Tuesday, October 11, 2011

You Gonna Fly..

Tomorrow marks one of the biggest days of my entire life...I'm moving to Nashville for 2 months! Having never really left home in my life I'm a little nervous as to what this trip will bring. I already know how much I'm going to miss my family and friends, but I feel like it's just something I HAVE to do. In my mind, there really isn't an option. I need some time to spread my wings, and now is the time.

Sydney and I are headed to Nashville tomorrow morning. We each unfortunately have to take our own cars so we each have a car down there. We'll arrive in Nashville on Thursday...only to sleep..and to get back on the road together to head to Keith's LAST concert in Minnesota. So bittersweet...So happy I'm going to the last concert..SO sad my favorite KU tour ever is over.

I'm sure I'll be blogging a lot coming up...so stay tuned!

Love you all

Thursday, September 1, 2011

It's BEEN a Long Hot Summer..

It's been quite a while since I've been able to post on here. I've been crazy busy with work trying to save up money for my KU concerts and temporarily moving to Nashville for 2 months. Wanted to stop in to say hello to everyone. I was having such a bad day today, then Sydney got to work and we were reminiscing about the times I've met Keith and it made my day completely turn around. He never fails <3

I can't wait for next week's KU tour. It's a little bitter-sweet for me. It's awesome because I'm getting to see him 4 times in 5 days, but also sad because it's my last scheduling KU tour. Lets hope he adds more shows to the tour!

Thats all for now, will post after the Buffalo and Canada shows!

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

KU in DC...

Tomorrow morning Vicky and I are headed to Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts to fly to DC for another Keith show! I know it seems insane that we're flying considering DC is only 9 or so hours away, but the flight was just about as cheap as driving down and saves us some time..so why not! We can wait for the show and hope to get to see Jerry so Vicky can put the moves on him! Wish us luck...we'll be back Friday afternoon :)

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Awesome Keith Review...

Earlier this week I got a facebook message sent to me from one of my sister's friends. She explained at the beginning of the e-mail how she and her friend, Nick, from Philadelphia often swap "long, newsy, rambling" e-mails with one another. This week, this just so happened to be what he wrote....

"So, Friday night I went to a concert with my buddy Steve from school. We saw Keith Urban, who might be better known as Mr. Nicole Kidman. Oh. My. Goodness. Can this man put on a show? I don’t know that I have seen two hours of higher energy than the herculean effort he put in. There is such a difference between artists and performers. Often, Urban left the stage to interact with the audience. The concert was in the same arena that houses the Sixers and Flyers, so the stage is set up at one end of the “ice” and it would cover that side of the building, from board to board. (It’s okay to explain in hockey terms to people from Boston because the Bruins have been welcomed back into the sport family with the Stanley Cup win.) There was also a smaller platform out around center ice, where he went a few times to play, just walking through the crowd like an ordinary person. That was really cool. But what took the cake was late in the show when he left the stage, went to about where the far face off circles would be, made a right and walked halfway up into a section of seats. Here, someone set up a mic next to an aisle seat. He politely asked the young lady who had that seat if he could borrow that chair for a moment, stood on the arm rests, and played his song from there. When it was over, he took a harpie from his pocket, signed his guitar, and gave it to the girl who sacrificed her seat. On the big screen, you could see her say incredulously, “Is this mine?” He nodded and ran back to the stage, where the tech had a new guitar waiting for him. It was just one of those things that you felt like, even if he did this every night, this was something unique, like the most important thing in his life was giving the ticket buyers a show worth every last cent of the ticket they paid. Because of that effort, I’ve put him on my list of “must go” concerts whenever he is in town. It’s a short list, but there are some acts that you just don’t miss live."

After receiving that e-mail, Hilary then sent him back, "Wait a minute! Wells Fargo in Philly, this past Friday?! Do you remember the first girl who got pulled up on stage to sing 'Kiss a Girl'?? I know her!!!"

And Nick writes back: "You mean Katie from New Hampshire?"

HOLY SHIT is really all I have to say. First of all, how cool that he went to the concert and that he literally wrote probably the greatest KU review of all time. Secondly...HE REMEMBERED MY NAME AND WHERE I'M FROM!?!?! INSANE! I think this officially means that I'm famous in the world of KU. Thanks again, Keith, for making my dreams come true. Thanks also to Hilary for sending me this AWESOME message...so cool, you have no idea.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Keith Urban Extravaganza: Part II

Last Thursday Sydney and I began my second leg and her first leg of our Keith Urban extravaganza. Having read online that the AT&T store in New Jersey were giving away FOUR sets of two backstage experiences that morning, we knew we had to try to get one! Of course I'd LOVE to get to meet Keith again, and Sydney had never met him before...it seemed like a no-brainer. I left my house that morning at 4:30 am to head to New Jersey, picking Sydney up on the way. After a little traffic and a few stops for gas and pee breaks, we got to the AT&T Store around 10:30 to find ourselves being 3rd in line...not too bad considering they were giving away 4 sets of passes. The first guy in line was actually the "Icee Man" that got pulled up on stage with Keith at Mohegan Sun. He, his pregnant wife, and his 3 year old daughter had literally camped out outside of the AT&T Store since 8 pm the prior night. The lady right in front of us had been there since 6 am. Clearly Sydney and I thought we were going to win the passes because we were 3rd in line and each previous time they had given away the BSE's in order. Other people got to the store a half hour and about 5 minutes before the 2 o'clock hour when they were giving the tickets out. At 2 o'clock the guy came out and said they were doing it a little different this time: it was going to be random. We were all SO upset! Sydney and I had gotten up at 4 in the morning and might not get the BSEs?! That's just ridiculous. Unfortunately when we went in, neither one of us got the BSEs and to put it lightly, I was pretty upset. Apparently they only had 2 pair of passes, which was half as many as they had written online. We all were VERY upset in line considering the first guy got it (well deserved), and the people right behind Sydney and I had gotten it - NOT OK! I actually ended up calling the company running it to ask where the other 4 BSEs went and the lady literally could not answer me...perhaps they should get their stuff together before posting things online!

