If I wasn't a mom I'd be a Rock Star. Or more likely a Roadie. Either way I'd have access to a microphone, so yeah, WIN.

I'm pretty sure Bear is singing, "Kelly is our
NUMBER ONE FAN and she is so awesome."
I'm fairly certain those are the lyrics.

I'm not going to downplay it.  My weekend was pretty boss. (Yeah, you read that right.  I'm bringing boss back.)(This is kind of like when Katniss was bringing earmuffs back in book two of the Hunger Games series.)(Because I know that I will someday lead a revolution just like Katniss.)(But mine won't be a revolution against a tyrannical dystopian society.)(Mine will be a revolution of Awesome.)(I don't even know exactly what that is, but it's gonna be boss.)(And will probably include free Iced Capp.)(And definitely have it's own soundtrack.)(Comprised mainly of Needtobreathe.)(That was a segue....)

Needtobreathe?  Oh yeah, I totally saw them this weekend.  Again.

A few months ago Lauren called me in a panic because we didn't have tickets yet for their fall tour and this was the first NTB show where there were actual seats. For someone who is only 5'3" and NTB's NUMBER ONE FAN, this was a bit disconcerting.  I have never, ever seen NTB from anywhere other than the front row.  Also, every single time I've seen them play I have spoken personally to at least one member of the band.  Because that's what NUMBER ONE FAN's do.

Because Lauren is a cuh-razy good friend and also loves NTB (like any person with impeccable taste should), she immediately drove fifteen minutes out of her way to procur tickets for us.  We ended up getting second row seats, but it was after the orchestra pit full of folding chairs, which made us more like tenth row.  This was a huge disappointment for me, someone who actually paid money to join the Needtobreathe Fan Club strictly so that I could have first dibs on ticket sales and meet and greets.  But I totally dropped the ball and my ah-may-zing bestie picked it up and got us the best tickets possible.  That's why she's on my team.

Proof?  This is my actual fan club membership card.  I even signed the back.  You need a photo ID to use it, so don't even think about trying to steal it.  Also?  It's Non-Transferable, so no, you can't have it.

Saturday afternoon I got all dolled up and took this picture.

"Hey!  Imma Blogger and this is a pic I took of myself."

Then Lauren showed up and Brian helped in the photography department.

See?  I do much better with others around.

We left around 3:00 to drive to Kalamazoo, MI, home of Western Michigan University.  We made decent time even though Lauren graciously had to accommodate my many pit stop needs due to my uterine/intestinal issues.  I was allllll a mess up in here.

We parked for free (whaaa?) and had to pass two tour buses and a semi truck previously full of NTB gear on our way to dinner.  It took HUGE amounts of self-control to refrain from "dropping by" in the form of stalker-like knocking, but I was determined to play it cool.  Biggest mistake ever. (Decision? I'm totally done being cool.  Like, forever.)(Brian thinks this decision won't have much affect on my current lifestyle.)

We ate at a bar next to the theater and just happened to sit next to one of the opening acts. (Parachute?)(They were awful.)(Musically, I mean.)(IRL they were really polite to their server.) But they weren't NTB and I'm not a groupie for the sake of it, so I just kept devouring eating my baked potato soup like a lady, and left them alone.

We went next door and were ushered to our seats.  

See what I mean?  Like, tenth row or something.  But it was something different and I'm ok with it.  Really.

Drew Holcomb played first and the dude is funny.  It was just him and a guitar because his band was all back home, but the man was personable and owned the power southern growl.  Lauren surprised me by buying me three of his CD's because once again I am spoiled rotten by my awesome friends.  I heart new music.



The next band was the aforementioned Parachute.  I think that's all I have to say about them. Except I was actually grateful for our ticketed seats because I had freedom to leave the theater during their set and frequent the privy without suffering a huge line.

NEEDTOBREATHE! NEEDTOBREATHE! NEEDTOBREATHE!  The excitement of waiting for NTB almost got the best of me, but fortunately I was distracted by this:

Can you see what this is?  It's the floor of the theater aisle.  And where it changes from carpet to the cement of the orchestra pit was a 1/2 inch piece of molding.  (Where the dark part and the bluish part meet.) This is when we giggled like teenage boys every time someone tripped over it.  It happened a lot.  The time flew by.

Then ... there was Needtobreathe.  A moment, please.

I love them.  That's all I can really say.  They played a new song that was gorgeous.  And they finished with an acoustic song, which I always love.  And they are amazing and someday I will win some kind of grand prize that allows me to spend an entire day in studio with them.  Like a Make A Wish thing, but without the sickness requirement.  And I will officially be dubbed their NUMBER ONE FAN.  (This is kind of starting to remind me of sixth grade when I had New Kids on the Block bedding.)(But not as weird ... right?)

NTB went on at 9:30 and they played for around two hours.  I danced and sang and got my NTB on, but at 11:30, since we had a two hour drive home (3 for Lauren), we decided to be adults and not wait around for the band.  Which (sad face) was a good decision, because half the venue was outside waiting for the band.  I'm sure Bear, Bo, and Seth all grieved a little because we didn't get to hang out, but whatever, I'll see them in a few months.

Until then, boys, until then.

There's this thing they do at the end where they pull out all these drums and do a crazy rockin' out song with lots of bass and I dream air drummer dreams of greatness.