Serendipity: A Musical Adventure

As the weeks went by, I plotted and planned, trying to figure out how I could make it work. Staying in a hotel for two nights, plus renting a car and flying was quickly adding up and I really didn’t have that much money to spend at that point post-divorce. I just knew it was something I had to figure out because I had to be there.

One of the best things about discovering this band has been the people I’ve met, at shows and on Facebook. We call ourselves ‘Realers’ and you can usually pick us out in the crowd. We stand up front and know every word to every song. We laugh and cheer when Lukas messes up the lyrics and we delight in seeing the band having fun on stage. We make funny faces back at Corey, the bassist, when he starts mugging for our cameras. We dance with wild abandon and grin like maniacs throughout the show.

I had befriended one such person on Facebook, named Jules. She lives in Ogden, which is close to both shows and she is familiar with both venues. Before tickets to the Saturday show went on sale I asked her if they would sell out, and she said they would definitely sell out in the first couple of hours. Then she offered to let me stay with her for the weekend. I thanked her and said I would let her know as my plans started to form.

At first, I thought it was totally nuts to stay with a stranger that I’d met on Facebook. I mean, she certainly seemed nice enough, and we obviously shared a similar taste in music, but I still didn’t know her. I would be putting my whole trip in her hands. As the weeks went by, I finally decided to take the risk, knowing it was the only way I would be able to comfortably afford going. When I followed up with Jules about staying with her, she was very enthusiastic and said she’d love to have me stay both nights. I started to get excited.

As the weekend got closer, other Realer friends decided they were going to go as well, and they managed to find tickets to the sold out show. There was also a third show on Monday in Sun Valley, Idaho, which I wanted to go to, but had ruled out due to the 5 hour drive from Salt Lake to Sun Valley. I didn’t think I could do it alone, and when I purchased my plane tickets, I made the decision and committed to missing the third show. These other friends decided they would make the drive at the last minute. I wanted to join them but I couldn’t change my flight plans.

A week before I flew out, I sent Jules a thank you gift for her coming hospitality – I didn’t want to carry it and lose the space in my luggage. It was a collage I had made from pictures of the bands’ other shows, with a write up about the pictures. Her response was overwhelming. Jules sent me a message saying how much she loved it, that it made her cry and was the nicest, most personal gift anyone had ever given her. I knew from her response that she was my kind of person, and that she felt the same way about the band that I did.

The weekend finally arrived. My flight was pretty quick and I didn’t end up talking to my seatmate until we were getting ready to land, when the turbulence really kicked in and I thought we were going to crash. He asked what I was there for, I told him I was flying in to see a couple of shows. He asked what band was worth just flying in for a weekend, and I told him. He said he wasn’t familiar with them, but they must be pretty good if they pulled people from California into Utah. He asked about my tattoo, I gave the explanation, my favorite song, it saved my life, etc. He asked if I knew the band, if they knew that I travelled so far to see them. I said I’d met them a couple of times and the bass player kinda knew who I was, but I didn’t think they’d know about my travel plans. Somehow it came up that I was staying with someone that I’d never met before and he was shocked. I was like, “No, it’s cool. I’m not worried.” He was like, “Wow, that’s pretty brave of you.” No, I thought to myself, it’s just what is.

Once I got my rental car, I let Jules know I was on my way. She had previously mentioned that Anthony, the drummer, had wanted to meet for lunch. She now informed me that lunch wasn’t going to work for him, but they would try to meet up before the show. I was just along for the ride, so however it played out was fine with me. We decided I would drive to Ogden and we would hang out at Jules house until it was time to meet her friend Jennifer, who would be driving all three of us to the show.

I immediately felt comfortable with Jules. She was easy to talk to and we had things in common to talk about. Several hours passed quickly and before we knew it, it was time to get ready to head to Jennifer’s house. Watching Jules get ready to leave the house was a familiar scene. She was frantic and scattered, much like friends I once had. We eventually got out the door and made it to Jennifer’s house. The real fun was about to begin. Watching Jen as she mothered Jules, asking if she had something in her purse, telling her to change, asking us what we wanted for snacks – it was like I’d travelled to Utah to watch myself in an alternate universe. Jennifer is the “me” of her group of friends. I couldn’t help but smile to myself was I watched them do their thing. It was a familiar, comforting scene.