So there Sydney and I were, an hour from the stadium at 2 pm, with literally nothing to do and no where to go. We decided to go right to the stadium to check out the scenery and to see if we could find some of our KU Crew that we know and love. Fortunately we ran into our favorite ginger KU crew member as he and the guys were getting stuff ready for the show. I love KU guys so much because they're all just so nice and willing to talk to you literally about anything. Sydney and I picked up our tickets for the concert and they were 7th row center, meaning 3rd row because of how the seats are aligned. This was the first ray of sunshine in our day considering we were exhausted and in an utterly awful mood from the BSE incidence. In the meantime we also got the crap scared out of us walking around in Newark because the streets were PACKED and literally every single guy HAD to make a comment to us...I was so out of my element. After eating we ended up finding an awesome parking lot that was literally right outside of all of Keith's buses. It was perfect for us to go by to get a glimpse of "the man" and to talk some more to his crew. Unfortunately we saw Keith go into the stadium for his BSEs and he waved; he just didn't have time at all to come over and talk. When we got into the stadium Sydney and I were on a mission to be "ticket fairies." We had both gotten REALLY great tickets to the concert at the AT&T Store that morning and decided we were going to go to the nosebleed section to "upgrade" someone. I just thought how excited I would be if I had crappy tickets to a concert, then got to be literally one row from the floor. The first lady I went over two was asking me a million questions about the tickets. It's like..HELLO LADY, they are REAL and you can keep your tickets that you have right now if you don't trust me and can return to your seat if you somehow find they are fake. Needless to say, after talking to that lady for a good 5 minutes, she decided she didn't want them...what an idiot. I went over to the next couple that I felt was deserving and asked if they wanted an upgrade in tickets. The lady was a bit confused as to why someone would do something so nice and asked how much I was selling them for. I explained to her that I just wanted her to "get closer," if you will, and she was SO excited with the upgrade. Sydney also gave her tickets to a deserving couple, so we felt like we had done our nice KU duty of the day. The concert that night was great. Sydney and I obviously were able to get to the front to be FRONT ROW. Keith was in a very fun mood, which made it all the better. Sydney was definitely impressed with the new stage setup and how often Keith went into the audience.

After the concert we waiting around a bit by the buses, then realized we were WAY too tired to stay there considering we had to make it to Philadelphia that night, which was about 2 hours away. We embarked on our trip to Philadelphia, which wasn't too bad considering it was past midnight so we hit barely any traffic. When we were about 5 minutes from my friend, Mary's, house that we were staying at, we decided we would drive by the AT&T store in that area where they were giving out BSEs the following day to see if anyone was waiting outside. Unfortunately on our way to the AT&T Store we encountered and entire road that had been flooded. I literally had no option but to drive through the water, which ended up breaking a part under my car. I was SO upset. We were able to make our way to the AT&T Store to find that there was no one waiting out front, but every time I turned the wheel my car made this awful grinding noise. We found a cop parked out in front of a Home Depot who looked at my car and discovered I had cracked/completely broken the plastic protective covering of the engine fans beneath by right front tire...UGH. Crying, we went to Mary's where we crashed for the night and I set my alarm super early to head to PepBoys.

That next morning I was in such a terrible mood, but decided to wear a cute little dress to PepBoys to try to make myself get into a better mood. When I got there they had to put my car up on the lift and a really cute worker came over to tell me what he was going to do to fix my car. Thankfully the entire process only took about 30 minutes. When the cute guy was done with my car he goes to me, "Keithaholic? Is that for Keith Urban? I love him." I literally thought I had met the man of my dreams. I was telling the guy how I was following Keith around for 7 concerts in a row, and he was just so nice about everything. When I asked how much I owed him he said NOTHING!!! I thought I was going to start crying, I was so happy. Would this be the turn in my day? I dare say yes.

I went back to Mary's apartment where Sydney and I got ready to head to the AT&T Store to try our chances. We knew the same guy would be handing out the BSEs that day as the day before, and we knew it was going to be randomized, so why not try our chances? When we got there a few people who had met Keith a ton so far were there already waiting. Sydney and I were stressing out a bit because we know they always win the BSE's, but were hopeful that the guy may recognized them and give them to someone else based on principle. After waiting for about 2 1/2 hours, the guy walked in to give out tickets and BSEs. This concert there was only one set of 2 BSEs they were giving out, and by the time he started handing out tickets there were approximately 12 people waiting in the store. The guy had us line up in order from when we arrived, meaning Taylor and her friends were first, then us. I got mine first and I knew based on the envelope without opening it that I wasn't the winner. Sydney was behind me in line and as soon as he started to take the envelope out of the package I started to jump up an down. her envelope was COMPLETELY different than ours, so it was kind of clear that the guy did it just for her! She was the only one in line that had never met him before, and was completely deserving. I was freaking out, Sydney was crying...and we KNEW our luck had FINALLY switched over! We called everyone we knew to tell them and just couldn't wait for the concert to start!

