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It was last night, September 11, 1998, I saw Hanson for the second time in my life. I was supposed to get out of school at 12:00, which is 7 and a half hours earlier than the concert, but unfortunetly I got out at 3:35.
So, okay, my friend from California came up to go to the concert with me, and so when my mom picked me up at school, we went right to her hotel to get her.We were all pysched.
So, we got there at like 4:15, and we were walking down the street, and I had my sign tucked under my arm, and this guys says to us, "You here to see Hanson? They Just went in." So, ya know, I was all pissed cuz I missed that!! So, we quickened our pace and got to the doors.
Like, NOONE was there! So, Me and my friend Rachie, shoved our faces up to these glass doors, and we could see Hanson doing the sound check. We were waving like crazy and I had my binoculars out! Tay was wearing a hat and a black shirt. (Thats all that I remember.)
So, We met up with some of these girls, and then these guards saw our cameras and said they would take them and NEVER give them back, so we had to get rid of them.
SO, I was like, "Yeah! Huh..right. I am gonna put my camera away." So then, I had to hide the cameras in my bra and underwear. (*Make a note....this was VERY uncomfortable.)
Rachel, started talking to these girls, and for the first time, Rachie told me that she had a backstage pass with her from the California Concert. (Hollywood Bowl! She was in the FRONT row!) So, she handed it to me, and told me that I could use it to go meet Hanson backstage. AS she gave it to me, I LITERALLY Peed in my pants! I swear that I peed!!!!!!!!!!
Then we started walking all over asking every security guard where to go to go backstage and they all pointed me in different directions, which really helped! (GOSH!!) I was totally thinking that it was not going to work, because this pass was from another concert, and they color-code them. The one that I had was orange, and the ones that the people had in Albany, were PINK.
Anyways, Finally, I got the correct response from like the owner or something of the Pepsi-Arena, and he told me, that when they let everyone in, I just had to go down to the floor, show them my pass and I was in deep! (By the way, my seats were on the floor, WICKED CLOSE.) So, I was the FIRST person let into the Arena!! Can you like believe it!?! But to get there, I had to deal with people telling me that they hated me and swearing at me, just cuz I had a backstage pass. They were like threatening to KILL me and Stuff....
Anyways, I immediately RAN down the flight of stairs and showed the guy my pass. He told me to wait, right where I was and I would be able to go back and meet HANSON, ASAP.
So, I waited there for like 10 minutes, then like all these girls come up and they are shoving their MOE cards in the like 6 guards' faces! The guards said to them, "Those stupid little cards mean nothing. If you want to see what you have to have to meet Hanson backstage, look at this girl right here. She has the meet and greet pass." And then he pointed to me, and flicked them my pass. They all gave me dirty looks....some hit me, some swore at me....I was like terrified!
A couple minutes later, everyone else, like 90 people with passes came, and crowded around me. Things were very confusing, and I was scared that I was NOT going to be able to go backstage because everyone elses' passes were pink and mine was orange.
Anyways...After like an hour and 15 minutes of waiting in this long line, they let me, along with 8 other people into this room, that was mid-backstage, and I saw like 5 groups of 10 people, ahead of us, waiting to meet Hanson.
And, it was odd. You could hear screams from the room blocked off ahead of us. I knew that Hanson was in there. By the way, I was by MYSELF, with these 9 ladies who I didn't know. I know that 90% of them were from Canada. (And you can see one of the girls in "Tulsa, Tokyo and the Middle of Nowhere." She is at the Toronto concert, wearing a red tank-top and on her arm it says "I LOVE TAYLOR," in black!)
Anyways, we were all talking, trying to pass the time, cuz we had to wait in another line. I am 13, and they were guessing my age. They were like, "You're 15, right!?!" I was like, "Not quite. Guess Again." So, they guessed 16, and that made me happy, cuz everyone says that I look 3 years older than my real age, and I love that, cuz Taylor is older than me by EXACTLY 2 and a half years to the day!
