mandilambi Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Some of you may know that I have been waiting to see No Doubt since February. Since then, I began working on four different sewings that I made for them and was planning all along to give them to Gwen sometime during one of my shows. Well, last night it all came together and I had the most amazing experience! I have pictures and a report below! My gifts: No Doubt - Kansas City - July 6, 2009 Kenton, Evan, and I arrived at the venue around 5:05pm. We went to the tour club line-up and there were about 5-15 people there already. I spotted Desiree and her brother Von and went up to say hi. Adam and Emily were also there, so all of us ended up sitting underneath a tree near the front of the gates. It was so much fun to get to hang out with some forumers and it definitely made the time go by more quickly to get to sit and chat with them! I think we were let in earlier than 6pm. The transition of going inside went so smoothly and I was glad to get to get merchandise so quickly and to be able to find our seats. I wasn’t exactly sure where our seats would be, but I thought they would be around the 10th row. We were exactly 10th row and our seats were on the outside on the left. I was very happy with our seats, especially since that meant I could move around freely on the end of the row! Waiting was really difficult. It was right about when we got to our seats that I got a horrible head and earache. This is something that frequently happens to me, which I am used to but it was discouraging to be in pain. The headache didn’t go away all night until I went to bed, but I am glad to say I was very distracted from it when the band came on. J I thought Bedouin Soundclash and Paramore were great live bands. During Bedouin Clash’s performance I believe Zuma and Kingston were in the wings on the right side of the stage. I was on the other side of the stage so, I couldn’t see terribly well. They were so cutttteee! It was obvious during Paramore’s set that Haley Williams can certainly hold her own up on stage! She has got a lot of star quality and I hope that they’ll continue to grow and that touring with No Doubt has gained them some more fans. I know I certainly enjoyed watching them perform! I had figured that No Doubt would hit the stage around 9:45pm, but I am pretty sure it was earlier than that. The fans were getting excited at each little movement on stage and each change of the lighting. I sat waiting because I knew as soon as their shadows appeared that that was it. Once the lights went down I jumped up and started cheering. I was a bag of complete and utter energy as soon as the opening drumbeat of “Spiderwebs” began! I had imagined what it would be like to see them live again, but to actually be there, jumping, singing, enjoying the moment can’t really compare to what I had imagined. The band was in stellar form, which I knew they would be! I loved every minute and was trying to soak all of it in. I loved getting to hear songs like “End It On This” and “Different People,” and “Rock Steady” because those of course were not ones that I was able to hear on the Singles Tour. So those were definitely a huge treat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandilambi Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 Speaking of treats, it was absolutely amazing to get to hear “Total Hate” performed, which was completely impromptu and prompted by some people that made a sign requesting the song. Way to go, to whoever made the sign! I was actually briefly disappointed because I thought Gwen was talking about my sign when she was actually talking about the “Total Hate“ sign, but I was quickly happy again because those people convinced the band to perform it. Thanks to whoever that was!!! The whole time was a constant effort to get her to see my sign. Around when they were performing “New” I was trying to stay positive and I basically told myself it was going to happen one way or another. It was right in between “Running” and “Different People” that I finally got her attention. I’m not sure exactly what Gwen was talking about, but my boyfriend, Kenton, told me to give him the sign and then I slightly stood on my chair and began pointing rapidly to the sign. She then started squinting her eyes and said “You guys have gifts for me? Can you all allow them to bring me the gifts, please?” Kenton practically (okay, he DID) pushed me towards the stage and yelled “Go! Go!” I ran up really quickly. I had already made sure the gifts were out where I could grab them and I kept my camera on my wrist, so I’d have that handy as well. I ran up to the stage and handed her the gifts. OU conversation went as follows: Gwen: What are these--gift certificates? Me: “No! I made one for each of you. Gwen: These are….cross stitch? Me: Yes! Gwen: Did you make these? Me: Yes! Gwen: These are beautiful, thank you! Then I asked her if I could take a photo with her. She said “You want to take a photo with me? Sure come up!” She grabbed my hand and said “See where that sign says ‘Don’t Step,’ well don’t step. Which…I ended up doing accidentally haha…ooops… I got on stage and looked at her and then gave her my camera. As soon as I was close to her the first thing that hit me was how lovely she smelled! You’d imagine that she would smell sweaty and all that, but no…she smelled like something tropical, not quite coco butter but close to that. My shirt even smelled like her fragrance afterwards… :-) We took the photo and I really couldn’t believe it was happening. When we were done I looked at her and held my head in my hands to convey how thrilled I was. She then put her arms around my waist to hug me and she even raised me off the ground. LOL I can’t believe I just said that….Gwen Stefani picked me off the ground!!! Wow. J I then blew kisses to the guys. I waved goodbye and got down from the stage. I ran back to my spot, giving high fives to people offering them along the way. A lot of people around me were congratulating me and telling me how lucky I was when I got back. I hugged Kenton and he and Evan were smiling so much at me. I kept hugging Kenton and telling him how happy I was! I don’t think I will ever listen to “Different People” in the same way now, because that was what they played after I left the stage. I recorded it and sang along to the whole thing out of sheer joy and happiness to have just experienced what I did. I can’t express how thankful I am to everyone that made my meeting Gwen possible, especially Gwen herself. She and the guys continually show appreciation for their fans and that is something that can be rare these days. I love No Doubt more than ever and am so grateful to have had everything from last night. “Stand and Deliver” was absolutely awesome with everyone on stage! I hadn’t watched any youtube videos of this performance, so it was all new to me even though I had already heard about it. I love the drumming that Gwen and Tony do and it was great to see Adrian sporting a rather lovely tutu in the process. ;-) The entire encore was amazing. I love that “Sunday Morning” is still the closing song, because that’s always been my favorite song of theirs. The band truly had the crowd into the music the entire show and jumping til the last minute of “Sunday Morning” as well. I truly hope that the band had nearly as much fun as we did! