Time to Wake Up/aka the longest blog EVER!

   How does one talk about the end of an era?  The first national tour of American Idiot this past 6 months has been an overwhelming whirlwind of rage and love and Idiots.  As I sit here at work snuggled in my AI hoodie my heart is full and my eyes are spilling over with joy.  My last real post was at the start of the tour and I had no idea what an impact this tour cast would have on my life. As soon as the curtain dropped in Detroit I knew I had to find a way to see it again.  Much like a crack addict looking for their next hit, I became obsessed with getting more of it as soon as possible!  It was not only, the joy that I found in the show, but also the sense of family that was starting to blossom with this cast and the way they related to their fans.

   Kelvin was and will always be our favorite (Taco Club 4evz!)  but other people had begun to creep in as well. Talia, and Scott, Jake, and Nicci all became people I wanted to see again regardless of the show.  Resources were pooled and a plan was made for North Carolina.  It was to be Little Will's first Idiot and he was bouncing with excitement!  We also discovered that Kelvin's Birthday was around the time we would be going. Guuurl, you know we went cake crazy!  We made cupcakes with heart shaped hand grenades for the cast and Kelvin got his very own taco cake.  It wasn't about getting anything in return it was just about showing a little bit of love to this wonderful cast that was beginning to feel like family.  Kelvin LOVED his cake and ended up taking us on a tour backstage which was just so sweet of him. 

Why am I the only one in sunglasses in our pictures!

   Little Will is now probably as much of an Idiot as his Mommy and talks endlessly about Nicci the pretty angel that flies, and silly Scott who sings "the underwear song", he makes me sing Idiot to him at nap time, screams "SUX TO BE YOU TOO!" at me in Wal-Mart when he doesn't get his way, and has begun his own choreo routines to the songs (watch out revival).  We also got to enjoy the extra-curricular musical styling of the bass player Dan Grennes at his band's (Uncle Pumpkin) CD release party where a few of the cast members performed as well.  It was epic and now I find myself singing "Heeeeeey Uncle Pumpkin" at random moments!  And of course the addiction kicked in again as the cast started asking where they were going to see us next.   I need to point out that we had originally only planned to go to Detroit and San Francisco but at every stop we kept needing to see the cast more and more (seriously we're like meth heads for this cast).

   St. Louis was decided on based on my Shakespeare rehearsal schedule, and the need not to look like complete stalkers by being at every stop, we TRY to keep the crazy in control.  So at this point I am completely obsessed with Kelvin and his fabulousness, Scott and his wonderful Tunny and super sweet stage door self, and Jilli's Too Much Too Soon that is so awesome it makes me want to hit things!  The night we were supposed to leave for St. Louis there were awful tornadoes in my town, one set down about a mile from my house causing us to lose power.  Once the storm had passed we were still without power and I HAD to make Jilli her PB&J cupcakes and take a shower, so I sent out an SOS on FB to any of my friends w/ power.  We loaded up the car at 8 at night and went to a friend's house across town that hadn't been hit like I had.  We were back at the house about midnight before we started our 6 hour drive to St. Louis at 4 a.m.  We were going to rush both shows then drive home that night, therefore negating the need for a hotel.  Are you shocked that when we got there plans changed VERY swiftly? 

   Jarran Muse fresh in from an injury had taken over the role of Favorite Son, we met him at stage door and after Hello and one hug we were hooked!  He is seriously the WORLD'S BEST HUGGER!  A Jarran hug will stay with you for hours.  At Stage Door we were introduced to families and travel stories were shared then the cast started asking us how long we were staying, when we mentioned we were leaving that night we were essentially laughed at and told that in fact we would be staying through Sunday, Jarran even offered us his comps (seriously, we love Jarran).  So I got out my phone and found a hotel and we got a three show weekend full of goofy ass pictures and headlocks. 

You know you want it!

   Then began the TORTUROUS 2 month wait for Dallas, it was terrible.   I started a countdown app on my IPhone, and lived off cast tweets like they were food and water.  We finally got to Dallas on a Friday afternoon, the rush was really weird and the seats were best available.  After being so spoiled to front rows it was odd.  We didn't see the show that night, but did head to stage door for the requisite hugs.  At which point we were yelled at for not coming to the show, we thoroughly apologized for going to get wasted instead of coming to see them and told them we would be there for both shows on Sat and the Sun mat.     After the Sat mat we decided to go back to the hotel pool until the night show as opposed to going to stage door, for which were yelled at again.  So we said fine we will be at every stage door from now on and we better not get shit for it! 

