Some musings from a lurker:
I just got back home from San Diego last night and oh what a time I had!! Decided to just go for it and arrange a trip to see Adam in Del Mar (long way from my home in Milwaukee) but the stars aligned with money and days off from work. My sisters (one from Philly, the other from Columbus,OH) met me there last Friday and we had several days of sight seeing before the big event. One sister was an Adam virgin, the other one had gone with me to Pittsburgh Pride a few weeks earlier.
I won't go into details about Del Mar since so many others have provided so much already. Let me just echo all of the positive sentiments. The venue is just fabulous for a concert - the best outdoor, fairground arena I have been to. Great lighting, sound, and jumbo-trons. The Terrace where we sat was perfect. So much space, such a great view, perfect for height challenged people who don't want to crane their necks trying to see around those standing in front of them. I would fly cross country in a minute to see Adam at this venue again.
The fans were out in full force. Literally. My sisters and I got lovely heart shaped Adam fans to wave courtesy of some generous Glambert who had made 500 of them. Thank you so much, whoever you are. I met several people who could overhear the sound check and asked me who was singing. They remembered Adam and I urged them to run, not walk, to the box office and take advantage of the opportunity to see him GA for a mere $8.00. And so they did.
Before the concert, I ran into Theosgma and a few other Atopers. I had met Theosgma in Pittsburgh. She mentioned that she was going to drive to LA the next day to see Adam at the AT&T event. Apparently Stardust had an invite for 4 guests to Live Proud and she was going with Theosgma, SophieB, and ____!?! Who else? Turned out to be ME!!!!.
You guys need to know that while I am politically liberal, I am very conservative and measured in my personal life. I don't like surprises. I make lists galore and I like everything planned out well in advance. I was supposed to fly home on Wednesday morning. So here I am sitting in the audience at Del Mar and trying to call Delta to see if it is even possible to change my flight. I did find that there was a flight but the noise was so loud while some bingo game was going on and I was on hold so long that I gave up for the time being. Theo and I exchanged info and while I was driving back to the hotel downtown afterwards, my sister called the airline and pretended to be me and changed my flight. Luckily I knew my confirmation # by heart (I'm anal that way).
Back at the hotel I reserved a room for the next night in northern San Diego near where Theo was staying and arranged for a taxi at dawn on July 4th to the airport. To save time the next morning, I decided to turn in the rental car (at the hotel) and put the key in the drop box. But in my excitement, I left my Galaxy phone locked IN THE CAR
. Fortunately, my sister had been in contact with Theo while I was driving earlier so she had her # saved and could let her know why I wasn't responding to her. As you can imagine, it was a mostly sleepless night. I was at the rental desk first thing and the Enterprise lady unlocked the car for me to retrieve my phone. Deep breath, all is well again. We took a cab to the airport and said our goodbyes and before long, Theosgma picked me up at the baggage claim and we were on our way!
What a grand adventure! She is such good company and a delightful companion. Between her GPS, our 2 smart phones, and some dead reckoning we made it to Hollywood and Wilcox at about 5 PM. A handful of fans were waiting in line outside of the nightclub. My phone was almost dead but I finally remembered to call my husband and let him know that I was not on a plane home but would return the next day. I can't believe I forgot all about him! Stardust showed up soon after and SophieB arrived courtesy of MyS*&@^#r shortly before the line started moving shortly after 7 pm.
I had no idea of what to expect. The venue was narrow, dark, and fairly empty. We had orange wristbands and were not allowed in the pit area or the close up reserved seating on the sides. Slowly the place filled up, mostly with attractive young people, lovely gay boys, and apparently some celebrities. Adam's Live Proud poster/banner was prominently displayed. We were entertained by music videos of pop stars (not Adam) and 2 aerial silk climbers. Later they opened up the pit area and Theosgma opted to go down there where she secured a great spot near the stage. I stayed up by the bar area and had a terrific view along the rail right next to the professional photographer and the sound board. From my vantage point I could look all around me and it greatly enhanced my experience to be able to observe the crowd reaction to Adam.
At about 9:30, Adam was introduced. What can I say? He was just so gracious and gorgeous as he spoke about LGBTQ youth and the $50,000 check for the Trevor Project was presented. He left the stage and at this point we still had no idea what or when or what was going to happen. But concert prep stuff started happening on the stage and the sound guy took his place next to me. He was so nice. He said he was Adam's sound guy. I said I had been to Del Mar yesterday and the sound was terrific. He thanked me and then apologized that the sound might be a "little rougher tonight" because of the venue. I asked what it was like to work for Adam and he said, "Adam is a joy to work for. A lovely person. I have also worked for Jennifer Hudson and she is lovely too but in a different way." Someone then handed him the set list and he taped it to the soundboard. It looked LONG!!! The girl behind me handed him her phone and he graciously took a picture of the set list for her. He encouraged us to get as close as possible, just to try not to bump into the camera guy when he arrived. What a guy!
So Adam is introduced and comes out and gives the performance to die for. He was on fire. By now you've seen the vids. The fans down in front gave Adam love from the get go but after the first few songs, the uninitiated woke up big time. All around me were beautiful young people, handsome gay boys and men, very ethnically diverse crowd, some well dressed executive types all engaged in watching Adam work his magic. They were singing and dancing, hugging and kissing, drinking, laughing, standing on the padded seats/benches to get a better view. Many knew the words. The cover songs were greatly appreciated. Hoots and hollers. It was over too soon.
Theo and I made a pit stop in the bathroom where we were in line with a lovely Asian woman who raved about Adam. Today I realize that it was that Chinese actress Bai Ling who doesn't look a day over 30. On the ride back, I was so happy to share Adam thoughts, experiences and relive the magic with Theo. Before I knew it we were at the Quality Inn and said our goodbyes.
I made it back home without a hitch and I have to admit I am having a bit of trouble getting back to real life. I just can't believe that I got to see Adam 3 times in 3 weeks. Like so many of you advise here, you just have to go for it. I am so grateful to Stardust and Theosgma. I can't thank you ladies enough. My only regret is that there were other Atopers there that I wanted to meet and was probably standing very close to. Would love to have said hi to the people behind the names here that I read daily.
Sorry I was so long winded and hope I didn't bore you all but since I rarely post, I thank you for indulging me. Tomorrow I go back to work at the hospital with a heart full of happy memories. I can't wait to see what the future holds for Adam and for all of us who love him so.
)
) and talked and talked and talked about Adam.
. Fortunately, my sister had been in contact with Theo while I was driving earlier so she had her # saved and could let her know why I wasn't responding to her. As you can imagine, it was a mostly sleepless night. I was at the rental desk first thing and the Enterprise lady unlocked the car for me to retrieve my phone. Deep breath, all is well again. We took a cab to the airport and said our goodbyes and before long, Theosgma picked me up at the baggage claim and we were on our way!
