pic, and BObby gave Jomarty and Kims son a drum stick! They guys got the crowd pumped for INXS which was cool of them to do..

We went out to the hall where we got some drinks, bought merch and waited for meet and greet. We did go check out about 3 INXS songs, but had enough and went back out. THen Hammeredinmn says 'theres DINO" he was coming thru the front doors right at us! So we chatted him up a bit and got lots of hugs. He gave me a HUGE hard bear hug and a hard kiss on the cheek. LOL, I smelled like Dino the rest of the night after that. Not that I am complaining. Dino went to watch some of INXS so we stayed and hung out in line. Oh, I didnt mention I also met the lovely FairMagda! She is great! So the guys come in and I notice the line in HUGE! We were up front of course. We had let this boy and his mom go infront of us tho. The guys signed my stuff and I got hugs all around! mmmm yet another Dino bear hug! Then after I was thur the line, I realized I forgot to give marty something so I decided to get back in line. There was NO way I was going to the end, so I just chatted up some people and snuck in line with them.hee hee. I gave marty his other thing, and asked him to say hi to my friend (Shoes) on the phone who couldnt be there. He was loving that! Then I went to the other guys, they had already singed ALL my stuff, so I told them I was just there for more hugs! DinoBear hug #3! and Bobby and Billy hugs too! When I got thru the line, I just stood by the rope and watched the guys and chatted with people. Then I feel 'something' hit me. Apparently Dino had been flicking his guitar pics at me for some time and I finally noticed when one bounced off my "chest". I looked at him and he was looking at me and laughing his ass off. So I got a couple more Dino guitar pics I tried to sneak in the line yet a third time but it didnt happen. A couple lucky ladies at the end of the line overpowered Ted and got pics with marty sitting on his lap! LOL. Then the guys were off and everyone cheered for them!

We decide to go hang out by the bus and wait for the guys to come out. I dont remember who came and in what order. I think Billy went on the bus and didnt come back out. We talked to Dino very briefly. Bobby talked to us for quite some time as well as Marty. Marty talked about the 'pig roast"lol and said, "if you are a vegetarian, that's cool we'll have some vegetarian stuff too." or something like that. He shook the husbands hands and talked to them also. I got another hug. and he went back to the bus. We had tried to get it out of all of them where they were going after. Bobby and Dino said they wished they knew. Sounded like they wanted to party and hang in town for a few days but they were going back to Chicago right away. Dan came out and talked to us for a long time. OH...Ted had been running around the bus so Jomarty and I decided he needed a hug. so we said "Teeeeeeed.. come over and give us a hug, you need some looove." he actually came over and hugged us! We thanked him for taking care of the guys. Then he went back in the bus. A while later the guys came out and Ted herded them into a red van with out a word and they were gone!

I got a few pics I will work on posting. Hubby was not all too impressed with JD's microphone love session.lol. He loved LH tho! ANd he tooks some nice pics for me too.
It was great to meet so many people! I had so much fun, more than I ever hoped for! I know that was a really long report, but so much good stuff happend!

[penny74]

Posted by: ktbrandy

Hi Guys! I have finally managed to write my review and it is a little long so grab a glass of wine and enjoy!

Round 1:
I decide to take my 8 year old son to this concert since it was rescheduled and my husband could not go with me on this new date. We find the venue just fine and park. We get there a little early so we have plenty of time to find our seats and put our jackets down finally (no coat check!). We visit with the rabid INXS ladies around us – I am feeling a little outnumbered and the intensity simply scared me! We were fourth row up balcony which extended all the way to about 20 rows from the stage so they were not bad seats. I figured we definately could of done worse. My son woke up at 5:45am that morning because he was so excited about the concert. He wouldn’t nap on the way into Minneapolis because he was so excited and I knew he would just crash at some point because he goes to bed at 7:30pm normally. So I am feeding him Cokes to keep him up – thus we are on our way to the bathroom – again!!! We went to the bathroom a lot! A security guy comes up and hands me earplugs for my son and says “It gets pretty loud in there, you should protect his hearing”. Well, my son was born hearing impaired, he has 50% hearing on his good side and about 10% on the other. So I tell the guy that he is doing a good thing and that I am such an advocate about children and hearing loss, etc. We get in this big discussion and he then says “Where are you sitting?” so I tell him “balcony” and he says “Let me see your tickets.” I think he is going to tell me where my seats are and I was just going to let him since he was being so nice although we already knew. He pulled me over into a corner and wrote something on my tickets. He then handed them back and said “Well, now you are in the pit and be sure to take that guy (my son) right up to the stage”. I was thinking “This NEVER happens to me, it just doesn’t! Woo Hoo!”. I tell my son we are moving shop and we are going to the front! I can tell he is thinking that this must just happen all the time. It wasn’t filled in when we got there and the show started right away so I just centered me and my son pretty close to the middle along with some other wonderful LH fans from all over internet who also managed to get in the pit.

