My Songbook (and other music related things)

This Is Not A Test Tour Experience

I must say, while July 28 was a very fun and entertaining day for me, it couldn't possibly compare to my experience from yesterday, November 5, 2015.

If you don't know, I'm a strong Christian and I'm a fan of tons of Christian artists. If I were to name my top three favorite Christian artists, they would be:

1.) Britt Nicole - I've been a fan of her and have tried to see her live for the past five years.  Her songs are extremely relatable to me and honestly, her music (and Colton Dixon's) has helped me get through so much in my life (especially recently).
2.) Colton Dixon - Discovered him when he was at Winter Jam a few years ago and like I said, his music has helped me through a lot.
3.) tobyMac - I've seen him live at Winter Jam twice so that's pretty cool.

Anyway, those are my absolute favorite Christian singers and I discovered that all three of them were touring together, so obviously I HAD to get tickets.  I bought tickets that weren't actually front row, but they were near the center in the first row at the end of the walkway stage thing (I really don't know if there is a technical term for it.)

There was an online contest to win two backstage passes to meet tobyMac at the show and I entered it.  I didn't win, but I no longer care.  Had I won the tickets, only two of us could've met him (and there were three of us at the concert).  So, even though my one friend volunteered to sit out if we won, I would've felt terrible having her sit alone while we met tobyMac.

The day before the show, I did my concert nail art, where I put all the artists' faces on my nails. I posted it to Instagram and Hollyn liked it just a minute later. So I was kinda surprised and happy that Hollyn saw my nail art.

Now onto the actual day of the concert: (the best day of my life, better than the Selena Gomez concert and better than the One Direction concert)

My friends and I left school early the day of the show to get to the place early.  I was determined to meet Britt Nicole (which technically never happened) so when Britt posted a photo of herself on Instagram, we instantly started wandering around downtown by the arena in search of where the photo was taken.  We actually found the spot, but Britt was no longer there.  I made my friends keep searching with me though and we walked around the arena and to the end of a sidewalk, where our options were to either go forward and enter a sketchy parking garage area or turn around because the sidewalk to our right was blocked off so nobody went toward the tour buses which were parked that way.  Well, we happened to reach this area at just the perfect moment because I looked over toward the tour buses and I saw two people standing over there.

I told my friends "Guys, I think that's tobyMac!"  We awkwardly stood at the end of the sidewalk as the two people looked our way and they kept pointing out way, but I don't really know why.  They walked over toward us and about halfway, a car stopped by them and handed tobyMac a cellphone (irrelevant, but it happened).  Then they reached the area where we were and tobyMac and the other guy said something along the lines of "This isn't what I thought would be here."  "I thought here was a parking lot over here."

My friends and I just kind of stood there awkwardly, not really believing that tobyMac was there in front of us.  He said, "Do you guys want a picture?" So we obviously said yes and all three for pictures with him.

Then he said "We were just off to go find somewhere to eat." And they walked down the sidewalk. We ended up following them (but only because there was no other way to go).

It was honestly wonderful how we met Toby. Like we were bummed about not getting the backstage passes, but God clearly had a plan to make sure all three of us met him instead of just two of us. I am extremely grateful that we got to meet him like that. I mean, how many people can say they met one of their favorite artists randomly on the streets?

Later on, we were sitting in a coffee shop and I just happened to look behind me through the window and see tobyMac walk by. We started laughing and talking about 'What if we hadn't met him earlier?' We probably would've fallen on top of each other, trying to rush out of the coffee shop and chase him down the sidewalk. I was thinking 'wouldn't that just be the funniest story to tell?' We left the coffee shop quickly after that and saw him and the other guy down the block at a crosswalk. The light said they only had two seconds left to cross the street and that was the moment they ran across. I really wanted to get a picture of it and be like "That's not safe, Toby!" But I couldn't get my camera opened in time.

We were walking back toward the parking garage to get our car when we saw Britt Nicole across the street get into a car that drove away before we had a chance to get anywhere near them. Sadly, that was the closest we got to meeting Britt before the show.

The doors opened to the venue and we went in and browsed the merch and stuff. Toby's drummer was out there promoting a movement called "We Are One" which is basically about showing how everyone is equal in God's eyes. So we all got to meet Toby's drummer as well.

Since we were right by the smaller stage thing, Hollyn was standing right in front of us for several minutes before the show started. Eventually she walked up the stairs and went onto the stage and the show started.

Hollyn sang a couple songs and then Colton Dixon did his set. Britt Nicole was next and I was insanely happy because after five years, I was finally seeing Britt Nicole perform live in person!! She began singing Set The World On Fire and then she left the stage and went into the audience. Throughout the song, she made her way all the way around the edge of the floor. She didn't run through my area, so once she went past us, I ran over to the other side of the floor area where she would be coming to go back to the stage. She came over to me and I got a hug from her!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HUGGED BRITT NICOLE!!!!!!!! Even a day later, I'm still in shock that it happened!! And I got the whole thing on video as proof that it happened. Along with everything else that happened that day, hugging Britt Nicole was the moment that made it 100x better than the One Direction concert.

TobyMac did his set next and it was fantastic! For a portion of the show, all the musicians and his backup singers, along with Toby himself, were set up on the smaller stage. So during that portion of the show, I literally had front row seats.

After the show, we were able to meet Hollyn as we left, so we did that.  I got a picture with her and before I left, I mentioned that I did my nails and showed them to her.  She said, "I remember those.  They're so cool!  I've never had my face on a pinky nail before!"  And she asked how I did them, so I explained it before we left.

Overall, it was an amazing day and a spectacular concert.  I loved every moment of it!  After meeting tobyMac and Hollyn and getting a hug from Britt Nicole, there really isn't much that could beat this day.  The only thing that would've made it better would've been if I had been able to actually meet Britt and have a conversation with her.  But that's an adventure for another time. 

I'm very happy with how the day turned out and (as a warning to all my friends) I won't be shutting up about it any time soon.