My Aragon Review:
Karen B. (Waiting4MC) and I really bonded over Metro weekend. We felt like we’d known each other for years. We survived the mosh pit together, too!
We have talked or e-mailed nearly every day since then, and we came up with an idea at the same time, just a few days after the Metro show. We wanted to give something to the whole band, not just Marty. Something with their “Lh” logo on it. We both thought of a pendant on a cool “guy-type” cord, because they all wear things around their necks.
We set about finding out how it could be done. Karen and I came up with a design, and worked out the details with the jeweler. We decided to have the pendants made out of 14K white gold, because we wanted them to be silver-colored, but sterling silver would have tarnished, and hey, these are guys—they’re not going to be willing to polish silver.
The letters are cut out from the gold, so that the “L” and “h” are open space.
Karen found a source for some braided leather cords made from high-quality Greek leather (how appropriate!), so we had them made with black and red strands braided together. When we saw the finished pendants on the cords, well—they were UTTERLY KNOCKOUT!!!!! Karen found some red star-shaped boxes that she put “Lh” on with black studs. She also found a journal bound in red leather, with a gorgeous illustration of a TREE embossed in red and black on the cover, plus a pen to go with it.
For Marty, I made an 8” x 10” of the photo I took of him on stage at the Metro, when he was doing a soulful look right into my camera at close range, with the dearly-departed red armband in full view.
We knew that we HAD to find a way to give them these gifts BEFORE the show, because the meet and greet afterward was sure to be insane. We kept trying to find a way, and finally, a wonderful person on this site connected us with someone who had won passes from Q101 for the pre-show meet and greet. That was finalized just the day before the show, so we had been sweating bullets until then. We had to pay a boatload of money for the passes, but at least we knew we were FOR SURE going to get to give them those gifts in a calm setting.
We spent all afternoon at the hotel getting the gifts ready, then we got dressed.
We still hadn’t had any dinner, but we had to get going. We rode the train up from our hotel, and it took longer than expected, so we got in line without getting any food. It was just BRUTAL cold and windy out there. After freezing our butts off until about 5:50 pm (20 minutes AFTER the doors were supposed to open—thank you very much, Aragon security--NOT!), we got in. The security woman looked in my purse, and said, “There’s too much stuff in there for me to search”, and waved me in. Karen and I both got our cameras in with no problem.
We went right to “Will Call” to get our passes, then off to the Q101 booth. Once the group formed up, they escorted us to the cocktail lounge that was to the left as you looked at the stage. Karen and I were at the front of the pack. They took us up the stairs and through the doors, and there was Marty!!! As soon as he saw us, he recognized us from the Metro, and beamed a beautiful smile as he threw his arms open! The other guys were standing beside him, grinning their faces off, too!
We all descended on them. When I talked to Marty, I told him, “Marty, this is the third time I’ve met you, but the first time that my brain’s been working well enough to actually tell you my name. So hi, I’m Nancy!”, and shook his hand.
He was chuckling a little about what I said, and he said, “Yes, I remember you from the Metro and LA.” After he shook my hand, he pulled me toward him for a hug and a kiss. I told him that we had some special gifts for the band, and that when they were done talking to everyone else, to come over to us. I finally got to meet Dino and Billy, and met Bobby again. He also remembered me from the Metro after-party. Wow—they are all so cool and sweet!!! There was lots of hand shaking and hugging all around.
As they, and we, were talking to other people, I ended up right behind Marty, with our backs to each other. This was a rather small room, so we kept bumping into each other. I could feel the warmth coming off of his body, and it felt so good, especially since I was still cold from being outside in line.
After a bit, it was time to give them their gifts, so we gathered all Lovehammers around a table and started in. I told them that at the Metro show, everyone was giving gifts just to Marty, and we thought, “Well, what about the rest of the band?” I said that we came up with this idea because, ”We want to send you off to conquer the world with some symbols of your unity as a band.” Marty was especially pleased by that, and excitedly repeated that to the other guys. (“Hey, these are symbols of our unity AS A BAND!”) I think he’s trying very hard to keep it from being all about him.
We gave each of them their gift boxes with Lh on them, and they were digging the boxes. Then when they opened them, their eyes just about popped out! They were like little kids at Christmas. Marty said, “Look, it’s got our Lh on it!” We told them to look on the backs, and they got even more excited. “Oh wow, this one’s mine!” “That one’s yours!” It was great to see!!!
Karen helped Marty put his on, and he wore it on stage during the show. You can see it in many of the photos. It rests just at the base of his throat, higher than the dog tags. The other guys were wearing T-shirts, so we can’t tell if they wore their pendants on stage. Marty said, “How did you know I would be wearing black and red tonight?” It looked SO perfect with his outfit…..it looked so perfect on him, period!!! It looked like it was always meant to be there. In some shots from the concert, the light is reflecting off the pendant so much that it looks like he’s wearing the sun around his neck.
When we gave them the journal, which is for all of them to write in, they were blown away by the intricately embossed tree on the front. Marty said, “WOW! This should have been the album cover! And it’s RED, too!” (He does love the color red!) They cracked up over the message we had written to them on the first page. The pen that goes with it was pretty cool, too—it’s the kind that can even write upside down.