We talked on the drive to Salt Lake and I got to know both women a little better. They had been friends since high school and I could tell they were going to be excellent companions for the weekend. I had other friends coming from California and Colorado that I wanted to meet up with, but I decided that I would stick with Jen and Jules to get the locals experience. We went to dinner at a sushi restaurant a block from the venue, which was packed. We had a nice meal, sharing food and getting to know one another better. It’s still surprising to me how much we had in common and yet how different we all are.

Jules had been trying to get a hold of Anthony this whole time and had invited him to come join us at the sushi place. When we were finished eating, since we still hadn’t heard anything, we decided to head to the venue. Just as we were about to get our wristbands, which would have meant we couldn’t leave the venue again, Anthony called and Jules turned us around to head back to the restaurant. The band was having dinner and we had totally missed them because we were seated in the back bar and they were outside on the patio! We snuck in the side gate and joined them on the patio as they were finishing up their meal. Jules introduced me to everyone in the band. Lukas, the lead singer, asked me if we’d met before, I said we’d met a couple of times and that he’d signed my son’s guitar in Monterey last year. He said he remembered that, we shook hands and then I left him to it. I didn’t want to impose myself on him, so I just sat with Jen and we talked to their guitar tech/take-care-of-everything guy, Steve. We had fun chatting for a bit, until everyone was ready to head back to the venue.

When we left the restaurant, our large group of ten walked at different paces and split up on the walk back. Steve and I were at the front, walking quickly and talking about various things. I found out that he is actually a sound engineer for Willie Nelson at his studio in Texas, but he’s known Lukas since he was a little kid. Steve comes out on the road with them once in awhile because he has fun with them. He said he spent more that day on food than he got paid, but it didn’t matter because he was having fun. I witnessed this fun at the two shows as he sang along to every song and occasionally busted out the air guitar and air drums from the side of the stage.

Somehow Steve and I completely lost track of the rest of the group and we went in the front entrance, me getting my wristband and Steve heading towards the stage. When I realized my friends were not coming in behind me, I panicked, certain they were hanging out with the band around back. Since I couldn’t leave to find them, I quickly found Steve and he took me backstage with him. This meant we had to cross the actual stage and down the stairs at the back to the green room. As we were walking up, the opening band walked out on the stage. Not knowing the layout of the place, I thought nothing of it at the moment.

We found the group hanging out outside in the back alley. Steve left me with them, and went to take care of something back inside. Eventually, the band decided it was time to get their game face on. Jen and Jules headed around front to get their wristbands. I was suddenly worried: I couldn’t go with them around front because the guy at the door had been adamant in telling me that there were no in and outs. The guys in the band were totally cool and Anthony walked me to the stage entrance. It was loud now that the opener had started playing. I looked around for another exit, but Anthony pointed to the same place I’d come in.

“It’s okay, just slip along the side. No one will even notice,” he said.

I was mortified. “Oh, no, I can’t do that! I can’t be that chick!” I said. There was no way I was going to walk out on the stage during their set! “I can just sit right here in this corner until they’re finished, I don’t mind at all, no one will notice me,” I insisted.

Anthony smiled. “Don’t worry. We’ll get you back out there. Steve can take you around front, they’ll let you back in with him there,” he insisted.

Steve appeared, Anthony explained that I didn’t want to go across the stage and asked if he would walk me around front. Steve said it was no problem and we headed out the back door.

“You know, you’re turning out to be a real pain in the ass,” he said with a grin as we walked down the alley.

I felt terrible already. This wasn’t the impression I wanted to make on the band. “I know,” I said. “I’m so sorry. I just don’t want to be that chick walking across the stage, I have no business up there.”

Steve laughed. “I was just kidding. It’s no problem at all. We’ll get you back with your friends.”

At the door, the door guy looked at Steve, looked at me and let us both through without any question. I couldn’t believe it. I thanked Steve profusely and he headed backstage, having no issue with walking across it and behind the band while they were playing. I set off looking for my friends. When I couldn’t find them, I went in search of my other group of friends. They were right where I expected them to be – stage left, at the very front. I waited until the opening band was finished playing before I tried to strike up a conversation with them. It was the first time some of us met in person. We made our introductions and hugs were given all around. I ducked out again to find Jen and Jules, this time I found Jen. Jules was outside talking to people. Jen said she was going to hangout and talk to people for a bit. I let her know I was up front on Corey’s side. We agreed to meet later and I returned to my spot.

The show was awesome. My friends live streamed video to our buddies that couldn’t make it. We sang all the songs and we danced the whole time. They played my favorite song, the one I have the lyrics to tattooed on my arm. I cried. I almost always cry when I hear them play it. At the end of the show, I waited at the front of the stage and shook Corey’s hand, asking him if I could have his set list. He happily obliged. I hugged my friends and went in search of my ride, hoping they hadn’t left me.

