Ohhh... I feel like being reminiscent, too. But I'll have to start several weeks before the show because, well, that's were it started for me. If you just want to read about the show, I'll bold something were that starts. (I'm really long winded when I can't sleep, SORRY!)

My saga began on Thanksgiving. I had flown up to Spokane to audition for graduate school in Missoula that following week. Because I saved $100 bucks by flying in and out of the slightly larger airport, I was going to be able to take a chance at purchasing tickets for Eddie's. Ahhh... life was good. Then, on my way back to Spokane from Missoula, I had the awesome experience of driving in a mini-blizzard. Let me just add that I'm from New Mexico. Long story short, I lost control of my rental car, spun out across the interstate and then slammed into the guardrail. Adios $100... that went towards changing my flights (it seems like they should forgive that fee in a situation like that), oh yeah and then add another $500 for the deductable. Oh, and it gets better. I called my best friend/neighbor to let her know that I wouldn't be home that evening and she let me know that our landlords were selling our house and we had to be out December 26.

Yeah, it was easy to see that going to Atlanta definitely wasn't going to happen. Even if I had the $$$, my new flight had me in the air somewhere over Idaho when the tickets went on sale. *Sigh* At least I had life.

Fast forward 10 or so days. I was studying for finals and stressing out about playing for one of the top 5 clarinetists in the world (I'm a clarinetist) in a couple of days (add: the car accident caused me to have TMJ, so I was hurting big time... not exactly the ideal playing conditions) on top of not knowing where I was going to live and how I was going to afford the move. I was also bumming that I was going to have to spend another Christmas alone because my family lives in Knoxville. Then, my AIM blinged at me-- it was one of the lovely people that I had met in Denver. We chatted for a while... I told her about my fantastic luck and she talked about finals and whatnot. Then, 15 minutes or so later, she single-handedly parted the clouds, "Well, I originally was going to ask you if you wanted to go to Eddie's Attic because I have an extra ticket, but I totally understand if you can't." Wait, huh? Hold the phone! I totally jumped out of my chair, sighed huge releases of joy and quickly typed back, "No, of course I'll go." I got on the phone, called my mom and told her I was coming home for Christmas. I didn't know or care how I was going to afford it... I just knew that I needed something positive to look forward to.

So, now it's December 18th... I moved the last of my stuff into my new apartment at 4am and I still hadn't packed for my journey across the country. I managed to sleep 2 hours, get my affairs in order and get on the road around noon... I was only driving to OKC, so I should have arrived around 9 (with time change). SHOULD, being the operative word of that sentence. It took me 6 freakin' hours to get across the panhandle of Texas... the roads were covered in ice. So, I'm drivin' down the road, going 30mph, listening to TRY!... Gravity's blaring and then a semi, going at least 80, passed me-- or should I say, looses control beside me. Yeah, he totally flipped that truck... it was completely awesome and terrifying at the same time. (Creepy thing, Gravity was playing when I had my rental car wreck, too...) I finally got to OKC at 1:30am. I drank 8 red bulls to stay awake and they had done their job. I stayed at the girl who gave me her extra Eddie's ticket (Loan)'s house.

We left the following morning. Keep in mind, we didn't know each other. Yeah, we spent 8 or so hours waiting in line in Denver and we sent the occasional IMs... and yet, I stayed at her parents, we drove half the length of the country, she stayed at my parents place. We both confided in each other how weird it should have been but wasn't. We chatted as though we had been the best of friends forever. Good times. I wanted to stop in Nashville (because I LOVE BB Kings-- practically lived there during last year's NCAA tournament). Finally got into my parents place at 3am. Quick point out: by this point I had only slept 8 hours in the past 72. Add another 4 to that total... Yeah, I was totally runnin' on fumes.

So, we left for Atlanta around noon. There was a wreck on the interstate between Cleveland and Chattanooga so we had to detour. Finally got into Atlanta during rush hour... Seriously? 8-10 lanes of traffic at a complete stand-still? It's not even that bad in LA! I completely got lost in Decatur... street signs anyone? Eventually, we got there. I brought a different shirt to change into and face wash, but there wasn't time.

