The whole event took place in a XV century castle, surrounded with lakes. It's located in a small tourist town next to the capital. I've only been there once years ago, so this was my second time. The day was filled with wind and gazillions of tourists. I was at the location rather early and so stood around for a while, the band arrived half an hour before we were supposed to have the whole meet&greet thing happen. I kept my cool, even though i had no idea they weren't there yet. It was weird, because i thought i'll be all over the place, but even in my mind i was pretty calm seeing them walk right past me, wearing casual stuff and sunglasses. I don't think anyone else would have recognised them, they looked so ordinary. It was funny, cuz all the tourists just went about their thing with no clue who they were (LOL). From my point of view, i always saw them as human beings rather than celebrities, so that probably was also the reason why i was so calm seeing them walk by.
The organising skills of both of the parties were a little megh though. But more at fault were the local companies. We were strictly told by the very late e-mail to be at the gate at 3:30pm and were supposed to be met by a crew member then. That happened only at like 4pm while we finally came in at 4:30pm , standing around for a good hour. The band was doing a little rehearsal, played like 3 songs while we grabbed our stuff. The stupid thing was, everyone was free to film and take pictures, except us. Well more like we were noticed by the staff much faster than the rest (i attempted once but i have no luck with things like that, was noticed immediately, so i didn't even bother later on). There were lots of tourists who definitely enjoyed the free mini concert and brought home visual souvenirs. But i guess with only one Hulk-Hogan-esque dude monitoring the whole inner yard of the castle, you couldn't expect anything else. It kind of pissed me off, to be honest. We paid the shitload of money while the castle was still letting in groups of tourists for a couple of euros to enjoy the whole thing.
The whole meet & greet went through a bit oddly as well. While i appreciated the casual atmosphere, it got a bit ridiculous when they lined all of us up at the side because the band was coming through that way. I felt like an animal at the zoo, while tourists lined up in front of us on the higher level ground and started taking pictures. Like, seriously? LOL Gimme a break.
The band showed up and i really thought i'd be much more nervous but all my anxiety went out of the window, because they all were so chill and down to earth. Amy was a total sweetheart with everyone and I just blanked out when she came up to me with that massive smile on her face, couldn't say much apart from "Hi, Amy" and my name. I was so mad at myself, SHE IS MY FAVOURITE! WTF, BRAIN? The guys were next, i think Tim came off a little awkward and uncomfortable but i was into this by then (like WHY lol) so I asked him about something and we had a little back and forth "convo", he gave out a really cool vibe, though. Troy and Will were so cool too, i also asked how they like it there, in the castle and they said it was a really unusual but amazing place to have a live. I almost didn't recognize Troy with his hair slicked back and the shades. And then it was Jen. Oh that woman! She was drawing hearts and unicorns on the VIP gifts for other fans before me, we all just really laughed hard at that. She was so cool! I told her that i love the fact that there's an other female in the band and despite it being two years i welcomed her joining in! There were a couple of random fangirls that came there and one of them was pretty much in tears and the band was so nice to actually sign for them as well as taking pics, even though they didn't have to.
When this was over i remembered that i had two small gifts for Amy & Jen but completely forgot about them in my pocket, so when my time came to take a pic with the band i gave them away then, would of been another fail on my side if i forgot completely..... Amy looked genuinely touched by the gesture and told me i didn't have to do this. I just said it was my pleasure. The couple of dudes that i befriended were standing in front of the photographer and they said that when i went away the girls were intrigued by the little fabric pouches that they started pulling at the ribbons to look what was inside, according to them - genuinely excited, which made me feel a little bit better. And me being me and not wanting to be annoying i didn't attempt to grab my phone for a selfie, when i had a chance, which i will forever regret, cuz i have no clue when i'm getting the actual picture. Plus it would of been much more special than the official thing. But at least i will have that, even though i have a feeling i will look awful in it. I had no time to even look at the pocket mirror before the photo happened.
I also remember something that made me and that dude i was hanging around with go "WTF". One of the VIPs, after the picture session, when the band waved see-ya-later, mumbled to her friend "Bye bye, Amy and the rest whose names i don't know~". We both just went "You must be joking!? Seriously, you could of googled that!". It kind of made me mad. Like, this is a BAND not a SOLO act. KNOW YOUR SHIT.
