David Archuleta - Archey Report - Minneapolis, MI - 08/31/08

(Here's the Archey Report from MomWithODD in Minneapolis! Yay!)

Hi Angels!!! ... MomWithODD here (yes, I'm still alive and kicking, lol)!! ... Hope everyone is doing well ... My family and I got back home Monday afternoon from our trip to Minneapolis, which is 5.5 hours from where we live in WI. We decided to make it a family end-of-summer trip to visit my husband's sister and her family who all live about 1.5 hours from the Twin cities, so we left home early Thursday morning. It was a bit of an ordeal to try and coordinate how my daughter and I were going to get to the Target center early in the day and get back after the show just because other stuff (i.e. crisis :( ) was going on with my hubby's family at the same time. But we managed to work it out.

Warning .... this will be a very long novel since our day was just full of memorable events (at least to us) from the moment we arrived and I do want to take this opportunity to record it all now for posterity. I promise you it will be quite long, so If you skip it that's ok ... just comment and lie that you liked it, HAHA!! Oh, but do be sure to read the end which is my tribute to Rickey and all the Archey Angels.

Also, just to clarify ... from this point on when I mention David, I am referring to OUR David ...

PURSUING OUR DREAM
My husband came thru for my daughter and me and got us to the Target center at exactly 12 noon. He knew how much it meant to us to meet David, especially for our daughter, his little girl :) . I knew it was cutting into his fishing time (haha), but he had said back in WI, "This (concert) is the whole reason we are doing this trip, so I will make sure you get there early". He's a wonderful hubby and dad and has done a LOT for us thru nearly 18 years of marriage, but at that moment that's what I loved him for the most :) ! (Oh, I forgot to warn you all that I'm a cornball too! HA!) Anyway, we hopped out of the truck and he and my son wished us well on our mission, haha! I came as prepared as I possibly could and packed everything I could think of ... it even felt like I was carrying the kitchen sink in my backpack, lol! But it turns out we didn't need most of it, because the weather was just so nice and comfortable (no high heat, nor humidity ... that came the next day)! Plus since we got there relatively early, there were plenty of shaded areas to settle into. The setting was perfect and we felt good about it right off the bat! It was similar to a strip (outdoor) mall and the idols would go by the crowd under the shaded rooftop ... which is nice for them as well as the fans. It was a pretty light crowd when we arrived and we found a nice shaded spot to hang out. There were PLENTY of other Angels and Angel moms all around. In our little section, we had Angels and their Angel moms to the left and right of us and pretty soon, behind us too ... we were feeling pretty good alright! We bonded from the moment we got there and we spent the next hour sharing stories, feelings and wishes ... it was ALL about David ... and time just seemed to fly. We showed them our gifts for David and all the other idols. To the right and behind us, there were high school girls, but they were just the sweetest things and really made my 7th grader feel right at home. Their moms were just as awesome and I really couldn't have asked for more. One of the moms was a Cook fan but she liked David a lot too. To our left was an older mom with her daughter who drove 8 hrs from Winnipeg, Canada. They were Filipino, too. So it was nice to see fellow Filipino angels as well :). Then over the next hour we had the pleasure of watching the idols walk one by one out of their hotel across the street (behind us)!!! It turns out this was a really high class hotel and anybody who's anybody stays there ... in fact, CA Gov. Arnold S. was there for the RNC. Well, cheers came up each time for each idol ... Syesha ... Carly ... Brook ... Cook ... Chikezie ... Kristy ... Michael ... then Jason, but no more. So we determined that David and Ramielle were ALREADY in their bus! Ramielle popped out for a little bit ... but no sign of David. That's ok, because now the buses started up and were turning the corner to where we were at and we all squeeled in anticipation of what was surely soon to come!!

