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Gokeyguy’s Recap: Danny Gokey at Eagle Winterblast 2010

GOKEYGUY, GOKEY, AND IHEARTIES!!!

Ok! Whew!!! How do I start this!! As most of you know, I was looking forward to this day when I would meet the “DANNY GOKEY” that we love so much. I believe this is Danny’s 2^nd time to go to VA to do his promotional tour etc.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to go to the first one (Woodbridge) because of travel issues so I really, really dreamt of this day.   Of course, I first saw this news on IheartDG.com courtesy of Ms. Stephanie.  I quickly searched this location and what do you know it’s just 30 mins away from my home LOL! Ya’ll know here that I hesitated once cuz of the travel issue again (isn’t it that crazy? Just 30 mins and I doubted? And ladies here travel great distances just to see him? Well, all is done and made some plans after that and it worked out with no hassles YAY!) About a few days or weeks later, steph6449 told me that she had an extra ticket to the concert and would be glad to give the extra to me.  I was so freakin’ excited and planned ahead.  That’s history now and here’s my real recap LOL!

PRE-CONCERT:

I started that beautiful day by going to Church (don’t worry I won’t give any details on that J) I was with  my family and my cousin but I’m the only one who will go to the concert and they will go to my aunt’s place in Newport News (near the Hampton Coliseum). As we drive along, I’m with a text marathon with Becky (bwarner7) and believe me, I think she felt my excitement too as minutes from now I will see Danny! Heavy traffic comes along our way to the coliseum but it didn’t take that much of our time.  My excitement comes to its climax when I saw the Coliseum from the horizon YAY! My 2 sisters and my cousin ask me if I can get their iPod cases and let Danny sign them?! LOL! So what do you know, secret Dannyfans on my family YAY! Especially my sister (not my Lambert sister) who’s a Kris Allen Fan, really loved Danny when he sang JTTW on AI. Actually guys, the first time I saw Danny ever on AI was on Country Week when he sang JTTW and then after that, it’s like a big yellow school bus just hit me several times, that’s what I feel and got attached to Danny ever since YAY! My folks dropped me off and I started looking for Becky and the others. Good thing though because Becky said she’s wearing a SHF t-shirt and I saw her face on YouTube in the past but what is funny is that it took like a couple of minutes for us to see each other cuz there is a long line of people going into the Coliseum.  Finally, we met and decided to wait for Jen and her party.  I took some time to eat because I was really starving; I didn’t eat my breakfast and dinner LOL! We looked around the coliseum and found some interesting activities commonly found on a Country Music festival like Karaoke (don’t worry, we didn’t sang at all LOL!), some “spin the wheel” game, line dancing (don’t worry, we didn’t dance either), artist’s merchandise (sadly, Danny merchandise was not on the table on that event) and a few of food vendors haha… We finally met Jen and her party; we hugged each other and there’s a feeling that I felt being “at home”. Besides seeing Danny live, was also looking forward to meet a fellow iheart. Me and Jen looked around and found our seats and what do you know, Jen is just a row behind me and her seat is near my seat YAY! Becky’s seat was on the other side of the floor seats. Jen and Tonya (Jen’s friend) made a plan by looking at the scheduled itinerary of the show on what time to meet Danny in the autograph signing session.  The plan was to see him before he performed (this was the original plan but it changed). I also found out that Steph will come too and she texted me prior to the opening of the main event. Steph came like a couple of minutes before the show started and of course, I’m thrilled to meet her too and very thankful for her cuz if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be here in the first place. J

THE PERFORMANCES:

