Kate, Andy and Natasha, we're basically BFFs

Last week (or so) was the concert I have been looking forward to THE MOST all summer (nope, not Britney Spears!) but NATASHA BEDINGFIELD!!! I met her back in 2008 (see photo). Clearly she adored me so much she was moved to tears and unable to look at the camera for a quick photo, but whatever. Love the girl!

So anyways, days before the concert I read that opening act Andy Grammer's favorite candy is Sixlets which just so happens to be MY FAVORITE!! So obviously I did what every sane and rational fan does, and I went to the store and I bought the biggest container of sixlets I could find so I could give them to him!! Now trust me, I realize how fanatical this is. But whatever, it's SIXLETS and we Sixlet fans are rare and must stick together. The candy is not easy to find in Florida and having tracked them down for my birthday party, I knew exactly where to go (bulk candy aisle at Target on 192, don't check anywhere else, I looked). Sheena (my concert-going partner-in-crime) and I decide to be hardcore and get to House of Blues 3.5 hours before doors opened. We're that cool. Through wind and RAIN we waited in line. I forced the guy in front of me to be my friend. And the people behind us too. I love making friends at concerts. Once we got in the venue, we bee-lined to the front, obviously! We didn't wait for 3 hours for nothing (PS check our our awesome personal purse rack we made for ourselves!!)

My new obession fave artist, Andy Grammer, played first and played way too short of a set but it was fantastic none the less! Here is his cover of Chasing Cars that I recorded:


After singing along to two opening acts, when Natasha finally took the stage, I couldn't have been more excited. Her tour was called the Less is More tour so it had this very acoustic/chill vibe, which I happen to really dig. She did all her fan favorites, some of her personal favorites and lots of songs from her new album.
 
During her song "I Bruise Easily" something super magical happened. Having been in the front row for many a concert, I am accustomed to maybe the artist looking at you briefly as you sing along to all their songs. And once at a concert for The Script, the lead singer put the mic in my face in an attempt to make me sing into it, which I'm sure he quickly regretted as I am no Aretha Franklin. But aside from that, I'm used to being a face in the crowd and I'm okay with that! So when Natasha was on the other side of the stage but turned towards my side of the crowd the following train of thought happened in rapid succession over a matter of seconds (seriously, my brain thinks very fast):

• Oh, she's looking in my general direction
• Actually, I think she's looking at me...
• She's walking over here
• Why is she staring at me?
• Do I have something on my face?
• Is there a really cute boy behind me? (checks)
• Why is she crouching in front of me?
• Is this really happening?
• Is she reaching her hand out to me?
• She IS reaching her hand out to me!
• What do I do?
• OMG IT'S NATASHA BEDINGFIELD
• REACHING FOR MY HAND
• Allie! Get it together and don't leave the girl hanging
• ::reaches out hand::
• EEEEEEEEEEE
• ::blushing:::
• Why did she dig her nails into my hand? Kind of awkward
• Who cares it's NATASHA BEDINGFIELD!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• ::still blushing::
• Loving Jessi for taking a picture of the moment

Needless to say, I loved her after that night even moreso than I already did! After the show it was time to accomplish my mission of landing myself on super-fan-nerd status with Andy Grammer. We had waited to grab Natasha Bedingfield set lists from the band so we were some of the last people upstairs to the merch booth to meet Kate and Andy. Kate was super nice and we gushed over her and our love for One Tree Hill. But with Andy in my peripheral vision I could feel the nervous anxiety of my mission begin to kick in. Without even saying Hello, I walked up to Andy and said "I did something super nerdy and I hope you're down with that" to which he assured me that he is down with the nerds and encouraged me to continue. I explained the whole my fave your fave candy thing and presented him with the tub of sixlets which he clearly loved:

After taking a pic with Andy (and getting a hug!! eeeeee), I made my way to the always-smiling bass guitar player, Zach. Seriously, the guy smiles so big and so frequently, I was like I must take my photo with him! In a bizzare twist of events, I said I was from Minnesota and this other guy with them was from Wisconsin which caused me to word vommit something along the lines of "Oh that's neat dontchyaknow" in my best Minnesota accent to which Zach laughed uncontrollably. Which then caused an entire conversation to continue with full-on Minnesota accents involved. It was my most nerdy and proud moment all in one. It is safe to say I accomplished my mission and will forever be a super-fan-nerd. And since we had hung around talking to Zach for a while, I opted for 1 last photo op to end the night perfect: a group shot with Sheena and me and the whole Andy Grammer crew. Concert history was made this night and I will remember it forever.