We went back to Mary's to get ready for the concert, did some shopping in Philly, and of course got a giant pretzel for dinner. I decided it would be a good idea to take the free tickets we got from the AT&T Store and bring them to the nice kid at PepBoys so he could go to the show too. It was awesome when I went in because I just handed them to him and he's like...ARE YOU SERIOUS?! He obviously couldn't freak out because he was in a store full of guys, but came over to give me a greasy hug :) We got to the stadium super early to stand in line for our BSE. The two ladies in front of us in line were wicked nice. They had both met Keith before, so they definitely knew what was going on. After getting our awesome BSE passes, we headed in to the holding area where we'd watch KU videos before going in to meet the man of the hour. Fortunately Sydney and I know what we're doing too and were able to get FRONT ROW for the seats just as Vicky and I had done in Boston - BOO YEAH! After getting so so so so SO nervous to meet him again, we were called up to get in line. Sydney and I knew we were going in groups of 6, so we wanted to be not the first 2 people, but the second two so we could both be beside him in the picture. I was really proud of myself for this BSE because I was so much more calm. Obviously I was excited out of my mind, but I could compose myself, which was pretty much night and day from the Boston BSE. When we went in the ladies in front of us talked to Keith FOREVER, so we pretty much just got to introduce ourselves to him before the picture. Unfortunately the people behind us ended up going BEHIND Keith for the picture, which put me not next to Keith - BAHUMBUG! Fortunately Sydney was the winner of the BSE and got to be beside him...so that was a bonus. Our picture looks so cute! After the meet and greet Keith came out to answer questions and he was in a HILARIOUS mood. I wanted to make sure Sydney got to ask a question so she could have Keith look at her while answer her. Her question was what advice would he give his children, and he gave a very funny response beginning with how his kids probably wouldn't listen to him and just say, "Daaaaad."

After the awesome BSE we headed to our seats, which ended up being the exact same seats at the night before. That translated to FRONT ROW in our minds. After Jake's electrifying performance we did our "normal" routine to get to the front. Fortunately it worked like a charm and we were front row slightly to the right looking at the stage. I decided that night I was REALLY going to try to get onstage for Kiss A Girl because I felt I was in the perfect placement. A few songs before "Kiss A Girl" I got this feeling over me as though I was going to get chosen and I just HAD to get my shit together. I had to be able to sing, I had to be able to enjoy the moment, and I had to "stand out in a crowd for you," if you will. When the song came on, I was going NUTS! When it got to the part where Keith had to pick his first person he came right over to our stage. He was looking at everyone and then went out on his catwalk. He kept looking at the crowd, then right at me, at the crowd, right at me, at the crowd, and right at me. I was absolutely DYING! I just KNEW that he was going to pick me. He didn't even point at me and just said, c'mon sweetheart...and grabbed my hand for me to head to the stage. HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!! I GOT PICKED! I GOT PICKED! As anyone that knows me knows, I get springs in my legs when I get excited so I was jumping up and down like a maniac. It was one of those instances where you KNOW it's the greatest moment of your life, so you really just have to give if all you've got. I finally made it up the stairs on the right side of the stage and I just could not stop yelling and jumping up and down. Keith thought I was absolutely hysterical. He held my hand all the way to the middle of the stage and I literally was DYING. The good thing was that I didn't even realize that I was in front of 17,500 people. I was so excited that my nerves didn't even matter. As Keith was picking his two other "victims" I was talking to Jerry Flowers and Brian Nutter on stage - those guys are just way too nice. For his second person Keith chose a middle aged guy, and his last choice was a 6 year old boy. OBVIOUSLY I had no chance of beating a 6 year old boy with a mohawk, but I had to give it my all. Keith came over, had us all line up, and went to me first. He asked my name and where I was from. After saying "New Hampshire" he was laughing so hard and said, "Wow, there's 4 people from New Hampshire tonight; I don't like your odds, Katie." He counted down and we both started singing "I wanna..." then he handed me the mic and I exploded with excitement. I absolutely ROCKED the song, regardless of how shitty my voice may or may not have sounded. I even went out on to his catwalk to sing. At the end of the chorus I did what he does and said "I wanna" and held out the microphone for the audience to say "Kiss A Girl." It worked like a charm! Everyone, including Keith, thought I was absolutely hilarious, which was my main goal. The next guy went, who didn't even know the words, then it was the little kid's turn. He didn't know all the words, but he was a little kid, so obviously he won. Fortunately I got to sing the rest of the song with Jerry Flowers, who is Keith's bass player that my cousin, Vicky, is absolutely in love with! It was so amazing being out there ON the stage with MY guys....when I think about it I still feel like I'm in a dream. After the song I left the stage and got a HUGE high five by Keith's photographer, Brad, which made the experience all the better. When I got back Sydney was SO excited for me, which was so refreshing to have a friend legitimately be excited that you got to live out your dream.


The rest of the concert I was still crying and shaking. Keith kept on looking over and checking on me, which I thought was ridiculously cute. Sydney caught his eye once and said "Thank you" and he put his hand to his heart to show that it was his pleasure. At the end of the concert when they bowed to the audience he looked right at me and I said "thank you" and he put his hand to his lips, blew me a kiss, and said "Love ya baby." EEEEEKK!!! This was literally the most ridiculously awesome moment of my entire life. Certainly my reaction was crazier the first time I ever met him in Vermont, but this was the most ridiculous situation I had ever been in. I GOT ON STAGE WITH KEITH URBAN!!!!!! ... and I SO rocked it!

