cgratzlovestd’s posterous

Louisville, KY, October 17, Freedom Hall; One of the best nights of my life and the BEST Third Day concert I’ve been to by far! It was quite amazingly awesome. The hours leading up to the concert are always slow and dreaded. But the dreaded hours are always worth getting through. So, my sister and I had a two hour drive ahead of us. It was absolutely freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezing outside! My Northface wasn’t enough to keep the shivering and teeth chattering away. My hands were frozen solid! But once we got to the venue my sister and I had no idea where I had to go to get my Wired wristband. So, we went to Will Call (which is actually where we were supposed to go) but the people there had no idea about the M&G… NICE!!! So, we went to go wait in the line that was forming by the doors. And then Mike came to the rescue and told us that Brian was taking the wristbands to Will Call and we could go get them…. at 6:00. What, wha… WHA?!?!?! So, I headed over to Will Call while my sister kept my spot in line and got in line there. They wouldn’t give us our wristbands until 6:00 and here it was around 5:30 and we were standing in the freezing cold! And then I found Brianne in line, too! WOOHOO!!! Brianne is one of my greatest Gomer buddies ever! So, we talked for awhile and then they FINALLY told us that they didn’t have the wristbands! But, but… Mike gave them the wristbands. Oh boy, what a mess! So, we went back and I told my sister all of this and then most of us Wired members went over to this other door where they were letting people in. They had purple wristbands and the security guard had a handful of these wristbands. We asked him what was going on, but he had no idea either! So, we stood there, and stood there until about 20 minutes later some people come to set up a table so us Wired members could sign in and get our wristbands. THANK GOODNESS!!!!!! At this point I felt like a glacier, but the freezing and waiting was all worth it. I just felt sorry for my sister because she waited outside until they let her go in to sit in the venue! Finally, Brianne, John, and I finally got inside, got signed in, and got our wristbands. Then we all went up to the Wired lounge together. It turns out that the purple wristbands were the VIP people, BUT WAIT A MINUTE! They didn’t even sell VIP tickets on Ticketmaster! What in the world was going on here?! Then I got to thinking and a local radio station was hosting this concert and I bet that they held contests and sold tickets for their listeners. So, those people got to sit in the sections in front of Mac and Tai. THAT’S why they only sold Mark’s section to us who bought through Ticketmaster! Well, that stinks! But, any who, we got up to the Wired lounge and we all gathered in a circle. We stood there for at least 30 minutes before the guys came in. They sat at a little table and started signing autographs. I owe a HUGE thanks to John and Brianne for letting me tag along with them during the waiting and all that stuff. I didn’t have much for the guys to sign! We couldn’t go to the merchandise table before the M&G which meant I had nothing! So, I decided to have them sign my concert ticket and I had my Glory Revealed II CD for Mac to sign. I figured that I better have them sign it on the back.. just in case! But, then, the guy who was helping this all go smoothly said, “Why don’t we have them sign the front so that everyone can see!” So, he put it down on the table for it to go through the whole line. David was first and somehow he didn’t remember me! WHA?!?!?! But it wasn’t just 2-3 months ago that he called me by my full name! He asked me if I had ever seen them live in concert and I said yeah, four times! And then he said, “You’re gonna LOVE it tonight! We have some great surprises in store for you tonight. So we talked some more and then Tai was next. He remembered me. He asked me how I was doing and we talked a bit and he told me that we could talk some more during face time. Now.. here comes a HUGE highlight from the night, Mac! So, I walked up to him and he took my hand in both of his and said, “Hey! How are you doing today?” And we talked for awhile then he says, “I like your hair like that! I absolutely LOVE it down!” I was in shock, most definitely. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! So, I told him thanks and then he asked me, “Are your teeth all right? Are they okay?” Oh wow!!!!! There was no way! Well, if you haven’t heard already I had chipped my tooth back in the fifth grade and I got it fixed then it fell out again in the seventh grade, got it fixed again, fell out again about a week before the concert, then two days after I got it fixed it fell out again! I guess that I had Twittered about it and I must’ve put something like, “I hope I get my tooth fixed before I see @macpowell and the guys.” So, that must be where he heard about it. Wow! How embarrassing?! So, I told him that they were great and shot him a big smile to show! I had him sign my GR2 CD and I figured that he would just hand it back to me and he just handed it to Mark! Hahahahahaha, that wasn’t supposed