Of course, they didn’t leave me. Jules saw the set list in my hand and gave me a big hug. She had been excited that they played my song, and the three of us regrouped, hanging out talking to people. By the time Jules and I made it back to her house, it was almost 3am. Exhausted, we made a plan for the morning and called it a night.

The next morning, after chatting and having coffee, it was time to prepare for our next adventure. Jen was coming to pick us up. She mothered Jules out of the house again, making sure she had everything. We brought lots of food for tailgating and we picked up another one of Jules’ friends on the way. They drove the long way to the resort so I could see the canyon and the scenery on the way. It was a beautiful day and the mountains were breathtaking.

When we finally got to the resort, there were a lot of people already there, but we managed to find a parking spot close to Jules’ other friends, who were serious tailgaters – they had a gas grill and tons of food. We hung out and wandered around for a while, until we finally decided to head inside. Somehow Jules had ended up separated from us, so it was Jen, two of her friends and me. While they waited in line for beer and food, I wandered off to try to find my other group of friends. After much searching, I finally found them, and we chatted about the day. They had arrived hours before we did and secured a pretty decent spot in the grass. About two hours before our guys were supposed to take the stage, we started posting up along the rail to ensure we got good spots for the show. Again, this group took spots stage left, while Jen wanted to be stage right, in front of Lukas. I usually prefer Corey’s side of the stage, as it is less crowded with girls screaming for attention, but I decided to stick with Jen, since this crowd was much larger than the previous night and I really didn’t want to get separated from my ride. We posted up and waited. Two more bands played, the second of which was pretty good and I didn’t mind being that close for their set.

The time finally came for our guys to start setting up the stage for their set. Steve came out and tuned guitars and taped the set lists down. I asked him if I could have Lukas’ after the show. With a wink and a grin he told me I’d have to wait until later. I told him I’d be waiting, right there. Jules ended up finding us just before the band took the stage. She had to squeeze through the crowd, which had grown significantly since Jen and I planted ourselves at the rail.

The guys eventually took the stage to raucous applause, and Steve sat at the back of the stage, directly in front of where I was standing. The day had been overcast, with intermittent sun breaking through, but by the time the guys got on stage, the sun was completely hidden behind some ominous looking clouds. A couple of songs in, it started to sprinkle. Then it full on started to rain. The stage crew got tarps out and started covering speakers and power strips at the front of the stage. Lukas came to the front of the stage playing a solo and dancing in the rain. The crowd thinned a little when it looked like the rain wouldn’t stop, but after a few more songs it was dark and windy, but dry.

When the opening notes of my favorite song finally rang out, I felt the hot burn of tears stinging my eyes. I kept them closed for a while, but tears leaked down my face anyway. It was a really great version, I couldn’t help but be moved as I thought about all the things that had happened since I first heard this song. My life had improved in so many ways, things I didn’t even realize had been wrong were now right. I unabashedly cried, and not in the Beatlemania way. This moment was a culmination of many moments, working together to put me in this exact spot, surrounded by people that understood how I feel about this band. I was overwhelmed with happiness and relief, I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

After the show, Jen and I lingered in front of the stage, even though it was clear the guys wouldn’t be coming out to sign or greet people. I caught Steve’s attention and he happily gave me Lukas’ setlist. Jules was talking to Corey about meeting up with them for a little bit to give them a present she had for the whole band. She went backstage with him, while Jen and I went to the bathroom. When we came back, Jules was nowhere to be seen, but we could see Corey back there. Jen’s friend, who works at the resort, saw us and brought us backstage to the room where the band was hanging out. I was introduced to a couple of people, then as we were standing there, I saw Lukas off to the side by himself. Normally, I wouldn’t have approached him, but something pushed me into action.

“Hey, Lukas?” I said tentatively.

“Hi,” he said, looking up at me with a smile.

“It’s Amanda, we met last night,” I reminded him, not expecting him to remember me.

“Yeah, I remember,” he said as he leaned in and gave me a hug.

“I hate to bother you, but I just wanted to thank you for writing the song Awakening. It saved my life, and put me on the path to follow the music,” I explained.

“That’s really cool. Thank you,” he said.

“I even had the words tattooed on my arm, so I would never forget them,” I said as I pulled up my sleeve. “I hope this isn’t creepy and weird,” I said, wanting him to know I wasn’t a crazy stalker.