INSIDE EDDIE'S ATTIC, all of the seats had been taken... By this time, I was seriously hurting. I Nine went on. They were enjoyable (I bought the EP), but I really just wanted them to get off the stage. Since Eddie's is a bar, I decided that the only way I was going to be able to handle being awake was if I had a few drinks. (It worked.) The only openning at the bar was by the Kitchen door. If you were there, you know that the Kitchen dubbed as a green room/backstage. Yeah, I was the first person in his line of sight when he entered the room (too bad I looked a mess, right?). I hadn't met him before nor did I ever expect to. Pardon me while I sound like a teenager for a moment, but I was super stoked that he was within 6 inches of me.

Then he played. I was there the first night... it was the perfect night for me. **I'm not going to recap the stories about each song since most of them have been retold countless times. Instead, I'm just going to continue with my own personal journey. Sorry to be so egocentric!**

VICTORIA
Many a roadtrips begin with this song... it seemed fitting that it kicked off the set.

LOVE SOON
Permagrin... need I say more?

OUTSIDE IN THE UNDERGROUND
OMf-ingG! I love this song like no other. It's the best pick-me-up song when things seem like they just couldn't get any worse... if you bothered to read my preshow events, you probably can see why I needed to hear this one. And he rocked it! I cannot wait for the Eddie's release for this song.

MY STUPID MOUTH
Up to this point, Dela was chillin' on a little ledge next to were I was standing. He got up to go to the bar once or twice, and being the ever polite person that I am, I moved out of his way and did the "after you" gesture with my hands. He did a quick double take and returned the gesture. It was a cute little moment... I'm such a goober.

WONDERLAND
I have to admit, I wasn't thrilled when I heard the opening chord of YBIAW... but that feeling left nearly as quickly as it came on. I'm so glad I heard it without 10,000+ girls singing along. I have a new found respect for that little ditty.

CITY LOVE
Since I don't really have anything to say about this one, I'll just point out that this random guy with a ginormous camera kept walking by... I asked a girl standing next to me who he was. Ummm, yeah. 6 months ago I was probably the least informed JM fan... didn't even know who Scotty was.

NOT MYSELF
Yeah, this one goes on my life soundtrack.

3x5
Roadtrip song #2

LA SONG
This song is really impressive to watch him play. If you haven't seen it, you really should... even if that means you have to watch a no-no recording from Eddie's.

CLARITY
I loved when he completely botched it. The facial expressions were classic. That was also the only time I heard the audience singing along. Sure, I saw people mouthing the lyrics silently, but the overall concensus was to just soak in the experience. (Although, Loan said the girl standing next to her was singing really loudly-- not me, I wanted to be closer to the bar than where she was standing.)

COME BACK TO BED
Yeah, this is the point in the evening that I have had too much to drink. I wasn't tired or sore anymore, which was a good thing, but I also was a drunk girl. John started and stopped this song 3-5 times... yeah, I already told this story in another thread. I really hope they edit my drunk ass out of the recording (if/when it's released). My friends think it would be fantastic if they didn't [edit it out] that way I can say, "Yeah, that's me" kind of like that random "Comfortable" chick in Try! I don't think that would be that cool, personally.

BIGGER THAN MY BODY
A drunk girl needs to pee. This song couldn't have been played at a better time.

TRACING
Didn't think I'd ever hear this one live. So glad I was wrong.

WHO DID YOU THINK I WAS
He rocked this song! I love the Trio stuff.

GRAVITY
Ahhh... my car accident song! Fitting that it would close the night (minus the encore) since it was there in the beginning.

THE HURT
Holy crap! I held my breath, too! It's weird because I tried to explain the lyrics to my friends and they just didn't get it. "Wait, he wants someone that doesn't deserve his love? What, does he think he's too good for people?" "No... well, yes, but it's not like that." How do you explain this song to girls that just want to find "the one" and get married. Yeah, you can't.

STOP THIS TRAIN
I dug The Hurt a bit more than this one. As he played it, all I could think was, "OMG, I'm one of 200 people here this evening. This is beyond cool. He's sharing songs with us that no one else (beyond his circle) has heard. Everything has been worth it."

