September 2nd was quite an eventful day. An eventful day that started extremely early. I woke up at 4 AM. Why, you might ask? Well this Lifehouse concert was in Vancouver, BC, which is a 5-6 hour drive. But considering it was Labor Day weekend, I knew that getting there could be a long haul. So we left Forks at 6:00 knowing that the ferry we needed to take was at 9:30. Thankfully the drive there wasn’t too awful. We made good timing, even considering we had to wait at the boarder for an hour. Getting to Vancouver took 7 hours. It sounds like a really long time, but the drive really didn’t feel that long.
As soon as we got to Vancouver we checked into the hotel (which was right across the street from the PNE) and parked our car. There was a fanguy on the elevator, sporting a “Who We Are” shirt and all. I thought that was pretty nifty. I went to the room to make sure I didn’t look like a train wreck, and then headed to the PNE. At this point it was about 2:00. We got to the PNE and this Princess thing was just finishing up at the concert stage. We went to go get something to drink, and I glanced over and saw that there were still people standing around in front of the stage. Obviously this made me nervous, so I walked over to investigate. To my surprise there were people pretty much camped out right at the barricade. Seriously. There people sitting in front of the stage. They had like packed lunches and some had folding chairs. I was shocked. So of course I stood on the only empty side the stage, as close to the center as I could. I was on Ben’s side, for the first time, and felt so out of place. I’ve been on Bryce’s side at every show, but I guess it was good to switch it up. It wasn’t even 2:30 yet, but I wasn’t about to leave. After standing there for maybe 10 minutes, Bryce walked out on stage with his mom, and Ben followed. My heart started racing. Ben looked over at me and waved. And then Bryce saw me waving and Ben, so he waved too. I was so excited. It was all starting to feel so real. This was really happening, they were really here.
Winnie walked up on stage and was starting to get things set up. Once he was right in front of me I was like, “WINNIE!” And He looked over at me. I was like “Do you remember a get well video from when you hurt your back?” And he said yes he did. I told him that that was me, and that I was Emily. He looked so touched and was like “Oh really?! Thank you so much for that! That was so sweet of you. Really, I really appreciate it.” I told him that I was really happy to see him back up on stage and he said that he was glad to be back to. He told me he was happy to finally meet me and then went back to work.
A few minutes later I turned around and saw Bryce and Ben standing around not too far away. I immediately got extremely anxious. I really wanted to go talk to them, but I was nervous and scared to bother them. Two girls that were standing near me said that they would come with me, so I took a deep breath, and walked over to them. Bryce was talking with some family, so I approached Ben first. As soon as he saw me he said “Hey! What‘s your name again? You look so familiar.” and shook my hand. I told him that my name was Emily and that he had met me last year in Seattle. He was like, “Oh yeah! I remember that! Good to see you again!” At first I was in shock and just stared at him like a crazy person. He laughed at me for being in shock and gave me a hug. We talked for a few minutes and I chilled out. I asked him when sound check was and he said it was at 5 and that Jason wasn’t even there yet. He asked me if I wanted to get a picture so I handed my phone to one of the girls to take the picture for us. And then I asked him if he could sign a CD. He said he would, and then I asked which one he would like to sign. He goes, “I’ll sign them all!” And I was like, “Well I HAVE them all!” I wasn’t planning on asking any of them to sign all five CDS. I just put them all in my purse so I could choose if the opportunity came. I told him that I even brought sharpies, and he told me, “You’re prepared! I like that because people always ask me to sign something and I’m like, well do you have a pen?” He loved that I thought far enough into it to bring a silver sharpie for Smoke And Mirror’s since a black sharpie wouldn’t show on it. He signed each of them to my name, which was very cool of him. He asked me where I was from and when I told him Forks he said that he refused to watch Twilight. Ha ha. He told me that their new music is pretty “bad ass” and that they’ve been working really hard. I hugged him and thanked him for taking the time to talk to me, and he thanked me for traveling so far to see them and then told me to make sure I meet Bryce.
