cue the fangirl ravings now (and yes, a 40-something can become a complete and total fangirl).

we just got home from a collective soul appearance arranged by best buy, bellsouth, and 99x, held at best buy out at the mall of georgia. all five of the boys were supposed to be there, but they were minus one. on the one hand i feel bad, on the other they rocked anyway. it was an acoustical concert and signing for their new album youth.

just wait until we get the pictures back. i sooo hope they came out.

anyway, we left for it early. georgia is home for the band, so we weren't sure how many people would turn up (quite a few, actually, lol) and we wanted to get good places since we didn't have the laminated passes for front row. turns out at least half a dozen people were earlier than us, but no big deal. when we got there, we asked questions, like when they'd be letting people in, where should we wait, etc. and then i told them i ran the fan listing for the new album, and asked if it would be possible to get some of the laminated passes. they said they'd see what they could do and we ran over to target to get a few things.

we came back, debated dinner (i wasn't hungry) and got in line. good thing too. it really did start to fill rather quickly soon after. some people were trying to get inside before the whole thing started, but i guess more than a few were told to wait outside. i held the line while saxy went in a bought a copy of youth for them to sign for him, then again when he ran back to target to get a disposable camera. (okay, yea, we weren't quite as prepared as we should have been.)

they started letting us in early and we were in front behind the section for those with the passes. the the dj came by and gave me the passes and we moved to up front, close and personal. and i mean, reach out and touch the stage close!

and the band was just sooo cool. they played one older song, "december," but the others were from the new album. ed's maraca was funny - when he first pulled out the banana, we were wondering what the heck he was going to do with it, then he started shaking it. the acoustical version of "under heaven's skies" was just beautiful! the whole show was great, despite being next to 2 people who were drunk before the show even began (we can see them now, "heyyyyyyy, i got wasted at best buy!" uh, yea). they also played "satellite" (which i didn't know was written for ed's son - so cool!), "perfect to stay," "counting the days," and "better now."

pictures were a bit tough. there was a professional photographer who kept getting in the way, and when he wasn't, a woman near us had her hands up in the air and in the way of the shot. even in the front row, there wasn't that much space to move around. but saxy managed - filled up 24 of 27 pictures with concert shots. the last 3 were for the autograph table. ;)

the band took a bit of a break and while they were at that, the x-staff started pulling down some of the posters and stuff on the stage. we got a copy of the album cover (large size - not cd size), a poster, a 99x banner, and a guitar pick. and our passes, of course (mine's hanging from the horn of a unicorn that sits on my monitor). with the album cover and the poster, we decide we didn't need to get our cd inserts signed. when they guys came out to do the signing, we were among the first half dozen or so in line . . . thank freaking god! there was quite a crowd by that time and while they promised everyone would get autographs, it would have been murder to wait. i mean, seriously - my feet were already in agony.

we did tell them that their song "in between" helped us through a rocky part of our marriage, reminding us not to leave a silence in between us. they really seemed to think that was cool, and ed even asked for saxy's name, then told us his son's name is chris too. and i told them about running the fl's i have for them - though think that may have been a little lost on ed. lol saxy got pictures of them signing my poster and a picture of me with the two brothers together.

so way cool. that one BETTER come out! lol

and, yes, once we get the pictures, i will be doing some posting! ;)

the day may have started off sucky, but it may have been a good thing i didn't work today. we were standing the whole time - while waiting for the 3 hours before the show, then during the show, and finally as we went through the autograph line. i'd have been so exhausted if i'd work, i may not have enjoyed it as much.

as it was, it was wonderful. my feet, ankles, and knees absolutely hate me, but it was sooo worth it. definitely turned my mood around. ;)

hey, i got to spend the evening with "my boys." what could be a better ending to the day?

ok, fangirl ravings done. ;)