On the way out of the stadium we talked to our favorite ginger who was SO excited that I made it up there. All he could say was, "I told you it was going to be you tonight." When we got out of the stadium I called my Mom to tell her the news. As I'm talking to her we start walking by people who are suddenly realizing that I'm the girl! It was literally like I was a celebrity. Everyone was saying "NEW HAMPSHIRE," "Katie," or "THAT'S THE GIRL!" People were giving me high fives, and even when we got into the car, people were knocking on my window for me to talk to them - talk about a DREAM COME TRUE! Needless to say it's a week later that I'm writing this post and I'm still just as excited as I was that night - gutta love a natural Keith high <3

That night we went to McDonalds for a not-so-healthy dinner (and of course someone almost got stabbed while we were there) and went back to Mary's to crash. All that kept running through my head was when Keith was looking at the crowd, then right back at me...I couldn't get it out of my head. I literally got about 2 hours of sleep that night, but was ready to go the next day!!! We left Marys' around 9 am that next day to head to Albany. When we got to Albany we saw our favorite ginger and crew member who both invited us to a bus party with Keith's crew that night - AWESOME! We literally spend the whole day walking around the stadium and sitting out in front of where Keith's bus was parked. We made friends with some security guards and some KU fans throughout the day. One of the coolest parts was when I was walking and we noticed Jerry Flowers was talking to two other women. As we're walking and they're talking Jerry stops the conversation, points at me and says, "YOU SANG WITH ME LAST NIGHT!" Can you even believe that? JERRY FLOWERS KNOWS WHO I AM...AHHH! He goes, "Sorry Keith picked a little kid, you had no chance." It was awesome getting to talk to one of Keith's band mates who actually knew me...so surreal.

That night the concert was utterly fantastic. The energy was high, we were front row yet again, and we just had the time of our lives. I was still legitimately on my Keith high and we were both just so excited to party with the guys after the concert. Following the concert Sydney and I went back to my car where we literally took a shower in wet ones (thanks Cait for the 30 pack of them!). We obviously had to attempt to look cute for the guys despite the fact that we were sweaty messes.

About an hour and 20 minutes after the concert we headed over to the buses. It was PERFECT because a camera guy was walking out of the stadium just as we were walking by the door and he had us follow him to the buses. So surreal: we were partying with Keith crew! The guys were all so nice and strangely just about all of them recognized me from the night before. The 3 coolest parts: 1) we got to go in the bus where they just showed us where all of the alcohol and beer was and said to help ourselves, 2) I drank a beer with Jake Owen, and 3) as I was standing talking to someone I felt someone come over and put their arms around my shoulders. I look up to find Keith's body guard saying "YOU MADE IT UP THERE LAST NIGHT, BUDDY." I literally thought I was going to die. He talked about how I had gotten a BSE that day and the weekend before. HE REALLY KNOWS WHO I AM!!! Such a cool moment in my life. That night I had 2 beers and 9.5 shots of jager. Needless to say after the buses left I don't remember ALL of the rest of the night, but a few pictures and waking up in the back of my car on top of all of our suitcases tells me it ended successfully.

I cannot believe that my second KU extravaganza is over. It's been a week since I've been to a KU concert and I'm definitely having withdrawals. Fortunately Vicky and I are going to a show in DC on the 28th and Sydney and I have decided to make a weekend out of a few Canada shows in early September.

In essence I really just want to thank Keith for making my dreams come true. He never seems to disappoint. I'm not sure if he recognized me that day in Philly or if it was just by chance, but regardless I am so thankful for him pulling me on stage and letting me shine. Anyone who knows me KNOWS I hate being in front of people, particularly singing, but this was SO worth it. Thankfully a lot of people, including Sydney, got it on video, so it will be something a treasure forever. It's one of those things that will NEVER be out-shined by anything else, and is the video I will show my grandchildren one day. Now the last goal is to get him to write "believe" on me so I can get it tattooed!

Sorry about the lengthy post, but it was worth it!