We were still waiting in this line, and I started to cry. Now, I had already gotten lectures, from Rachel's mom, to act like Hanson's friend, not their fan, but I so could not help it. 5 Tears just came trickling down my cheeks. So, I said to the people in my group, "I cannot believe that this is happening to me off all people." And this one lady grabs my camera, says, "Smile, honey," and takes my picture. She then hands me back my camera and goes, "There. Now you will have that picture forever. Believe it babe, you are going in there to meet Hanson. It is happening to you." At that point I got way pysched! I had/have liked Hanson SINCE Mmmbop, March, 1997.
The next thing I know, 3 minutes later, I am in this back room, equipped with 3 couches and a few chairs. It was just me and the few other fans. The guards had like locked us in here, and I began to cry. One lady says to, "Stop it right now, Erin, or I am going to have to kill you. I cannot have you crying." She was joking..but she was serious at the same time. Then, the girl behind me starts FREAKING OUT! She was like pulling her hair, and sobbing on one of the couches. Everyone ran over to her, and they were like stop. Then we all started crying. There were like 4 adults, too! I was like, wiping my face, as I said, "We have to stop. We look like total losers and Hanson will be here in any minute." They all agreed, and we all wiped our faces and peed in our pants.
All of a sudden, 3 guards came bursting through the door, closing it behind them. They said to us, "Okay. We have to set some rules before we send the boys in. There will be no taking of pictures, unless we or Hanson say that you may. Do you understand?" Of course we all agreed, even though we were a little disappointed. Then he said, "Also. Hanson will not be signing ANY autographs tonight, is that understood?" Then, a few of the older women started to argue. "But they signed stuff at Hartford!" And I was like, "oh no." UGH! The guards were just like, "Well, not here in Albany."
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Then, at that very moment, Isaac came towering through the door.
He made Eye contact with me and smiled and the only thing that I was thinking to myself was, "Okay, so I thought that Taylor was hotter than Isaac. I guess I was wrong. Noone could be any hotter than this kid." BUT OH YES!!!!!!!!! There DEFINITELY is a but!!
I see the lights start to shine, my legs start to buckle and Taylor walks in with the Doves right behind him! I could see the Halo hovering above his head. He waved to me, smiled, and walked over to me BEFORE ANYONE ELSE. He scared the complete utterness feeling and motality out of me. I am serious. He just came over all happy and goes, "Hi, I'm Taylor," and grabbed my hand.
***I was scared of him. I stepped back, and just looked at him.***
Then I handed him this scrapbook that I had been working on for the band for MONTHS!! Taylor flipped through it, and looked at my pictures, and read a sentence of a poem that I wrote him, and he looked up, beamed at me, and shook my hand again. Then he said, "What is your name?" And I said, "Erin." And he said, "It is a pleasure to meet you Erin. Thank you very much for this scrapbook. It is really neat. I appreciate it. It was very sweet of you to do this for all of the unfortunate fans out there who wanted to give us things. I will definitely look through this whole book later"
Then we got into a conversation about how I drove 14 hours to Hershey Park, Pennsylavnia on August 15, 1998 to see him. He said, "Wow, you are a really loyal and devoted fan. Thank you so much." Then, I don't quite remember what I said, I just know that I made a fool of myself. I think that I said, "No, like, umm..Thank you! I really think that you guys rule." Then Tay and I just kinda talked for like another few minutes and then stared at each other. Right then, Ike butt in and introduced himself to me, by outstretching his hand. I shook it......naturally!!!!!!!!!! And talked to Isaac for a minute. Then I went over to SHY but Oh-so-cute Zachary! He was leaning back with his hands in his pockets, and looking down as he was talking to me. He shook my hand about 3 times, then I walked over to Taylor. I said, "Could I please have a hug?" And he looked at Walker, then looked me up and down and said, with a huge smile, "Ummhh........Sure!" THEN HE WRAPPED HIS ARMS AROUND ME!! It was like a 2 second hug (Which is long..!! Ready.. 