Then I gave Marty the photo, and had all the guys sign one for me to keep. There was lots of hugging. They were all so happy that they were nearly bouncing around the room. Bobby wrote “THANKS 4 EVERYTHING, MAMACITA!” Lots of special moments with the guys!!!!! Then it was time for them to get ready to go on stage (was about 15-20 minutes until show time by then). So I can tell you that before the show, they were all very happy and seemed to be their usual selves.
Karen and I left the lounge and headed for the main floor. After experiencing the mosh pit at the Metro, we decided to stay back about 20 feet or so from the stage, slightly to the right as you looked at the stage. We could still see everything very well, though, and it was nice to be able to see the whole band at once.
Everyone already knows the song order, etc., so I won’t repeat it. They were all really kicking ass, and were all over the stage! I took some cell phone pics to send to people, and lots of film camera pics. (They won’t be done until next week—darn!)
The most memorable part of the concert for me was when during one song, Marty came way out into the crowd. I could see that he was going to pass behind us. I stepped into a clear spot, called to him, and waved him toward me. He saw me, grinned, and changed direction to come right over to me. While still singing, with his right hand holding his microphone, he came toward me smiling, and held his left arm open. We exchanged a big hug. I gave him a kiss on the cheek, so I wouldn’t disturb his singing. He gave me another little squeeze, then continued on his way. He was still happy at that point. It was some time later that the bad incident happened in the crowd, and I could see that he was angry about whatever had happened.
When he took his shirt off during the last song, that was mind-blowing! That was Performer Marty at his utmost—putting every bit of himself, everything he has, into his performance. He was asking the crowd to give just a little bit more energy. I was so disgusted at the people he had to ASK that of. He gives so much—how could those OAR fans just stand there like that???
I also thought back to what he said to INXS: “If I go totally the other way, what’s left of my personality? Where’s my showmanship?” Watching him, I am SO GLAD that he doesn’t have to meet ANYONE halfway now—that we get to see ALL of his showmanship, because it’s incredible!!! He is SO VERY SPECIAL!!!
After the show, we headed for the merchandise area. I was still standing in line when the guys were brought out for the meet and greet. Instantly it was utter chaos! The crowd rushed all around me, and I was pinned there for over half an hour. I was fairly close to the table where they were, so I got a close-up view of what was going on. At first, Marty looked upset and angry. I think it was left over from whatever had happened with those jerks in the crowd during the show. Then when people started pushing forward and shoving the table against the guys, they all started looking worried. Security told people to back off, or they would take the band out.
Once Marty could see that he was with his own fans again, he seemed to start feeling better, and smiling again. I do think they were all getting annoyed with how security was pushing their fans through the line. I think that security was totally unprepared for the size of the crowd to meet these guys. I was right next to one security guy, and could hear what he was saying over his radio. He said, “We need 2 more people down here RIGHT NOW! We’re about to lose control of this crowd!” He kept telling me to back up, and I kept telling him that I was stuck, and they should go to the edge of the crowd to make people start moving back.
Finally after about 45 minutes, the crowd eased up enough that a security guy was able to pull me out of there, and I went to the actual line.
When I reached Marty, I first told him, “Congratulations on your new niece!” He smiled a sweet smile and said “Thank you!” I told him I had one more thing to give him. “Here is that poem that I tried to give you before, but security wouldn’t let you keep.” (Out in LA.) I gave it to him all folded up, and he slipped it into his pocket. Then I asked if I could get a picture of him wearing the Lh pendant. He said, “Absolutely”, and then he looked up into my eyes with the most incredible look in his eyes. His heart and soul were in his eyes, saying thank you. That look just about dropped me to my knees. I hope that I was able to press the button on the camera and actually take the picture. Then the security jerk started pulling me away. I just had time to reach my hand out to Marty, and he reached out his hand and squeezed mine for a second, with that look still looking into my eyes. Then I was dragged away. I said goodbye to the other guys as I went by them.
Karen and I stood around for a while after that, talking with some other people. We found out then that a lot of the people who had gone into the pre-show meet and greet hadn’t even been on the list, but had just been lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, since some people hadn’t shown up for it. Dang—lucky them! We were watching the line still going through for the post-show meet and greet. We saw some girl get her bra signed WHILE she was wearing it, and we saw Marty climb over the table to kiss his parents goodbye.
After about an hour and a half, security came and took the guys out and took them backstage. There was still a huge line of people waiting, and they didn’t seem too happy about leaving. By then OAR was almost done playing, and were going to need that area for their meet and greet.
Thinking back on the whole Aragon experience, I’ve come to the conclusion that Marty is very perceptive, and he treats each fan according to the cues they give him on how they want to be treated. He seems to try to personalize the experience for each fan. That is truly a unique ability.
BBE and Karen!! Talk about a fantasy come true 
. What a great story, you two are some of the luckiest fans that went to the Aragon. 
Would have loved to have been in your shoes. ;D