my first(and only) experience was also not too long ago. I had found them on pbs one night last February when i was channel surfing, they were in the middle of a song in the second half of ANJ and their passion and energy in their singing and playing was what caught me. I watched the rest of the special and was hooked. the next day i went to the store and bought their first dvd, and watched it for a solid 1 or 2 months before i had saved up enough to buy the cd and the ANJ cd and dvd. then my brother graciously gave me a gift certificate to amazon where i proceeded to buy every solo album i could.
later on that year, i found out they were gonna air the new christmas special on pbs and was so excited that i programmed every tv in my house to turn to that channel when it came on, and of course, set them all to record.
when the first session of pledge pitches came on, i headed to the kitchen for a snack or something as usual when i heard the $300 pitch for the christmas cd(which i already had
) and two tickets and two meet and greet passes to the Nashville show on February 27th. I immediately flipped out and asked my stepfather if he had a credit card with $300 dollars on it that i could use (i of course got the usual interrogation about what i wanted to use it for) he then called them up, and asked for the $300 pledge and to see if they could make the tickets front row. about 20 minutes later we had confirmation that we got them. I was EXSTATIC, literally jumping off of the walls and furniture.
Of course, the next few months were excrutiatingly slow, but the night finally came. The powers that be had graciously given me a no school day so i would have enough time to get ready. the time came to leave and i could get my heart to slow down, i was texting people like crazy going "omg i cant believe i'm doing this!" and had my ipod in listening to CW on shuffle the whole way there. we (my mom and i) got to the Sommet Center, and immediately bought a program, poster, and tour shirt, then we found our seats (front row center!! i couldn't believe it!) and got settled and started chatting with a few people. i immediately recognized THK playing on the speakers softly as people were coming in and finding their seats. then the lights dimmed...
smoke started coming off the stage and Mairead came out playing her fiddle. I will never forget that moment. i sat perfectly still, so excited i couldn't move, and watched as the girls came out and sang TSTDTS. as the show went on, I gained more control over my motor skills and tapped my feet and clapped and sang along. I caught glances from each of the girls and smiled back at them. intermission came and i was still shocked by the sheer fact of being that close to them, i was actually shaking s bit. then the second half started, and they had more energy than before, which shook me even more. once it was over, i was screaming and clapping as loud as the next person, then they did the encore number (spanish lady) which had everyone dancing and clapping and singing along. their chemistry and energy on stage is amazing.
once it ended everyone with a meet and greet ticket shuffled to the back of the arena where they took us through a maze to get to the meeting room. we were put into a line around the edge of the room and stood there waiting in anticipation to hear which two girls we were gonna meet. once the lady said Orla and Mairead mom got super excited cuz Mairead is her favorite and we both loved Orla. there were a few people in front of us, and when it was our turn, my insides flipped upside down. i got up to the table and the same lady from earlier asked what name i wanted on my poster and i told her "Sarah", Orla must've heard her say my name because she immediately grabbed my hand and asked if i was Sarah and i said yes, and she asked how i liked the show and if I'd seen a show before, the usual questions, but from her it sounded completely different, and in a good way. I answered her questions and chatted a bit, then moved on to Mairead. She saw me and immediately commented to Orla about how pretty she thought i was and that i had a "beautiful head of hair(I have long Brown hair a few inches shorter than Chloe's was in the ANJ dvd)" I have that moment forever engraved in my brain, I was on cloud nine at that point. then she proceeded to ask if i knew any of the songs(i told her i knew almost all of them except a few new ones that she had played that I hadn't heard), and if i had a favorite(which i said I couldn't possibly pick just one, they were all mind blowing). I chatted with her a little more, then it was mom's turn to talk to her and get her stuff signed. then sadly, we had to leave, and both Orla and Mairead looked at me and waved and said "Bye, Sarah! Hope to see you again!" which shot me up to the 100th level of cloud nine. i couldn't get the smile off my face for the rest of the night. it is definitely a night I will NEVER forget for the rest of my life.
