Maryann Recap: 92.5 XTU in Philadelphia, PA

This includes pictures, video and a full recap.  Click more!

Another video is uploading now I will add..

From Maryann:

Had the ride of my life this morning from a place other then heaven, through flooded roadways, multiple accident gridlocks and the good old standstill on the Philadelphia Expressway (otherwise known as a parking lot) just to get to Danny. What should have been a 40 minute ride tops, turned into nearly a two hour drive! I am so not kidding

Actually, made it to the station at nearly 9:30. Would have been convinced we had missed him, if it wasn’t for sweet Marjie that was appraising me of the situation at the station.

As soon as we got there, all I needed to say was my name and we were on our way down the hall to Danny. They quickly whisked myself and my daughter in, just as Danny was introducing his first song.

Not what I expected at all. A tiny studio, maybe 15′x18′, with Danny, Brandon, Def, Ivan and eight other women, plus Marjie, myself and her daughter. That’s right, a private concert for just the twelve of us. Unbelievable!

Danny was chattering away with us all. Apparently, he recognized some of the faces in the crowd. When he began to sing, I was so moved, I just said ‘wow’ out loud, and it appeared he heard me, because he smiled my way ever so brightly .

What an experience! His voice is so beautiful in person. I am still stunned!

He was a bit smaller then I expected, but lovely just the same. He’s even more handsome then I imagined, too. Delicate beauty. That is what I thought, as I studied him. It appeared to me, that he has a glow. Some inner light that just shines, love, positivity and graciousness. What a beautiful man.

If my strained memory serves me right, he sang ‘My Best Days’, ‘Everybody’, ‘What Hurts the Most’ and ‘It’s Only’. If he sang another song, it totally escaped me. Could be, I was quite distracted.

He also answered a few questions he took from the group, with me being the main question queen. Perhaps, his answers will be on the video.

I asked “was this everything he imagined it would be?”. His answer was sweet. It was a round-about yes. I also asked, if he expected to be able to tour with Rascal Flatts soon. His answer, was that they are still working on it, but he hopes to do that someday. Another women asked if he was going to be getting back out to the west coast to do some touring soon. He wasn’t sure. The others seemed to shy to ask anything.

We were then quickly taken to a hallway outside of the studio where Danny was set up with photographs to autograph, and a place for him to be photographed with us. We were placed at the start of the line. Danny customized and autograph for myself and my daughter, and was kind enough to autograph my daughter’s guitar strap

. In fact, Danny was nice enough to have each of the guys sign her strap. She was so thrilled! He also gave each of us a Sophia’s Heart bracelet as a thank you for coming to see him. Can you imagine that… a thank you?

We had very little time to speak with Danny personally. Maybe, a minute or two. I simply told him what a thrill it was to meet him, how much people like myself are pulling so much for him to succeed, and how grateful I was to him, that he presents such a beautiful role model for the young people in this world. Specifically, I mentioned how awesome it was for me to know that my kids can download and enjoy any of his music, and come see him concert, knowing they will be enriched by the experience and are getting a good message. He thanked me for sharing that, and said how important it is to be able to do that. That’s about all I can remember of our conversation.

Then, we were photographed with Danny for the station’s website, as we were told this was the way the photographs were going down. Danny took a picture sandwiched between my daughter and myself, and we were escorted through a little tour of the station and out the door.

It was short and sweet, but well worth the crazy ride to acquire the tickets and make it through the storm to the station. It was worth it, to see the genuine beauty in this man. I am not talking about the physical beauty, but rather the warmth he exudes. It was also a very big thrill, to see the joy and wonderment in the girls eyes. They had a blast, as did the rest of us!

This truly was an intimate experience. Never in my wildest dreams, would I have believed anyone, if they told me I would sit less than 10′ from Danny Gokey as he sung his heart out. Wow, wow, wow!

I did take some photos of the performance, and attempted some video. However, I am going to have to see what I got. To be honest with you all, as much as I love all of you at iheart, I wanted to keep my focus on taking it all in and experiencing the moment, as opposed to being a photographer.

Couple of last minute details from Danny… He expects his site to be up today (or so he has been told). Also, the obscure song that we have all been trying to figure out is most definitely on the album (Everybody). He gave a long intro, which escaped me, but I do remember him saying that he was looking forward to doing this song in concert.