<3 Keithaholic

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Keith Extravaganza: Part I


As I'm sure all of you know by now, my Keith Urban Extravaganza began last week when Vicky and I traveled all the way to Hershey, PA to see Keith. After all, what could be better than Keith and Chocolate??? I dare say nothing :) After going to Chocolate World, getting some awesome pedicures, and eating at Panera not once, but twice, we were ready for the show. Thursday morning we went to the box office at Giant Stadium to pick up our tickets. The cool part about this tour is that Keith released Christmas Presale tickets that I bought, which meant I knew our seats were on the floor, but had NO IDEA where. When we picked up the tickets Thursday morning Vicky opened them up to find out we were 4th row!!!!!!! I almost died! This was BY FAR the closest I had ever "started" being seated at a KU concert and I was ecstatic. For the 7:30 concert we arrived around 5:30 because I had won 2 meet and greet passes with Jake Owen. We lined up, got a cool Jake Owen passes, and went back stage into Giant Stadium to see the awaiting cutie...and BOYYYY was he a CUTIE! When it was our turn to meet him he was SUPER nice, particularly because I was so giddy :) I went in for the hand shake and he went in for the hug: BONUS! We talked a bit about how I was following Keith around for 7 concerts in a row, and after taking a picture with me and signing my CD case, he asked my name. I was putting away my CD case when he's like...WAIT A MINUTE...he asked for it back to personalize it with my name on the top, which I thought was SUPER nice. Needless to say, I wouldn't mind being Mrs. Owen one day :)
Vicky and I hung around in Giant Stadium until they started letting people in the doors for the concert. We had a really nice man usher us to our seats and every single step we took I was getting MORE and MORE excited. Needless to say, our 4th row tickets were actually FIRST row tickets because the first 3 rows are angled just on the sides and the 4th row is the first full row in the stadium..I WAS FREAKING OUT!!! The guys working the seating arrangements thought I was hysterical as I was jumping up and down like a giddy little school girl.
As the clock his 7:30, Jake hit the stage and boy wasn't he amazing. I figured I would love him because of how adorable he was, but I NEVER expected the pipes he had on him. He had terrific stage presence and definitely knew how to make a girl feel like she was the only one in the room. It was absolutely amazing. '
After Jake it was KEITH TIME!!! Per usual I was freaking out before the concert. As the clocked neared 8:45 Vicky found ourselves literally with the BEST seats in the house. This year Keith has a semicircle stage that slants down toward the crowd with a small catwalk in the center. I was literally the first person in the center of the catwalk - HELLO HEAVEN! While awaiting Keith to take the stage I was talking to the girl next to me who seemed to be as big of a KU fan for me. Vicky noticed she was wearing a KU BSE (Backstage Experience) badge and we asked how she got it. She filled us in how AT&T stores were giving away a few BSE passes in the mornings before the concerts and advised us to look online and try to get one in the morning for Boston. I didn't realize until AFTER the concert that this girl I was next to was TAYLOR who was one of five people chosen for Keith's Ultimate Fan that aired on CMT...OMG! When Keith hit the stage it was nothing less than amazing. He sounded fantastic, the roller coaster theme of the set looked amazing, and the boys in the band were awesome.
My favorite part of the concert that night was when Keith played "Kiss a Girl" he got 3 people out of the audience to come on stage with him. One of the people chosen was a 15 year old boy that I was sitting right next to originally, and he absolutely KILLED IT! He won the contest out of the 3 and got to sing the rest of the song with Keith...it was utterly amazing. I know that I would NEVER want to get up on stage with all of that pressure..but I would HAVE to in order to get that close to Keith again!

After Hershey we went back to the hotel and planned on getting up SUPER early to head to Boston in the morning to try to win a BSE at the Braintree Mall. We figured Hershey was about 6 hours from Boston and we figured we would probably hit some heavy duty traffic on the way. We woke up at 5:30 to get a move on and thankfully avoided NYC on the GPS to head to Boston. Luckily we literally hit NO traffic until we got into Boston, which wasn't too bad anyways. We got to the Braintree Mall and were literally sprinting to the AT&T store. We heard that they would be giving out tickets, which we didn't need, and only ONE pair of BSE passes...I would literally do ANYTHING to get them. When we got to the store no one had any idea about the contest, but obviously we were going to wait there and see. After a few hours an unmarked man walked in and Vicky and I just KNEW he was the guy. He walked out back and asked to talk to a manager and I started FREAKING OUT. At the time Vicky and I were the ONLY ones there, so I thought our chances were pretty awesome. The guy came over and introduced himself and asked where we had come from. We said HERSHEY, and he goes..ohhhh, did you go to the concert last night? Happily we said YES and he asked if we got to meet him. We said no sadly, and all he said was, "awww...that sucks." His remark gave me hope that we were going to win! A few minutes later other people started trickling in for the contest. One lady had come all the way from Canada and was following Keith around and the next day was her birthday (hence my chances diminished). Another couple was there from Oklahoma for their 5th wedding anniversary...I started to get a pit in my stomach. Around 1:45 he asked us all to come to the back of the store. Unfortunately, at the front of the store Vicky and I were FIRST in line and at the back we were last in line...I thought I was going to die. He started to give out tickets in the front and when he finally got to us he goes, I have SPECIAL tickets for you guys. I started jumping up and down and literally crying. He gave us a special letter that was for the BSE....so Vicky and I were literally the ONLY two that one the BSE's....AHHHHH!!! Be sure to keep watching YouTube because I'm sure some of the employees there found the video of me freaking out on their security cameras and posted it...AHH..WE WON WE WON WE WON! At this point I've OBVIOUSLY determined that Vicky is my good luck charm and practically insisted that she got to every concert with me. After calling nearly everyone I know to tell them the good news, we went to The Cheesecake Factory to enjoy some lunch and dessert, and headed into the city! Fortunately when we won the BSE we also got 2 really close loge tickets which we were able to give to my other cousin, Samantha, and her boyfriend who originally had nosebleed seats - a win win for all!
We lined up for the KU BSE just outside of the box office and I was CLEARLY the most excited person there. I was jumping up and down and literally just dying with excitement. When we started being ushered in I started thinking about what I was going to say to him..I couldn't have a repeat of Vermont where all I could say was "I love you." We went into this room where there was a tiny stage with two comfy chairs on it in the front and a million tiny chairs on the floor. Obviously Vicky and I went right to the front so we'd have the best seats in the house. They had food to eat, but who on earth could eat at a time like this?!?! After watching some KU behind the scenes videos were were asked to line up for the meet and greet..I thought I was going to pass out! All the people in his crew were all so nice and all so happy for me <3 When we got closer to the curtain that he was behind I saw a quick glimpse of him and started jumping all over again. Fortunately, Keith's bodyguard, Randy, was there to calm me down. He said "tears are ok, but if you're jumping up and down you might not remember everything, and I KNOW you don't want that to happen." He helped me breathe and got me ready to meet the man of my dreams! When we walked in (a group of 6) we all got to hug Keith and tell him our names. He goes to me, "what's that say on your shirt?" I said, "KEITHAHOLIC" and he goes, "Wow, there are definitely worse things." I felt so giddy that he picked ME to talk to when we were in there. When we took the picture I wasn't able to be the one right beside him because it just didn't work out that way, but he did extend his arm the whole way so he could grab on to my back for the picture. On the way out everyone else just left and I got ANOTHER hug from him - OMG! I smelled like KEEEIIITTTHHH! I know it sounds lame but he is literally the most delicious smelling guy in the whole entire world. Vicky and I just kept on smelling my shoulder because I smelled SO much like him for over an hour. We filtered back into the room and in no time Keith came out on the stage and we were literally inches from him. He got interviewed by a radio person and then they opened the floor for questions. I KNEW I couldn't NOT ask a question..I would have hated myself for life. I was the 2nd person chosen to ask a question and I just said how much he's changed my life and asked what artist has had the most impact on him. The best part about his answer was that he looked at me the ENTIRE time when he answered it. I was crying and you could tell he was REALLY touched...it was simply amazing.