Here comes the twangy Country sets haha, Dave Cynar performed first (sorry, don’t know him that much but he performed nicely).  Not too many people came close to capture a picture of him if you ask me. Next was Easton Corbin (I thought his set was okay and heard a lot of screaming LOL!)  I heard his music once on the Country Countdown and that is “a little more Country than that”, I think that’s the song.  During Easton’s set, a flock of people came in rushing to the front and took some pictures with a little screaming of course! After Easton’s set, I noticed that Jen went outside so I followed her, (Steph was still inside watching Love and Theft) I saw this huge line from the autograph signing area. We hoped that Danny would be able to go outside and sign, according to the itinerary, but based on Jen’s reliable sources via Twitter, Danny wouldn’t be able to sign this time and the plan was for him to sign autographs after his performance. So we went inside again, and Jen and others got me hooked up on the instant front seats! YAY! (Originally, we are seated at floor A which was at the edge of the stage but we can see the front adequately, front seats are floors B and C and we occupy the floor C front seats BAM! LOL!) We watched Mallary Hope. Well, I have to say this but Mallary has this smooth voice I think she will give Carrie a run for her money LOL! And she’s a little chatty person and got me so anxious haha… I think I wasn’t able to hide my excitement that time when Mallary was doing her last song because hey!! Danny is up next… YAY! After Mallary’s last performance, I saw Gerry, Ivan and Danny’s drummer (don’t know his name) set up their things on the stage. That moment on, I don’t know what to say. I said to myself, I was just watching them on YouTube and now I’m in front of them LOL! (Brandon was the last person I saw setting up his instrument)

“THE” “MAIN EVENT”:

During Danny’s set, the floor seats (A, B, C, D) hmm here’s a rough estimations for the floor seats; about 600-700 almost full to capacity of the floor seats alone and not so much on the mezzanine and balcony areas hmm maybe a 500 or so. Of course, not all of them are Danny fans ok? When Danny popped out to the stage, a MOB just ran near the stage, I was one of them LOL! Cuz I want a closer shot of Danny YAY! But some security just told us not to do that so often LOL!

Danny was introduced by a DJ, not that long of an intro but he said we know him from American Idol! (DUHHHH!!) And here are Danny’s songs!!! I literally sang along the songs of Danny here and took pictures too and just embraced this momentous moment seeing Danny singing his heart out!!! <3 Here are those moments when I said like 30+ OMGs (audible and silent) and smiled like there’s no tomorrow!

First is MY BEST DAYS ARE AHEAD OF ME! Great to start the show! When he popped up, I was like! Whaaaaat!!!! Can somebody pinch me right now??! Steph was beside me, just ask her, what she noticed LOL! Danny literally rocked the whole freakin’ Coliseum YAY! Danny sounded effortlessly crystal clear perfect ugghh I’m lost with my adjectives LOL! I whispered to God, “at last, a lively performance by a freakin’ Country Star!” LOL! If I’m not mistaken, Danny is wearing the same black leather jacket with weird letterings inside when he performed on AI last March 4. He has his chains on his pants and some object hanging in there too that I can’t describe what. He is wearing dark pants, white V-neck tee and his signature black lined glasses… Oh and he is wearing a different kind of necklace but I can’t describe it cuz it’s so little LOL!

Second is Life On Ya! Love this song and sang this song with him (of course not too loud cuz Steph would hear me LOL!) Danny rocked the song with Brandon and his guitarists of course and of course I got to see he swaggering of the Mic Stand (ladies, I know you missed the Mic Stand saga during AI tour LOL!)

Third is Get Away! Y’all know here that I love love love this song and this is my favorite song from him. He rocked that song and just mesmerized the whole audience with its upbeat nature! Very impressive!!! And what I’m shocked about is that, I knew the whole lyrics of the song, as if I’m singing with Danny! And I loved it! Of course with my head bangin’ on every lyric and just imagining Danny on an 18 wheeler YAY! (Note: I have goosebumps on the entire Danny set! Maybe this is just natural cuz this is my first time hearing Danny YAY!)

I thought Get Away was finished but there was an encore! YAY! I would have told Danny “why didn’t you do the whole song? I want more!!!!”

