As some of you already know, I saw Michael W. Smith play on Saturday at a Christian Rock festival called Spirit West Coast 2000 in Laguna Seca in Monterey. Monterey is near by San Jose where I live. It was so fun. For those of you who don't know, I am very good friends with Chris Rodriquez, who is Smitty's guitar player both in live shows and on his records. So my mom and my dad and I were his guests that night. We stayed at the Marriott over night and it turned out Smitty Chris and everybody else were staying there too. So we went down stairs to the lobby at about 5:45 because Chris called and said they were meeting down there at about 6:00 to go to the gig. So we saw Chris and then met the tour manager and talked for a bit. Then we both left to go to Laguna Seca. We had to pick our tickets up at Will Call, as well as our backstage passes. Before most of Smitty's shows they have a meet and greet. They were supposed to bring us back there at 7:30 but they weren't ready until 8:00. Meanwhile there was somebody on stage talking about Columbine..so when I started to listen I discovered that it was Rachel Scott's father. You know her? The girl that was shot and then murdered exacution style when she said she believed in God. It was so incredibly moving..it would make anyone believe in God. I actually started crying myself a couple times because his words and her story was so incredible. Just her whole relationship with God. Well anyway, at 8:00 we went backstage with a few other fans and hung out with the guys. The other people visited with Smitty while I hung out with Chris. Then we got pictures of us all together. I'll post them on my site when I get them developed. :-) Well there were some problems with getting our seats. They kicked us out of the front section where Chris asked us to sit. It was the management. We always have problems with the management. So we ended up in the middle of the crowd, which was actually pretty fun. Being in the middle of all that love! :-) The show was so incredible. He played all our favorite songs. Well Chris said they were going out to eat at a restaurant after the show, and he invited us to go along. So after we left the place we went back to the hotel then walked to the place to meet up with them. It was so fun there. When I got there the guy at the door asked me if I was 21 cos past 11 they stop serving food. It was about 10 to 11. So I just said I was meeting up with some friends that were already in there and just went in. Everybody was there. Smitty, Chris, the band, their girlfriends and stuff, staff, and another girl singer. It was so cool just hanging out with them. It was really the best. I got a chocholate cake and it was so huge that I shared it with everybody. Then at about 12 we walked back to the hotel with Chris and said good night. That night was so incredibe..and Smitty was so nice. I was talking to him and stuff before we left and he was talking about his son who is my age. Oh Kev, BTW, I told him hi for you. :-) He smiled and said to tell you hello. Well that's about it! Love you all lots. SEE YA!
Love,
Melissa