1 second, 2 second..) Well, okay, it was a 4 second hug!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was the first one to step back, because I didn't want to seem like some crazed, horny pyscho fan. As I pulled away he gave me a squeeze. My brain was NOT functioning and SERIOUSLY, Tay and I just started at each other for 15 seconds, as I began walking backwards still staring deep into Tay-Baby's eyes. I turned around JUST before I hit Zac. Then, I totally had like all of this courage, so I asked Zac for a hug. He glanced over at Walker, and Walker shook his head 'no' to Zac. So he inquired to me, "Well, I usually, am like not aloud, or m.." and then I cut him off with, "That's okay!" Cuz I didn't need an explanation. I saw Walker tell Zac no, so i knew that if Walker hadn't said anything, I would have gotten my hug from Zachary, too. So, then I guess maybe, fake smiling, I said to Zac, "I like your pants alot," While looking where i wasn't supposed to. He said, "Thanks. I was just going to say the same about yours." And then Zac touched my leg! And I guess that I was a little pissed that he didn't give me a hug, and I wanted to make this worthwhile, so I said to him, "Okay, well, see you later," and I turned around to go back to Taylor, when Zac said, "Aww...well," then he blushed, and grabbed my hand while saying, "Just because I can't hug you doesn't mean that I can't hold your hand or anything!!" THEN, ZAC SQUEEZED MY HAND FOR LIKE 35 SECONDS SoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo hard that I thought my hand was going to trun purple and fall off. (I am not saying that I didn't enjoy it!! Zac's voice is like WAY lower than Taylor's is! And it kept cracking, I was laughing so hard.)
Then Zac was acting like a maniac and telling me these jokes, that were so incredibly hysterical that my sides hurt when I laughed. Then one guard looked at Zac and he let go of my hand. Then this guy said, "Okay picture time!"
All the girls ran over to Taylor, but not me. I didn't want to look like a loser, so I walked over there slowly. Then I kind of helplessly cried out, "Taylor! Taylor!" Then, I touched his hand that was on this girls shoulder, and he said, "Don't worry, Erin. I will spend time with you after the picture," then he put his hand on my shoulder to comfort me! He smiled so big at me and then I was like thinking to myself
OMIGOD HE REMEMBERED MY NAME AND HE TOUCHED ME AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, I was like fine with not standing next to Tay, cuz Ike walked over to me, and bent over to talk to me (Hez like 5'11" and a half, so..6 foot and I am 5'2"!) Ike put his hands on my shoulders and back, and got behind me. I could feel his chest on my back, his hands were on my shoulders and he kept rubbing my back. Then he rested his chin upon my head.
And like, the weird thing was, noone was like by Zac. So he says, "I don't like it over here! I'm all alone! Noone is standing near me!" There was only this one lady in between me and Zac, so I said to him, "Come on over here. There is room! You can stand right next to me." So, he took two steps, and then went back, and said,"No, you come over here with me!" HE said that in the Weirdest voice! You know, that funny one he does! And he outstretched both of his arms/hands to me. I ALMOST WENT WITH HIM, but Ike put his hand on my back, and I was like thinking to myself, Well, lets see..Zac is outstretching his arms to me, like he is gonna give me a hug......but on the other hand, Isaac has his body up against me. So, then, two women run over to Zac, and he puts his arms around them. Then this guys goes, "SMILE!" And this girl ran over to be in the picture, and jumped in front of me, and Ike whispers in my ear, "Okay, did she have to stand like right there, in front of you?" And we both laughed! And they took like 11 pictures with everyone's cameras! (One picture per person!)