That got Bryce’s attention and he turned around. He said hi to me and gave me a hug. And then he told me it was nice to meet me. I told him that he met me before, but forgot. He laughed and was like “oh yeah?” And I told him that we met last year after the Seattle show. And he then he was like “OH YEAH! I remember that!” I got a picture with him, and then went, “OK. I’m going to talk to you.” And he goes, “Alright.” I told him that I was a freaking jerk to him when I met him last year and he was like, “I don’t remember that?” And I told him that I said like two words to him the entire time, and when I left I felt so bad. He laughed and was like “Aww don’t even worry about it!” And then I told him how all I said to him was that he was the “twittered” and then I mimicked his response. We talked for a couple minutes about meeting last year and about how excited he was to be in Vancouver, and then I asked him to sign a CD and that he could pick which one. He said he would sign whatever ones I wanted. I told him that Ben had signed all of them, so it was up to him if he wanted to measure up or pick which he wanted to sign. He grabbed them from me and was like “Well then I’ll sign them all, too!” I handed him my sharpies and he was like “You brought a silver one because Smoke And Mirrors is black. You thought this through.” Ha ha. He signed them and then Ben walked up and asked him if they were still going to go get food. I apologized for stealing Bryce from him , and he told me “Oh no! It’s no problem at all!” I thanked Bryce for everything and then they left to go eat.
I walked back over to my spot in front of the stage and had a mini freak out. I was so excited! A few more minutes went by and then Ricky appeared on the stage. My heart stopped. I LOVE Ricky. He was walking around the stage looking for stuff and I yelled his name. He looked over, waved, and said hi. He was up there for a really long time getting his drum kit set up. After probably 20 minutes he hit one of the drums once, and I cheered for him. He looked up, saw me, put his hands together, and bowed. Then I called out his name. He looked over at me and I said “Do you remember meeting me at all?” He looked at me kind of confused, and then I was like “In Seattle last year?” He still looked confused but you could tell he was thinking. And then I was like “At the Showbox?” And then you could see him remember. It was like a light bulb went off. He pointed at me and was like “YES! I do remember that!” I got all excited and was like “REALLY?!” And he was like “YEAH! Absolutely!” I started laughing at told the girl next to me, “I don’t even care if he’s making it up!” And he somehow overheard me (I seriously didn’t say it that loud) and he was like, “NO! I really do remember you! It was an after show meeting, right? I totally remember.” I couldn’t believe it. I was like “Yes!! And I told you that you were my favorite person in the world and then you danced!” He started smiling and was like “Yeah yeah yeah!” And then I go, “And you said you liked my purse!” And he slowly goes “Well..I don’t know if I remember THAT” And Winnie and the other crew guys started cracking up. Ricky looked down smiling and looked so embarrassed! He obviously remembered exactly what I was talking about. After that I was like on cloud 9. I was super friendly and chatty, and I was talking to everyone.
