April 17, 2014- I had one of the best nights of the semester, let alone my entire life.
But I'll start from the beginning. I love Gavin DeGraw, always have- always will. I had recently downloaded Spotify and started listening to his Make A Move album and it's was pure magic, if you haven't listened- I suggest that you get on that. After listening for probably the umpteenth time- I started tweeted about loving him and the music and one of my best friends texted me and told me that he was coming to the area and we jokingly said that we were going. The tweeting continued until my Big tweeted us and said he was coming to her hometown and suddenly we all had tickets. And naturally life and stress took over and of course, Gavin DeGraw was forgotten for a bit. Then April 17th the day of the Gavin DeGraw concert finally came! The day had finally come! Gavin would be at the Rocksino in. Northfield, OH. My Big's parents said we could have dinner at their house. The perfect outfits were picked out and then we were off. After some excitement (we had forgotten a ticket at my Big's house- luckily she lived less than 5 minutes and so we waited for its delivery from her parents) we made it to our seats and we waited. Our expectations of the night were low- we were only planning to hear some of our favorite songs and go home, what we got was so much more than that. The opening act was a young singer, Rozzi Crane, that is signed to Adam Levine's label- she has an amazing voice and she was more than we expected. And then she said while introducing herself, "I'm so happy to be on tour with Parachute and Gavin DeGraw"... YES! We were also going to be seeing Parachute! After our mild freak out we waited in anticipation for Parachute! And they did not disappoint, they played American Secrets, She Is, Kiss Me Slowly! Classic Parachute tunes, more than we could hope for! And then the main event happened- Gavin DeGraw came on! And he was amazing, flawless-- there really aren't words to describe his skills, he's one of those rare performers that you're not sure if he sounds better live or on recording- he was that good! All of our favorite songs were played, his danced around, he played piano- and we shared a moment-- during I Don't Want to Be- he stopped singing and the house lights came up and he looked out on the crowd while we all sang out the chorus and then he took over and finished the song. I didn't know until the song was over that it was on my bucket list- Sing IDWB with Gavin DeGraw, check please!- and a wave of absolution washed over me. The set list was perfect and then he ended the concert and it was over. When the lights came up and we watched people leave from our seats and waited to absorb some more magic of the night. We could tell that Gavin was talking to fans- so we wanted to get closer and get a picture of him from afar but still closer than where we were. We got so much more than that. We all ended up in different areas- my one sister got her ticket signed while we waited for him to come back our direction. While we waited we made friends with the people around us. Suddenly he was near us and my Big managed to get her ticket signed and we got to take a picture with him! He called us "baby", we fist pumped and he thanked us for coming. We left floating on a cloud. My ability to use words was lost for the majority of the 25 minute car ride home- it's not often that $40 is ever that well spent. Really, we didn't pay nearly enough for the night that we had. As if his music was enough of a reason to be a lifelong fan- the fact that he stayed after his concert, obviously exhausted, and met every fan that stayed after the concert- cemented the fact that Gavin DeGraw is a class act through and through and I wish nothing but the best for him and his career. He truly understands the importance of his fans and he appreciates them. And it was quite obvious that his fans appreciate him.
My only requirement of the night was to get a photo of the three of us- I got so much more than that! I finally got to see Parachute (I had tried my freshman year of college- but couldn't get home in time) in concert, I got to sing my favorite Gavin DeGraw song with Gavin DeGraw, not only did we get to meet him, but also take a picture with him and to top off the night- I got a McDonald's sweet tea with light ice.
It was a night for the books and I'm not sure it's going to ever be able to be topped.
Here's a few photos from the night:
"Things end, but memories last forever."
xoxo
Jordan