After the meet and greet we booked it onto the floor for Jake were we found ourselves with literally the same seats as the night before. What was awesome about Jake's performance is that he definitely recognized us from the night before and sang right to us a lot. He also threw a pick right at me and I caught it midair - AWESOME! Toward the end of Jake's performance a security guard came over and had us move to 2 rows behind. Apparently the 1st guy had the seating mixed up...I was PISSED, but I had a plan for Keith!
After Jake, Vicky and I were just walking around and I had a plan for when the lights went out we would go and show our tickets to the guy that originally sat us in order to get back to the front. We walked around and around and around and needless to say, my plan worked PERFECTLY! AGAIN WE WERE PERFECTLY FRONT ROW CENTER - holla! Keith was yet again utterly amazing. The feeling of him performing at the Garden on a Friday night was unbelievable. This was by far the best I had ever seen Keith and Jake..and I was just happy as a clam. I got a Keith pick and the coolest thing that night I got was an actual piece of his guitar! As he was playing we all saw something fall. No one around me knew it was the knob to his guitar except for me. I had Vicky search around for it and we actually got it - WOOHOO! Another awesome thing I got from this night and from the Hershey night was Keith's actual play list!!!! I'm a huge nerd when it comes to play lists and to get KEITH's for 2 nights in a row was truly a dream come true.

That night Vicky was very sad to have this be her last KU concert, particularly when I going for 2 more nights in a row. We went back to my brother's that night where we found KJ and Dad still up to hear about our awesome stories. Needless to say I was on my Keith high for a WHILE!
The next morning KJ, Mom, Dad and I left in the Minnie Winnie to head to Mohegan Sun where I would see Keith back to back nights. We did a little gambling and KJ and I won a LOT of money on a slot called "Larry the Lucky Lobster." Thanks again, Larry, for the awesome lunch. We got the tickets for the concert and I was a bit disappointed because we were 9th row in the center, which was WAY farther back than the first 2 nights. The good news is that we were literally one row away from the ministage that Keith plays 3 songs on in the middle of the concert, including my favorite song he does, "You'll Think of Me." Keith ROCKED IT that night. It was amazing how different the feeling in the stadium was once he went out into the crowd. KJ was utterly impressed. I was so glad that Mom, Dad, and KJ were able to go in order to see what I see in Keith. My favorite quote was when KJ (who's been to a LOT of concerts in his lifetime) said, "it should be called the Urban EXPERIENCE...because that's what it is...it's not just a concert, it's an experience." I literally could not explain it better myself.



The next day my friend, Alana, came down to do some gambling and go to the last of 4 concerts in a row with me. During the day I had won some money playing $5 blackjack, so it was literally the best day ever. For the concert we got in there kind of early to take our seats and get Alana ready for the concert of a lifetime. She KNEW how adorable Jake was and couldn't wait for him to serenade her. He was great that night, but the coolest part was after Jake and before Keith when we were just sitting there in our aisle seats. Keith's photographer walked by, who is a really cute bald guy with black thick rimmed glasses. He walked by and I told Alana who he was and all of a sudden I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was HIM! He goes, "hi, what's your name." I"m like, "Katie, what's your name?" He replied with "Brad" and asked if I had submitted a video for a Keith Contest. I was utterly SHOCKED that he a) recognized me out of a crowd and b) actually saw my video...it must have meant that I made it kind of far if someone as high up as him saw it!!! I was so impressed! I told him how I was following Keith this summer and he was just so happy to have met me.
Keith, yet again, killed it that night. My favorite part was that he played Raining on Sunday for the 1st time of this tour, which is one of my favorite songs he sings. Also, I got to touch him more than any other concert because he continuously went out into the crowd on our side. Every night before I got to touch him a couple times, but that night I literally touched him at least 10 times. One of the greatest parts was with his ministage on the side. I knew when he was going to come up on the stage by watching the tiny green dot on his mic pack. In one particularly instance I saw him headed toward the ministage when all the lights went out. I, naturally, went right the stage and when the lights turned on I was the ONLY one he was looking at and the ONLY one up at the stage. He smiled, said HI and gave me a HUGE high five before taking the first strum of his guitar...it was AWESOME. Another fantastic part of the concert was when the security guards were being dickheads and Randy came out front and literally tossed the guard to the side so the fans could GET CLOSER - simply amazing.

