Fitting that my first post is the introduction...

[uhhh its ashley]

Or at least I thought so.

I'm Ashley (as you may have assumed by my board username) I'm 20 and I'm from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I like sarcasm, long walks on the beach, and the Sick Puppies. In all seriousness though my love for Shim, Mark, and Emma started in an interesting way. A long-time friend of mine had a line from My World in their away message and I felt compelled to google where it was from. Little did I know what would follow. I listened to every song I could possibly find of theirs that night and was simply astonished. The next day I bought Dressed Up As Life and the rest as they say is history.

My first concert experience was last July. Milwaukee holds an annual music festival called Summerfest and luckily enough for me and my best friend (whom I introduced the band to and subsequently helped fall in love with them as well) they were playing one of the nights. We got to the festival grounds, parked, and began walking to the ticket line. I looked to my left as we were walking and saw Shim reading, what I'm not sure, and walking along the lake. My friend and I asked him for a photo but he assured us after the show we would be able to get one. As I'm sure all of you who have seen them live know, it was a beyond amazing show. After they finished playing they had a long line of fans waiting to get stuff signed, buy merch, and take pictures. They were only allowing us to take photos of the band however, not with them. So as we got to the front of the line Shim recognized us and we asked if we could still get that photo he had promised us earlier. He told us to hang out until they were done signing everything and we could get one with everyone. He is indeed a man of his word and we were one of the lucky few to actually get a picture with them, and not just of them. All of them were such genuine people and it was an honor and a thrill to have met them.

My second experience unfortunately didn't turn out so well. That September they were supposed to be playing for an event in Chicago along with a lot of other amazing bands. We got there about an hour earlier to make sure there were no issues. It was raining really hard at the time and they wouldn't allow us to buy tickets because they were deciding if the days events would have to be canceled or not. Unfortunately it was canceled and we had to drive all the way back to Milwaukee. Once we arrived home I logged onto Myspace and our Puppies had posted a bulletin announcing that the show was rescheduled that night across the street from Wrigley Field. Excited beyond belief we mapquested a new set of directions and headed back to Chicago. Our excitement fell through once we realized the show was 21 and older, and we were not (and the bouncer wouldn't accept our bribes). Still, after two trips to Chicago in one day we stood outside of the bar in the rain just to at least hear them. Not what we had anticipated to say the least.

And last week Friday was my second successful show. Words cannot even describe how happy I was to have the opportunity to see them again especially a week and a half after the release of TriPolar. I left that night without a stress in mind. Amazing how music can do that, right? They are set to play Madison, Wisconsin in the middle of September and you can bet I'll be there for my third.

Anyway, as you can probably tell I tend to go on and on and on. So I'll end my first post by saying how happy I am to be surrounded by people who have been as impacted as much as I have by this amazing trio. And with a picture. (I'm the one on the right)

[siberianknight]

Amazing story! Welcome! I can sympathize with the whole getting canceled thing. Except I hadn't gone yet, so not that much. But it's amazing to hear you stayed out just to listen. Can't say I'd of done a thing different in your case though.

[Serge]

Welcome aboard! and nice photo!

....Shim and Emma have interesting/messy hair there haha, but still looking good! =]

[ToniB]

Welcome Ashley! A bunch of us from here were there (in Chicago last September) also. Yeah, that age thing can be a real pain, can't it?! Anyway, welcome to the board, we hope to see you around!

[Becky]

Welcome to the board. I was in Chicago when that show got canceled and all of that crazy flooding. Luckily I'm over 21, so was able to see them but I know a lot of people got turned away.

[Lisa]

Welcome Ashley!... Great story by the way.

[uhhh its ashley]

Thanks for the welcomes guys, I could tell from outside of the Cubby Den that it was a good show...glad some of you got to enjoy it a little closer!

[patrickdron]

welcome Ashley glad to have you part of the forum.

[Cassandra]

Welcome to the forums, Ashley! That's a really cool story.

[Donna]

Welcoem to the forum Ashley ! I was at the Cubby Bear show as well .. I don't think I had ever seen so much rain I'm sorry to hear that you couldn't get into the show after all that ..hope you get to see them this tour

[uhhh its ashley]

Thanks Donna, I did see them Friday and am planning on attending their show in Madison in September so I can look forward to that!

[MarixD]

Wow, sounds like that show turned out quite bad for you.
I am glad you were able to hear them outside.
Many venues are soundproofed so you won't be able to hear anything outside.
The show I was just at was an all ages show so there was plenty of 'midgets' there.
I am 6'3 so you know there was plenty of short kids behind me that couldn't see anything.
Yes, I am usually the giant that is right in front.
On this tour they are traveling around with a Samsung memoir camera phone to take pictures of fans.
Hopefully the pictures will be up soon so I can get mine to prove I was at the concert so I can get some points.
Or I could just take a picture of the signatures I got.

[nicolenice]

WElcome Ashley, sorry about your second show experience at the Cubby, they were butheads with that 21 and older thing. 2 drives to chicago in 1 day thats dedication. But glad you got to see them this year.

[Donna]

Glad to hear you will be seeing them again in September !

[jj1973]

Hi Ashley

Welcome to the board. Yes, you are right, this is a great place filled with people who love this amazing trio. : ) I am sorry to read about your disappointment in Chicago, but I am glad you will be able to see them again, and have seen them before as well. I too had an unfortunate thing happen to me when the Pups came to my hometown. I was supposed to see them, their manager was giving me a photo pass with some special access to the show I was supposed to attend. BUT, my water heater blew that night and it was a huge mess. I was not able to go, which was very upsetting to me. But you know, they came back last month so it made up for it.

Sometimes upsetting times will lead up to good ones. I am sure you will enjoy your concert in September. Be sure to come tell us all about it, and if you get pictures, please post them.

TC,

J

[Missy]

Welcome aboard Ashley It's refreshing to hear stories like yours. That's true dedication! Have you looked into the Ambassador program here? I think it might be something you'd be interested in... is a link to all the details. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!