Fourth is What Hurts the Most – before singing this, he introduced himself but no need for us Danny Fans LOL! We all know!!!… He said that this is his number one song on AI. He let us sing with him this time on some parts of the song (hint: “so cloooose”)J When he is singing this one, this is my favorite song that he cover on AI and I was just soaking the moment when he sang this, it gave me flashbacks when I was back home in the Philippines and gave me good memories, yes guys, this song is very special for me and I share this with my best friend.   I’m sorry Rascal Flatts but Danny nailed this song several times! Beyond crazy emotional craziness I would say, perfect perfect song for Danny!!!

Fifth is I Will Not Say Goodbye – He told us his story on AI, the tragedy that he faced and what he learned from it. Now, his performance is beyond amazing! He sang it beautifully and left me goosebumpsy again!!! He dedicated this song for the lovers and married at the coliseum LOL! Yes, he made a little chit chat with the audience which is so fascinating cuz you’ll hear his amazing speaking voice! (I got to admit, his speaking voice is so cute that I told myself I wish I could have that speaking voice LOL! Do all Milwaukeeans speak like that? If so, y’all are so darn lucky!!! I’m so envious!!!) I think in between these songs, there was a time when the “original” seat holders took our “instant seats” LOL! So Jen went back to her original “instant” seat together with Tonya and others.

Sixth is I Still Believe – This song made my head just bangin’ on every note cuz it is… before he sang this, he interacted with the audience and talked about his faith and church raising and everything LOL! Surprisingly, the interaction was ok when he asked us to do something or asked us to raise hands or something, so the people of VA are good sports LOL! Kudos to Kara, that song was great and the singer was awe inspiring!!! <3 and one more thing… During this song, I think Danny looked me in the eyes several times and I was like, I stopped my picture taking and look him on the eyes too with a big smile all the way to my ears! I hope he remembers me!!!

Seventh is Crazy Not too – Now all you know here I’m not a big fan of this song… he simply unwound and sat on a chair and told us that this song was requested by his female twitter fans LOL! He doesn’t know why but hey, Danny sang this song believable to all of us!!!

This time, me and Steph needed to go to the back of the front seats because the “original” seat holders took our seats LOL! Boo!!!

Sadly, his last song was Back at One – well I love his version of this song, the audience sang along and I saw some married and lovers holding hands and touching shoulders LOL! It made me sad because that is his last song for the night sigh!!! There was a balloon throwing moments in this time like we have to propel the balloon to other areas something like that, do you know what I mean? It’s like on a concert where people throw beach balls instead of balloons LOL! I have to be honest, and don’t want to be a negative here or anything, but I think the high note on this one made Danny a little bit strained reaching that one.  I don’t know if that’s the raspy thing and actually, I really think this one really thoroughly, I don’t expect Danny to hit every high glorious note because I know what he’s been through this past weeks and let me tell you. It makes your voice very tired… and that’s fine with me, because this is the last song and often the last song demands the singer 20% more just to get over with.   I want to mention this one for all of you are asking questions about his voice condition.  In general, I got hooked up with this DG concert madness!!! I will never forget the detailed image of his face and I will store that in my head for the rest of my life! I will never forget how he sang those songs as if I was just listening to my iPod… I will never forget that smile and stare that he gave me (wishful thinking but most of it was like real and really happened YAY!)  But you know ladies, I wish I did the heart sign; it really bothers me if that’s a girl thing so I hesitated and not doing it at all LOL!

Didn’t watch the entire concert.  The next performers were Steel Magnolia and the headliner for the Winterblast event, Jake Owen, I believe that’s Danny’s label mate! Steph did watch the whole thing though… the only difference she said on other Danny concerts she attended according to her is that she saw a full band (that is with drums and all)…

POST-“DANNY CONCERT”:

After the last song, we rushed to the autograph signing line and dang! It was too long and maybe too late… I keep on looking if Danny is in the table and he is, I told Jen that his spot was great for taking pictures (he was on the edge of the table).  I was so nervous and planning what to say. When we are in the line and almost near Danny, we saw Ivan.  He greeted us and took some pictures. We talked and I asked him if he likes the weather here and he said yes haha!!! I also said that he rocked (I hope I can also say that to Danny in person) But seeing Ivan, knowing that he is Danny’s brother-in-law, I consider myself very fortunate that time (sorry Ladies, my wishes are so low and not that too much expectations) I think we’re the same height but of course, I’m chubby and oily skinned at that time, you can ask the ladies I was with at the event LOL! After we took some pictures and chitchats, suddenly, the line was cut and we learned that Danny had to go (the reason they told us was that other performers were doing their show now and it’s just a way to show respect for them) We glued our attention to Ivan, I don’t know what Jen told him but we were still hoping that Danny would come out and meet his fans.  But according to his twitter after a few minutes of waiting, they had to go because they have to stick to a strict schedule and everything.  We decided to go home and call it a night. I said goodbye to Becky and its really nice meeting her and really accompanied me before the start of the show. Jen and I hugged again on the way outside and that moment, I felt sad cuz I felt like I was saying goodbye to a friend (sorry ladies, I’m a very sentimental person!). As I am walking to the side road, I forgot to say goodbye to Steph (sorry Steph!) so I went inside again and looked for her, she went back to our original seat LOL! And have a little chitchat with her and gave my conclusion that night. We say goodbye, I said thanks (I hope I can say as many thanks I can say cuz I really appreciate what she done for me) and I felt sad again, same feeling when I said goodbye to Jen. Saying goodbyes to those ladies is so hard ugghh!!! Cuz really, this night is very memorable!!! I unwind and walked around the coliseum grounds (believe me ladies; I walked from the main entrance up to the other side of the coliseum where I end up seeing the employees’ entrance LOL!) I don’t know why I walked up to that place, hmm maybe I’m wishing Danny would just popped up that door and I’m the only one there (very wishful thinking Gokeyguy LOL!) I walked back and forth, hmm maybe about 10-15mins or so. I’m thinking a lot of things, about the concert, after the concert and what is ahead… Finally, my family arrived and picked me up. Their first question was how was the concert? Is Danny really sings that good? And I replied, yes! He is! I said, when you hear him sing live, it’s like you’re just listening to his album… and I can see their faces filled with amazement and maybe jealousy haha! Even my little Lambert sister said, “Darn, I wish I could go and see the concert!” Hmm, I think she’s bored that day cuz my family went shopping on a nearby Walmart at my aunt’s place.  The next question they asked me is did I get his autograph? And my face went blank, my Lambert sister figured it out herself (screw her LOL!)  I said, the line was cut and he left immediately for some reasons, I said. They just comforted me and gave me hopes of seeing Danny again… Even though they are not an AI enthusiast and crazy like me, they care and I felt hope again…

CONCLUSION:

The moment that I knew there’s no way is Danny going to go out again, I said to myself, why I am so sad? Is it because I didn’t see Danny in person? Didn’t get his autograph? No manhug or something like that? I want to slap myself to reality. I tried to keep myself together and not to show any emotion at all to these beautiful ladies (yes ladies, I was sad and a bit disappointed). Maybe because of the excitement, the limit that I promised to myself was breeched; that the only reason I went there is to see Danny sing live. Having his autograph, get a manhug, have a little chitchat or just make a handshake and everything is just a bonus gift for me. I think I expect those to happen too so that is why I felt sad and disappointed. Maybe I can’t really expect myself to be just contented with Danny singing live, cuz I’m a crazy 100% Dannyfan and I want my first night to be memorable. And it is, it became memorable and without the help of those ladies I wouldn’t be able to go to the coliseum in the first place. Until this day, that night still lingers in my mind as if I can’t believe that I saw him in pure flesh! I consider myself as lucky to see him and while I’m writing this, I remember those international fans that aren’t able to see Danny YET.  That I don’t have to be that sad and disappointed anymore, because there will be the time for me to finally meet him in person!

See Gokeyguy’s pictures HERE. Oh, and he wants to thanks Jen for revising the recap!