After that, Ikers tapped me on the back and I shook his hand again, like 2 more times and talked to him for a second. Then I remembered that I was going to talk to Tayles again, so we walked over to each other, and he shook my hand, and kept shaking it as he was saying to me, "I really hope that you enjoy the concert tonight! Thank you sooo much for everything." Then he put his arm on my shoulder. Oh, and like as I was shaking his hands, I could feel his rings! He had one on his right hand on the ring finger! And after that I was so satisfied with myself. NOONE ELSE HAD HUGGED ANY OF THEM! So, I went back over to Zac, and he grabbed my hand again and we said our good-byes as I pleaded with his big brown eyes. (Although, he had covered them up with sunglasses!! DONT ASK WHY!! This is an indoor concert, at 8:00 at night!) So, he kinda touched me, NO HUG, but then he said, "Have fun out there." And Ike said, "See you later," and shook my hand.
Then the crowds like parted, and I wanted to like shake Tay's hand last, ya know, right!??! So, it was sorta like a fate thing! He somehow found me, and Shook my hand 3 more times, and told me to enjoy the show, as I made a fool of myself by saying, "Oh, I know, I will! You guys are wonderful!" Then they all smiled, waved, and walked out of the room. I followed... leaving the room, but had to go back cuz I had forgot my camera!! UHHHHH...Duh!! The most important thing! I forgot it because I wasn't think about ANYTHING at all!!
As I walked out, I had to go back through that mid-backstage room, where there were still people waiting to go back to see the trio. As I was walking, I was like, I cannot believe that I am not crying, then, there..at that second, I FLIPPED OUT! I started screaming, spitting, sobbing, I fell, I freaked! then I started running..and it was out the curtain and back out onto the floor for me! I saw my mom and best friend, Rachie, right away! I WAS SCREAMING!! No, you don't understand! I was hyperventilating practically and all this stuff. It was scary.
My mommy had been crying as I got backstage becasue my best friend, Rachel's mom went up to my mom's seats and said, "Barb, Erin got backstage! She just went in to meet Hanson!" My mom was so happy for me, cuz she knows that I love Hanson! Well...duh! She was so happy for me, cuz my dream was coming true! So she started crying.
(After, Rachel told me that seeing me and carrying me away to my seat after just hugging Tay had been her favorite and most cherished moment, and it was worth over 1,000, 000, 000, 000 words.)
They situated me in my seat and all the girls around us were pissed and giving us dirty looks and stuff!!
AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, we were SOOOOOOOO CLOSE to the stage, that I could see Taylor's pimples..(not like he has/had that many!!)
The concert was totally kickin!! The *B*E*S*T EVER!!!!!!!!!!!! I lost it during a few songs, crying very dramitically and enthusiastically, but I managed to pull myself back together., Like, during "With You In Your Dreams," Isaac was sobbing, and he made Zac cry. Then Tay got a little shaky, but they continued to play. (well, Ike had stopped!) At the end, I stood up on my seat (Which you aren't supposed to!) So that Tay could see me, and I held up my sign, and he saw me and waved to me! I was just like oh boy! And Rachel was like, "Did Taylor Just wave to you?"
After that, we went to their hotel, but it was jam packed so we didn't even try to get in, and besides, I respect Hanson for who they are, not because they are really hot.
THEY NEED THEIR PRIVACY ONCE IN A WHILE BELIEVE IT OR NOT!!!!!!!!!!
Then Rachie and I went with our parents to grab some food. I hadn't eaten since 10:45 that morning, so it was over 12 hours hours!! We went and we told the waitress everything and she didn't know who Hanson was, so I made a fool out of my self by getting up and singing MMMBOP, WHERE'S THE LOVE and I WILL COME TO YOU. She still didn't know, so we showed her pictures!!!!!!!! It was the best night of my entire life! My dream had/has come true and I thank everyone for making it possible, especially Rachel. She only had one pass and she gave it to me instead of keeping it for herself and using it.
Rachel, if you are reading, I want you to know that you are my best friend and I love you!
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