DREAMS DO REALLY COME TRUE
Shortly after 2pm, Cook walked by us to start at one end of the line. Then David came out and screams were to be heard all around (and I knew then that he would get just as warm a welcome at the concert and that they loved him in MN too! :) ). He had that unmistakable beaming smile of his. You probably already now he wore red, which is my fave. I love green next ... and as much as he looks stunning in green ... he looks just as AMAZING in red especially with his jet black hair. He started towards our end, yay! ... and before we knew it he was at our section!!! OMGosh!! Was this really happening?! David was right in front of me and my daughter and I was trying hard to take it all in ... that gorgeous smile and those beautiful eyes ... but I was in such a daze I don't really believe I did a good job at that!? He signed a couple of photos for my daughter ... one was the top 10 and the other was the David TOM artwork by none other than our Rabid4David. Out of the thousands of pics out there, she picked that one to print out and I was (secretly) so ecstatic just because of the Rickey connection and because it was one of our Angels artwork, or course! David also signed her MP3 player, the back of her David's Arch Angels shirt and her David scrapbook. Then she gave him our gift bag and explained that she made a stained glass angel for him to hang on the mirror of his Hybrid (at least that was our hope -- it was quite beautiful, I must say, and the others thought so too when we showed them earlier) and told him about the CD we put together with a compilation of songs from all the idols. She also made him a necklace with a prayer box and in it we put the first verse of Psalm 101, the Psalm of David, which if you all recall was one of David's favorites ... it speaks of singing to the Lord (and she wrote a short note at the back of it). But alas, in our excitement she forgot to tell him about the necklace (sigh) but it is in the same box with the glass angel and she also wrote all about it in her card. I took video of as much as I could. Then I took a picture of them together and she took a picture of me and David ... which I must confess is the most hideous picture of myself EVER, so that will never see daylight except if I cut myself out because David did look awesome, of course, and it would be a shame to keep him hidden HAHA! I also told him I had a little something in there for his dad and the rest of the family as well ... and of course, he said "Thank you, Thanks so much!" ... and I said, "NO! THANK YOU!! You're so wonderful!! (I know, really original, HA!)" ... and he said "AWW, thanks!!"... I hope he can understand somehow why I was thanking him, but I explained it in my card how much joy he has given me and I wanted to thank him and his family in some small way, so I got him a VISA gift card and another one for the rest of his family ... Oh, and a cap (of all things) for, Jeff, of course (hehe)! The poor guy probably has millions by now ... but not one with our little piddly town on it!!! HAHA!! I couldn't find a medium t-shirt (also with our town on it) in the color I wanted for David, so I opted for the gift card (I know, boring, yet practical). BTW, I was hoping to meet Jeff too, but didn't see any sign of him. I then asked David how he was feeling and if he was feeling better ... He seemed surprised somehow by this because it took him a moment to register and then he said with a big smile "Oh, I'm feeling better now". I said good and said how bad I felt for him that he got sick. I acted like a complete idiot throughout this whole discussion to tell you the truth, but I don't care because I just wanted to be given that opportunity to talk to him even I if I was a complete idiot. I also included in the gift bag a letter from fans at davidarchuletaindonesia.com. Neri got my email from kiefsie and asked if I could deliver their letter to David ... and I said of course I would do what I could for a fellow Angel, if I was fortunate enough to meet David! Neri, I am sooo sorry that I was such an airhead at the time that I forgot to point it out to David. But I did put your email in an envelope and labeled it "TO: David, FROM: davidarchuletaindonesia.com" and explained what I just mentioned to the Archey Angels above about the letter. So, sorry again :( ... Hopefully David will see it in the gift bag. You'll see how much of an airhead I was when you see what dumb thing I did at the end of the trip!

THE FAMOUS BIANCA T-SHIRT
BTW, I was proudly wearing my Bianca t-shirt (even though it was a little tight and I was bulging all over, lol) ... but I got a lot of compliments on it and I explained what all the names were generally about and that one of our angels at Rickey's designed it and even pointed to my poster name. I decided not to get it autographed (even though I would've loved it) because my daughter got a lot of autographs and I didn't want to "hog" David more than we already did, lol ... anyway, I was living thru the excitement in my daughter's eyes and truly loving every precious moment. I guess my mom instincts took over my ODD afterall ... but I got to meet David and that's all that mattered to me.

MORE DAVID
Anyway, David went up the line which took probably an hour or so and then he comes back down the line to give high-fives of which my daughter is once again a lucky recipient of, YAY! David got TONS of gifts!!! He was juggling this huge MOUNTAINOUS gift package of treats while gift bags were literally lining up both sides of his arms... poor thing!! Good thing he is a strong, healthy guy!!! Everyone was saying "Help him! Help him!" as security was looking on ... I said, "I will help him" :) ... but finally they did help him. And David said "THANKS!" ... and he was gone ... sniff ...

