You'll Never Make It to the Great Unknown

Last night was amazing. If you have a true love of music, you will understand when I say I can't put into words exactly how I felt last night to watch my favorite band ever play on a huge stage and know I would get to meet them after the show was over.

I'm going to do my best with my descriptions, but I can't promise I will be eloquent and charming with my words today. Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

After an hour of sitting at our favorite Starbucks, the roommate and I decided to head toward Verizon Arena. As a avid Needtobreathe Twitter follower, I know they always tweet about buying the CD at a certain merchandise stand and getting a pass to meet them after the show.

As we turned by the baseball field, I saw this.

Yet we did not have the tickets with us. My mom had them in the car with her. So we had to wait. And while we waited, we prayed a lot. I mean who wouldn't want to see this face up close.

After what seemed like an eternity, the tickets were in our hand. We made it through the gates. And we were standing right in front of the merchandise stand outside section 115. We waited in line. A very long, slow-moving line. I was shaking. And praying.

And then it was my turn. I showed the man the tweet and asked if I was in the right place for the meet and greet pass. He said yes. He turned and came back with two CDs and two passes. And that was the moment the roommate and I exploded for the first time last night. I'm not even going to try to lie and say I didn't cry. Because I did let a few tears of excitement go.

Then the show started. I'm pretty sure the girls sitting behind us were pissed because we didn't sit down or stop screaming until Needtobreathe was over.

The playlist was: Keep Your Eyes Open, A Girl Named Tennessee, Drive All Night, Something Beautiful, Lay Em Down and Let Us Love.

Hearing Bear's voice live and the melodies of songs I love was what made my brain explode for the second time. Again, if you are a true lover of music, you will understand what I mean by that. There is something so precious about the moments between one song and another. Like the anticipation and joy collide to make something completely and outrageously wonderful.

Then T. Swift did her hair flipping, hand waving, crowd hugging thing.

And then it was over. And the moment I have waited for, yet never thought would actually happen happened. I was in a room with Needtobreathe. Just a few feet away. I got so close I could have touched their faces, but I didn't so I wouldn't get arrested and ruin the moment.

I snuck these pictures before the Rent-A-Cop saw me. And then it was my turn. I had to think of something meaningful to say to my most favorite band. All I could think of was the way the drums and piano sound in the song "The Reckoning," and I had to tell them. So I did just that.

I told them I loved what they were doing. And that nobody understands it (in a good way). They said thank you numerous times. And Joe the drummer told me the drums in that song were made up by him, Seth and Bo.

I made eye contact with Bear and forgot how to think and speak. Seth was very quite, and Bo looked me in the eye and thanked me for coming. It was one of the best moments in my life thus far.

I got to listen to Needtobreathe live and meet them and get their autographs and tell them a very small bit of my great love of their music. Be still my heart.