The drums for Ultrasound start and it was OMG amazing! That is the coolest intro I ever remember seeing and then Dino and Bill come out and start playing. I really couldn’t believe that I was standing there with my hands on the stage. It was surreal! Then Marty slinked out in the black fringe pants, and black long sleeve shirt with dk grey specks. It was really amazing. I was so close it was just phenomenal. They played really tight and I watched Marty – a lot. He was right in front of me at times on the floor and I was feet away and looking at his face and he seems in such a trance like he sees things but not really. I could see for the first time some of the comparisons to Iggy Pop and David Bowie. I got a totally different feel for him than I have to date. He is very much a performer and VERY SERIOUS! I see so many smiling pictures of him that I thought he would be cute and sweet – some of the time and he really wasn’t. INTENSE! That man means business when he is on stage! So I DO guess he did see us (our group) there hammering away because we got a lot of attention from him. He stood in front of me and my son A LOT. I mean his feet were within 6 inches of my hands. I could have pulled him off stage for a big ol’ smoocher BUT he was kinda scary with the intense performance so… I stayed in Mommy mode and kept pointing to his converse right there in front of us because my son had his on that night. I was completely intimidated by his presence and being so close – don’t know why. I could not bring myself to touch him. I SO could have grabbed his leg and clung on. I literally was staring straight up his legs and EVERYTHING WAS RIGHT THERE! He looked me straight in the eye a couple of times but like I said he doesn’t seem to really ‘see’ when he does this. He came over once and bent down and sang to my son and then another time he knelt all the way down, grabbed his hands, sang and then put his closed fingers to my son’s cheek. HOLY CRAP! I was like ‘Give Momma some of that!’. He was literally sweating and spitting on us which I was totally into but after a big drop of sweat hit my son in the face he looked at me and wiped it off and said 'Gross!'. It was very cute! Dino came over in the beginning of the set at one point and handed my son a guitar pic while he was playing and after the set he came over grabbed his hands and let him strum his bass. Every time Dino would come close to us I would scream ‘DINO!’ and we all would. I know he heard us because he would smile a little. He is SO much more approachable and I would have grabbed him off of stage because he doesn’t have that intimidation factor at all. He just didn’t get close enough – LOL! Marty could stand as close to me as he liked because he knew I wouldn’t do anything. He must have wanted some lovin’ because he knelt down in front of JoMarty and grabbed her arm and put in on his thigh! THUD!! I was so shocked I didn't even get a pic although it was probably too close! LITERALLY my camera told me my shot was TOO CLOSE many times. UNBELIEVABLE! My son and I got LOTS of looks from Billy across the stage and he smiled and nodded a few times and I would yell out ‘BILLY!’. I have read what people say about Billy and you don’t get it until you see him. He has such an awesome ‘spark’ or energy that comes off of him that is so positive and FUN! I could see all the little looks they were passing to each other like ‘come over here and jam’ or ‘WTF?’ or ‘Dude This SO Rocks!’. It was like being right there ON stage with them and enjoying it from that perspective. SURREAL! So I am watching Billy come out and jam during the Tunnel and trying to get a good pic of him because he totally has me hooked now and I am watching him more than Marty – almost! LOL! When all of a sudden Marty is up in the balcony right where our seats were and he looks over like he wants to jump and then just bends over backwards and hangs off with only one leg holding on. I was torn between taking a pic and calling an ambulance. My son was like ‘COOL!!’. Marty should preface his stunts with ‘DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME KIDS!’ but didn’t! Some girl was holding him for dear life and I thought that could have been me until I remembered I was watching this all from the stage…. DUH! .....