I started talking to a girl named Kristy, who is a professional photographer. She got pictures of Ricky talking to me, and captured the point, and the embarrassing moment perfectly. I turned around and saw Bryce walking by again and told her to go over and meet him. She wasn’t around when I met them and was super bummed that she missed him. She wouldn’t do it but I wouldn’t let her not do it. I walked with her over to where he was and he was getting ready to walk into this building. She turned around and was going to run away when I called out his name. He turned around and told me “hi” and waved and I yelled over to him that she really wanted to meet him but was scared. He was like “Awww, ok, just give me a minute.” So then she started freaking out. I thought it was so funny to see someone freaking out like I was when I first met him that day. I was mentally freaking out still but I was trying to act calm and chill about it. Bryce walked back over and was like “I need to bring these to my family. Will you hang out here for a few minutes” and I told him of course, and he said thanks. So we stood there and I was all proud of myself for staying composed when I talked to him. After about 5 minutes or so he came back over and I was like “She’s intimidated by you Bryce,” And she was like “I’m not used to meeting celebrities!” And he laughed and goes, “I am NOT a celebrity”. So then I was like, “Umm.. You are BRYCE freaking SODERBERG. Own it.” And him and his mother busted out laughing. He kept saying that he was just a person, and I loved that. He was very nice and very humble. And then the girl was like "You're a B Celebrity", and he goes "more like an F" and the he mumbled to me "For effing awesome!". Haha. She spoke to him for a few minutes and then I randomly started talking to him again. I asked him if they were on for a 90 minute set, and he was like “Yeah we’re on for like an hour and a half.” And then I was like “So like an Everything set?” and he goes, “Yeah we’ll be playing that one.” I asked if there were any set surprises and he was like, “No, it’s the same set we’ve been doing for..” “For the past 2 years?” I chimed in. He sarcastically hit my arm and was like “YES!” And I quickly went “No no no, it’s a really good set!” And he insisted that he knew what I met. I made a comment about them not doing the mini acoustic set anymore and he said that he didn’t know what happened but that Jason pretty much calls the shots when it comes to the set and that sort of thing. I told him he needs to stop letting Jason boss him around, and we laughed. I told him that I was glad we got to talk and that I was making up for lost time, and he said “Aww..do you feel better now?” (referring to feeling bad about the first time we met.) We talked for awhile. He said that he had a lot of family there and was really excited to be in his hometown. I told him it must be really exciting to play a show there and he got all excited and agreed. He was so sweet! I asked if we could redo the picture thing because the last one didn’t turn out great and he was like ‘Yeah! Whatever you need!” So we got a few more pictures. A guy that was with Kristy offered to take the picture with my phone, and after he gave me my phone and said to check to make sure it worked. I realized my phone had frozen up and the picture didn't take. I told Bryce, "NO my phone froze up. I'm going to cry!" And in the sweetest, funniest voice he goes, "DOON'T CRY!" I seriously wish I could have recorded that because it sounded so funny. Eventually my phone worked, and Kristy also got some awesome pictures of us with her camera. After I got the picture on my phone he asked me in a really curious and sweet voice, "Can I see?!" And leaned over to see the picture. I sarcastically told him no, and then said I would tweet them to him. I don’t really remember how it came up, but I said something about how I feel like I already know him because of the internet, and he was like “Yeah! Twitter!” And somehow my name on there being “FanOfLifehouse” came up and he was like “THAT’S YOU! You woke up at like 4 AM!” Ha ha. I thought it was so funny that he remembered me tweeting that early that morning and that I said it.
One of the girls asked if they could play “Butterfly” and he was like, “I don’t even KNOW that one. And I try to keep up with all the old stuff. Like “The Edge, ands stuff.“ And I was like, “It’s ok, this was before your time.“ And he looked at me in a “Woaah” way, and I was like, “Your time in the band, not like your time on earth.“ And we laughed. We talked a bit more and then I gave him a hug and told him to have fun at the show tonight and he thanked me for coming. We started walking away from each other and then he goes “HEY! And remember, don’t worry, we’re cool. We’re good.” I thought that was so sweet of him. I'm really glad I was able to relax and joke around with him and really chat with him.
I walked backed over to the stage and was told that I had missed Jason walking on stage. I wasn’t too bummed because I knew he’d be back and that talking to Bryce was worth it. Not even 2 minutes later Jason walked up on stage. He was standing by Ricky and I yelled out his name. He looked over at me and waved, but in a friendly way like he would do to any fan waving at him, and then his face changed and you could see it click. He looked so surprised and was like “oh HI!” And smiled and waved again. And then he very slowly went, “I (pointed to his eye) remember YOU (pointed at me” And I froze. Ricky jumped up and was like “SEE! I told you!” And motioned towards Jason and then to himself. I couldn’t believe it. He recognized me from a year and a half ago, without me saying anything. I was so shocked. Permagrinned forever. The girls around me were freaking out for me.
I’m pretty sure Jason was sick. He kept putting his hands over his mouth and coughing. He just generally didn’t seem like he felt very well. I thought it was really adorable how kind and touchy feely he was with everyone. Like when he saw Winnie he gave him a hug, and the same with Ben, Bryce, and the other crew guys. He would talk to a crew guy about something and would pat them on the shoulder or something. He’s just so sweet.
