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So, the day was Monday the 30th of October 2006. I was in Clayton, attempting to study for my microeconomics exam which, was the next day.
Of course, it was the start of J-May week, so trying to study was basically impossible.
I had found out on Friday (via the Herald Sun as I was eating a late breakfast at uni) that John Mayer was going to be playing a set at Vodafone's Live at the Chapel (L@tC). When I found this out, my heart started beating about 3 million times faster, as I concocted a plan to get myself a ticket to the show. Unfortunately, the easy route of just buying them was not a possibility - I only had one option, which was to win them.
So, I proceeded to enter the 2 competitions. One was via the Herald Sun website (luck of the draw type thing, just had to name the other trio members and then wish for the best), and the other via the L@tC website (in 25 words or less, had to tell them what my favourite J-May song was, and why). In total, there was 12 double passes on offer, 2 from the HS and 10 from L@tC.
I wasn't sure about the HS competition - there was nothing I could do about that to improve my chances (could only enter once). However, I fancied my chances with the other competition.
I'm a big fan of J-May. We all know that. If there was a unit at university called 'JMAY1100' I'd fucking ace it. HD all the way.
I have a lot of favourite J-May songs. And I thought that I could put together an answer that would just blow all the other answers out of the water. Yes, a little arrogant, I know. But I had serious faith in the fact that, as a massive J-May fan, the Gods (or whoever) were going to help me with that double pass.
I thought for hours. I took it way too seriously, beyond all realms of normal. But i'm a competitive person, and when I really want things, i'll do my bloody best to get them.
So, after hours of listening to J-May's music, drafting, cursing, spellchecking, researching, I came up with this:
I was pleased with it. I truly thought that I couldn't lose with that answer. So, I entered it, sat back, and waited.
This all took place on Sunday afternoon. The winners were going to be contacted Monday morning (the comp closed at 9am, so anytime after then). I was very excited going to bed on Sunday night, even found it a little hard to sleep.
So Monday finally rolls around and i'm staring at my phone. No call. It gets to about 11am. Watching the news. Still nothing. It gets to 12pm. By then, i've figured that it probably hasn't taken 3 hours to choose 10 winners and call them. But me being me, i'm still optimistic that they possibly haven't been able to contact the winners, and will need to contact the next best entries. Nope. Still nothing.
At around 3pm i've all but given up hope. Yes, I did have a small-ish cry. It was disappointing.
As I was reading the L-83 website, hoping to at least see that some L-83 members had won, I was struck by a comment someone had made - basically, they asked if anyone was going to go down to the Chapel anyway, to see if they could catch a glimpse of J-May.
*ding*
What an idea! Suddenly, I went from being extremely dissapointed and borderline suicidal to being excited and full of life. The next question was, who should accompany me on such a journey?
There was only one person who would be crazy enough to understand my fangirly ways, and be supportive and enthusiastic all the same.
TASH.
So I called her, and luckily, she agreed to come. SUCCESS! I then proceeded to get dressed up (...just in case) and wait for Tash to arrive at Howitt. Around 6:30ish she arrived and we were off on our adventure to Chapel Street.
Taking the train there was fun in itself. These two (foul-mouthed) teenage girls sat a few seats away from us and decided that it would be hella-fun to play music on their mobile phones. For some reason, this does not sit well with me. I sort of see it rude to impose your music on everyone else in a public space. Especially when your music of choice is 'Unfaithful' by Rihanna (you know my views on that song E-Ferg...).
To our amusement, these two girls ended up being picked up for fare evading by the Met inspectors, and will, no doubt, receive a nasty fine.
Oh, kids.
Anyway, whilst on the train, I blabber on to Tash about how much I want to see J-May and watch his performance etc, etc. She, and rightly so, basically tells me to not get too worked up about it, as it is a looooong shot anyway. It definitely helped to calm me down.
When we get to Chapel street, we walk around, looking for the Chapel. Luckily, it wasn't hard to find. And in case anyone is still stuck in 2001, we saw Sara-Marie Fedele from the first season of BB at Frostbites.
As we approach the Chapel, I see the Budget trucks, and this really makes my heart drop. I know what you're thinking... "Budget trucks?". But I knew they were for J-May, and it just confirmed to me how close he was.
At this point, we're standing near the entrance, and I distinctly remember grovelling to Tash, saying that I'm too much of a wimp to ask the lady at the desk if we could get tickets to the gig.