MORE IDOLS
We all turned to each other and started showing off our autographs like show-and-tell at grade school (giggle). Then Cook got to our section and he signed my daughter's photo of the Top 10. Then she said "this is for you" as she gave him the CD that we made (because we didn't want him to think it was something for him to sign, hehe). He said "Thanks" and looked quite curious as he opened up the case and said "What have we here?" ... and I was such an airhead, I couldn't say anything!! But it was all there inside the case ... I had printed out a short tribute to all the idols to let them know how very beautiful and talented they all were. And how much we wished them all success and happiness. Hubby says he probably was curious because at first glance it looks kind of professional (I did spend hours and hours on the front and back covers, cutting and pasting all the idols pics, as well as the inside). In fact a few people asked me where I bought it, ha! Then, I did manage to ask if I could take a picture of him and my daughter ... and we did. Then Jason, Kristy and Chikezie came out and my daughter was getting really good at telling each of them "This is for you" when giving them the CD, LOL!!! And she got their autographs on the Top 10 photo and I took a picture of her with each of them. Oh, when she gave Chikezie the CD and said her thing ... he was so sweet, he gave her a hug and you could hear EVERYONE around saying all at once "AAAWWWWW". It was really sweet ... you had to be there! :) Soon it looked like things were breaking up like it was all over but for some reason our group of Angels decided to stick around ... guess we were just having too much fun hangin with each other .. Glad we did, because Brook, Michael and Carly came out!!! WOOHOO!!! Again, my daughter with the CD and her schpeel (spelling?) ... and they signed her Top 10 photo and I got her pic with each of them!! After that, security said no one else was coming out, so all the other Angels started leaving and our main group of Angels decided to go eat. They invited us earlier and we were planning to go with them, but we were getting greedy now, because now we were setting our sights on having all 10 autographs on the Top 10 photo and we were still missing Ramielle and Syesha. Plus my daughter also loves Ramielle and really wanted to meet her. So we passed on the invite and wished them all well (after exchanging emails). Life was good!! :)

STALKING (well, kind of) BEGINS
So someone passing by had told us that we would have better luck going over to the side door of the Target center ... so Little Miss Stalker and mom head over there and sure enough the buses are parked like 100 feet away from the door ... Now at this time, we know that there is a private Meet and Greet going on around 4:30pm because stalker mom ;) called earlier and found out. But we still had hopes that the idols would come out to the bus again. There was a bunch of people around but still plenty of room for us up front on the rails. We see another fan we met earlier ... she and her friends had taken a picture of us earlier because they liked our t-shirts. She's an older fan of Cook, like I am an "older" fan of David and we bonded as we lamented on how our friends and family just don't understand the passion we feel about our Davids. Then, Syesha comes out, waves to the screaming fans and quickly hops in the bus. Then Cook comes out as well and does the same thing. We go back to continue our lamenting again for a bit and Cook comes out to quickly go back inside the building. The moment she was waiting for ... my lamenting counterpart somehow manages to get her letter into his hands ... and afterwards we celebrate success with a hug. OK, so if someone told me on May 21st that I would be hugging a Cook fan a day after my birthday, I would've seriously decked them. I guess stranger things do happen!!! HAHA!!!

STALKING ENDS
Well it was approaching 6:30pm and we decided we better give up the stalking and go in not only to find our seats but to get something to eat because we haven't eaten all day since breakfast, except for some crackers and donut holes! At this point, I was so proud of my daughter ... before this day I wasn't sure if she could go thru the whole day without being bored to death waiting and be too tired or hungry to enjoy the concert ... so I kept warning her what it might be like and that we might not even see David if he has press or worse yet, if he was sick! It did make all the difference in the world that we weren't in the sun the whole time ... thank goodness!! And thank goodness for those other Angels to keep us occupied! Unfortunately, I didn't have time to look for MNgirl ... I was sooo looking forward to meeting an Archey Angel from Rickey's :( ... Another mom's sacrifice, lol. Sorry, MNgirl ... hope you had a great time at the concert like we did!!

