2 Girls, 2 Moms, 12 Hours, and Nick Jonas

Before Christmas, there was only one thing that Allie said she really, really wanted for a gift - concert tickets. I said, "That sounds great, but there really aren't any concerts coming to town or tickets on sale right now." That very night, Nick Jonas of The Jonas Brothers tweeted that he and his new side project "Nick Jonas & The Administration" were going to be going on tour starting in January... the tickets would be going on sale the next week, but if you were a Jonas Brothers fan club member you could get tickets the next day at 4:00. I was so stinkin' excited... there could not have been a better gift idea for my girl! I knew the tickets were going to go fast - he was coming to a very small venue compared to where he and his brothers usually play and he was ummm... Nick Jonas - so the next day when Allie was at school, I joined my first fan club ever. :) I spent time navigating it and Ticketmaster to make sure that I would know what I was doing when 4:00 rolled around... and when it did I was ready! But so were thousands of other people. At 3:59, I logged on and started the ticket buying process, and boom! I got in and bought my tickets. I was so excited, but I had to whisper my excitement to my friend, Stephanie, (who would be taking her daughter too) on the phone as Allie was just a room away. Come to find out, the tickets sold out in a matter of minutes - maybe seconds. A second show was added for the next day, and the results were the same. Allie knew that the shows were sold out and that there was no chance that she was going to get to go to the concert and was quite bummed about it!

On Christmas morning, after looking at her gifts, Allie was going through her stocking, and at the very bottom she found a ticket to the Nick Jonas & The Administration concert! What a good little elf Santa has!

I love the total surprise & excitement on her face in this progression of photos!

The venue where the concert was to be held is called The House Of Blues in Dallas. There are a few seats in the balcony, but the bottom part of the place is open floor where people stand to watch the concert. It is nearest to the stage, so we knew the girls would want those tickets as opposed to the seats. Obviously, there are no assigned spots to stand, so it is first-come, first-served. So... Allie and I and our life-long friends Stephanie and Marie met to get in line outside of The House Of Blues at 12:00ish on January 2nd. We knew it would be a long wait since the doors were not going to open until 7:00 and the concert was not going to start until 8:00, but we were excited about it! We brought our lawn chairs, blankets, snacks, magazines, books, etc. and joined the ones that were already there - some had even spent the night in a tent. It was a fun atmosphere and a great time to hang out with friends and Allie. We were free to get up and walk around, get food, go to the bathroom, etc. There were moments of fun and frenzy like when the suburban carrying Nick and his dad drove by and every girl chased them around the building to get a glimpse of Nick waving to them. (The girls saw Nick, Mr. Jonas, and their bodyguard/ friend Big Rob at that time.)

~ Marie & Allie ~

(They have been friends since birth.)

~ me & my girl ~

Making Memories

~ me & Stephanie ~

friends for 15+ years

~ Marie & Allie taking a lunch break at The House Of Blues ~

(She was so excited she couldn't eat.)

Around 3:30 the management of HOB decided to move all of us from our nice, cozy, roomy places on the sidewalk into a "holding area". We had no idea what was to come, but we really didn't have a choice but to go with the flow or we would lose our place in line. We hurriedly put the girls in line, and Steph and I loaded up what had taken 4 of us to carry there, and we ran two blocks through downtown Dallas carrying lawn chairs, bags of food, cameras, purses, etc. back to our car. We must have been a sight! Thankfully, we were able to laugh all the way there and back...

And this is where the story takes a turn. I'm not saying that I wish I'd not given Allie this day, but I must say The House Of Blues should be ashamed of themselves for what they did next.

So, they loaded us in this holding area at 3:30 in a very disorganized way. There was no thought to giving the ones of us that had been there for hours a "good place" in line and there was no stopping the little twirps that wanted to cut in line from doing it. Parents that were not attending the concert (and didn't have a ticket) were not allowed in this area, and the parents that were there trying to keep order were not listened to by the kids that were cutting at all. We had originally been about 50/60th in line, and ultimately we had hundreds go in to the concert before us. The holding area was crammed full of people without food and drink and no place to sit down... and we were in that outdoor area for 3 1/2 hours. It was still fun to be together with our friends, but the thoughtlessness of House Of Blues was insane!

This is where we waited from 3:30 until 7:00.

At lunch I got this guitar pick of Nick's for Allie from our waiter who had gotten it from the sound check guy.

We made some great memories together!

~Stephanie, Marie, Allie, and me ~

When they opened the doors at 7:00, there was more uncontrolled chaos, but once the concert started it was all worth it. Even though we were not as close to the stage as we should have been, we were much closer than we have ever been at a concert. We could see everything so well. We continued standing throughout the concert... I honestly don't know how my body did that for 8+ hours, but it did... the things we do for love!

~ Nick Jonas ~

I've got to say, I am so impressed with this boy and his family. He's 17 and has musical talent that is unbelievable, but more than that... he is a good person. He has obviously been raised by good, Godly people. His and his brothers are known for their stance on purity and for doing kind deeds. Nick spoke more during this concert than I've ever heard him speak before, and he was very inspirational. He told the kids, "You have no idea how much potential you have!" and encouraged them to live this year without fear. He is simply a great role model.

We were so crammed together that I didn't get to watch Allie experience this concert like I did when I took her to see the Jonas Brothers in June, but just this glance said so much to me...

Nick's family was all at the concert. Often, he glanced up into the balcony where they sat. I have been so impressed with his brothers' encouragement since he has been doing this side project on his own. In many other cases there would be jealousy, but not in this family. They were all there to cheer their little brother on and amazingly, beyond a little commotion and cheering when they came in, they didn't take the attention off Nick at all.

~ happy girl ~

This photo is from my phone and shows where we actually stood. (no zoom)

After the concert, we ran outside and watched the exit for a while. We saw many family members leave including Nick's brother Kevin and his new bride Danielle and their grandma. We also saw Selena Gomez and Chelsea Staub leave. The bouncers told us that Nick was not leaving until 2am (which ended up being one of the many lies that the employees of HOB told us that day), so we left before Nick, Joe, and the others came out. After we got to our car, we drove by, and they had obviously gone by then (the crowds were gone), so we could have seen them all if we'd waited just a bit longer... but who knew?

All in all, it was a fabulous day and an experience that Allie and I will always look back on as a good time spent together doing the things that she loves to do. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with our friends and the concert... and all of that makes the uncomfortable parts of the day worth it. Would I do it again for my girl? In a heartbeat.