I Wish I Did This for a Living - Concert Photography by Allie

Over the years I have been fortunate enough to see some of the biggest names in music play live. If I'm lucky, I will catch a moment in concert history that really dazzles me. 

Here are some of those photos:

All American Rejects

Beyonce

Colbie Caillat

Christina Aguilera

Zac Hanson

Hanson

Jesse McCartney

Jesse McCartney

Eric Hutchinson

Jon McLaughlin

Justin Timberlake

Miley Cyrus

Natasha Bedingfield

Plain White Ts

Rihanna (Before she was Rated R, she was PG-13, ha!)

Robin Thicke

Sara Bareilles

The Script (Probably my #1 fave)

The Veronicas

Yellowcard

Yellowcard

Parachute

Also, I learned recently that some of my friends don't know that I upload my concert videos to Youtube. I have over 100 videos, so feel free to browse. I am not proud of the fact that my Billy Ray Cyrus video is one of my most viewed, but it happened =)
Allie's YouTube Channel

The 4th Idol Judge: ME!

I am not going stress over this but this I am watching Idol without my Idol watching companion and I need SOME outlet for my thoughts! First of all, the judges are not really giving helpful critiques at all except Randy, they just go oh good job, blah blah blah.

Clint: Boring! He is a karaoke hosts and it showed in his performance.

Giovanni: Also super boring! What the heck guys? Do you not realize how big a deal this performance is?

Jordan: The judges ripped him apart for straying away from who he is as an artist but I have seen Usher perform that song twice and Jordan sang it better (because he actually SANG whereas Usher just sings key words and dances around). So if the guy can sing it better than Usher does live, then he has to get some credit. And most Idol hopefuls stay away from that style of music, so props for Jordon for taking that risk.

Tim: Mic check 1-2 1-2. Did they forget that step before he sang or is he just not that loud of a singer or am I just imagining things? I am admittedly biased here because Tim is a total babe, I liked it but I did not LOVE it. So yay for me being objective! I just find it funny that the judges are not loving this when it sounded on par with the first 2 (which they loved!).


Brett: I can't figure out if I don't like Brett because I'm jealous of his perfect bouncy curls or his seductive (if he were a girl) dance moves. And what the HECK!? The judges LOVED it!? Oh, J.Lo and Steven, we are on such different pages. I love him as a person, but would I buy his album? Sure, if you paid me.

James: The first of the night, in my opinion, to really shake things up and do something fun and interesting. Not my cup of tea in terms of song choice, but I can appreciate it none the less.

Robbie: He remixed the sad-homeless-puppy commercial song....he must have done a pretty good job because I didn't think of it as the sad-homeless-puppy song until the latter half of the song. Props to that! (For those of you lucky enough not to know what song I'm talking about, it's Angel by Sarah McLachlan.)

Scotty: He sings out of the side of his mouth but that point aside, he does sound like a fantastic country music singer. My only fear is that he's not quite the pop star American Idol tends to produce.

Stefano: I didn't love it but I didn't hate it. I had higher hopes for him.

PAUL: Where to begin? He's unique, charasmatic, original, fun to watch.....and I could go on... He actually made me stop typing and turn up the volume which is a feat all the contestants before him didn't accomplish.

Jacob: Belongs on broadway or singing gospel. Is that a bad thing or a good thing? Well that's open to interpretation.

Casey: He sang "I Put a Spell on You" and I think it's true! I am spellbound. He is delightful.

Final Verdict: Casey, Paul and Tim are the main 3 on my radar.