Allie's AdVENTURA! :)

Hey Archies! Allie here! I thought I would write a recap about my trip to see David this past weekend! So as you may know I'm from Chicago, Illinois and since David didn't have any Midwest dates planned I didn't think I was going to a show this winter. I talked with my parents and were like hey! I haven't seen David at all this year, but is there anyway we could maybe take a min trip to see him? At first they said no, because most of the tour dates didn't work out with our schedules and the ones that did, VIP was sold out, so I just kinda let it go. One day my dad randomly was like hey do you want to go see David? And I was like yeah...Air fair was cheap and he agreed to letting me fly to LA to go meet David at the Ventura, Cali show! Well, finally the day came. I actually was missing my trig final to go to the show, so I had to take it the day before...but anyway! So Friday, the 16th, the day of the show, I woke up at 3AM central time, curled my hair, and got ready to drive to O'Hare airport in Chicago with my mom. We got to the airport by 4AM and it was so pitch black out that we couldn't figure out how to get to the indoor parking the led us to the United terminal. So we parked outside, and walked forever to get inside to our terminal. We finally got there, and eventually we boarded the plan at about 6:30AM! The flight was a long one, about 4 & a half hours, but hey that gave me some time to sleep since I didn't get much the night before. We landed in LAX earlier then expected at around 8:30 pacific time, which really felt like 10:30 to me, and then got to the rental place, which lets not talk about it took forever to get our car, HAHA, but eventually we made it to our hotel in Ventura. Next door to our hotel was an In 'N Out! I never had In 'N Out so I thought this was the best opportunity to have it. After my mom and I ate, we headed back to the hotel and rested up. It was going to be a long day since we weren't going to be use to the time difference. After we napped we got ready for the show, and headed over to downtown where the theater was at. We got to the theater around 2, saw the bus and people lining up, but we decided to just head over close to the VIP time and actually enjoy our time around the town, so we went and looked at all the cute little shops. Eventually when my new friend Kelly said she arrived we thought would be a good time to head over, and then my friend Tiffany who is also from Chicago showed up! We all hung out took some pics together, and talked I love them so much! We also talked with a ton of other archies.

Finally it was getting time to go in for VIP. There weren't too many people at our VIP compared to others, probably about 50 or so? So okay, we lined up, but people like ran over to reserve their seats so we were like okay, 1, 2, 3 and we ran so we could get could seats for us all and we ended up getting 2nd row center! Woo! Kelly was the first of us to meet him! She was SO cute, her's was very short and sweet. The Tiffany met him. She told him how she came from Chicago, about her brother, and how she gave Allie's mom her VIP and a ton of cute other stuff they talked for a good amount of time! It was her first time meeting him, and I was so happy for her! When she mentioned my name to David he looked over at my mom and I and smiled. And then it was my moms turn to meet him, she took the picture right away with him, and then told him how she loved him on idol and would vote for him, and just how awesome of a role model he is for me, so David looked at me again and smiled so I smiled back again to him just standing there waiting, it was awkward haha. So the whole time I was thinking and I really didn't know what I was going to say to David. I've always wanted to sing with him, and it was actually one of my goals, or new years resolutions I guess you can say for this year. My dad always said allie, you should tell him you are a singer, and maybe he would sing with you. So I was like okay i'll do it. When it was my turn to meet him. I kinda just went up to him and asked for a hug! And I said "Hey David! I'm Allie!" and he goes "Oh heyyy!" And i was like how are you? I'm from Chicago! And he laughed and said "I'm doing good, and haha i know how are you?" and I was like "I'm good!" So then we started to take the picture, but then I was like "Oh wait! can I ask you something" And he was like "Uhhh, sure! Go ahead, ask away!" and smiled so I did it, and I said, "well, i'm a singer and I've always thought it would be a dream come true to sing with you!" And he goes "Really? well what do you have in mind?" And I said "we could sing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, thats a duet right? I could sing the Charice part!" And he was like, "but I don't sing the full song as a duet during the show!" And I go oh, yeah, well i didn't mean during the show, we could sing any song of yours since you know it then!" And he goes, "no, you pick, you don't have to sing one of my songs, it's your dream right?" And I go, "haha yeah I guess, well hmm? Lean on Me, you know that right?" And he goes "perfect! You start, i'll add in harmonies!" So then I started the first verse, and I really don't remember when he started singing with, it was all a blur to me, but we sang the full first verse and chorus. After I finished, everyone in the room was clapping and cheering me on, and David said, "WOAH! I wasn't expecting that! You are so good, that was awesome, you are such a good singer!" And I was like aw thank you so much David, it was an honor to sing with you since you are such a musical inspiration to me, so thank you! And he was like "no, it was an honor to sing with you! You were so good!" And then I just said "thank you!! Well we should probably take this picture now hahaha" And he laughed and was like "Haha yeah! Almost forgot about that, we should!" So we took the picture!, and hugged again. And he said bye Allie! see you later! And i was like bye, don't forget about Chicago! And he goes "oh don't worry, you got it!" And then I just walked away with the best feeling ever.

