Jan’s Recap: Danny Gokey at DuPage County Fair

Danny Gokey at the DuPage County Fair
July 21, 2010 in Wheaton, Illinois

Danny Gokey put on a dynamite show as the headliner for the DuPage County Fair on July 21^st!  The Wheaton, Illinois show was a high energy, full voice, 90 minute performance! It included a ton of fun, un-choreographed dance moves by Danny.  If you’ve seen the concert video of  “T.R.O.U.B.L.E”, you know what I mean!  We all loved it!  Danny seemed to be running on adrenalin from the excitement of participating in the American Idol Season 10 auditions that morning in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Lucky us!

In the morning before a Danny Gokey concert, I always think, “Hey, we’ve got lots of time.  You know, we don’t have to be in the front of the line this time……”.  An hour (or more) before our planned departure time, Ed can expect me to be ready to go. And the idea of my not being there when the gates open is too hard for me to bear! Wheaton was no exception.  We headed out for our Danny concert adventure.

Waiting

Yup, we usually do a lot of that.  We arrived at the Wheaton County Fairgrounds shortly after 5PM.  The tickets say Danny is to perform at 8PM.  (Actual starting time was around 9PM.) We had no idea when the gates to the concert field were to open.  A nice security guard tries to find out for me. Sometime between 6 and 6:30.  Hmmm… we’ve got only an hour to wait in the blazing sun, on blacktop? Now that’s pretty good by my standards!  We find 10-15 or so “harder core” Gokey fans already waiting.  Some of them have been there ALL afternoon. A few looked pretty sun-baked.  But spirits are good and everyone is pretty friendly.  After we spread out our blanket, Ed and I are assured that others will hold our spots if we want to go explore.  As we walked around the very small fair, I hear a distinctive voice.  Its Danny’s voice!  I make a beeline to 98.3 FM  WCCQ’s radio stand because I hear Danny’s voice coming over their speaker!  After the interview is played, they played IWNSGB!  I stay to talk to the DJs.  They tell me that they had interviewed Danny on his tour bus about an hour earlier.  The DJ said Danny had flew in from Milwaukee to be at the concert.  He also said that Danny told them he had been up since 4:30 AM for the American Idol auditions and had not taken a nap yet.  They guessed he might be trying to do that now. As I was talking to the DJ,  Cherie came up and asked if I was Jan?  We exchanged  hellos and hugs and then head back to the concert line.  Ed, of course is missing, but in 30 plus years, I haven’t permanently lost him yet, so I’m not worried.

On the Field before the Concert

By the time gates do open (never on time) there is a line all the way back to the fairgrounds entrance.  I keep looking around. No Ed.  No answer on his cell phone.  And I have his concert ticket in my purse.  If he doesn’t get here before the gates open, do I wait outside for him?  Jeopardizing a “primo” spot, but being a good wife?  Well, we’ll never know, because he showed up just before they start to let us in.  (Please don‘t ask Ed whether I‘d be the good wife……)

The stage is set up in a grassy field with football stand style grandstands quite a way back–50 yards away? The ticket takers want to know who wants to go into the grandstands.  Nobody.  We all want to be up by the stage!  Ed causally strolls in with another guy while the crazed ladies run for the places in front of the stage.  Did I ever mention that I have a son that is a great sprinter?  I had scoped out a place in front, between Brandon’s keyboard and the center microphone.  Score!  I spread out our blanket and wait for Ed to join me.  Cherie joins us, too.  The other ihearties (Pam, Michelle, Jen, Karen, Christie, Val, Jennie and friends) had made a beeline for an area between the main microphone and Matt’s microphone.  Folding chairs, lots of blankets and a picnic atmosphere ensues.  I met some really sweet Danny fans around us (J and L) and we exchange email addresses so we can swap photos.  (Thanks, ladies!) Amazingly, its less than an hour to the Meet and Greet time.  Now, compared to the marathons I’ve had at the concerts at Turner Hall and Summerfest, this seems like a very abbreviated wait.

Meet and Greet

All of the Sophia’s Heart M&G pass holders are lined up first.  As we walk behind the stage towards the tour bus, what do we see but Danny standing in full view of us wearing a muscle shirt (sleeveless), shorts and sandals!  Yeah!!! I turn to Ed and any female around me and exclaim “We get to see Danny’s tattoo!!!”  Hopefully my fan girling wasn’t too loud, but I’m guessing I wasn’t too contained…I’m not asking Ed because I really don’t want to know the answer!

As I wait for my turn, I tell Mike that I saw him on the video with Danny and Matt this morning.  I tell him that it seems like he’s trying to keep a low profile, but its not working because of whom he’s hanging out with.  Mike laughs.  When its my time, I practically throw my other things on the ground so I’m unencumbered and I walk up to Danny and I say hello.  I get a big hug and he takes the photo from my hand to sign.  I remarked how wonderful it was to see him in Milwaukee for the AI auditions.  He asked if I was there? I said no,  but the internet had tons of videos, articles and pictures about it.  We talk a little bit more about it.  He seemed so happy and excited about it.  We pose for the picture and then its Ed’s turn.  Danny turns to Ed and says to Mike “I love seeing this guy at my shows!”  They greet each other like old friends, man hug and fist bumps.  Danny actually brings up a topic that Ed and he had discussed at the Ho Chunk concert.  Clearly my husband has made a lasting impression, LOL.  Let me tell you, this has made my gokey-holism so much easier.

As we were leaving, I asked Mike if Ed and I could have a picture together with Danny.  He assures us it would be fine and we wait for an opening.  As we stand on each side of Danny, Danny tries to put his around the back of Ed, and Ed says “Oh, no!  We have to show off that tattoo!” and he maneuvers Danny’s right shoulder to be in front view.  Ed asks him if he’s going to flex for the photo?  Danny laughs and we all beamed at the camera.  Frankly, it happened so fast, I didn’t really expect the picture of all of us to  “turn out” ok, but Mike did his magic with my little camera. It’s a photo I certainly will treasure.

Concert Notes

The unannounced opener for Danny was a local band called the “Back Roads Band”.  They performed a lot of current songs from country radio; artists like Lady A.  I especially liked the female vocalist.  I was thinking, too bad she didn’t try out for American Idol this morning in Milwaukee…..

Well, as you’ve all seen and heard, the concert was wonderful.  Danny is really perfecting the art of being a live performer.  I see the growth in every concert I have attended.  As Danny danced across the stage, he said at one point “Simon says I can’t dance, but I don’t care!  They also said man couldn’t fly!“  His interaction with the band members is really growing and the crowd participation on songs like “I Still Believe“, “What Hurts the Most” and “Back at One” in this show was superb.  All of the band members seem to be really good musicians and they have a good vibe going on.  Finally, I have to say that I think he performs most of the songs from his album better than what is recorded.  He just excels as a live performer.

At the conclusion of the concert Danny told the crowd that he would sign autographs after the show.  We stayed to congratulate him on the great show and to have another CD signed.   It was a wonderful night!