downhere

Life is full of great moments. Highlights. At least, that's been my experience. Last night was one of the highlights of my life; I saw downhere in concert for the first time.

Before I continue further, I apologize for any part of this that screams 'fangirl.' I can't help it. Trust me, I've tried. In most situations, this one being the obvious exception, I'm not the fangirl type at all. So I fought it really hard. But I have given up my fight. I'm a fangirl. And that's just the way it is. Last night cemented my fangirl status, which you will come to realize as you read further.

My story began yesterday afternoon when my brother and I were getting ready to leave the house and head to Lee University where the show took place. I scrambled around trying to make sure I had everything that I was taking to Marc for his birthday. (It was Marc Martel's - one of the lead singers- birthday yesterday and I delivered some gifts to him. More on that later.) We left the house and went by Wal-Mart to get gas. We got $20 worth of $1.73-a-gallon gas!!! The tank was almost full! That made me happy. We hit the road after that, downhere blasting through the speakers. We made it through the indie album, the self-titled and about half of Ending Is Beginning on the way there.

We made it fine until we got to Cleveland. We either had faulty directions, or we missed a turn, or something, because we kinda got lost. We turned around about a million and a half times. Yes, a million and a half. Then my brother stopped at a gas station and asked how to get to Lee University from there. A kind person told him, and we eventually made it. Thankfully, we left home early enough that the delay was not a problem. We still made it there with plenty of time to spare. So we found a place to park, and I hobbled to the door while my brother slowly walked beside me. He's been very kind during my time of diminshed functioning. He does things for me (he drove me from class to class this morning), and sticks close by when I'm walking to help if I have a problem, making fun of me and laughing all the while. What a great brother. ;)

We walked in to the foyer and wandered for about a minute, and then I needed to sit down. I suppose it was nerves, but I was really shaky. I was anxious and excited and that combined with me putting the majority of my weight on one leg was making it hard to stand. So we sat down for a few minutes and then they opened the doors, so we went and found a seat. And we got perfect seats. Right up front, so I was right next to the action and there was never anybody standing in front of me, blocking my view. There was still about 20 minutes until the show started, so my brother and I were taking in the atmosphere and chatting. And when I say 'we' were chatting, I mostly mean 'me.' I was talking about a mile a minute. Which is so unusual. I do talk to my brother a lot more than I do other people, but this was even beyond my normal heightened rate of speech when I'm talking to him. My excitement was obvious. And this was when my fangirl moments of the night really started. I was quite giddy. I remember seeing Jeremy and Glenn (the drummer and bass player for downhere, respectively) walk out on stage a few times and my excitement meter jumped.

Then someone who I assume was representing the school walked out on stage and welcomed everyone and led us in a prayer to get things started. I liked that. A lot of the concerts I've been to have been rather large and in arenas and places of that nature, rather than Christian colleges, so I don't think I've ever been to a concert that started with a prayer. It was nice. Then Glenn came out and had this hilarious routine to get the night started. He had these signs that said things like 'applause' and 'cheer' and 'hum' among other things. And we as the audience did what the signs said when he held them up. He divided the room in half and used us to tell a story. The story was that he had a melody in his head, and was in his studio trying to record it, but a fly was buzzing around, annoying him. The half of the room that I was not on was the fly; when he held up his hand, they buzzed. He changed the signs around for my side, having us hum and whistle as if trying to get out this melody and then stop whenever the fly started buzzing. Then finally after the fly had buzzed one too many times, we clapped and that was the end of the fly. ;) It was funny. We then watched a video about World Vision and after that Glenn talked to us a little about it. They talked about World Vision a lot at various points in the show, and although I didn't sign up to sponsor a child last night, I've been thinking about it for a while now. Even before the show. I don't know what my hesitation is. I guess I just feel like I don't have enough money. Because I am jobless and my basic needs are still being mostly covered by my parents. But I'm praying about it.

The Michael Gungor band came on stage after that. They were really great. A friend of mine told me that he liked them, but I didn't really know what to expect having not heard them much. I was pleased with what I heard. And I actually knew some of what they sang. I had forgotten that I knew some of their songs. Being able to sing along added to the experience.