to happen! So, now I have Mac and Mark’s signatures on my GR2 CD! So, Mark was next and we talked for awhile and he remembered me, too! Then once Mark and I were done talking I stepped aside. Brianne and John were right behind me and we stepped back and made a line to get ready for our Wired picture with the guys. So, once they were done signing autographs and stuff they all got in front of the Wired back drop and got ready. Brianne, John, and I were the first ones in line. Brianne and John went up first. Their picture turned out great! Then it was my turn. WOOHOO!!! So, I started going up there, but Mike shot a picture of the guys. So, I jumped back pretty fast. After a few seconds I went up there and as I was walking up Mac opened up a little space between him and David and pointed at that little space for me to get into. (If you watch this video you can see this moment at 1:23! ) After I got up there and Mac had his arm around me he told me, “I just now saw what you’re wearing! I love your shirt! LOVE the plaid!” ANOTHER compliment! Another huge highlight of my night. I told him thanks and told him that I liked his plaid, too! And we talked for a bit then Mike snapped the picture. It has to be one of the greatest Wired pictures. Especially that night. After I got out of the arms of Mac and David I headed over to Brianne and John probably with the biggest grin on my face. And then I started looking through the line of people and saw that some of the VIP people were cheating and pretending they were Wired so that they could stay up in our Wired lounge and get a picture with the guys. For some reason this really bugged me! But after the guys got done with pictures the biggest bummer ever happened, Mac left!!!!! Awwwwwww man!!! I was sooooooo bummed! He had to go get ready to get on stage with Glory Revealed. So, I didn’t get much time with him. So, Mac left and the guys veered off into different directions so fans could approach them and talk. David went to get some more coffee, Tai went to help set some speakers up (at the time the speakers didn’t make since to me, but I later found out what they were for and you will find out soon, too!), and Mark just went to a little spot. Then I guess someone called David. So, he went off to the little deserted area of the room and talked on his phone. Brianne, John, and I went up to Tai first. He was still setting up the speakers and stuff. Brianne went to him and asked if she could get a picture with him. They took their picture and then Brianne asked me if I wanted a picture with Tai. Of course I did, but he wouldn’t stop moving around. I don’t like interrupting people and everything, but people just kept going up to him. So, Tai finally saw me and came over. He said something along the lines of, “You don’t have to wait until I see you to come talk to me!” And so we talked for a bit and took the picture and I let Tai get back to what he was doing. Then, we went to Mark. Brianne went first and got her picture. Then Mark waved me forward. I went up to him and he said, “I LOVE your boots! They’re awesome! Very rad!” WOW!!!! I was, once again, in awe. We talked a little more and took the picture. Then, I started to walk away and Brianne says, “Chelsie, I think he was trying to give you a high-five!” I said, “Who?” and Brianne said, “Mark!” and at the exact same time that she said Mark, Mark said, “Me!!” So, I whirled around and said, “Whoops! Sorry, Mark!” And Mark says, “Yeah! Thanks for dissing me! You just left me hangin’!” So, I gave him a high-five, quite hardly. I was so embarrassed! One of the greatest guitarists in the world was trying to give me a high-five and I just walked away! So, we talked for a few more minutes and then we went on to David. Brianne got her picture with David and then it was my turn. And David said, “Hey! Could you tell me your name one more time!? I tried to store it into my memory banks, but it didn’t stick.” I couldn’t believe it! About 3 months ago he had called me Chelsie Lynn Gratzer and now he couldn’t even remember my first name! I think my Gomer shirt at the concert in Ohio was probably what gave him the big sign of who I was. So, I told him and he said, “Oh yeah! That’s right! Sorry!” And we talked a little longer and then he asked me if he could hold his coffee in our picture. Of course I didn’t care. So, after we got done talking and stuff Brianne, John, and I went down stairs and John had his ONE shirt on and the people at the ONE table saw him and told us about the ONE Q&A session after the concert. I was already signed up for ONE, but I decided that I would put my name and my sisters name down so we could go to the thing afterwards. They gave us our wristbands so we could go and we headed off to the concert area. As we went down to our seats on the floor area Mac and David Nasser started to take stage. At this point my sister was starting to worry. She even sent my brother in-law a picture of Mac on stage and said that I was nowhere to be found. But I gave the Usher my ticket so he could show me where my seat was and when he saw the signatures on the ticket he went, “WHOAH!!” I had to laugh. So, I got