After the concert we were walking out and I noticed Brad (the photographer) running in between seats toward me. He goes, "Katie...can't I borrow you for a second." OF COURSE I said yes, and we went into one of the middle aisles. He explained how he wanted me to do a review of the concert that night. I was nervous and didn't really know what to do, but OBVIOUSLY said sure! I explained my favorite part of the concert in a nutshell and just said how proud I was to be a Keith fan. When I was done he seemed SO impressed. He was like, "That was PERFECT..it's like you rehearsed it!" I was so pumped to be a part of something for Keith's site and I can't wait to see where I show up in Keith world...despite the fact that I was all sweaty and teary-eyed from the concert. I look forward to meeting back up with Brad this coming week!

Needless to say these 4 days were literally the most fun 4 days of my entire life. I'm so thankful to have awesome friends and family willing to support my crazy KU addition and to go with me to truly "experience" Keith in concert. I feel so blessed to have Keith's music in my life and to continue to have my KU dreams come true. Next concerts are Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Newark, NJ, Philadelphia, PA, and Albany, NY...and DC on July 28th. I just may have to get tickets to the Buffalo and Toronto shows now!!!

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Kisses & Keith

My cousin, Vicky, and I have finally made it to Hershey, Pennsylvania to kick off my first leg of my Keith Urban Road Tour. First concert is tomorrow night at Giant Stadium, followed by concerts in Boston and Mohegan Sun (TWICE) for back to back to back to back concerts!!! I'm so glad Vicky is able to share this experience with me because a) she's the coolest cousin in the world, and b) she was there making sure I didn't faint when I met Keith last September in Vermont. Saturday Mom, Dad, and KJ will be going to the concert with me, which will be oober exciting consider KJ has never seen him before. Sunday my friend, Alana, is going with me, which will also be her first time at a concert...wish us happy listening!

Monday, June 27, 2011

I Won!

...No, not a KU meet and greet, but a Jake Owen one! Not a bad start to the tour...Vicky and I BOTH get to meet him in Hershey, Pennsylvania...lets hope a KU meet and greet follows!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

BSE Sign-Ups Begin!

This morning at 12am central time the backstage experience sign ups began for the set of Keith concerts that I'm going to. Unfortunately I was in the airport in Vegas when the BSEs began. THANK GOODNESS Tiffany and KJ got me a sick iPhone4 for graduation so I was able to sign up from my phone. All this week I'll have to stay up until at least 1 am to apply..lets hope I get at least one BSE out of 8!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Kissing a Star



This week while in Nashville I made sure I stopped by Keith's latest pride and joy: his star on the Music City Walk of Fame. Naturally, I not only wanted my picture with the star, but also a picture of me kissing the star exactly where he had kissed it...meaning in a very round about way, I sorta kinda kissed Keith <3

Theme Park Tour

Check out this clip of Keith discussing the theme of his "Get Closer Tour." It seems Keith was inspired by his hit, "Long Hot Summer" and is setting the stage up to look like a carnival with a roller coaster and ferris wheel. It also looks like he's REALLY getting closer to the audience in his mini stage in the middle of the stadium...I CAN'T WAIT!!

Don't Think I Can't Love You..

Here's a clip from the CMA Music Festival 2012 of Keith and his tour opener, Jake Owen, singing Jake's hit, "Don't Think I Can't Love You." Simply priceless...

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Keith KILLED IT at CMA Fest 2011


Last night Keith performed at the CMA Music Festival in Nashville, Tennessee and I'm proud to say I was there to witness his masterpiece. The only unfortunate part about the entire extravaganza was that Reba was unable to play until AFTER Keith, meaning he wasn't able to close the show...such a disappointment.

Keith hit the stage around 11 o'clock starting off with a very energetic rendition of "Put You In A Song." Instantly the crowd was to it's feet. He followed "Put You In A Song" with "You Gonna Fly," my personal favorite on the new album, a very touching version of "Without You," and then a sweet sweet version of "Long Hot Summer." Keith then introduced his summer tour opener, Jake Owen, for a duet to "Don't Think I Can't Love You," pictured above. The duet absolutely knocked my socks off as Jake Owen REALLY has some pipes, and of course Keith was flawless as well. Unlike most of this other concerts, Keith went out into the crowd not for "You Look Good In My Shirt," but "Better Life." The energy in LP Field was insane. The entire crowd was singling along to every word and even participated in Keith's "Hello World, Wish You Were Here" sing along.

Needless to say Keith really KILLED IT and made me even more excited than I was before for my 9-stop Keith Urban summer tour. Everyone around me at the concert probably thought I was a psycho because I was COMPLETELY rocking out the entire time. It was so hot in Nashville last night it literally looked like I took a shower after his performance because I was so sweaty. Again, the man of my dreams did not disappoint.. Will post more photos as soon as I get them!

Viva la Keith!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

It's Official...Keith's a STAR

This Sunday Keith was honored with his very own star on the Country Music Walk of Fame in Nashville Tennessee. The event attracted Monkeys from across the globe to get an up close view of our favorite man's accomplishment; a great way to kick off his American tour, which begins in 30 days!


Sunday, May 1, 2011

CMT Awards

Last week it was announced that Keith is nominated for both Male Video of the Year and CMT Performance of the year with his collaboration with John Mayer. The awards will take place on June 8th in Nashville, Tennessee, just before the CMA Music Festival. To vote for Keith, click here.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Billboard Music Awards

Keith Urban along with Rihanna, the Black Eyed Peas, Lady Antebellum, Jennifer Lopex, and Taio Cruz were just announced to be the first set of performers on the Billboard Music Awards in Vegas on May 22nd. Tickets start at $57.75 and are currently available on Ticketmaster.

