Jan (@jannikas) and Toni (@TonicNY) wrote a recap together for your reading pleasure. Many thanks, once again, to Toni and Jan for all their efforts into uploading the new songs’ videos on YouTube and for writing this recap. You girls are awesome! <3

Jan and Toni’s Amazing Gokey Adventure

Nola’s in Rochester NY, 02 02 10

Background

I met Toni when she came to Grafton, Wisconsin, to see Danny Gokey in Grafton’s Holiday Parade, a short concert and a VIP Meet and Greet in November 2009. Since then we have tweeted, emailed and talked about our mutual “addiction” to Danny and his amazing voice . (Note : A mention of Grafton can’t be said without a big thank you to Pam of I <3 DG for hosting a group of Danny fans the day of the Grafton Holiday Parade!)

The Bait

Many us at I<3DG feel that bar concerts/small venues with Danny Gokey will soon be a thing of the past as Danny moves into the inevitable “Big Star” phase of his career.

When Toni tweeted and emailed me that Danny was going to be performing at Nolas in Rochester, NY, my first reaction was “darn,I can’t go to that!” Too much work, big meetings, its going to be too expensive to fly, etc…blah, blah.

And then I thought, a good friend wants me to visit NY AND I get to see Danny Gokey? And she further tempts be by saying we can spend a couple of days in New York City? It still didn’t seem possible, but I started searching for flights, etc. Since it was less than a week away, the bargain fares where being sold. My husband and adult kids were encouraging and said “go for it” ! I just had to figure out how I was getting off work!

The Plan

Toni would be coming by Amtrak from Albany at 2PM on Tuesday, 2/2/10, I would be arriving at the Rochester Airport at 3:45PM. Toni had tried to win Radio tour tickets from WBEE for a meet and greet, but with no luck. I won’t bore you with the trauma of delayed and missed flights I endured that day, but it involved too much stress, running the Chicago O’hare airport terminals and switching airlines to make it the concert by the time doors opened at 6PM. I was so worried that I‘d miss the show all together or that it would be full before I could get there; no tickets were being sold or spaces reserved.

At Nolas

Toni was one of the first concert attendees to arrive at 4PM. She had made friends with WBEE Radio and Nola personnel. She had the venue scoped out and she had told the radio personnel that a fan from Danny’s home state of Wisconsin was making a special trip to see him perform that night.

When I arrived, Toni and I hugged and we started strategizing. I was just relieved to be in Nolas, but Toni made sure I met the radio station personnel. A young man was interested in hearing about Madison, WI (he had a friend going to school there) and we chatted about Wisconsin’s world class (partying) University and city. We thought our best chance of seeing the show unobstructed was from the balcony overlooking the stage. We gathered random materials from the restaurant/bar and the radio station and made a sign: “I <3 Danny Gokey –Pride of WI” and hung it from where we would be standing.

The Concert

There was a warm up act at 7 PM scheduled to open for Danny. He was pretty good, very country with a cowboy hat (his keyboardist was actually very good on a couple of solo numbers.) But the place was less than half full at this point. And then Def Santiago, Ivan Santiago, Brandon Fraley and the sound board guys came on to set up and complete the sound check. Soon the place was “arm to arm” with Gokey fans–lots of young women, couples, a few families with kids, and fans of all ages. Danny was introduced by Billy Kidd of WBEE to huge cheers, whistles and applause. Danny was wearing a grey sport jacket, a printed white T-shirt, a long, red scarf and dark jeans. He greeted the crowd and talked about his new single and the soon to be released CD on 3/2/10. Danny then launched into My Best Days are Ahead of Me. The comfort and happiness Danny demonstrated during this entire show just showcases his growth as a performer. He’s moving fluidly with the music, engaging the audience and embellishing each song in the way that is so very (uniquely) Danny. In addition to MBD, he sang Be Somebody, I Still Believe, What Hurts The Most, I Will Not Say Goodbye, Back At One (one of my favorite cover songs of Danny’s) and TWO new songs. I was most excited to hear “Life On Ya” — Danny’s voice sounds perfectly suited to it and the lyrics are fun–the ladies in the crowd seemed to get into it– and he sings it with such joy–as he did all the songs that night. Danny looked so happy up there on the stage, surrounded by his guys: Def, Ivan and Brandon. They were all expressive and into the music as they played.

