It’s 2:30 a.m. & I’m winding down from the amazing show at the Sunset Strip music Festival tonight! Or should I say last night? It all started when me & my friends made our way to “live on sunset” to pick up our LPU GA tickets as well as special wristbands to an “LPU access” section only. After this, I met up with some more friends at a local subway. After this, I was going to meet a friend who had to sign in for music for relief because he was volunteering. What happened next was very unexpected…
I asked the security at the gates to the festival a simple question about how to get to the other stage where I was meeting my friend. It was at this point they noticed the wristband I was wearing & said I could go directly in. And so I did. I walked in to the areas when doors wouldn’t be opening until 2 hours later. I walked around & saw my friend for a bit and then enjoyed the Gibson guitars that were made… Especially the one designed by Mike.
Then, I saw Tater & Pablo, two of LP’s touring staff members. They were on the way to get some lunch which is when they invited me to join them. We talked for a little while the beautiful LA sun burned us and then I walked with them & got to see some behind the scenes! Pablo was avoiding the sun so tater & I talked for a bit before I had to leave. It was a pretty fun time seeing backstage & I was really thankful for the unexpected opportunity.
Met up with more friends & enjoyed some bands before it was time for the meet and greet with my friends who were selected for the LPU meet and greet. My very good friend Brandon & I go through a lot together & have been taking care of each other when it comes to LP things. Since he was the reason I got a phone call from Phoenix, I knew how perfect it would be to tell him “thanks for letting my friend call me” with him actually standing next to me.
So my friends & I are in the meet and greet line & we go in and get our meet and greet laminates.
As soon as we go in the meet and greet area, we are placed in the group picture that would be taken with the band. The band comes out and starts with joe & Phoenix. I see Phoenix & say “DAVE!” He sees me, smiles, & comes to my side of the picture and then all of a sudden they say that they’ll be signing our items now. It was very confusing for the band as well as us but since I was in front, I was one of the first to talk to Dave. He’s always so great with me & I’m so thankful for the things he’s done to make my linkin park experiences AMAZING. We did the usual “hi how are you talk & then we talked about the setlist I was getting signed & gave him a special handmade gift which I know he will enjoy. After we talked all of a sudden it was time for the picture and so Dave crouches on the floor which is also where I was so I can’t wait to see the group picture. It’s my first meet and greet picture to be a part of & it was even more special that Dave is next to me in it too. (*Review has now been edited to include the group picture uploaded on 8/5/13 by LPUHQ) There was some confusion about the pic & line so some band members came around twice. I shared a funny joke with Dave when he came back around & then when he moved on in the line he said “good to see you Irene!”
The meet and greet was a success & I finally got my setlist signed that Dave gave to me at a Honda civic tour stop.
Time to head into the LPU section for the show. It was a beautiful night & I was excited to see what was in store for us. The lights turn out & I hear the notes to “a place for my head” & the crowd goes wild. My friends & I go crazy happy because having been at all the LA shows (as well as the vegas show) in the last year we had always had “tinfoil” as an opener & were VERY satisfied when APFMH came on! I hadn’t listen to any Linkin Park since June 27 & it made the concert so much more amazing! I enjoyed singing the words & along to every song with the crowd! It was a really good setlist with a lot of variety but the nice surprise was when they took it back to their old days of playing on the sunset strip & played one of their old demos called “reading my eyes” during the bridge to “bleed it out.” The show ended with the epic “one step closer” & that was it… Last US show for this year.
I said bye to the crew & when I said bye to Warren he came to the edge of the stage with a setlist for me… which someone tried to steal from me!
(Photo credit of Phoenix: Sandra Alba)
Thanks to Lorenzo & LPUHQ for a great show & making the LPU section possible! Thanks to Visit West Hollywood & Julissa Rodriquez for all their help when I won the “visit west hollywood contest.”
It was a great day overall & I can’t thank linkin park enough for being there for me & making my experiences awesome & memorable. Thank you Brad, Rob, Joe, Mike, Chester, & mostly Dave for making these memories great for me.
-Irene
P.S. – because I had a meet and greet I wasn’t at the barricade taking pics but I wouldn’t trade barricade for the meet and greet any day. =)
writingscarz says:
This is awesome!!! I’m happy for you 🙂 Sounds like so much fun and some added unexpected extras 😀 Great pics, btw. I love the road case with the four leaf clover on it XD
irenekrygowski says:
Thank you! it was definitely a great experience. Linkin Park tours with 3 different touring rigs A.B, & C. I found out the clover meant “C.” It’s always cool to learn these things! Thanks for reading!