I think that Tash saw the desperation in my eyes, so she decided to ask the lady herself (for some reason, I just didn't want to do it myself, even though it was me who really wanted to go). Being a fantastic friend, she went up and asked with me. Surprisingly, the Chapel lady was not the bitch we'd planned to deal with. She was, in fact, very warm and approachable. She told us that we weren't the first to ask, but that if we came back in 45 minutes, they'd check on the numbers to see if there was room.
Partial success I thought!
For starters, we weren't rejected straight away. And that was awesome. So we decided to go get a drink at some random bar while we waited to go back.
Al I can remember is that Tash was relaxed and herself, while I, on the other hand, was nervous and anxious (although some may argue that I'm like that most of the time...).
So, 45 minutes passed and we finally went back to the Chapel. Outside, I noticed there were about 8 other people, also looking like they were waiting on standby. Tash and I were the first people to go back inside, with everyone else following behind.
We sort of just stood there, for about 7 minutes, watching all the lucky ticketholders go in. I was shitting myself by this point. The nervous laugh was all over me.
After what felt like a LIFETIME, one of the organisers came back and sort of nodded and gestured to the door lady. Amazingly, there was room for us all!
SUCCESS!
As we were walking in, I felt too excited and well, too excited to cry (like what I would have expected to do if I saw this happening to myself in a dream).
As we walked in, Tash and I exchanged our excited-ness with another L-83 member, Sacha. We couldn't believe what was happening!
When we got there, the Chapel was basically full, with a few random spots available here-and-there. These spots were what we were filling in. One of the organisers saw me and pointed at a spot in the crowd where he wanted me to sit. For some reason, I blurted out, "oh I came with my friend, could we possibly sit together?". Hmmm. Seems a bit rude of me to ask, now that I think about it, but thankfully, it was the right thing to do.
Because of this request, we were put in seats significantly better than what was first offered to me. Now, I want to describe it, but quite frankly, I'm getting tired of describing. So, I will provide a screencap of where we sat from the webstream (which is also why the quality is sub-par).
Fig 1.
All I remember saying to Tash was "OMG I can't believe it, this feels like a dream... I literally can't believe I'm here". (She pinched me to prove it was real. Great method). Yes, I was buzzzzzzing.
I think that the moment he walked out, was almost the best moment of all. Of course, he played brilliantly, and sung really well etc. But seeing him for the first time, with my own eyes, was unforgettable. It was one of those, "He's actually REAL" moments.
Fig 2.
The show was excellent. A full set as well. I noticed that most of the peeps in the crowd were not really your typical fans. Yes, they showed their enjoyment by tapping along etc, but you could tell they were either industry people or just scored these tickets and decided to rock up anyway.
I believe, that the people that most wanted to be there, and probably cherished it the most, were myself and the 8 or 9 other people who nervously stood on standby.
I sung along to all the songs, and so did a few of these other people who waited with us. Man, it was really something.
Now, for the really fangirly details.
We sat directly in front of J-May, which rocked of course. As I said before, the crowd obviously wasn't built as a 'sing-a-long' type crowd. I think that because of where we were sitting, and the fact that I sung along with every word, it wasn't just my imagination playing tricks on me with the eye sex. I'm thinking that it definitely happened. And i'm going to hold Tash as my witness, because during the show, I brought it up and she completely agreed. So yeah, THAT was personal. I can't remember during which songs (it happened quite a few times, I think one might have been during 'Daughters') but I do remember holding the stare (or the 'sex', if you will) the first few times, but then just shyly looking away the other times (I started feeling myself, awkward and self-conscious again). But anyway, I'm glad he saw me singing along and stuff. It's highly unlikely that i'll ever see J-May perform in such an intimate setting again (190 people), so I don't think there will be much more eye sex. But I enjoyed it while it lasted.
Anyway, the show eventually ended, and Vodafone opened the bar and offered gourmet finger food in the lobby area (which was very nice as well).
The night basically ended with myself, Tash and Sacha perusing Chapel Street bars for J-May after we were given a tip-off from a friend of this American guy who was also at the gig. We must have missed J-May because we had a good old chat to this American guy before actually looking for him. Oh wells. Was a magnificant night, nonetheless.
Wow. This was LONG. And I haven't even got to the concert yet!
I'll leave with some photos that Tash took of the gig.
- Shelley xx
PS: Special thanks to Tash for coming along with me and supporting my crazy fangirl ideas (oh and K-Den for the abbreviation idea of L@tC!). It was also really lovely to meet you Sacha! Thanks for the ride, hope to catch you soon!And also to the peeps at the Chapel...how lovely were they for letting us in?
But i'm still just wondering...
How did my answer not win?