After, we were told to leave the venue, even though mothereffing tourists were fine being around. I wonder if they would have told anything if i got a ticket and just stuck around.
The guys actually left too, Will, in fact was walking behind me and the new "friend" of mine, talking all the time with someone, while me and him were exchanging the impressions of the meeting. I just assumed it was a few tourists or something. Only realised it was him when he walked in front of us. LOL We had a good laugh about it! We went for something to drink and to hide away from the ridiculous wind that were going on outside.
The "doors" were supposed to be open at 6:30pm. What was funny that we thought the line will start at the gate, but apparently they closed the bridges that led to the castle so we only saw the line when we hit the very beginning of one. It was...quite a line. We did some more waiting around, before they let all the VIPs through. And as we walked over the second bridge to the castleâs entrance we notice Tim taking a boat tour on the lake snapping pics with his phone. That was really funny, SO CHILL. LOL.
As you can see from the pic, I was right at the barrier, it was a pretty good spot, minus the speakers that were literally a couple of meters in front of me. I started to feel really cold eventually, to the point of literally shaking, 'cuz more waiting. The wind was so bad, and i was, luckily smart enough to wear a jacket, so at least i had that. And while we were standing there, we noticed that there was a Spongebob plushie sitting on the equipment on stage, which as we were informed by one of the friend-fans belonged to Jen. It even had a mohawk. LOL There was also a figurine of some horror movie villain with a knife, but i cannot recall who owned that one.
The warm up band came on only at like 8:30pm or so, while it all had to start good half an hour ago. They were pretty good. A bunch of 4, with a female lead, too. The vocals were pretty good, and they somewhat got a reaction from the audience, but it wasn't anything spectacular. I mean everyone was waiting for Ev. I'm not even sure when they were done. But it was way off the time stated on the ticket.
The real deal hit the audience with a blast! The energy that came from the stage was incredible. When i came in first i was a little sceptical because of how many changes happened with the band through the years, but to my surprise (and meeting them all influenced it as well), the chemistry between them all was so good that at one point i even thought to myself "Yep, they all belong there, this is the band that i loved for so many years, even with different members!".
It was a really good mix of old, very old, new and old turned new. It was a pretty decent setlist, probably about 18 songs or a little less.
My eyes, of course were mostly glued to Amy, but we had Troy on our side of the stage and that man was a ball of energy! You couldn't not pay attention to him. I couldn't help myself joining into all the headbanging (LOL), and that's why my neck hurts quite a bit today.
Tim was just a cool one, very mellow but expressive every now and then. Will, all the way to the back, was going like a mad man, flipping and throwing drum sticks in the air keeping up with the rest! And Jen, well, i love her. She was so badass and so smiley, occasionally joined by Troy, for a little beat down of the guitars. They seemed to have so much fun, that is was amazing to watch them do what they love and completely enjoy it all!
Amy, well, she was absolute perfection. Her vocals were incredible. She sounded even better than on the studio versions. Power all the way through! Amy is definitely a force on stage and her voice kicks some serious ass! I also loved her playing the piano for My Immortal and Even In Death ( that was the version they had for the fan box they did a little while ago). There was so much emotion and detail in everything she did, that it was difficult to keep your eyes off of her!
They finished with Bring Me To Life i think, but the crowd was persistent and they did came back for one more song.
Amy, also gave a very inspiring message at the end which said something like that no matter how insignificant you feel, to remember that your life and existence does matter, and that while going through the hard times, not to give up, because in the end you will stand even stronger. I kind of got slightly emotional at that point but managed not to go into the crying mode.
The crowd was great, polite but still engaged. I sort of just went loose with it, really. "Sang" along and did everything else. It was worth all the way. Nothing really went wrong and while i'm mad at myself for being a shy idiot, i can't really do anything about it now. I'm glad that i at least remembered the little gifts, and they have them.
The whole experience just made me remember why i fell in love with the band back in the day, and why Amy was such an influence on me as a teen. I fell out of interest somewhat, because i was focusing on other artists, but this totally revived everything. Even if i won't be playing their stuff on the loop non stop, or find new things to love, this band will always have that special place in my heart. I truly hope that this wasn't the first and the last time i have seen them perform live. If the chance comes around again, i would do it all over in a heartbeat. Everyone should do this at least once in a lifetime.
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