Nutter's Page


Today I was doing a little research on Brian Nutter, Keith's right hand man, and it turns out he has his own site! It's not super extensive, but it has a few of his new songs on it, including Red Sundress, that I just LOVE. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook...just another way to support Keith's boys. For more information please visit Nutter's Site.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Entertainer of the Year




There's only a few days left, so don't forget to vote KEITH for Entertainer of the Year!!!

Double the Keith...Double the Fun!



Earlier this week it was announced that Keith will have not one, but TWO shows at Mohegan Sun! I already have floor tickets for the 1st show with Mom, Dad, and KJ and was super eager to get the tickets to the newly announced show. I went on ticketmaster at 10 when they went on sale and was having no luck. I knew they must have opened up the page before releasing the actual tickets because you couldn't even get ONE ticket to come up. After about 15 minutes and a LOT of persistence I came up with 13th row tickets!!! This is the 2nd closest I've ever started at a KU concert, and I'm so utterly excited. Now the task is figuring out who's going to come with me...

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Keith on Leno


Just a friendly reminder that KEITH will be appearing on Leno TONIGHT! Check your local listings for show time.

Keithaholic Kornball...

So I'm working on my one-minute Keithaholic video to submit to TRY to win a KU guitar, and I feel like such a loser. I hate video taping myself, especially when it could be used on the KU Tube, but it'll be SO worth it if I actually WIN the guitar. Fingers crossed!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Keith Makes Me Smile...

So I was in kind of an off mood today where everything was just making me irritated. I had "irritated" as my status update on facebook and one of my friends posted a KU video on my wall to cheer me up! Just one of the many reasons I love Keith...and love my friends that understand me and my dedication to Keith.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Keith on ABC

Did you miss Keith performing on ABC last friday? Have no fear, the videos are here!

Click here to watch Keith's "Shut Out The Lights" performance.

Click here to watch Keith's "Without You" performance.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

CMA Music Festival

Earlier today it was CONFIRMED that Keith will be among the first round of country music stars released to perform at the CMA Music Festival in Nashville in June. This makes me even MORE excited to be going! Make my Keith concert tally for this summer 8!!!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

SuperBowl XLV

Don't forget to tune into the Super Bowl pre-game show TODAY to see Keith perform live! For a sneak peak of rehearsals, click here.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Nominations Are In!



It's official; Keith has been nominated for not one, not two, but THREE Academy of Country Music Awards this year including Entertainer of the Year, Top Male Vocalist of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year. This year's ACM Awards will broadcast live from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 3, 2011 at 8:00pm eastern time.

Fan voting for Entertainer of the Year will begin on March 11th at noon pacific time at VoteACM.com.

Artist of the Month...

ACC with Kix Brooks is featuring a new artist of the month for February, and guess who it is? KEITH URBAN! Kix will be covering everything from family live to the upcoming Get CLoser Tour. Read more here: http://www.acctop40.com/Article.asp?id=2097051.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Who's Ready For Some FOOTBALL!?



Earlier this month it was confirmed that Keith Urban will be performing during this year's Super Bowl pregame show in Texas! It will "kick off" (pun intended) his 2001 Get Closer World Tour on February 6th. Oh, and Jake Own has been announced to be one of the openers of Keith's concerts this summer...I can't wait!

Happy Australia Day!

Today, January 26th, marks the day that our entire world celebrates Australia Day! Obviously this day holds a special place in my heart because of my favorite Aussie - Mr. Keith Urban! I wish Keith, Nicole, Sunday Rose, and Faith Margaret the best Australia Day ever!

Monday, January 17, 2011

It's a GIRL!!!

Though it may have come to a shock to nearly everyone, Keith, Nicole, and Sunday Rose welcomed the newest addition to their family, Faith! Knowing the type of person Keith is, it's no wonder he and Nicole named their daughter Faith...it's just perfectly fitting! How did this happen if Nicole was looking perfectly trim at the Golden Globes last night, you may ask. WELL...they actually had a woman hold the baby for them. Faith is COMPLETELY biologically Keith and Nicole's, but was harbored by another woman---how fantastic! I must say, I wish they had asked me to carry the baby, but nonetheless she's a healthy baby girl born on December 28th, 2010.

Read more here: http://www.keithurban.net/news.html?n_id=46181

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Keith on GAC

GAC recently featured a Fan Q&A session with Mr. Keith Urban....check it out!

Please note how extra GORGEOUS he looks!!!

Friday, January 7, 2011

Keith's Sound Check

Don't miss out on Keith's Sound Check with Wal-Mart! It features a variety of KU hits from his new album in addition to a few oldies, but goodies. Check it out here: http://soundcheck.walmart.com/keith-urban

Monday, January 3, 2011

Keith's Year In Review


Well, it's 2011 and that OFFICIALLY means Keith's Get Closer Tour is THIS YEAR! In this week's Urban Developments Keith's crew focuses on his 2010 year in review. The greatest part about the video is that the initial picture you click to see the link (as seem above) is from Vermont...and I'm in it! The video taken from this photo is also a part of the Urban Development video. I look a bit ridiculous in the picture because I'm super teary-eyed and beyond excited...but hey, at least I'm in it!

Check it out here: http://www.keithurban.net/news.html?n_id=40415