to my seat and they had a Glory Revealed video playing that I’d already seen. So, I filled my sister in on the whole M&G and she couldn’t believe everything. Glory Revealed was awesome! Mac spotted me first thing. But I was really wanting for Matt Maher to do “Alive Again”. I absolutely love that song! (That’s saying something because I’m a Third Day and Revive kinda girl!) But, beside that, Glory Revealed really did do great! I didn’t get very many pictures of GR, but I did get about 10-20 of them. That’s NOTHING compared to the pictures I took of Third Day! I think I took more than 200 of Third Day! Mac was with Glory Revealed, which, more Mac time is always great. But to have Mac on stage took away from my face time with him during the M&G which was very disappointing! I think he tried making up for the missing face time during the M&G because he did talk a lot with the time we had. But, back to the concert, Glory Revealed was awesome! I was so excited to see them live because I couldn’t make it to a show on the tour because the closest it came to me was about 7 hours away in Marion, Illinois and it was on a Thursday so I had school. At one point in time, Terry and I had plans to go to that concert, but that fell through! But, any who, after Glory Revealed got done with their set I went out to the merchandise table and got my moneys worth! I had my mind made up on what shirt I was going to get, but there were too many new and awesome ones I had forgotten all about that other one. I was stuck! I couldn’t decide which shirt I was going to buy! Then I had it down to three and my time came to order, so I just had to do eeny-meeny-miney-mo and get on with the show. So, I picked the Give Love shirt. LOVE that shirt! And I got some drum sticks! They’re SOOOOOOO awesome! So, my sister and I went back to our seats. While we were in line at the merch table, my sister’s stomach started hurting her. (If you don’t know already, Jessica is pregnant!) She said that the almonds that she had bought hadn’t exactly agreed with the baby. Just then I remembered that we hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast and my stomach started growling. But I knew I couldn’t eat anything because I never can anywhere near a Third Day concert. I could barely eat breakfast! I guess the nerves and the excitement just over powers the hunger! So, we got to our seats and I gave her a Tums. After a few minutes, the music starts. I already knew that they started out with “I Got A Feelin’” by the Black Eyed Peas because I had listened to the beginning of a few concerts from the tour and I was practically jumping up and down in my seat! I was soooooo excited! Then they started to appear behind the white curtain! (BTW- the white curtain was an AWESOME idea!) Then Mac started to sing a few lines from Revelation to a bit of a rock beat. I LOVED that! After he did that the white curtain came down, it was sooooooo cool! They opened with “Otherside”, it was awesome. Mark’s steel/slide guitar-ness was amazing! Second song was “Come On Back to Me”! I was sooooo pumped that they added this to the setlist. They rocked that song! I loved the little moves they did during that song. The next song was “Sing A Song” which was great! I have to admit, I was a little surprised by the setlist. I wasn’t expecting some of these songs to make it on and I was shocked to see some of the songs come off. Like, “I Will Always Be True” and “This Is Who I Am”! After “Sing A Song” was “Slow Down” I absolutely LOVED this one because David came up closer to the other guys and played there. It was great! I loved how Mac introduced the guys before they started doing the song and then after he got done introducing himself he said, “I think right about now… I’m ready to rock it!” It just made me laugh! After they rocked “Slow Down” they played “Born Again” and brought Laura Story out to sing Lacey Mosely’s part on the CD. She did a fantastic job. Next was “Carry My Cross” and “Thief”. It was AMAZING they added some of “Carry My Cross” before they played “Thief” it was truly amazing! I cried. I think that was probably my favorite part of the concert. My sister cried during “Thief” she always does. The next few songs were acoustic and about 6 rows behind us. So, we turned around. We got a pretty good view except for the occasional head in the way. They played “I’ve Always Loved You” and people started telling them that it was their birthday and two of the people got to pick a song and they picked, “These Thousand Hills” and “Show Me Your Glory”. Then we did this whole reciting thing for ONE and Mac was saying it all through his microphone which made me giggle a lot. You should definitely check it out on the Wired radio if you’re Wired. It was great! After the ONE “Stand Up Against Poverty” thing they played “Blessed Assurance” (Which I think was my idea because a little while ago they asked on their FB page that if they were to get rid of “Rockstar” or “God of Wonders” which would we rather rid of and I threw out the idea that if they were to get rid of God of Wonders that they could replace it with Blessed Assurance. So, I think it was partially my