David Archuleta - Archey Report #2 - San Jose, CA

(McLuvin Me Some David's Archey Report. She was also one of our cellcasters last night! Woohoo! Uploading video please be patient...)

My most amazing, incredible, awe-sinpiring perfect day ever!!

Let me start by saying that I am an "older" David Archuleta fan that has embraced his passion for music in ways that easily match that of any 17 year old fangirl. I have been a fan of music my entire life, as a child I can remember watching my parents perform in their band for all of the active Vietnam soldiers at the base in Fort Ord, California. My mother being lead singer and my father playing keyboards accompanied by a full band have given me an insightful and keen eye into the music industry and the world of music. I, myself am an amateur singer, participating in my church's worship team, singing at friends weddings, etc. Subsequently, I have been married to my husband for 14 years and we met at a concert when he was one of the lighting technicians for Bon Jovi. I'm sorry to be so wordy, but I want to really emphasize the extent of my musical background and exposure.

So......yesterday, we arrived at the busses entrance to the HP Pavilion in San Jose at 11:30am. We were greeted by approximately 40 or 50 fans, varying from Castro, Cook and Archuleta fans pretty evenly, with a few Syesha, Chikezie, Brooke and Rami fans sprinkled throughout. The majority of the fans were very cordial and friendly and great to talk with! I did see and hear a bit of the fanwar talk firsthand, unfortunately, while walking around and meeting people. It was 105 degrees outside and we were waiting in the sun near the gated entrance. At approximately 12:30, I saw Phil from FanBlast and his crew running up towards the opposite side of the gates. I immediately grabbed my poster "International Fans love (heart) Archey" and beelined over to join in the festivities. I made it just in time to do a shout out to Rickey.org and all of the other Angels and join in the group shoutout. It was exciting to be a part of what was happening and definitely increased my excitement as it neared closer and closer to the time that the busses would arrive. I met up with another Angel that I have chatted with a few times on Rickey.org (sandyparks) and she was able to get in on the shoutout too!! This day was already shaping up to be so very memorable.

We were told by the security person that the busses would be coming shortly and that the Idols would be coming out in pairs to sign autographs. We expected that they would open the gates so that we could have access to the Idols, but to our dismay, the gates remained closed the entire time. However, once the busses arrived, and we welcomed them with our posters and cheers, the Idols immediately stepped off of the busses and waved to all of us from the bottom of the ramp. The crowd cheered excitedly in anticipation of meeting them in just a few minutes! People began to rush the gate and hung onto the bars for dear life, not wanting to move one inch in either direction for fear that someone else might take their coveted spot. I was a few people behind those at the front of the gates until they reopened them to let several cars of people come in and at that point, I made my move for a spot in the front. I am elated to report that I was successful in getting right up to the front!! David Cook and the others filed up the ramp and began to talk with the fans and sign autographs. Jason Castro came up shortly thereafter, and he was greeted by many screaming fans. He seemed genuinely happy to be there and mingled with his fans for quite some time, even doing his Live V-blog from there!! He was a riot as he interacted with the crowd and seemed really personalbe and very likeable. He handed the water bottle that he had been drinking from to my niece who was standing right next to me after autographing it for her. Needless to say, many of the Castro fans were begging for it, but she had asked first, and he obliged.

Next up the ramp came David A. The screams were deafening as he made his approach up to the gates. He went to one corner of the crowd and I assumed would work his way down the line. He spent about 20 minutes signing autographs and talking with the fans. Everyone was just so excited to see him in person, it was such an awesome feeling to be standing so close, but yet so far away from him!! The Idols began disappearing back down the ramp and much to my disappointment, so did Archey (verrrry sad face). We were told by Security that they were going to have lunch and then go straight to sound check. Several of us didn't want to believe that David A. would leave all of us standing out in the heat of the midday and not acknowledge us so we stuck around!! He must've eaten really quickly, because about 20 minutes later, he and a handler came walking back up the ramp towards us!! He came straight to where we were standing and we got lots of video and pictures as well as autographs, but most of all amazzzzzzing conversation with our Idol!!! He is genuinely the most positive-minded, inspirational, grounded, sweet person that I have ever had the opportunity to meet!! He was gracious to all of the fans that were screaming questions at him and he tried very hard to answer as many as he could. I asked him about his new CD and he said it was very exciting. I also asked him if he was living his dream and he looked up at me and his response was "Oh yeah, definitely!" in his beautiful voice. It is a moment that I will cherish forever, the look on his face, the glow in his amazing hazel eyes. He was dripping with sweat but continued to sign away and take pictures (albeit through the gate---grrrrrr!) for about 30 minutes, then was pulled away by his handler. We went to eat lunch, reeling from what we had just experienced, high on adrenaline from our encounter with His Awesomeness!!

At the show, we went to our seats that were Floor, row 46, right next to the soundbooth. During David Cook's set, I glanced over to the soundbooth and Jeff Archuleta and Jazzy, David's younger sister were standing 2 feet from me! I asked him if I could take their pictures, and he said "sure!". I snapped about 10 picutes of the 2 of them interacting, just so sweet. Jazzy was putting the glowstick on his hat and he was just standing there watching and bopping to the music. His children love him very much, you could really see that in the way that they were with each other. He never took his hand off of Jazzy, not even for one second, as she continued to climb on him and pull on him and play around with him. He smiled often and seemed very personable. I tried to talk with him, but Cook's set was the loudest by far, and it was difficult to hear one another. When the show ended, I made my move (tee-hee) and spoke with him for a few minutes before others began to swarm in and managed to get a picture with both him and Jazzy. A few moments later, Lupe and her sister (don't know her name, but they look alot alike!) came walking by. I told her how much we love her son and that he is truly a gift from God. She said thank you and I also got a picture with her! I also met his uncle that lives in Livermore, here in the Central Valley. We spoke briefly and I asked him if they always knew that David was so special. He spoke about David's time on Star Search and how proud they were of him. He also said that David is capable of so much more than what has been shown so far, and that he can't wait for David's soul and R&B side to come out!! He said that David truly has a soulful vibe to him and that he excels in that genre. He told me that Lupe and the kids are all staying at his house in Livermore.

Walking back to the car with my group of Cookies and Dreadheads, reflecting on what had just happened to me today, I went into complete shock. The conversations that I'd had, the encounters with all of the Idols and as a bonus, meeting fellow Angels and the Archuleta family made my head spin! Despite the cramps in my legs from standing on my tippy toes at the gate trying to get a glimpse of David and the dizzy, light-headed fog that I was in because of dehydration and probably minor heat-stroke (lol), I was on cloud nine and have never felt more satisfied or complete in my entire life. I will tell you in closing that persistence definitely pays off, but I believe that the planets must've all aligned just right yesterday and the God's smiled down upon me. It was truly the best day of my life and I owe it all to Mr. David Archuleta!! I am simply in awe, there are no words in the Thesaurus that can even come close to describing how wonderful and amazing it truly was.

McLuvin Me Some David
aka: MaryAnn