Hi! I know I haven't blogged in a while and that really doesn't matter because people only read it when I post it on my facebook or twitter. Anyway, yesterday my friend Lauren and I went to see Tyler Hilton in Dekalb, IL. I have never driven that far by myself (w/o a male in the car), so I was a little nervous.
Next thing, you are probably wondering "Who the hell is Tyler Hilton?". If you've seen, One Tree Hill and remember the occasional guest character, Chris Keller, then you kind of know who he is. Never seen One Tree Hill? How about Walk the Line (Young Elvis) or Charlie Bartlett (Murphy Bivens)? Anyway, still don't know who I'm talking about? That's okay. All that matters is that I know what I'm talking about. So, about a week ago, I was on Facebook and noticed Tyler had said he posted some Illinois tour dates. I checked to see where he was going to be and they had a Saturday date in Dekalb. I looked up where that was because I don't go up in that area of Illinois very often and saw that I could do the drive, as I don't like to drive in or around the Chicago area.
We get there easily and find a parking spot about half a block from the Egyptian Theatre. We go to get a little something to eat because we have some time and no one was waiting in line outside. We ate at a place called Eduardo's...it was a Mexican restaurant and it wasn't very good. Afterwards we walked back over to the Egyptian and there were two girls in line. A couple of silly, hyper girls. So, then we got in line once a few more people showed up and asked us if we were in line. The Egyptian is a pretty cool place. One of those old school looking theatres.
So, they finally open the doors to let us in to pick up our tickets at Will Call. 6:31...lol...we were all getting kind of impatient. So, I get my turn to pick up my tickets and then we walk through the doors into the lobby. I see this guy walk by me to check on something and I immediately recognize the person that just walked by. It was Dion Roy! So, I turned around to say, "Hi" in my daze. At the same time, he turned around to go back in and nearly ran me over. He apologized and I think he realized maybe I knew who he was. I must have been looking at him crazy...lol...so, he says, "Hi, I'm Dion Roy." and Lauren and I introduce ourselves and shook his hand. Then, he says, "See you later."
A few minutes in and we got to meet one of the musicians! This made me super excited as the night before Dion had faved one of my tweets on Twitter.
So, we go in and sit down in the third row (general admission tickets). We would have sat in the front row if I had listened to Lauren in the first place, but luckily the seats we had were still great. I sat there still really excited that I had just met Dion Roy. Then, I tweeted him on Twitter and wasn't sure if he'd reply or not because most "celebrities" don't. I think they prefer to call themselves struggling musicians. :) There were about 100 people at the show and the Egyptian is huge. So, the first act was a musician named Spencer Simmons. She was actually really good and funny. I wasn't sure what to expect because I didn't try to listen to her music beforehand, but I figured she'd be okay since she was on tour with Tyler. I was pleasantly surprised and ended up making her happy that I bought her cd later on that night.
After her set, it was Dion's turn. Right before he got on the stage, he must of checked his twitter because he retweeted my tweet and replied in parentheses.
Anyway, his set was really good and he sounds great live. If you ever have the chance to go see him, you should. ;) Then, Tyler Hilton! Tyler comes out and people do the usual hoot and holler thing. Apparently, Lauren and I are too old for that and just clapped. First, he says, "Hi Dekobb"...or something like that. Then, he asked, "It's not De-kalb, is it?" We all said Yes and he says, "Oh, I was just kidding. Really?" as he's fiddling with some cords on the floor.
He finally starts and I got to hear something I've been waiting years to hear. Tyler Hilton sing and play music live. :D
He even got to play some pieces on piano, as I don't think he get to play the piano at most of his shows because they can't lug around a piano in their tour van.
Here is the video I recorded on my phone. I have to say one thing about my phone, it records sound fantastically for a phone.
Then, the last song of the night was "Loaded Gun". Tyler asked everyone in the audience to come up to the stage while he sang. Which was cool of him.
Afterwards, everyone in the audience got to meet all of them and get their autographs. They really didn't have time to take pictures with us because they had to drive to Chicago that night after the show. I ended up buying Spencer's cd, which she was super stoked about. I bought a poster of Dion's and reminded him that we had met earlier in the lobby (We got to meet him twice in one night :D). He ended up giving me his cd for free. Thank you, Dion! I got up to Tyler and asked him if he had any of his 8x10 photos left. He sadly told me no. Then, he kind of stood there for a minute and just looked at me. So, then even though I had bought his mp3s online, I went ahead and bought a cd, so he could sign it. I forgot to tell him my name and he said, "What's your name again? Lauren?" because Lauren had just gotten him to sign her cd. I looked at him and said, "No...how can you call me by her name?" Lol...and made a sad face. He apologized and asked me again. So, I told him and he signed it and we said goodbye to him. Honestly, even though this all happened within a 10 minute period, I feel like it didn't happen. I plan on going to see Tyler again, so I hope he goes on tour close to here next time. Also, things I plan on doing next time I meet him. 1.Shake his hand. (I completely forgot to shake his hand last night!) 2. Hopefully get a photo with him.
Also, I will definitely go see Spencer and Dion again if they come around here as well. They were all awesome!