Round 2:

SO, I actually got eye contact with Bobby quite a few times. I LOVE SHY GUYS – I married one! He just kind of scopes things out from behind his drums, but he definitely watches!! I could not get a pic of him at all. It is really hard the way things are set up. I am really bummed about this because my son LOVES Bobby and he is his favorite but no pics! Just got his drum kit and you know he is in there because you see a drum stick. Bobby came over to us after the set and gave my son a drum stick. HE LOVES THAT DRUM STICK!!! Jeremy played again for This Town and jumped up on the drum stand. All the others (Marty, Dino, and Billy) were laughing like “look who is full of himself”. First time Marty seemed ‘relaxed’ to me. Jeremy was just kicking it up like a rock star and going out in style! It was cute. Then the INXS guys were coming out with a video camera and the guys were posing for him. I don’t know how Marty keeps singing during all of this but he does. Then they come out in janitor uniforms and start sweeping the stage and moving Dino out of the way so they can get that spot. So I am watching this and I see Billy unbuttoning his pants. Then he changes his mind and buttons them back and keeps playing. Then me and some other people start yelling ‘GO FOR IT!’.
So he decides that he will go for it and we get a really good shot of the ‘moon’. Have I said how much I really love Billy! All the while he is still playing guitar !! Very talented young man to multi task that way! Let’s see, Dan (I think) came out and gave us some Dino pics and handed me the set list which was really cool and now we wait for INXS…

We head back out to the lobby and get more Coke and make another bathroom trip or two. I ask my son if he wants to sit in our seats for INXS or go up to the stage again. He picks the stage so we head back down. It is MUCH louder and he is a little bothered by that but sticks it out. A couple lets him stand between them and Andrew Farriss comes over in front of my son and gives him a nod and ‘Hey’. My son is enjoying it and is kinda dancing. I am thinking JD is much hotter in person (I know! I am sorry but I like guys with dark smoldering looks!). He never appealed to me before but it may have been the eyeliner??? So his voice is good and strong and we are having fun then all of a sudden my son turns around and says ‘Alright! I am ready to go home!’. We had only listened to about 2 or 3 songs down there so we came out into the lobby. I told him if we stayed for one more hour he could get his drumstick signed by Bobby. He had also worked very hard on some sketches of each of the guys playing their instrument and Marty singing. He went through all the photos on line and picked his favorites. I printed them off for him and he worked hours on these sketches. He hasn’t ever done a sketch from a photo and he was so serious about it. He wrote on each of them For: Billy From: his name. I knew he wanted to give these sketches to the guys in person so he agreed to stay and we went up to our seats in the balcony. It took him about 5 minutes to fall asleep on his coat so I stayed and watched. The girls up there were rockin’ out and it was good to hear all the old INXS goodies! JD wasn't MH but he sounded good and I enjoyed it. I woke my son up 2/3 into it to get in the M&G line because I knew he was wiped out and that line would get LONG. We got in line about 20 people back and he immediately went back to sleep on our coats on the floor. We waited for about 40 minutes and the band came in. I had some very nice people to chat with so all was good in the line. It took the entire time from when they walked in and I first woke him up until we got to Marty to actually get him awake!!! Thank goodness we were back a bit. He just kept laying down and leaning on me. Bless his heart! I kind of started thinking I was a terrible mom keeping him up this late and subjecting him to this but I knew we would look back on it and it would be worth it.

[penny74]

ktbrandy continued.

Round 3:

Marty was first and when my son handed him the picture he looked like he was gonna sign it. I stopped him and said ‘That is for you’. It was from a photo of Marty singing into the microphone while he is at a 90º angle. His legs are up the side then his torso and face are facing the top of the page. So Marty was turning it this way and that and I laughed and said ‘It goes this way, you were doing the bendy!’. Couldn’t I have anything more intelligent to say to Marty the first time I met him?? “Bendy??”. Anyway, and Marty looked at my son and said ‘You made this for me?? That is so great! You are an Artist man! Do you play an instrument?’. My son couldn’t really hear in that environment and I had all of our coats and crap and couldn’t sign to him so I answered for him and said ‘He doesn’t yet, but he will. He loves the drums!’. Then Marty yelled at Bobby and said ‘Dude, we got a drummer here!’. I noticed that even when Marty was talking to my son he was looking straight at him and his eyes were SO intense and his voice. He has such a presence. Then that was it! I totally forgot to tell Marty how great the show was, how much I have enjoyed their music!!! ARGGGGG! Dino was so moved that Bryce drew a picture of him too and was so sweet thanking him. Then we got to Bobby and he was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! It is hard to believe these guys are rocker sometimes. He saw that my son couldn’t really hear well (because he does wear hearing aides on both ears) and made it a point to ask his name. Then he said his name then “I love this picture, I can’t believe you made this for ME. Thank you so much”. He made sure my son was looking at his lips and talked loud and clear for him. He then signed his drum stick and Dino thinking Bobby was getting all the credit threw a guitar pic to my son and said ‘Here is a pic in case you change your mind about being a drummer and want to play the guitar!’. Then there was some talk between the two about how drummers suck and don’t see any action….AGAIN I was a total idiot and just told them how thankful I was to them for being so nice and how much my son loves them and their music. HELLO I LOVE THEIR MUSIC TOO! It was so quick and I was so flustered with handing my son the next picture to give and trying to sign with one hand and make sure he could tell what they were saying. Then we get to sweet Billy. I LOVE BILLY! He got the picture and said ‘Man I can’t believe you did a picture of me! Thanks so much!’ then he said ‘Hey! You were the little dude on the front row, we tried to pull you up on stage!’. They were SO sweet and seemed like they could have enjoyed their pictures and talked to my son all day. Then we were trying to say more but the security guard (NOT TED!) said I was holding up the line with all the chitty chat and to get a move on. How could that have held up the line I will never know because it seemed like it was over in two seconds and I never got to say what I wanted. At least my son had an amazing experience in the line and I live vicariously through that. What a moment for him! I loved Marty first on RS, then loved the LH music, now I love each one of them personally for who they are and what BIG hearts they have. They are more than a bunch of rockers and they made a bigger difference in a little guys life than they could ever imagine. I overheard him tell a friend the other day that ‘Marty Casey said I am an Artist!’. Everyone tells him that but to hear it from Marty is priceless. I didn’t make out to bad because I did get the set list signed which was really cool but I felt bad for not shaking their hands and telling them how much I enjoyed everything. I wish they knew what a difference they made for my son.