Then it was time for sound check, he started out with Q & A and someone asked if he could sing Heaven! I was SO excited for that, and then he started talking about Good Place, and how it's for us fans, but he was stuck on some wording so I said kinda out loud, "Like thanking us?" And he said something like "Yeah!..but", and then got back on track, haha. Then he sang Good Place/Let it Be and it was amazing! Before the concert, we met up with Kate, the drummer for KSM who opened for David on the Demi tour. She was so sweet! And she knew all along that us girls were coming, cuz we all would tweet about it, she is so funny. Then the opener randomly came out and we were like hmm, we should probably go and watch now. The opener Jeff LeBlanc was AWESOME. So cool. Then the band started coming out, and Steven the drummer and I are pretty good friends and he knew I was coming out to the show, so I yelled out Steven, and he pointed right at me and smiled and was like Allie! Haha, it was so funny. The show started, David was really good, i don't think i need to talk about that, we all know that ;) he would ALWAYS look to our side of the stage it felt like, even looking at videos it seemed that way. Then some random lady, and girl who were far back came up into the VIP section and stood in front of the stage and it was the most awkward thing ever during Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Which by the way i sang harmonies to the whole time) And, nobody knew what these people were saying, and David didn't know what to do and they eventually go escorted. yeah, intermission happened, and tiff and kelly and I wanted to go talk to Brooke White, and we were kinda scared cuz she was in the middle of her row, and we didn't want to bother her with getting up, but then we just kinda yelled out "Brooke!" and she smiled, and came over to us, and talked and took pics. We congratulated on her baby, which she is 4 months pregnant with. She was SO sweet. I told her how David, her and Syesha were my favorites from that year, and she said she was just so thankful to be in it, and she told us how she was working in the studio actually that day on new music. Then, the 2nd half of the show started which was AWESOME. Fa la la la la was hilarious, because Steven's daughter Kiki was one of the girls dancing, it was so cute! lol. And the other two girls were too. The second half was amazing. I've never had 2nd row at any concert before, and that alone is just a different, and even more amazing experience. but okay, after the show, we met with the piano player Mark, and got a picture with him. And we actually ran into David's dad's Jeff. We talked with him, and told him that tiff and I came from Chicago, and so we talked about Chicago and then I told him I actually got to sing with David in VIP. And he was like "Wait, woah that was you! I thought so! I heard about that, I could hear from the back! you were so good!" Hahaha he was so nice, and we asked if we could get a picture with him, he said he doesn't really like taking pictures, but he said he would with us if we wanted, so we took the picture with him and then some guy was like "everyone needs to get out, and we kinda were one of the last few ones still in the theater, lol", So then, I was suppose to meet with Steven after the show to talk with him, but he was still inside the theater, so we asked this one guy and he said to go back in, so we went back in and Kelly said "Just walk in like you own the place" hahaha, so we walked in got all the way up to the front of the stage and we were like "Steven!" and he was working on putting away the drum and he was like "Allie!!!" and gave my that hold on a minute look, but then some guy was like telling us to leave, "David's not in here anyway", and we were like "we don't want to see David, we're here talking with Steven! we already met David!" haha and then we just kinda left, waited outside. Tiffany's aunt was there, so she left and we said goodbye and so then me and Kelly just waited for everyone, we met and talked with the opener Jeff Leblanc and got pics with him, and then Steven finally came out and came right out to me, and we talked for such a long time, I LOVE Steven. He's the best, and then we ran into the fa la la la girls who were waiting for David, they were going crazy! haha they said before today they didn't even know who he was, lol. They asked me for a bobby pin so they could get onto the bus, and then they laid in front of the bus' door, and Stix the VIP guy was taking pics of them, it was so funny. Then David came out and started taking pictures with people, but it was really late and they were like please no pictures, so then right before he got to Kelly and I were like can we take one with us both in it, and the guy like ignored us, so we took that as a know, so Kelly and i were like okay, lets take one with him behind us, and David heard us, so we took a really awkward picture, with David hugging the girl before us and he's smiling in it and winking, and he's actually the only one who looks fine in the picture, lol. Kelly and I look messed up, and I'm not even looking. Lol. but then we hugged him again, thanked him again for singing with him, he signed all three of my cd covers, and then I was like thanks so much for everything, this is the best concert i've ever been to everyone, and he like turned around while he was meeting other people and smiled and said, "aw thank you so much Allie!"

Then Kelly and I said our goodbyes, it was so AMAZING meeting her for the first time. My mom and I got some pizza, headed back to the hotel and crashed. It felt like 4 am to me, since I think it was 2? Yeah, long 24 hour day. The next morning my mom and I woke up, headed to the beach cuz I wanted pictures at the pacific, at some breakfast at Denny's, returned the rental car, and got to LAX really early. Early enough to make it back on the flight before ours home to Chicago, so they switched our flight so we didn't have to just sit around at the airport, the flight seemed shorter on the way back, the people behind us were so annoying so I just listed to music as loud as I could, haha. And then we made it back to O'Hare, we couldn't find our car because of everything from before and it snowed pretty bad so when we found the car it was ALL covered in snow so we had to clean off. It was my dads bday, so we headed to jewel and got cake and celebrated that, then it was time for me to unpack my bags, and I couldn't find my camera anywhere, i realized I left it in LA in the rental car. So we called that, and after going through multiple people, we found of that they did have that, so I don't have ANY of my pictures from the trip as of now, but I'll get them hopefully soon, they have to send me the camera still! lol, but yeah, sorry for the crazy long recap it was awesome!! And such an amazing experience, i am so thankful that my parents did this for me. It was the best Chirstmas/birthday present ever, even though my birthday's in April... ;) haha WOO. Once I get my camera back you can check out my pictures on my facebook or something! :)