After their set was done, there was a brief set change. All the guys were on the stage at the point, changing out instruments and all that good stuff. My excitement meter jumped again. And I think I may have squealed at least once, possibly more. I know for sure that I squealed more than once later in the night. I kept finding myself staring at them walking around up there and I made myself look away and talk to my brother. I have a habit of staring sometimes at everyone in general, not just people who happen to be in my favorite band. So if I stare at 'normal' people, you can imagine how much I might stare at people who actually do happen to be members of my favorite band. Especially since I was that close to them. Anyway, at five minutes 'til time to start they started a countdown video. It was hilarious. It was them actually standing there flipping these cards with numbers on them counting down the seconds. Very clever, in my opinion. I quite enjoyed it.

The countdown ended and the music started. They had barely gotten a sound out and I turned to my brother and said, "It's Cathedral!" and I kind of choked on my words as I said them. I did that several times during the night. I'd recognize what was coming and turn to my brother to say something and it always came out as either a squeal, a choke or something else of that nature. I started singing along with Marc as soon as opened his mouth to sing the opening lines of Cathedral Made of People and I was singing at the top of my lungs through the whole show. I hope that the people sitting closest to me didn't mind. And I hope that I didn't hit too many wrong notes. I couldn't hear myself well enough most of the time to tell if what I was singing was correct and my voice was already not at its strongest so when I went for some of the big notes, I don't know exactly how well it came out.

My brother and I were two of the few who knew every song. Most of the time, you couldn't hear anyone singing. A Better Way was the biggest exception. You could hear the crowd singing throughout that whole song. And I could hear a few people on The More. But the sweetest thing was during Here I Am. There was a mother and her 5-year-old daughter sitting next to me on my left, and during Here I Am that little girl was singing every word as loudly as she could. It was so precious. That was one of the many tear-jerking moments of the night. I never actually cried (surprise of the century), but I threatened to on several occasions.

The guys were great from beginning to end. (Ha! No pun intended, but it worked out well. All you downhere fans will get that.) Even when things didn't go according to plan, they just rolled with the punches. For example, during Rockstars Need Money they had taken their pause and were coming back in for the bridge and they messed up. It was hilarious. I think Jeremy was the one who actually who messed up. They stared in on their 'wooo's' and it fell apart. Jason turned around and said, "What was that?" Jeremy shrugged and said, "Brain fart." They tried again and it worked on the second take. My brother later said he thought they did it on purpose, which I briefly thought might be the case, but if they did do it on purpose, then they're really good actors. Which I suppose is entirely possible. Also, during the last song of the night, Bleed For This Love, when Jason was switching from keys to his guitar, he had a little problem with his strap and wasn't able to get it on in time to start playing. So he held it way out in front of himself for a moment and I could tell he was thinking, "This isn't going to work" so he held it close to himself and kind of tucked it under his arm and kept playing. Marc noticed what was going on and was standing there singing with the biggest grin on his face. It looked like he was about to laugh out loud. He kept looking over at Jason every few seconds. But it all went well. They made it through the song and ended the show spectacularly.

The end of the show brought a slight disappointment. The crowd wouldn't cheer for every long and as soon as the guys walked off of the stage people started leaving. That meant no encore! Therefore no Audience, a song that I was hoping to hear. That made me sad. Another disappointment was the fact that I was sitting during the whole show. But if you ever looked at me, you would have been able to tell that I was having a good time: singing along to every word, dancing around in my seat, bouncing my leg (the one with the uninjured ankle), raising my hands in the air, bobbing my head, and all that jazz.

So the show was over, and we headed out to the foyer where everyone was milling around and we waitied for the guys to come out. They did after a few minutes and of course, everyone swarmed. I'm not one to shove my way in front of people, especially when I have a gimpy ankle, so my brother and I were kind of standing to the side for a while, waiting until people cleared out. We talked to Jeremy first. When I told him my name and what my name on the boards was, he knew me. So that was exciting. I told him that I felt really square being in the front fow and sitting the entire time, and the second I said 'square' he started laughing. I'm sure he doesn't hear that word used in the context very often, but I'm cool like that. I say things like 'square' and 'groovy.' He then said that was alright, as long as I was having a good time. He had nothing to worry about there.

Next we talked to Jason. Kind of the same routine with him. Introduced ourselves, where we're from, etc. And my brother told him how much he appreciated his songs and how much God has used them in his life to teach him and bless him. Jason was genuinely grateful to hear that. My brother also asked him about when they're going to be at OpryMills and we told him that we might be there.

