Third Time's the Charm...

I honestly had no intention of going again anytime soon. Having been twice already, I felt like a third time would push me into awkward territory. I'm a fan, but not a "Super Fan." I mean, it's not like I've ever written him a letter. I don't even know when his birthday is (on a totally unrelated note, did you know that my husband shares a birthday with this guy?).

Yet somehow, a week ago, I found myself once again in his presence. Him who? you ask. Why, Michael Buble of course! I first saw him in concert, thus breaking a decade-long concert-going drought, in March of 2010. Given that he is one of the very few artists that Scott and I both like, I knew it wouldn't be the last time we saw him perform, especially since the show was so enjoyable. Our seats for that first show were decent, to the left of the stage, on the lower level, far back enough that we had to turn to one side to see the performance.

When I found out Buble was coming back through town in last December, I managed to get floor seats, 18th row, dead center. This was our view, though I'm fairly sure I was using my zoom for this picture:

It was a lot of fun, and I loved having a new perspective from which to watch the performance.

Then a couple of months ago I saw that Michael Buble was bringing his act back to Illinois once again. This time, instead of a venue in Chicago, he would be appearing in Moline, a town that's right near the border of Iowa, and is a little over two hours west from where I live. Though I was tempted, I decided not to buy tickets when they went on sale for a couple of reasons:

1. Moline is not close or convenient.
2. I had already been to see him twice in a year's time, and going a third time seemed a bit ridiculous.
3. I knew that if I went again, I would want to have even better seats than the last time. Finding awesome seats without paying a broker big bucks is not easy.

The day the tickets went on sale, just for kicks, I went online and checked to see what seats were available. While it hadn't sold out (like his Chicago shows always do, very quickly I might add), the seats available weren't any better than where I'd sat the time before. I was content with the knowledge that I wouldn't be missing out too much. And then...

...I noticed that Ticketmaster was doing an online auction for seats in the first 4 rows. Now, I'd seen and tracked these auctions before. When Buble came through Chicago, the final bids in these auctions, on these seats, were usually typically $300-500 per ticket. Which, for me, is just not going to happen.

On a whim, I thought: why not place a super low bid? Worst case, I don't get tickets, which would be fine since I wasn't planning on going to begin with. Best case, I get seats in the first few rows and have an amazing, unforgettable night! I submitted my bid, which was essentially the lowest possible bid, plus $10. I had no intention of bidding any higher, and had no doubt that I would soon lose my "place" in the auction. Imagine my surprise, then, when a week later I got an email informing me that I had won two tickets on the second row! Somehow, my low bid -- which was just a little more than the price that the normal tickets sell for -- had held. Even more incredible is that the person who won 1st row seats had only bid $160 per ticket, which is more than I would ever pay, but still really low all things considered.

My original plan was to attend the concert with Scott, but as the date drew near, he worried that he would be too busy (a large deadline at work was looming) to be able to take the time to go. When I found out my friend Carol would be coming in from out of town to visit the same weekend of the concert, the problem of who to take was easily solved.

A two-hour drive goes by quickly when you've got a friend to chat with the whole way. When we got inside the arena and saw our seats, 2nd row, on the aisle, just left of center, we were amazed. Holy crud we were so close!

There is always a really interesting mix of people at his concerts. Folks of all ages attend, and the people-watching in the front is the best to be had, because that's where you can find a lot of the crazies. Women who have spent hours decorating posters that say things like "Michael, I've been to 15 of your concerts and I just haven't met you yet!" or "I'm your cougar!" or "Bub-lay me!" Some of these women clearly dressed with the hope of getting noticed by the man himself. There was an abundance of sparkles, cleavage, and sequins.

The highlight of my night, aside from the onstage entertainment, was spotting the two middle-aged women who I had been seated next to at the last Buble show I attended. They were unintentionally hilarious. This time, like me, instead of being in the 18th row, they were right up front. First row, to be exact. When I met them back in December, they told me all about how much they had grown to like Naturally 7, the opening act. They knew all the words to every song, and even some of the choreography. This time around, when Naturally 7 came out, these ladies were in hysterics. They were standing, waving, shouting out the names of the band members, singing along to every song, and even doing the choreography. It was awesome to behold.

Now, onto the pictures...

Michael signing the poster of an older woman who had been to something like 23 of his shows.




Michael holding the towel that he used to wipe the sweat off his face throughout the evening. He handed it to a little girl seated right in front of us. Kinda cool, kinda gross.


My ginormous head! About two-thirds of the way through the concert, they allowed people to come stand right up against the barrier, so of course we did! Being that close is really fun. You know the big screens that are up so people in the back can see the performer? You know how sometimes they pan to the crowd and you see people cheering? Yeah, we were those people. Our faces were on the jumbo screens, repeatedly.








The final moments of the show, when he ditches the microphone and belts out the last few lines of "Song for You." Pretty darn amazing.


In advance, we had booked a room at the hotel adjacent to the venue, since driving back home through farm country in the middle of the night didn't sound appealing. So, after the show, rather than walk right back to the hotel, we wandered over to the back of the outside of the arena and spotted Michael Buble's tour bus, with him walking around inside it. Unfortunately, we weren't the only ones milling around, and it soon became evident that they were preparing for departure. Before the buses pulled away, Michael's personal assistant spotted the crowd forming and came out to gather any personal items that we would like to have signed by the man himself. I handed over my ticket, and a few minutes later she brought it back, newly adorned with a scribble that I'll choose to believe is his autograph. Most amusing was the person who offered up a manuscript he had written, and asked that Michael read and keep it. Gotta admire that guy's tenacity.


It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I'm so glad I acted impulsively (something I rarely do) and bid on those tickets!