  Saturday night we got BLITZED in the theatre bar before the show and the show became this whole new experience (we had lucked out with 1st row seats and the cast was tweeted about our #drunkfirstrow status prior to curtain).  I am pretty sure we annoyed at least 10 people around us while Kelvin flashed us boob and Jen and Gabe ate each other's faces.  Afterwards (when we were a bit more sober) we had the pleasure of seeing Stark Sands (OBC) at stage door as well as meeting more fabulous family members.  Sometimes I think they introduce us to their families so they can be all "See I told you there were crazy people following us around the country!".  We went out to a bar called The Spread Eagle that night (which made the 12 year old boy who lives in my head ECSTATIC!) and had a great chat with Dan (Grennes) and watched Oke get his drank on, once he found out we were the "Kelvin screamers who bring treats" he hug attacked us.  Getting a hug from Oke is like getting a hug from a massive tree (which is saying a lot as I am 6'2" and "not delicate") it’s amazing! 

  We went to sun matinee (I was drunk again, $1 mimosas are the devil) and got to see Tommy in Larkin's track from the second row.  Holy Hell!  That boy is astounding!!  I was in love immediately!  There were shoes flying, nipples pinched, and shit lost and when it was over made our final stage door appearance for 6 weeks.  There were so many fabulous hugs and for the first time, no winter coats in the pictures. 

Oh Tommy McDowell how do I love thee, let me count the ways~

   It was finally here the weekend we had been anticipating and dreading for 6 months, San Francisco.  We had discovered that a twitter friend of ours was going to be in the city so we made plans to meet up with her and her group of friends.  It was the best decision we could have made.  We met the coolest group of Idiots on the planet and had a complete blast the whole weekend. 

Idiot family love

   Due to insane rush lines most of our time in San Francisco was spent sitting on the sidewalk with them relishing our season of rage and love.  The weather was perfect and, aside from the crazy ass aggressive homeless people and the bird shitting on me, rush line was something I'll remember with fondness forever.  I always thought I would be an absolute mess for the final show, little did I know it would be the Saturday night show that destroyed me. 

Tenderloin Rush Line Realness

   I sat there consumed with wracking sobs covered in tears and snot from about 10 minutes in through curtain call.  It was the only curtain call I didn't stand for, because I physically couldn't.  By the time Good Riddance started I had myself together enough to scream for Kelvin but I looked at Scott J. Campbell and he mouthed "Are you OK?" and I lost it again. I realized this was the end of this magical thing that had grown for the past 6 months.  I saw my Little Will in Johnny and I was Johnny's Mom and all I wanted was for my little boy to be ok.  All I wanted was for Johnny to find his hope.  I cried for the emptiness of Will, for the desperation of Tunny, for the waste of Johnny.  I cried for the actors that I had grown to love that would never be all together again, I cried for the family I had gained through this entire beautiful experience. 

   With my heart still in my eyes I met them outside the hugs that night were long and lingering.  The connection that had grown over the past months was such that we didn't even have to talk just being there was enough.  I am always amazed at the power of touch, the comfort it gives, the unspoken communication that binds two people even closer together. 

   Closing was wonderful, we were all together with our new Idiot family and we bought flowers for our cast and while I teared up and welled over I felt I had passed through the pain the night before and could enjoy the beauty of the cast and show that I loved.  My heart would hurt when a cast member would sing to me or stare at me while playing a song or make a special dance move up or practically jump into our lap off the stage, but it was always followed by a secret little smile of joy and contentment. 

   Stage door was hard; it was overrun for the first time with rude people who were aggressively shoving people out of the way.  I don't do well in crowds and didn't want the craziness to interfere with my goodbye to these people who had changed my life for the past six months.  I retreated about halfway down the sidewalk and waited, hopeful they would stop on their way out.  They goodbyes were tearful and joyful, funny and sad.  So many #feelingz at one time it is difficult to describe.  There is nothing I could ever do that would be enough to show this cast how much I simply adore them and how much of an impact they had on my life.  I will treasure my memories of my Idiot cast and family and hope that someday they smile remembering the freaks that followed them around the country and ugly cried from the front row.

For this tour and cast alone,

10,000 miles traveled

53 hours spent driving

6 airports

3 Natural Disasters

And yes I had the time of my life.

Scott J Campbell you truly are the sweetest.

P.S. I was wrong about being done with crying.  I alienated some elderly people next to me on the flight from San Jose to Las Vegas the next day, when I overheard someone make an Idiot reference and sobbed for the entire 1 hr. and 9 min. of the plane ride. Still too many #feelingz