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neeve272 Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 I don't have time to read this now but the pics look fab...HOW EXCITING!!!!! Nice work!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Angel Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 That sounds GREAT! Congratz! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sariflor Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 My goodness!! WHAT AN INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE!!! I'm SO happy for you, honestly, you must be walking on air, hahaha!!! This has to be one of those "once in a lifetime" moments, because I cna't imagine many people having had the chance of something like this. It also shows you how nice she is, that she's open to that sort of thing, isn't it? Wow! I'm really happy for you, that's all that I can say. WOW!! And the pics are fabulous. 10th row was a great spot, the view that you had was really good. I wish the large Mika gigs were like this, organised in venues like these, with the plastic seats up to the front ,and we'd all get good spots without the mad queueing. If No Doubt and other "big" and "rocky" acts can do these venues and it doesn't affect the vibe, surely Mika can too? Anyway, on another order of things: your pic with her is priceless. I love the "2 sides effect" where they took the pic of you from the audoience and you have the proper one that Gwen herself took, hahaha! She's looking incredibly pretty as well isn't she? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicfreak Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Wow!!! that insane! If only mika would do that for everyone of us:naughty: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guylainem123 Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 oh mandi... how exciting for you! i bet you'll never forget it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sariflor Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Wow!!! that insane! If only mika would do that for everyone of us:naughty: He wouldn't have enough space left on the stage, hahaha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xlindee Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Basically everything Sariflor said. Amazing and fantastic. Love Gwen Stefani. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandilambi Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 Thanks everyone for the nice comments! I am in shock today....I cried earlier while looking at all the pictures! Everyone here probably knows by now that Gwen has been my hero and that this happening to me is truly one of the most amazing things that has ever happened. I am genuinely humbled by what too place last night and am forever grateful to everyone that made all of is possible! By the way...I found another picture that someone took. This is what made me cry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandilambi Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 My goodness!! WHAT AN INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE!!! I'm SO happy for you, honestly, you must be walking on air, hahaha!!! This has to be one of those "once in a lifetime" moments, because I cna't imagine many people having had the chance of something like this. It also shows you how nice she is, that she's open to that sort of thing, isn't it? Wow! I'm really happy for you, that's all that I can say. WOW!! And the pics are fabulous. 10th row was a great spot, the view that you had was really good. I wish the large Mika gigs were like this, organised in venues like these, with the plastic seats up to the front ,and we'd all get good spots without the mad queueing. If No Doubt and other "big" and "rocky" acts can do these venues and it doesn't affect the vibe, surely Mika can too? Anyway, on another order of things: your pic with her is priceless. I love the "2 sides effect" where they took the pic of you from the audoience and you have the proper one that Gwen herself took, hahaha! She's looking incredibly pretty as well isn't she? You know, I really wish Mika would take some pointers from No Doubt. Gwen began a tour club during her Sweet Escape tour, which enabled all of the fans to purchase tickets and by doing it through the club this prevented scalpers to purchase tickets because all tickets are will call only. All of the best seats are always reserved, which that alone tells us that No Doubt cares about their fanbase a lot. Being able to get the best seats and then know that you have a seat is a great and relaxed feeling. Granted, some of No Doubt's shows are GA (in fact, the show I'm going to tomorrow is GA), but not nearly all of them either. Hopefully Mika will reach a point in his career where he will do larger shows such as these. What a sight that will be, right? And yes, Gwen is pretty! In fact, she is flawless. She has only gotten more beautiful with age! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxxy Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Awww.. I love No Doub! How lucky you are! Amazing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sariflor Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Basically everything Sariflor said. Amazing and fantastic. Love Gwen Stefani. How lazy are we then, re-using my words instead of typing your own ok, ok, just joking You know, I really wish Mika would take some pointers from No Doubt. Gwen began a tour club during her Sweet Escape tour, which enabled all of the fans to purchase tickets and by doing it through the club this prevented scalpers to purchase tickets because all tickets are will call only. All of the best seats are always reserved, which that alone tells us that No Doubt cares about their fanbase a lot. Being able to get the best seats and then know that you have a seat is a great and relaxed feeling. Granted, some of No Doubt's shows are GA (in fact, the show I'm going to tomorrow is GA), but not nearly all of them either. Hopefully Mika will reach a point in his career where he will do larger shows such as these. What a sight that will be, right? And yes, Gwen is pretty! In fact, she is flawless. She has only gotten more beautiful with age! Yes, that is the thing, a mix would be the best idea I guess. Some GA, standing, some reserved seating, but best spots for genuine fans. Maybe you should tweet Mika hahaha... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandilambi Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 LOL I probably should. He loves Gwen afterall. He'd be insane NOT to follow in her steps. ;-) I just found this article about the show. It mentions me! "Review: No Doubt, Paramore On its first tour in seven years, No Doubt might be packing large venues like Starlight Theater on Monday night, but they’re playing them like a hungry band, working the crowd for a place to crash afterward. The few times the band paused during its 95-minute set, singer Gwen Stefani read the homemade signs held up in the crowd and calling fans with gifts up to the stage to receive them personally. After tossing a sign spray-painted with a request for “Total Hate 95” onstage, one fan was rewarded with a performance of the rare number. Later, after accepting the cross-stitched logos another fan made, a genuinely touched Stefani hauled her admirer onstage for a quick photo. When she wasn’t speaking directly to the fans, Stefani and company were giving them exactly what they wanted: a heavy dose of the hits that made the band big in the first place. The setlist resembled the tracklist of the greatest hits album No Doubt released before going on hiatus and jumped off the stage like a celebration of the 11 years they’d shared prior. The opening ska bounce of “Spiderwebs” had the crowd eating out of Stefani’s hand, singing, swaying and dancing on cue. That number fell into the electro pop of “Hella Good.” The tempos may have changed throughout the night, but the energy never lagged. Through it all, Stefani was never still, dancing, spinning, jumping and unceasingly working the crowd. The other five musicians onstage gave no evidence of any time apart. Drummer Adrian Young sat in the middle of the all-white stage, his kit the centerpiece of a six-legged platform that looked like a futuristic insect. He was flanked by multi-instrumentalists Stephen Bradley and Gabrial McNair who handled horns, keyboards and backing vocals. Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont and bass player Tony Kanal navigated the rest of the stage. Behind them all, a large screen played videos during most songs. The best bits were the James Bond parody during “”Ex-Girlfriend” and the homemade videos of the band’s early days accompanying the ballad “Running.” “Don’t Speak” drew the biggest response, but it was nearly matched by “Just a Girl,” which closed the main set. As Dumont played its spidery opening riff, Stefani dropped to the floor and counted out push-ups with the crowd. After reaching 10, she sprung to her feet and launched into the verse. Both feats drew massive cheers. One got the feeling during Paramore’s 40-minute set that they brought as many fans as the headliners. The quintet’s set was marked by a constant stream of young fans rushing as close to the stage as their parents would let them to snap a souvenir photo. The setlist tipped heavily toward their 2007 album “Riot,” which delighted the devoted, who hung on singer Hayley Williams’ every word. The two new songs -– which blended almost too well with the older material -– and set-closing “Decode,” from the “Twilight” soundtrack were extra treats. Bedouin Soundclash opened the evening with a 30-minute set. Their sound was indebted to the Two-Tone sound of the Specials and did a good job of establishing the evening’s feel. After No Doubt returned for “Rock Steady,” Bedouin Soundclash and Paramore joined them for “Stand and Deliver.” Nearly all of the dozen musicians onstage pounded the various drums brought out while Stefani and Williams swapped verses. No Doubt drummer Young managed to stand out in the crowd by parading around wearing only a pink-and-white tutu, marching snare drum and calf-high athletic socks. The night ended with “Sunday Morning,” which like so many No Doubt triumphs hit the sweet spot between pop, ska, dance and rock. When the music ended, the band lingered onstage signing autographs, tossing souvenirs and shaking hands. Just like they did in their native Southern California clubs a lifetime ago." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzie Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Wow, Mandi! Congratulations! I am really happy for you...Well deserved! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandilambi Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 Thank Suzie!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
violet_sky Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 That sounds lovely! You must be over the moon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandilambi Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 Thank you! And yes, I am totally over the moon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiibet Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 I just found this thread and read your report twice! Wow, thanks for sharing You sound so happy, it was lovely to read! Wonderful pictures too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 OMG!!!! THis could not be any better and amazing!!! Gwen is such an icon for me!!!!!! You have amazing pictures and I lOVE the report as well. I FEEL SO HAPPY for you:yay::yay: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandilambi Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 Thanks so much, you two! I've felt so many emotions over the last couple of days. Nothing has sunk in yet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nielo Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Aw, that's really awesome! I'm so happy for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ce_mika Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 OMG!!!! Congratulations!! this should have been so perfect!!!!!!!!! i'm really happy you've lived this great moment!! Keep enjoying it!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandilambi Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 Thank you so much! I am definitely savoring the moment! I took this picture today... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollipop_monkey Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Wowwww!! Oh Mandi, what a fantastic story! I can't believe you got up on stage, that you got to give Gwen your cross stitches, and that you got a hug!!!! You must be on such a happy cloud now. I'm so freakin' happy for you! Were you nervous going up there? Or did it all happen so fast that you didn't have time to be nervous? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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