IT'S SHOW TIME!!!
So we grabbed some food and drinks and a program and found our seats with about 10 minutes to spare ... whew!! My niece arrives in the nick of time to join us too. So here's my quick review ... first up, Chikezie! He sounded great and he was so upbeat! I just loved Usher's "Caught Up"! I thought Ramielle did a wonderful job up there, too, as I recorded all 3 of her songs for my daughter. Michael was a lot of fun as you can imagine and he really WOWed the crowd with all 3 of his songs. Kristy was strikingly beautiful up there. "God Bless the USA" is a personal favorite in our family because our kids do that song on karoake and also performed that at an early age in a school show (I know, I know -- it's a far cry, lol) ... not to mention it is a very touching and beautiful song. Anyway, she sang it so very beautifully. She also did a very touching intro in tribute to her dad, a vet, and other fellow servicemen/ women. Carly was incredible and I just loved her doing "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence ... she was so breathtaking. I also recorded all 3 of her songs for my girl, cuz she loves Carly too. Brook was so moving on the piano with "Let It Be" ... she did it great on the show and I thought it was even tons better in concert ... I recorded it for my 10 yr old son, because even though he won't admit it, I know he likes her :) . Jason came up to a welcoming roar ... and I really really enjoyed "Over the Rainbow" ... it was beautifully done. But I really didn't care for his version of Crazy at all and "Daydream" was ok. Syesha was good and upbeat with Rihanna's "Umbrella" ... but I didn't get into Alicia Keyes' "If I Ain't Got You" on the show and I didn't again in concert ... I didn't get into Beyonce's "Silence" either, although I know she did an outstanding job singing it. My neice loved it and she thought she did it better than Beyonce and I believe she probably did (I don't know the song to begin with). The crowd certainly loved it and she got an ovation from a good number on the floor. Another thing I didn't like was her dress ... I think she looked ... uh ... trampy ... I'm no fashion expert but I do believe in good taste ... either her hemline needed to be a bit lower OR her neckline a bit higher (and my 22 year old neice agreed!). And I'm not being prude either ... I believe in classy-elegant sexy ... not trampy sexy. But I'll bet anything the guys like it, LOL! I won't argue that she's got an amazing voice and I tried to like her on the show because of her amazing voice, but I just didn't like her style ... anyway, sorry ... it's just my opinion ... no one has to agree with it :) . Cook, as a lot have mentioned before, is a performer alright .. I'm sure he probably gets some coaching, but he is a natural ... a ham, if you will (in a good way ... no eggs or tomatoes please :) . I've come around to respecting Cook, but I just don't prefer his voice or his style ... again just my opinion ... he gave a great performance for all 5 of his songs and of course the crowd loved him ... my niece loves him and so we recorded him as well.

DAVID'S CONCERT.
I was so happy and thankful when my neice volunteered to video David for me so I can enjoy him ... and enjoy him I did! We've all heard and seen this over and over ... The crowd going nuts when David is introduced and is slowly rising from below the floor ... I can hear scores of girls screaming in unison "WE LOVE YOU, DAVID!" ... but still the scene and sounds just gives me chills. MN really loved David and gave him a thunderous welcome! I was so glad because I was worried and wanted the love for David to be resoundingly obvious. How could I doubt it after seeing the same reaction concert after concert? "Angels" is all about the pureness of David's voice ... absolutely captivating. And I just loved the bouncing on the chair, hehe. David's emotions and body language are so powerful when he sings "Apologize" ... he takes my breath away everytime. "Stand By Me" is David in all his awesomenss ... A lot of nights before going to sleep, I enjoy replaying David's SBM performance on DVR (after everyone else is asleep, of course) and it still thrills me to watch the last few seconds of the song as he goes into his falsetto and ends in a crescendo ... what brilliance ... just chills ... and it is just as thrilling to listen to the audience reaction as they reward David for his gutsiness ... because that's what it takes to sing that ending ... pure guts and confidence and brilliance. And concert after concert, he gets gutsier and gutsier and it just drives the audience wild each time!!! So what's even more amazing that night is how he managed to sing that ending so amazingly well ... and while the audience is going wild, he was coughing to the side ... I was shocked ... he may be feeling better, but my poor baby was still sick!!! I just don't know how he does it ... he is amazing!!! Perfection!! The crowd was definitely showing their love back and he was definitely taking it all in. He was just beaming. The crowd would have kept going too if he didn't have to start his last song right away ... just like on the show during the season, the audience would've kept it up, but Randy had to start with his comments. At the concert, SBM was hands down the outstanding performance of the night and the crowd showed it too. I would venture to say that David steals the show with SBM and gets the best crowd reaction at most, if not all, the other venues. OK, so now that you all know how I feel about SBM, lol ... I suppose we have to end some time and what better way than with "When You Say You Love Me". Now, I love Josh Groban and I have 2 of his CDs, but honestly, I didn't know this song at all and I have not checked out Josh's version yet ... I haven't decided yet if I will ... because I feel it is David's song and when I hear him sing this song, it makes me fall in love with him all over again. And that night was no exception. Now, don't say ewwwww ... I can love him too without being gross. :) David was just perfect.

