So let's discuss for a minute...the Rich radar...it's what my friends have named my ability to spot Rich from miles away...or randomly stumble upon him when walking around a venue..it's that 6th sense I have to track that boy down.
So yeah...we were driving back to the hotel that Rich and Bad Mood Mike and O-town were staying at to get ourselves a room for the night. So I'm in the backseat behind the driver and just looking out the window and I look across the highway and see 3 hot guys. They caught my attention cause they were cute and I wondered what they were doing walking along the road outside a Dunkin Donuts..lol. Well, I was like DAMN! The one in the middle could be a dead ringer for Rich! He was tall, wearing an Adidas shirt, and had bed head blond hair. I considered it was him, but then I thought there was no way that was Rich because wouldn't he be at the venue at 4pm in the afternoon?... I thought nothing of it..and didn't say anything to my friends because they would've thought I was on crack or something if I said "I swore I saw Rich walking down the highway!" Besides, he was with 2 guys I didn't recognize...they definitely weren't band members, management, or guys associated with O-town that I knew of. We get to the hotel and see Tim Berkibile (BMM drummer) and talk to him real quick cause I've met him before and I begin to wonder if Rich is at the venue or what because Tim was still at the hotel. Anyway, we check in and move the car around the side of the building where we were told to park. I get my bag out of the trunk and turn around and guess who's walking up the drive way to the hotel from the highway? The 3 hot guys that were on the side of the road 30 minutes prior!! And I call a huddle...I'm like GIRLS, COME HERE NOW! and they are all like HUH? And I'm like "Ok, ummm when we were driving here like a half hour ago...I swore I saw Rich and 2 guys walking down the highway on the opposite side of us outside Dunkin Donuts. You would've thought I was crazy if I said that then....But, now ummm turn around and tell me if the guys coming up the driveway is Rich and 2 friends?" And my friend, Erin, turns around and goes "OMG! IT IS RICH!" And I proceed to get a hard time for recognizing him in the oddest places with the Rich radar..lol. So we drop our stuff and like run out to meet him half way...lol. Meanwhile, 3 other cars filled with girls go by and don't even recognize him. So we talk to him (and meet his two friends) and all that fun stuff and he says that he knows he's met all of us before... and all is good til I open my mouth and say something about them walking on the side of the road. And Rich is like YOU SAW US? at me and I was like "I didn't think it was you!...If I knew it was you for sure, I would've made my friends stop!" And he proceeds to tell us how they walked for like and hour and a half to get something to eat...and waited and waited for a taxi to take them back to the hotel, but it never came...so they walked it the hour back! And Rich gave me a hard time for not saying anything to my friends and for not picking them up and making them walk all the way back! The article in some magazine wasn't lying when they said that LFO relied on fans for rides...lol. And my lovely friends point out how I'm the only one who spotted him and that I'm the only one who would've spotted him while going 50 mph down a highway..can we say embarassed? lol! So he says he's gotta get ready to go over to the venue and we do to...so we let him go.....and that's it....lol. The show, btw, was OFF THE HOOK AND AMAZING! I missed seeing Rich perform live...He spotted Leslie and I jamming out in the 4th row...and sang to us! The new songs: "Misunderstood", "La Dee Da Dee", and "Better Days" kick some serious butt (Better Days being my favorite!)...it's typical Rich lyrics, but it's got a harder, edgier, more rock oriented track.
After the show at the hotel...Rich was MIA ...we heard he was sick and in his room. He did sound hoarse onstage that night. But I did meet FINALLY meet 4/5 of Otown!! Only took me almost 2 years! Trevor and Ashley (who were extremely sweet) took pics with me. We must've run into Trevor like 3459 times without trying that night in the hotel...everytime we turned around, there was Trevor! He even tried to leave Steph voicemail (Hey Mel, can I sell my cell phone on Ebay now that Trevor's used it? lol) but it didnt work!!! I'm so sad Steph didnt get a VM from Trev, her fav! :( Trevor was so down to Earth, as was Ashley, when we were talking to him. Also, I talked to Dan and Jacob-who were also very, very nice. All 4 of them were concerned about how we liked the show and the new songs and stuff. We also met Shelli (Ash's girl) and Janie (Jake's girl) who were both really nice too. Janie is just like the cutest thing...lol. No sign of Erik cept when he came in from the bus after the show. Also, we met all of Rich's band, Bad Mood Mike (Tim Berkibile, Aaron Accetta, Joseph Graye, and Fuzzy Rich) and most of the O-town band, and Mike Morin too down in the lobby/bar.
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