I MET HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my goodness- Let me just go ahead and warn those of you that may not enjoy reading my blogs about Taylor Hicks. You may want to just click on a link to the left-hand side of my page to read about someone else's life because this one is devoted to only him....and me of course!

I cannot even describe what an amazing time Bridgett and I had not only at the concert, but on the way, during dinner, and afterwards. I'm going to try my best to write out every detail I can remember, not only for those of you reading, but for myself to read again later when I want to relive this incredible experience. Get ready- it's a good one!

I bought tickets on opening day from Ticketmaster. The best tickets I could get were on the 13th row from the stage. I thought that was pretty good. The concert was in the Concert Hall instead of the arena so I figured there probably wasn't a bad seat in the whole place. Now that I had tickets my mission was to get backstage passes. I did everything I knew to do. I heard about a local radio station giving them away the day before the concert so I had several friends trying to win them for me but didn't have much luck. I tried calling in and flat out asked them to give me some but was of course, turned down. At this point, I told myself that I would be content if I didn't meet him if I knew I had done absolutely everything I could possibly do. That, I did, so I was okay....still hoping something would work out, but I was okay. I did have the idea the night before the concert to look around on ebay to see what was out there. I was still hoping to get some backstage passes but instead found two tickets on the FIFTH ROW for TEN DOLLARS!!!!!!! I bought them, they were emailed to me Tuesday afternoon, and we were on our way.

I pull in the driveway at home Tuesday afternoon to Bridgett standing there waiting for me with a video camera. She had the wonderful idea to bring it along to film a "documentary" she entitled "True Life: I'm a Taylor Hicks Fanatic." Silly or not-I am soooooo very glad she did it. I changed clothes really quick and we were on our way.

We stopped for dinner really quick (which could have been an entire new documentary if we had only videoed) and then went straight to the venue. We pulled in around 5:00 and not knowing where to park, asked a security guard where we should go. As we looked around, we saw Taylor's bus directly in front of us. At that point, we didn't care how far we had to walk to get to the Concert Hall, we had found our parking place. We got out of the car with the video rolling, and headed straight over to the bus. We met two girls from New York that had driven down for the concert. They had been out there since 3:30 and had already gotten to meet Taylor and take pictures with him. Right then I knew I wasn't going ANYWHERE.

I took some pictures of the bus, talked to our new friends Jessica and Gillie, and then focused my attention on the door waiting for Taylor's appearance. Finally, I saw him. He came out of the door but then turned around and went back in really fast, as though someone had called him back in. Wow- I was freaking out at this point. So, we waited. He came out again on his phone for one second, only to turn right back around and go in again, as if someone called him back like the first time. Next, he came out one door and walked down a little hallway to get to another door. As soon as I spotted him I waved. He waved back at me! I was the only one waving so yes, it was at me for all you skeptics!! :) We continued to wait, trying to decide if we thought he was really going to come out and talk to us. Regardless, I still wasn't going anywhere. In the meantime, we met Brian the saxophone player. Wow- very easy on the eyes was he. He was really, really nice. I was actually calm enough to carry on a conversation with him. He talked to us and laughed about the video camera. We met one of the keyboard players, also named Brian. He played with Taylor in his band, The Little Memphis Blues Orchestra, before Taylor won American Idol. He was very nice, too. He said he went to school at Alabama and of course, I had to rag him about that.

So, we're still waiting patiently outside, cameras in hand ready to go. We waited until about 7:15 and our patience finally payed off. He came out the door again but this time didn't go back in. He started walking toward us with whom I assume was his manager. He looked so cute! He had on a long coat with jeans and his new balances. He was drinking some coffee but put it down to start signing autographs. I was hoping to get my picture made with him but his manager said, "We don't have time for pictures folks. He's not even supposed to be out here right now but he appreciates you guys so much he wanted to come and sign a few autorgraphs." I was disappointed for a split second but it went away quickly as he was approaching me to sign this little piece of paper I had taken out of my purse for his autograph. Closer, closer, closer.....Okay, talk about freaking out. Actually, I think I stayed pretty calm looking on the outside but inside I didn't know what to do or say. He was now right in front of me. I gave him my piece of paper and HE TOUCHED MY HAND. Wow- He signed it and gave it back to me and looked me in the eye. That's all I remember. My goal was to just make eye contact and I did. What he said to me? I have no idea. We later referred to the video, in which Bridgett got it all on film, and found out that he signed my paper, looked right at me for like three seoncds and said, "How's it going?" I was too frozen to say anything other than a quiet "good." I could kick myself now for not talking to him and actually carrying on a conversation. I can think of several things sitting here now I would liked to have said but they just wouldn't come out at the time. Anyway, I met him. Not only did I meet him, but I got TONS (and yes, tons) of pictures, his autograph, physical contact, and my favorite- he looked me right in the eye. Time stood still folks.

He went on the bus to change before the concert so we felt good about leaving and going to find our seats inside the concert hall. The fifth row was AMAZING. We were so close, as you will be able to tell by the pictures I will post at the end. His performance was remarkable (I'm running out of adjectives here). Brian (both of them but especially Brian on the saxophone) is incredibly talented. He was a huge part of the show. Taylor was running himself ragged and didn't slow down the entire time. His shirt was sopping wet from sweat. The backup singer was fantastic. I can't say enough about how enjoyable the show was. It wasn't just because I love Taylor so much. These guys are truly incredible.

I was sad when the concert was over. It was about 10:30 at that point, and seeing that I had to be in Birmingham the next day at 8:30 for that workshop, I didn't feel like I needed to hang around for long. Did that stop me? NO! We ended up going straight back to the bus. There were lots more people out there this time. We waited about 30 minutes before Taylor came back out. He still wasn't able to take pictures, but signed more autographs. I felt like I needed to make eye contact one more time with him before I left. The only problem was I didn't know what to say! I decided to keep it simple and just said, "Taylor, thank you." He looked right at me again and said none other than, "You're welcome." That was good enough for me. My night was set and it couldn't have ended any better.

So, after tons of pictures and a little bit of freaking out, we were on our way home a little before midnight. I was sleepy the next day, but it didn't matter. I couldn't keep my mind off the night before. It was such a wonderful experience- every bit of it. The best part is we have it all documented on video. It's almost an hour of coverage from our special night. I will never forget it. Enjoy the pictures!!!!