He looked at my arm and smiled. “That’s amazing. Can I take a picture of it?” he asked.

“Sure!” I said, glad that he didn’t think I was insane for having his words tattooed on my arm. I held my arm out and he took a couple of pictures.

“Are you coming to the Sun Valley show?” he asked.

“I really wanted to, but it was too long of a drive for me to do alone. I’m heading back to California in the morning. You know, I always feel like I should bring you guys something, you have given me so much, just buying a ticket doesn’t feel like enough,” I said with a laugh.

Lukas smiled. “Oh, I have way too much as it is. I don’t need anything,” he said modestly.

“Well then, I will just keep buying tickets and giving you my applause,” I said. “I don’t want to keep you, I really just wanted to say thank you. You guys have a good show tomorrow, and I will see you down the road.”

“Thank you,” Lukas said. “Take care.”

He gave me another hug and I floated back to Jen. She had watched the interaction and was super excited that I had gotten the chance to thank him and show him the tattoo. Steve came by and I complimented him on his air guitar throughout the show. He said that he had a degree in guitar, but he didn’t want to steal the show. I thanked him for grabbing me the setlist, then he was gone. Corey came by and Jen asked him where Jules was. He looked at us funny and said she’d gone to meet us at the car. We hightailed it out of there, running in to Jules not far from the exit.

When we finally headed back to meet the band, we were stopped by an SUV, Corey rolled down the driver’s window and Anthony rolled down the back window, revealing the whole band. We all talked for a minute, Jules gave them her gift and we wished them luck at the next show. Then they drove off and we headed back to Jen’s car to go home.

We sang at the top of our lungs to the new album on the drive, talked about all the crazy things that had happened during the show – from getting pushed by drunk women who just had to get up in front so Lukas could see them, to the little girl that Anthony gave his drumsticks to as she sat on her dad’s shoulders cheering them on. When Jen finally dropped us off at Jules’ house, we were exhausted and were soon in bed.

The next morning, Jules and I drank our coffee while we talked about all the amazing things that had happened in two short days. While we were going through our pictures and looking at pictures we’d been tagged in on Facebook, I saw a picture of my arm & tattoo on the band page. Lukas had posted the picture, saying he was honored that I had been permanently touched by his lyrics. And he included my first and last name. I only was ever introduced to him by my first name, so I don’t know how he found out my last name.

Jules and I both cried as we looked at the post. I was surprised that he posted it, and confounded that he found out my last name – it indicated that he at least put a little bit of effort into it. I was on a high shortly thereafter as I said goodbye to Jules and headed for the airport.

That high quickly burst as I realized I had a flat tire on my rental car and would have to change it myself if I wanted to make it to the airport on time. My perspective quickly turned around, however, as I changed the tire and thought about all the cool things I’d experienced that weekend. I decided if changing a flat tire was the price I had to pay for that experience, I would gladly pay it again and again.

Later, as I sat in the airport waiting to board my flight home, I scrolled through the comments on Lukas’ post. I stopped in my tracks and read one comment several times, not believing it.

“Hi Amanda! It’s Erin, from St. Philomene’s. We obviously still have the BEST taste in music! Wow it’s been too long. Super cool tattoo!” was the comment.

I sat in the crowded airport, crying. Erin was my best friend in 6th, 7th & 8th grade. After our freshman year in high school, I lost track of her, but I always wondered about her and hoped she was doing well. Now, at the end of an amazing weekend filled with love, music and friends, she had found me because of Lukas’ post, and because he had used my full name in it.

Erin and I ended up meeting for lunch a week later. It turns out we’ve been within a five mile radius of each other for the last twenty years! I can’t believe we never bumped into each other in all that time. It took me going to another state to see a band for our paths to cross again. We still have a lot in common and enjoy each other’s company, and to a certain extent, it’s like no time has passed at all. We bonded over music back then – Beatles and Grateful Dead fans in the middle of a sea of New Kids on the Block fans in the early 1990’s. Music brought us back together, and we’re planning on going to a show together soon.

Serendipity is defined as: luck that takes the form of finding valuable or pleasant things that are not looked for. I would say that describes my weekend, and my life in general right now. I feel like I can’t go wrong following the music wherever it leads me. Old friends found, new friends made, new places discovered and new paths traveled. For the very first time in my entire life, I love my life and everything about it. I am who I am supposed to be, in the place I am supposed to be, with the people I’m supposed to be with. Life is good.