After grabbing a quick bite to eat, I was hoping to see John Ondrasik before the Five For Fighting show. Knowing that John always does soundchecks before every concert, I walked over to Mural Amphitheatre. I was surprised to find two people waiting at the entrance. In the course of our conversation, I learned that Candy and Jeremy drove up from Portland, OR just to see John perform. They had actually started waiting there at 9:00 am! I'm a dedicated Five For Fighting fan who loves to be first in line, but not THAT dedicated! Usually, 2 to 3 hours before doors open is sufficient for me! I told them about my plan to see John, and immediately noticed a side entrance in the temporary fence. I decided to stake it out, and told Candy and Jeremy I would let them know if anything panned out. Well, my suspicions proved correct! At around 2:30, I noticed a black town car drive up...then John exited the vehicle! I approached him and said HI, and John replied, "Hi Wynne." I asked him if he could possibly have a chat with my new Portland friends at the front gate. John said that he was running a bit late, but would try to make time. I returned to Candy and Jeremy, and gave them the optimistic news. For the next 20 minutes, we enjoyed the wonderful sounds of John warming up his voice. As people walked by, some stopped to have a listen. A few inquired who was singing, and I told them it was Five For Fighting. I also added that tickets were just $25 for tonight's GreenNote show. Hey, I'll support John any chance I get, and trying to sell tickets for him is what a loyal fan would do! After John finished with soundchecks, we eagerly waited to see if he would come visit. Alas, John ended up exiting through a different fence opening without coming to see us. Oh, well. Hopefully, John would do a meet and greet after the show.
My plan foiled, I left my new friends and checked into my hotel. They said they would save a place for me in line. An hour later, I returned to the entrance, and the line had grown to about a dozen people. Included was a nice family from Coeur d'Alene, ID. This would be their second Five For Fighting show. Their first was actually my first official Five For Fighting show, too...November 2006 at Seattle's Showbox Theater. To my delight, I discovered they were frequent visitors to my Five For Fighting fan site. When gates opened at 5:00 pm, we all made our way to the area right in front of the stage. Candy and Jeremy to the right of me...they shared my blanket...and the Idaho family to my left. Shortly after we settled in, a guy in a Five For Fighting hockey jersey stopped by to say HI to me. Turns out we met at a previous Five For Fighting show in Seattle...I gave him one of my fan site business cards! If there's one thing I really enjoy, it's meeting other Five For Fighting fans at John's concerts!
There were two opening acts preceding John tonight. The first was a local gal, Jerin Falkner, who played piano and guitar. The second was pianist Jon McLaughlin, who was accompanied by Dylan Williams, who played electric guitar on a couple of songs. The openers were both quite talented, but it was John who I was really waiting to see. When he finally took the stage, I was SO ready to hear his wonderful voice! Here is John's setlist for the night and a couple of photos that I took.
World (piano)
The Riddle (piano)
Chances (guitar)
Slice (guitar)
'65 Mustang (guitar)
Superman (piano)
This Dance (piano)
Easy Tonight (guitar)
If God Made You (guitar)
Freedom Never Cries (piano)
I Just Love You (piano)
100 Years (piano)
Hope (a capella)
After John did 100 Years, there was a short question and answer period...a GreenNote thing...then John closed with Hope. At that, the majority of the crowd left, which surprised me and the Portland couple. A LOT more people had lined up to see Jon Laughlin. Hmm. Well, their loss. The 20 or so fans who DID stay were rewarded with a meet and greet with John! After Candy and Jeremy got their autographs and pics with John, it was my turn. John saw me and said, "Hi, Miss Wynne!" John is so sweet! As I got my photo with him, I thanked John for singing This Dance. It was nice to hear him perform a song he hasn't before. John agreed it was nice to play a new song, and added he was practicing Note To The Unknown Soldier with the band. So, you lucky folks who will get a full band show coming up will be hearing this song! Before I left John to his next fan, he apologized for not seeing us after the soundchecks. Aww...John you are REALLY sweet!
Before leaving, I said my goodbyes to my new Idaho and Portland friends. I told Candy and Jeremy that I would look forward to being at the front of the line with them at the next Portland Five For Fighting show! So, now I'm in for a long wait till the next Five For Fighting tour. John needs to get to work writing those new songs!