POST SHOW. So, then it was over and I wasn't bummed. All I wanted was a cigarette... I finally made my way into the patio and found someone willing to part with one. The patio was fairly empty, so I just chilled in there for a while. It was nice. I hadn't seen Loan, so I called her phone. "Where are you?" "I'm standing next to John [click]."

What? Huh? So, I walked back into the billiard table room through the 'back door' -- the one not on the side of the recording equipment... the one that completely bypassed the line that everyone was standing in... the one that was two feet from John. Still drunk, I walked up to him, tapped his arm (that didn't work) and then grabbed his elbow. I didn't have a camera (my Eddie's picts were from Loan's camera and I still hadn't found her), but I still asked for a picture. "Sure, no problem." So, I had to solve that minor problem of not having a camera... the guy that I cut in front of was cool enough to take one for me. I asked for a guitar pick and I carry it in my wallet. Someone kept telling John how much they loved his music and he responded with, "I'm Trying" twice. I just started laughing at him and said, "Trying to sell more records with that pun?" To which he smiled and said, "I'm Trying... I'm just Trying." Then Loan found me and we went back into the patio for a while-- I needed to sober up a bit before driving.

A few minutes later, I realized that I hadn't paid my tab. The Lounge was closed off, but I had an excuse to go back in there. John came in shortly after and shouted out a "Good night!" and Loan and I wished him a quick good night, too. While I paid my tab, Loan struck up a conversation with Dela. He was kind of trying to ignore her... he was at a table with "friends and family." But, good ol' drunk Tallyn came to the rescue. We took pictures with him and he introduced us to Eddie, his dad and his brother. I fell in love with his accent and told him. I asked where he was from (remember... totally ignorant fan) and we chatted about accents and random stuff like that for a bit. Loan asked about upcoming tour info (confirmed he'd be on the road with John and DRH in the near future) and about the other guys. His comment about Chavez playing with Hilary Duff was classic, "Sometimes you just take a job to watch pretty, young girls shake their asses." I didn't want to take up anymore of his time, but Loan asked him how he met John and that's when he cut the conversation short. He was there enjoying spending time with his family... we totally understood.

Then, Loan wanted a picture with Scotty. I had spoken with him earlier briefly, so I didn't really care one way or the other. She made up this story about how I wanted to buy a shirt but didn't have any cash. We worked it out-- he even reopenned the merch table for me (I thought that was really sweet). She got her picture and I got one, too. Those pictures are awesome... I requested funny faces, and funny faces we got. I asked him if he had been to Atlanta before (haha, right? Yeah, he laughed.) and for directions to a couple different places.

Outside, we ran into Eddie again. We had a chef take our picture with him-- I think we must have stood out there posing for at least 10 minutes. Eddie didn't seem to mind. He talked about the phone call from John requesting the three nights (in his blog, John said Eddie called him...). He told me to come back the following evenings. I politely refused. As cool as that would have been, I needed to sleep and not tempt fate. The night was already completely delightful.

THE NIGHTCAP. So, the night could have ended there... but it didn't. We went to a Waffle House out near the airport (I'd never been to one before) and we were the only people there. Fatigue was beginning to creep in, but it couldn't completely take hold... we were still pretty stoked. As we left, a homeless lady was outside asking for money. I gave her everything I had (maybe a couple bucks). Then she asked for a ride, "Sure, why not!" It seemed like a good idea at the time. So, we're driving this random lady further into the city... and she directed me into a slightly sketchy neighborhood. She asked me to drop her off on a corner-- not in front of the house. How much do you want to bet I took this lady to her crack dealer's house?

The following morning, it was over. Loan was on a plane back to OK and I was in my car heading back up to Tenn. What a whirlwind of events! It felt like a lifetime (Can you tell from this insanely long post? Would you believe I left out a ton of stuff?), and it feels like a lifetime ago. It's only been 6 months... It's weird how something as simple as a concert can be so rewarding. When I first heard about the shows I thought, "Wow, that's really cool. I bet that would be really fun." Who knew that it would be so uplifting and necessary to help me get out of a funk.

OK... this post is freakin' long. If anyone actually reads it all the way through, wow. I haven't really thought about this in quite a while. It was nice to enjoy the journey through my memories.

Meeeeemoriesssss...like the corners of my miiiinddd....

-Heather

Great Indoors
Deal with it. It's rock'n'roll.