PUSHING OUR LUCK
So we've been rewarded with such amazing experiences all day ... and we decided to stay after and wait for the idols to come out again ... remember we're still trying to get Ramielle and Syesha's autograph. So we wander outside and look for a spot, but alas the crowd is just too much because we stayed for the whole concert and did not go out early to find a spot. Then we run into my Cook counterpart, of all people, and we hug again (man, I still can't believe this myself either, lol). She says she has a spot for my daughter because her hips are too wide to fit (her words, lol), but my daughter will have no trouble at all because she is a tiny little thing. So she asks these girls to make room for my daughter and when they don't, my Cook friend just gently squeezes her in ... something I tried to help her do earlier, but I guess we're both just not the agressive types, lol. So my Cook friend goes off to find a spot for herself to try and meet Cook, but he didn't come out. I didn't see her again, but we exchanged emails. Anyway, my daughter got to see David again and this time she remembered to ask him for a hug, but he said how about a high-five? So that was nice still, lol. I told her later that it was probably because he was still sick so it would make her feel better about it. Then he also signed her arm ... so she did really well! Carly also signed her arm next to David's name. She also saw Jeff and tried to get his attention but he was busy talking to someone. Then it was all over at 11:45pm so we didn't get Ramielle nor Syesha's autograph, but we had nothing to complain about! We decided to stay till midnight to watch the buses roll out. We could see a couple of the girls peeking out the windows so we all gave a wave. We kept waving at both buses as they moved out even though they weren't waving back, lol. It was ALL good. We walked a block to my niece's car and when we got in the car my daughter quietly but firmly said ... "This was the best day of my life." And I calmly replied, "me too"! :)

HOMEWARD BOUND
We stayed at my niece's apartment that night and met up with my hubby and son the next morning and headed back home to WI. My hubby said when he first saw the bright expressions on our faces he was glad for us because he knew that we had struck gold and he was afraid we might strike out ... and struck gold we did! So he said ... "Good ... so now no more being on the computer for hours because you both have something better than that now." .... Did I mention that I love my husband???? :)

THE SUCKEY PART (ME BEING AN AIRHEAD)
About halfway on the way home ... I had this rock hard pit in my stomach feeling (still do) when I realized I forgot my camera on my niece's kitchen table. I don't want to talk about that anymore. I won't feel good until I get it back hopefully this weekend. I'm trying to think happy positive thoughts until then. So that's why there are no pics or vids now :( Sorry ... wimper.

TO RICKEY AND THE ARCHEY ANGELS
Were it not for everyone sharing their awesome experiences at Rickey's through out the summer tour I would not have been inspired and would not have even dared to hope that I too, along with my daughter, could ever dream of even meeting David. Moreover, I would not have been savvy enough to even know what to do at these things to meet David. I've been to concerts before but that's pretty much it ... just ATTENDED. Maybe next time at David's SOLO concerts I can really learn the ins and outs and get back stage passes ... ok that's really dreaming for me ... if that ever happens, I'm buying the winning multi-million dollar lottery ticket and sharing it with you all, LOL! Seriously, thank you all for being so inspiring. You are all wonderful people and I know this in my heart because you ALL understand what David is all about. I believe it was newarchiefan (when finally discovering David late in the game, although it's never late, right?) who said it best for me and it is always stuck in my head now as I've repeated it to fellow Angels at the concert ... "How can any one with one ounce of good in them not like David". So to me because you all fully embrace the essence of David, you all have hearts of gold. Thank you for making my first (and last) experience of American Idol a ride I will never forget. Whatever paths we all end up taking, I know we will still be sharing the same journey along with David and that will be part of the joy that will continue on ... Did I mention I was a cornball? HA!

FINALLY, THE END ... BUT REALLY ONLY JUST THE BEGINNING!!! :)
cornball to the max! ... Now I have to disappear again to really catch up on everything else that I've missed over the last couple of weeks as I was preparing our gifts and for the trip in general.