We then talked to Marc. As amazing as every other moment of the night was, this was the highlight of my whole night. First, I could tell just how deep his introversion ran. I'm sure there are those who don't recognize his introversion for what it is, but I can relate so I recognize it in other people whenever I see it. I have a soft spot in my heart for Marc Martel and I guess it's because I relate so well. We went through the introduction routine again and then my brother pointed at me and said, "She has something for you." And Marc said, "Oh?" I said, "Yes, I do. I came prepared. I knew it was your birthday so I have gifts." Marc then said, "Uh oh. Gifts?" And I said, "Yes, gifts. Plural. First...," and then I turned to my brother to make sure he was ready and we started to sing. Happy Birthday, is what we sang. Everybody needs someone to sing to them on their birthday, especially if they're giving gifts. I think it went well. I was kinda hoarse, so my voice was not up to par but that's quite alright. I was mostly looking at my brother while we were singing, but I looked over at Marc a few times and he seemed pleased. I was singing the melody and my brother harmonized with me and when my brother jumped in Marc said, "Ah. Harmony." After we finished he told us that we were the first ones to sing that to him that day. And I said, "Good." Then I pulled out the next of the gifts, a bundle of chocolate chip cookies that I made. About a dozen, I think. He said that cookies were always good. And I told him that he could eat them all himself or share them. He said he would share them. They weren't the best cookies I've ever made, but they weren't terrible. I hope he and whoever else enjoyed them. And next came the best of the gifts, the downhomie card (downhomie, for all those who don't know, being the name given to the fans). I gave it to him, told him whom it was from, and he started flipping through the pages. He kept saying "Woah!" as he scanned over each page. He was not expecting it in the least and was genuinely grateful. I could tell. He said "Thank you" several times over and told me to pass along his thanks to everyone else. I wish you could have seen the look on his face during all of this. It was so precious. And I know 'precious' is not typically a word you would use to describe a rock star such as Marc Martel, but that was the only word for it. It made my night. And I felt very privileged to be the one to deliver gifts to him on his birthday. I love doing stuff for people, and I was particularly happy that Marc was the one to whom I got to give birthday goodness.

After that, we talked to Glenn. Went through the introduction game again. But Glenn recognized me. He asked if we had met, and I told him we hadn't and then I told him who I was and he said, "Oh. That's you." That made me feel good. First Jeremy knew me and then Glenn. You can tell which two of the guys visit the boards more. ;) We had a good little conversation with him about Canada. Told him we wanted to visit there someday. He liked that idea, of course. ;) At that point, most everybody was gone and the rest of the guys had already headed back to start loading everything up, so we said "Bye," he went to go load up and we headed out to the car to go home.

I had been standing for a very long time at that point, so it was nice to sit myself down in the car. We had a much easier time navigating our way back to the highway than we had getting from the highway to the school. Our soundtrack on the way back was more downhere mixed with a little dcTalk and Kevin Max. We were both very hungry, so we stopped at a Sonic somewhere along the way home and shared a Brown Bag Special. We made it home a little after 11. Sometime from 11:15 to 11:30, so it wasn't very late at all. The downhere guys headed back home last night, too. They had a little bit more of a drive than we did, so considering that fact along with the time it took them to load up, I'm hoping they got home at least by 1. That's not too terribly late. I could tell they were all tired, so they needed to go home and get some rest.

I shall end my story there. The night was one that I will never forget. The guys were every bit as great as I expected them to be, if not even more. Not only their performance, but them as people. You know, I've met a lot of Christian musicians over the course of my lifetime, but the guys of downhere are the only ones I've seen in concert that I have ever intentionally wanted to make sure that I met. And I'm so glad that I did. Those guys are so down-to-earth, and sincere, and full of integrity, and they love what they do....and they really reflect Jesus in everything they do. And I think that's what I like most about them. I can't wait until I get to see them again.

I may not have to wait long. I mentioned earlier about them playing a show at OpryMills. It's this Saturday. My brother and I may be going. If we do, that will be two shows in one week. How exciting is that? Pretty exciting, I think.

And that's my story. In all its glorious, gushing detail. I hope my fangirlishness didn't deter you from reading. I'm sure it didn't phase all you downhere fans or fangirls of anything else. I find it to be slightly ironic that it took me until I was 20 to become a fangirl. I thought that people started slowly growing out of that around my age. If that's the case, I guess I'm the exception. I'm the exception to a lot of other things, so that's not surprising. I'm just glad that I was calm, cool and collected when I was talking to the guys. But that's how I roll. I'm pretty calm most of the time, so even when I'm as excited as I was last night, it's not hard for me to keep things toned down. Hopefully I will see them again on Saturday and get to say "Hi" once more.