idea!) After they did some of “Blessed Assurance”, Mac did a little talking and then they went on to the chorus of “Cry Out To Jesus”. During COTJ Tai, Mark, and David went back to the stage (my sister got a shot of Tai going to the stage). After COTJ Mac started the next song with “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6..” and the others started playing “Consuming Fire” from the stage while Mac, literally, ran to the stage. (We also got a shot of him running to the stage like we did with Tai!) After “Consuming Fire” they played “Run To You” and had Bethany Olds come out to sing the female part. Then they played “God Of Wonders” and added a little fiddle by Bethany Olds. It was VERY pretty! They brought Trevor Morgan out to sing the second part and Bethany sang some BGV’s. Next they played “Call My Name”. I loooooooove this song! It was great. Then they played “I Got A Feelin’” which always rocks and I love their little dances here, too! Mac has such fancy footwork! It makes me laugh! AND THEN came the greatest version of a very hard song that’s on Guitar Hero III. Remember the part where you have to beat the Devil. Well, any who, Third Day brought Glory Revealed out to do “Devil Went Down To Georgia”! It was AMAZING!!!! That song’s impossible on Guitar Hero and it has to be even harder to actually PLAY! It was seriously probably the greatest version of that song ever! It was awesome. They were all chasing each other around the stage! It was a crazy site to see. I wonder if Mac spits a lot during that song because it’s a mouthful! But then you can always tell that it’s people’s first Third Day concert because there’re always a few people who leave when they get off the stage before the encore. They get halfway out of the place and realize, “Oh! They’re doing an encore!” and run back to their seats! The encore started with “Tunnel”. It was amazing! Probably the best version of “Tunnel” I’ve witnessed. Then they played some of “Agnus Dei”. During this song is when Mac did his talking and praying. And during his talk he said how it’s a privilege to get emails from fans and to talk with some of us before the concert. When he said that he looked at me and smiled! My sister was like, “I think he’s thinking about you!” After all the praying and talking and singing, they played “Revelation” and that was the end of the concert. After they got done playing Revelation, they all came to the front of the stage and waved to the audience. I was playing around with something and my sister nudges me and says, “LOOK AT MAC!!!” I look up just in time to see him giving me the thumbs up and smiling at me. My sister couldn’t get my camera to turn on in time. I know now you’re thinking “WOOHOO!!! It’s over!” But *makes buzzer noise* you’re WRONG!! Remember how I told you that Tai was setting up those speakers in the Wired lounge? Well, here’s where they come in play! The guys in Third Day and ONE held a Q&A session after the concert! So, my sister and I made our way up there. I got us both a hot chocolate and waited for the guys to get in the room. Once they came in.. Mac spotted me right off the bat and smiled at me. They sat down and started talking about some stuff. I think that Mac might’ve made the connection that Jessica was my sister by now and he kept looking, smiling, and winking at me. Then, Mac gets out of his chair with his iPhone in hand and takes a picture of the crowd. Then he turned to my side of the room and pointed his phone to me and took a picture! I about had a cow! I was hoping that he wouldn’t put my side of the room’s picture up on Twitter. He actually didn’t put my side’s picture up. But he DID put the other picture up! Mac is a Twittering machine! So, they answered some questions and talked a bit and I could tell that Mac wanted to come talk to me, but their manager was making them hurry up and finish up. So, they didn’t get to mingle. My sister told me that she was about to ask Mac what his favorite color of plaid is. If she did… I would’ve died right then and there. So, the ONE thing was very amazing! After everything was said and done, my sister and I left. This concert was the best concert I’ve been to! Mac said that our crowd was probably the best crowd of the tour! That made me feel quite special. Well, I hope you have enjoyed my 4,000 some odd word blog of the night. I put up a lot of the pictures from the night on my Facebook. So, go check them out and leave some comments! Thanks for reading and God Bless! (Keep in mind that my blogs don’t do the night justice! So, if you want to know more just ask and I’m sure Mark wrote a blog about it somewhere. Go look at his point of view from the night!)

http://www.one.org/blog/2009/10/21/standing-up-with-third-day/ Go here to get a bit of a recap from the night.

Don't forget to watch the video! (If you look close enough at Mac you can tell that he opened up a little space and pointed to where he wanted me to stand before he outstretched his arm around me! And then you can also see me almost trip and fall into Mac!)

Make sure you look and comment my pictures on FB!

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