They were gearing up for sound check, and the crew guy had to call over the mic for Bryce, and then I saw Bryce run from talking to his family from the crowd to the stage. He didn’t realize it was time for sound check. Ha ha. They only sound checked 3 songs - “Broken”, “Spin”, and “Falling In”. Jason made a motion to his throat and it seemed pretty obvious that they cut sound check short because of him not feeling well. I’m guessing he wanted to save his voice. At the end of “Spin” Ben looked at me and was like “How’s it goin’? “ I told him that I was doing great and asked him how he was. He said that he was good now that he had lunch. I asked what he ate, and he was like “I went to three countries actually. Vietnam, Russia, and France.” I was like, “Wow. You’ve had a busy day.” I got a lot of strange looks for why I just had a conversation with him. Not many people at all recognized him or Bryce though when they were walking around, so I was one of the only people he met that day. A TON of people were around for sound check. I was a little surprised by that. The place filled up quite a bit.
After sound check we still had 2 hour until the show started. Winnie was tuning Ben’s guitar and I was like, “That is NOT your guitar.” And he laughed and was like “I know. Well, it is mine, I just let him use it.” Ha ha. The place filled up really fast. There were a lot of people there early.
So it was about 20 minutes until the show and the place was pretty full. Winnie walked out on stage and I yelled out “WOOOO WINNIE!” And the crowd started cheering for him. He laughed and shook his head, and then did what he had to do and walked away as fast as possible. He looked over at me and laughed because he knew I started it. So then when he walked out again I did the same thing and the crowd was even louder than before. He was like “You guys are fun” And then glared at me sarcastically as he was walking back over to the guitars at the side of the stage. So then he sent the drum/bass tech out and I cheered for him and the crowd did the same, he was like “Whaat?!”, and looked all surprised and embarrassed and pretty much ran away. Winnie started laughing hysterically, and then I started laughing hysterically, and then Winnie looked at me and nodded in approval. So a few minutes later he started tuning a guitar and I was like “YEAH!!! Winnie!!! You tune that guitar!” and he goes “I’m gonna make YOU get up here and do it!” And motioned for me to go up there. We kept giving each other a hard time like this up until the show started. You could totally tell that he was loving the attention, though, and that someone knew who he was. It was so funny, and made the time pass faster.
I had the concert countdown on my phone and I would randomly yell out how many minutes and seconds were left and the people behind me would diligently listen and would ask “How much longer??” Ha ha. There was about 10 minutes until showtime when the song “These Times” by SafetySuit started playing. I was so excited and happy that they were using that as one of their pre concert songs. Jason’s doing I am sure.
At 8:00 the announcer came on announcing the PNE Summer Nights Concert Series, and we knew it was happening soon. A guy inside the barricade was setting up this big video camera and I asked him if he was important. He was like “Yeah! Well, I like to think so.” And then I asked what he was recording for, and he said it was for the video screen. So then the stage lights go off and this creepy sounding old song starts playing over the speakers. And then Ben came out and the old song stopped as he started to play the guitar.
The concert was really amazing! They played: “Hello There”, “All In”, “Here Tomorrow Gone Today”, “Nerve Damage”, “Spin”, “You And Me”, “Whatever It Takes”, “Wrecking Ball”, “Beast Of Burden”, “Wash”, “Hanging By A Moment”, Falling In”, “First Time”, “Broken”, “Halfway Gone”, and “Everything”. They completely blew me away. They’re even better than I remember. It flew by, of course, but it was so captivating. You could tell Jason wasn’t feeling 100%, but he didn’t let it show in his singing at all. He’s really pushing what his voice can do, and I LOVE it. Winnie was nice enough to hook me up with a setlist after the show. I’ll post some videos from that night once I get them uploaded!
I had an amazing day. I made some new friends waiting all day, too. It felt so good to realize that they remember me. It’s hard to believe that I would leave any impression at all that would make me memorable over a year and half later. I love them so much!
"I remember you"
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