First off you must know that I fell asleep at 6pm on Saturday night and then woke up 5 1/2 hours later, and due to the excitement, never went to sleep after that. So let's fast forward to 8:30am Sunday Morning since all I did during the time gap was poke around on the internet reading interviews and watching videos of SP.
After showering I headed off to Edwardsville which was an hour away from where I live. So it's now 9:30am and I am sitting in an empty parking lot in front of Tmobile. I'm the first one there, and I felt pretty proud of that.
I thought the band wouldn't perform outside but I saw a section of parking spaces blocked off so I could only assume they would play outside. I was relieved to see this because this meant that I didn't have to stand in Tmobile for 2 hours straight to secure a spot. I decided to get some grubb and just wait for others to show up.
The radio station guys showed up and people were starting to stand around the parking spaces, but I remained in my truck playing my bass that I brought along for Emma to sign.
Tmobile then opened up and the radio station started setting up their table. I asked them where to sign up to win the TV, but no one knew about it. Then the DJ from the radio showed up. I wondered back in and saw two kids signing up for the prizes, I then signed up as well.
After waiting for what seemed like hours, the tour bus showed up and parked. People were getting pumped up, but of course more waiting was to come as we waited for the Roadies to set all the gear up.
And after a long wait, the Radio DJ came out and introduced Sick Puppies to the crowd... and there was much rejoycing!!! I was hoping to hear Riptide...and low and behold, that's what they opened with!!!
Shim was impressed at the size of the crowd, and the fact we were sitting out in the cold. I was impressed that Emma could play in the cold, because I know how incredibley hard it is to play a bass in the cold. They ended the set with You're Going Down. Shim told the crowd to form a line and they would sign something for everyone and take a photo with them.
I decided to take some photos and sit in my truck to wait for the line to go die down before taking my bass in there to get it signed. This was the line that formed.
After I was done taking the photos to make that photo of the line I sat in my truck and was about to play my bass again to pass the time, when I got a phone call from a private number...I knew it was the radio station calling me... and sure enough it was. The DJ said who he was and asked me how I was doing, to which I replied "Well I imagine I'm about to be doing really good!!!". He notified me that I had won the 32 inch LCD TV that they were giving away... and there was much rejoycing!!!!
So now I'm on cloud nine and I haven't even met the band yet! Once the line widdled down I went back in to get my stuff signed. Emma signed my bass and noticed the Victor Wooten signature, and told me I had a nice bass
. I then got all three of them to sign my ticket to the show later on that night.After all of that I went all the way back home to drop off my guitar and get some more grub...this is at about 5:00pm. I try to get some sleep in...but I kept waking myself up in terror thinking I was missing the show
I got up and went to the show. They opened with War and the place was going crazy! After another couple of songs Shim asked everyone to pull out there Cell Phones to enter the conest to win a Guitar, he then went on to say to keep the cell phones out to light up the place.
Of course they ended with You're Going down, but they played every song I wanted to hear (Pitiful, Riptide, Cancer, Odd One, the Say my Name cover) expcept one (Howards Tale). Shim said they would meet everyone and sign autographs. And they did. The line that formed was massive. I walked from the back of the line to the table and it took me a minute and 45 seconds!!!! Not standing in line, just walking beside it!!!
I got the T Shirt I bought signed by all three. Shim remembered me from the Edwardsville Show. Only problem is that they weren't taking photos. And since the photos they were taking in Edwardsville were all on one camera you have to wait to get your photo when they upload it to the website. I was bummed out that I didn't get a photo with them on my camera, but hey, I got a lot of stuff signed!
So I'm thinking this was the end of my Sick Puppies experiance. I then saw Papa Roach play. I was curious to see if Papa Roach would do the same thing as Sick Puppies, so when Papa Roach was done I headed down to the autograph area. Papa Roach wasn't there, but guess who was!!!!! Sick Puppies, working some overtime!
I was determinged to get a photo with the band. I stayed at the end of the line, letting who ever came up in line get ahead of me. I did this until they finally had security cut off the line, with me as the last person in line. Shim was saying to some girl that they couldn't take photos because of the line, but he looked over to the line and noticed it had been cut off, then said "Well nevermind the line is done so let's get you that photo". He asked me if I needed something signed again and I told him I was there for a photo. They did a lot of photos for the people there, proving that they will go way above and beyond for their fans.
After all that, I then see Breaking Benjamin!
All I can say is wow, and I owe it all to Sick Puppies!
I always love hearing these SP stories! 
x2
... it was my first time EVER to a show. LOL