As Danny closed with the new song, “Get Away” the crowd yelled for more. So he sang a bar of “PYT” and he got a big cheer. He asked the band if they knew it, but they held back. He then asked his assistant, Liz, if she had his phone, he may have the music for PYT on it. Unfortunately it didn’t work out–but he thanked us for our support and told us he loved us. He then bent down and took a few photos with fans at the edge of the stage–all the while he was carefully pulling his T-shirt down in back–so cute.

Our Big Surprise

While Danny was having the audience sing along with “Back At One”, the promotions director from WBEE came up behind Toni and I (and our sign) and asked if we were the fans from Madison, Wisconsin. I said yes. He said he was going to get us into the Meet and Greet in thanks for our coming out. He gave me his business card to use as a pass! I was so excited that I grabbed him and gave him a hug, LOL.

The Meet and Greet–Jan’s Story

By the time we had gathered up our things and made a pit stop, there was a long line snaking up the stairs to the other side of the Nola’s  balcony–where Danny was going to be signing autographs and posing for fan photos.

While we were waiting on the stairs, a tall man came up to us an asked if we were the fans from Wisconsin. He identified himself as a record label representative. I clarified that I was from Madison, Wisconsin, but that my friend Toni had traveled to Wisconsin from New York to see Danny last fall and I was returning the favor by traveling to New York to see Danny. He asked us to spell our names and then he went back up to Danny’s assistant and the band.

When it was our turn, Toni asked Danny if she could video a tape of Danny saying hi to the I<3DannyGokey fans. She’ll tell this part of the story.

I identified myself as a fan that I had saw him perform at the Madison Q106.3 radio show. He said he remembered me (really?) and he thanked me for driving from WI–I said I had actually endured a messed up plane schedule–but that it was all worth it! I told him that he sounded great, I loved the new songs and that the show was amazing. He then asked if I wanted an autograph and I asked him to sign a photo I had from the Madison show. Toni snapped a photo, I snapped a couple of her as she snuggled up to Danny and we were on our way–I thought. As I walked away and I tried to manage the pictures of the band that I was going to ask them to sign, Danny came up to me and asked us to get a message out on IheartDG–he needed us to request My Best Days of the radio stations that hadn’t added it yet. As he talked to us he pulled us in by putting his arms around us. (Can you say heaven?) Of course we said we would do whatever we could. And then he gave us each a big hug and he went back to meeting the other fans. I then walked towards Def in a “Gokey haze”. Did Danny Gokey just ask me to rally the Iheart troops? Did he just give me a spontaneous hug? What is my name?

Anyways I settled down (some) and I had a chance to talk to Def. We had an extended talk in Madison and I asked him if he remembered me or my husband (the big guy who gave Danny cheese curds?) He laughed and said yes, but that at the time he couldn’t have any! I showed Def and Ivan the pictures I had of them from the show in Madison and asked if they would mind signing them. Def seemed to really like the dramatic pic we had of him with his guitar. At this point, my mind was semi-working and I thought of a question. I asked if they played on the new album? He said no, that the record producer, not Danny, chooses the musicians for the album. I asked how the big band rehearsal had gone on Monday. He smiled and said good. During this chat, Toni took a couple pictures of Def and I. I asked him how his sore fingers were doing? He said it had really hurt to play tonight! He then pulled out his IPhone and showed me the last picture he had taken of his beat up fingertips. At this point a little girl and her family had come up to talk with Def, so we moved on to Brandon and Ivan. I got his and Ivan’s autographs and asked Brandon about his no sugar pledge. He told me he lost 18 pounds in 28 days! He sure doesn’t need to lose another pound. It was pretty clear that he’s been working out, too.

The Meet and Greet–Toni’s Story

The End

And then it was our time to go back down the stairs. We were so excited, we jumped up and down a little bit and ran outside with our stuff to cool and calm down. What a night! Since we were still so keyed up, we decided to go out for a snack and margaritas. But not before Toni plugged her video camera into our hotels big, flat screen TV and we re-lived the concert in our hotel room. (Great job on the videos, Toni!!!)

It was an incredible show, we feel that Danny has selected great songs for his debut album. He looked and sounded great, he seemed very happy and he was enjoying the heck out of performing for this very appreciative crowd. Danny Gokey is on his way!

We can’t wait to see his upcoming tour schedule and to have that new CD in our hot little hands on March 2nd!