We sat around for hours just relaxing, writing on our arms & hands to prep for the show & eventually other people started showing up. And so did a couple other people who were in our group as well. Before I got there, Drew had been hanging with the group for a few but had to shower. As we sat there Dave went past us & we decided we were gonna play it cool & not do or say anything but that only last a couple minutes before we all called out to him & he waved at all of us. Kenny went past us & said hi to all of us as he headed inside. A few of us walked over to the local sub shop for a bite to eat & they asked us who were seeing & we then started talking up Awol since none of them had ever heard of them. When we headed back over to continue waiting, I had exhaustion hit me & I needed to lay down. As I started to use my bag for a pillow, one of my nation friends actually had a small pillow for me to sleep on. I drifted off into a short & sweet cat nap, and it was exactly what I needed so that I could continue on with the rest of the evening. I woke up & felt so rested. As we were still sitting around, the photographer from the radio station showed up & was impressed with our arm/hand art & started taking pictures of us.
Someone said you're not gonna find bigger fans than us & it's true. We're a dedicated bunch. We tallied up that between our group at the end of the weekend will have been to 70+ shows. The promoter from the radio station asked if we were there for the meet & greet. We said no but we could be. He said he'd see what he could do but there had been a contest from the station & they were waiting for those people to show up. We all figured that was that & we continued to sit around. We noticed a couple girls were over in a seperate line waiting to be brought in. We noticed that there weren't any other people & a few minutes later the guy came out & said that they could let 10 people in- we had 9 in our group! It felt like fate & then they let us head in. We all headed into the bar area where the meet & greet was happening. We went over to get drinks & found out that those of us had our beverages covered as there was a tab! I asked my nation buddy to pinch me to make sure this was all real. Zeale was soundchecking in the background while we were waiting around for the guys to come out. We stood around enjoying our drinks when they guys made their appearance. They came out & noticed us right away. Dave came over to me & was like hey, we just saw you a couple weeks ago. He said once again I was very far from home. He then gave me a high 5 & proceeded to give everyone around us them. We got some blank posters & had the guys sign them. I also had the guys sign my Nationchella shirt (we had all signed each other's shirts while were waiting around). As we were standing around & chatting Imagine Dragons was doing their sooundcheck. I went over to Drew & asked if he remembered our conversation from Indy & he said maybe, I then pulled out a Drew Blood Garbage Pail card for him. His eyes lit up! He was so excited. He turned to Dave & Kenny & said look what she got me. He turned & hugged me & said it was an awesome gift. He showed Aaron too & they both said it was pretty cool that I found that. Then I went over to Kenny & gave him his replacement bracelet that I made for him. He thought it was cool that I remembered. We all stood around, drinking & chatting & having a good time. Between my abyss of a bag & trying to hold everything, my nation friend joked & told each of the guys that "we can't give her alcohol before the show." One of the nationers got her mom on the phone & Aaron had a short chat with her. I got pictures with each of the guys. I stood on my tippy toes for a picture with Hayden & Drew- I still didn't come up to either of their shoulders. Then we all gathered together for a group shot of all of us. We noticed a couple other people had come in, maybe those were the actual winners of the contest.
The guys said they'd see us later on as they were getting ready to go get ready for the show. We also got to meet the guys from Imagine Dragons. They are sweet, genuine gracious people. We noticed they opened the doors for everyone else so we headed straight for the front row where we took up a good part of it. I stood over by Dave's side of the stage, even further over than I have the last few shows. Kenny still has his keys set further back near Hayden. I heard him say that he likes being over there now. 
The crowd filled up & it got crowded quickly. We were right up against the barricade. I had a girl with a very big bag up against my back. Let's just say she was a part of my angst for most of the evening. Behind us a fight almost broke out over something that sounded petty & immature. I tried to drone it out. The anticipation of the show was a buzz from all of us. We decided as a group that if Zeale picked a word from us to do his freestyle, that our word was Chewbacca. Rockwell came out, spun a little & then did his introduction for Gibran & Zeale to come out on stage. Such energy & enthusiasm from those guys. They had Patricia Lynn come out to sing on "Hope Dies." And then when Zeale started "Mr. Black Rogers," Aaron came out! It was so cool to watch them perform together. They both looked so happy together on the stage. Aaron boasted a big beaming smile & happily aimed the pro-go out into the audience before leaving the stage. Zeale used our word for part of his freestyle (sexy, fire, chewbacca), we went a little crazy when he said it. His set ended & the Imagine Dragons came out. I had a much better view this time than when I last saw them. They put on an amazing show! Dan, their frontman has so much energy & emotion. You tell he had a lot of it during their set. The anticipation grew waiting for Awol to take the stage. Then Megalithic Symphony started & out walked the guys...and Aaron with a large walking stick. He commanded the stage & then headed over to the drums & it was taken off the stage. As always such a great set of epicness. They left out a couple songs this time around but it's ok we got to hear an accapella version of Lean on Me by Aaron which was incredible. As soon as the guys finished Knights & left the stage, a few of us got set lists & then we rushed for water & bathrooms. Then we headed outside to wait around. Kenny came out & we thanked him for yet another amazing show. He stood around & talked with us for a bit. Then Drew came out & he greeted us happily. Someone started the conversation with him that we're a different group of fans, different from groupies. He told us that we are their "fuel." It made us all happily giddy as we headed out to get some food & head over to have a slumber party in Austin before attempting to get a bit of shuteye before embarking on Day 2 of our adventures...
to be continued....
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