100 MONKEYS VR SHOW - Great Night & Some Words of Advice!:)

I had the pleasure of going to the Viper Room show on Friday night and while it was hotter than hell in there, I still had a BLAST! I thought it was one of the best shows the guys put on! They sounded awesome and the vibe was great. On that note....

I was in a sea of Jackson gazers. Don't get me wrong -- I know what it's like to go to my first Monkeys shows & just be in awe of seeing Jackson. I will mention that Jackson (without warning) didn't show up at my first Monkeys show at the Viper Room. We were heartbroken, but the band was good enough to hold our attention and get us to stay! :)

Getting back to the shows....it's no secret that we all wait around afterwards to try and get a glimpse of Jackson. I've had the pleasure of meeting/talking with Jackson and the rest of the band members at past shows and can honestly say, I've never met a nicer group of guys. They're all down to earth and extremely gracious towards their fans. And on that note...

USE GOOD JUDGMENT WHEN APPROACHING JACKSON OR ANY GUYS FROM THE BAND. If you ask them for a picture or autograph, make sure it's a good time and gauge whether it appears to be a good time for them. If not, don't bother them and worse, DON'T PUSH IT!

Jackson finally came out after the show and went straight to the bar to embrace some friends who were obviously good friends and people he hasn't seen in a while. He stayed huddled and was obviously trying to not be bothered, but that didn't stop the fans from swarming in. Don't get me wrong -- I GET IT. This was the first show for a lot of fans and who knows when you'll get a chance to be this close to Jackson.

Although Jackson was gracious enough to do pictures with a few fans, at one point, he finally turned his back and continued to talk to his friends - an obvious gesture to say he was done for the day. But that didn't stop fans from standing DIRECTLY behind Jackson and his friends, still waiting. I'm sorry -- at that point, if you're not embarrassed by your obvious lack of courtesy, then I become embarrassed for you. And I hate being uncomfortable due the actions of others, so please -- don't do it.

We all have our good, bad, and close encounters. Trust me when I say, the most perfect and awesome encounter will happen to you one day. Just make sure it's a day when everything falls into place - not when you have to do something to hurt or disrupt someone else's good time!

"We're fans, just like you!" :)

As I get off my soapbox, Jared was the only one we were able to catch that night. What a sweetheart! This guy is always so kind and fun EVERY single time. We finally solved a personal dilemma that has long haunted us -- is Jared married? And if so, where is his wedding ring? Some days he has it, sometimes not.

"We heart J. Rad!"

Jared told us he is, in fact, married and he didn't it have it on on 'cause he lost it. We TOTALLY jammed him up! haha It was hilarious! We're like "no, no... don't give us that excuse...we're married too", but he said he honestly lost it and it doesn't matter 'cause his wife trusts him and "as a matter of fact, I'm going home to her after this". (sigh) Can you just eat him up or what?!We went on to talk about the band, how we've noticed their improvement over time, and he totally agreed. He said they've been working really hard to get better. I told him their show compared to the first time we saw them at the Viper Room long ago was a world of difference. He was so appreciative of all we had to say. Then he was bombarded by a friend of his and guess what -- we thanked him and let him go on his merry way!

And yes, we did wait outside to see if Jackson would ever come out, but no such luck. We ran into Marty their "Bananager" as we were leaving and Meg told him "Well, it's time for us to go.... we've been mistakened for HOOKERS!" HAHA (another story) But Marty without missing a beat, just chuckled and said "OK then... have a good night... be safe!"

GOOD TIMES!