Not to get to ‘spiritual’ on you guys but I was so torn about taking my 8 year old to this concert. When it got re-scheduled and my husband could not go, I just thought about it and said ‘No way can I take a young kid!’. So I prayed thinking it would be clear whether I should take him or not and it began to just felt more and more right. To have it end up the way it did and so many things fall into place the way they did. It seemed like greater powers were at work here. I really get chills thinking about it and I am so blessed to have had this opportunity to share with my son – forever! Just me and him. I have had these few moments in my life that are surreal like that and the last one I had was about 10 years ago. They don’t happen often but when they do….. WOW!

[penny74]

Posted by: mchell

What a great story. That must have been so exciting for your son. I think it was exciting for all of us. I was up in the balcony about where you said your seats were. I was in 3rd row close to where Marty ran up to. It gave me a heart attack when he went over the edge of the balcony. I had seen him hanging from things in pictures on here but didn't realize he was going up in balcony's way up that high hanging by his knee's like that. I freak out if I even lean over the edge on a balcony like that and he went all the way over. I almost ran down the other isle which I was right next to just to look at what he was hanging on to. But then he came back up.

I know what you mean about his intensity. At one point he faced me and there was no one in between in the way and I thought he looked right at me. I had a pink Lovehammers shirt on and I pointed to the Lovehammers on it and then later realized I was pointing at my boobs...lol. Anyway like you said it's like he's looking at you but not when he's performing. He would have this intensity and do these poses like I remember him doing on Rockstar. It almost made him seem larger then life or something. Instead of just singing and being like hey how's it going.

That's so funny about the sweat hitting your son. I guess I didn't think about that but man they really do work up a sweat up there. Kids are so funny aren't they? They just say it like it is.

Your experience in line getting autographs sounds like it was really fun for your son. I had things to say too but didn't. I mean I have been playing the CD so much I have practically worn it out but did I say how much I love there music no. Duh. I did manage to ask Marty for a hug which was great. It was surreal and I don't even remember it all. I think I passed out without knowing it...lol.

I had gotten Dino's autograph earlier when he was coming in from outside down there in the entryway. Some girls were standing and talking to him so I went right up to him and said hi Dino. He asked me what my name was. Then I had him sign my CD and he had me hold his beer when he signed it. I said I'll try not to drink it. Then the pen I gave him didn't show up on the paper. I pulled out a sharpie which worked. After that I didn't say anything. I wanted to ask about where they were going now and plans for the future but I am not sure why I didn't. There were other girls there talking to him though too so it wasn't like I was standing there going duh or anything....lol.

Then when I was in line since Dino had already signed I just said you already signed and went to Bobby and said hi Bobby. He asked me my name too and then when I went to Billy I said hi Billy and he asked me my name. I thought it was nice that they all did that.

Hey I wanted to ask you about when JD was up on stage and you were right up there with your son. Were you still there when JD was doing that weird stuff with the microphone stand. I thought he went too far with that whole thing. I was thinking what about the kids in the audience. If you were up there with your son for that what was his reaction? He's probably too young to know what it was about but man that was weird when JD did that. Sorry I just had to throw that in there since you said your son was right up front.