The Jason Castro Post!
I was one of the lucky few who made it to the Tulsa show, so I figured I'd post a synopsis for those of you who wanted to go but couldn't or are curious about how Jason is live :)
We left for Tulsa around 3, went to the hotel, found a place to eat, and went to the venue. The Flytrap is actually really cool on the inside, but the neighborhood squicked me out a little bit. It's mostly because I'm not used to "big" cities at all. All in all, it was easy to find. Okay, on to the interesting stuff.
We were some of the first to be let in, and Jason was still out on stage doing soundcheck or whatever. I don't think he knew they were letting people in yet, 'cause he tried to get over to the stage door but got a little ambushed. I asked to take a picture with him, and he was like, "Suuure," and so we did, but he totally didn't seem like he wanted to be talked to at that time, so I just thanked him and let him go. There were like twenty other people wanting pictures, too.
I headed over to the merch table and met Jason's parents, Rene and Betsy. They are the nicest freaking people ever. Rene was all, "Don't you want a Jason Castro calendar?" And I was all, "Yes! I do!" So I bought one. And then I freaked out because Michael Castro (Jason's hawt brother) was standing right next to me, and I turned around and Jackie (Jason's sister) and Mandy (his girlfriend) were right behind me. It was surreal. I asked Michael if I could get a picture with him and attempted to chat, but he was being attacked by girls of all ages. Boy shouldn't have been standing in a corner.
Then I awkwardly waited for Jackie to not be surrounded by a hundred people so that I could talk to her, but that never happened. I decided to go stake out a spot in the crowd, and got a second-row standing place. It was sweeeet. More on that later. The lady I was standing next to overheard me telling my mom I was way more nervous to talk to Jackie than I was Jason, and she said something like, "She is the easiest person to talk to! Just go talk to her!" So I decided to try, but she and Michael were talking to someone I didn't recognize (it turned out to be Season 7 contestant Jason Yeager), so I stood around and was extremely awkward for ten minutes. I finally asked her for a picture, and she was so freakin' cute! She's tiny, oh my gosh. I thought she might break if I put my arm around her, but I did anyway. And then I was totally going to strike up an awesome convo, buuut that didn't happen. I am way too socially inept.
Then the show started! The opener, Bryan Jewett, was good, but I felt like all of his songs kind of blended together. Andy Skib, David Cook's friend and bandmate, came out next. He was amazing. I realized why people were so excited to see him. At one point, he dropped the cap to his water bottle, and the girl next to me yelled, "Can I have it?" and he said, "You want my water bottle cap? Well... okay. What else do you want? Wait, don't answer that." It was cute. He gave it to her, and I was jealous. They played David Cook's old CD, Analog Heart, in between acts. I was excited!
Then Jason came out, and I was so close I could have reached out and touched him. I could hear his voice going into the microphone more than I could hear it coming out of the speaker. It was great. His set was so amazing. I can't even make words to describe it. He opened with a full-band version of "Someday," which sounded great. I honestly can't remember what all he played or in what order, so here are some highlights:
- "Hallelujah," a more full version, with no cracking voice at the end. I wanted to cry.
- He was introducing a song, and he talked about it for a while and couldn't remember what it was called (which was hilarious), so I was like, "IT'S CALLED 'SO FAST' JASON I LOVE YOU OMG" and he goes, "There it is! Thank you." and smiled and pointed and I died. He kept looking at me after that.
- The new music is awesome, you guys. There's one called "It's Alright With Me" that stayed in my head for hours. "Shine Your Light" is really pretty, too. "Love Uncompromised" was probably my favorite, though.
- His banter in between and during songs was so incredibly cute. ("There's a solo here, and you're supposed to tell jokes, but I don't have any jokes, so I'm just gonna talk...")
- The encore, of course, was "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." It was so incredible.
After the show, he stayed around to talk to everyone in the audience. It finally got to be my turn, and my stomach was flip-flopping more than I thought it would. I had him sign my birthday on the calendar I bought (he signed, "Happy BDay! -JC" with a little dreadheaded guy on it). We talked for a little tiny while, and then I asked for another picture. He was like, "Sure!" and put his arm around me before I could get mine around him, which was greeeat. I accidentally-on-purpose put my hand on his dreads while we were taking the picture. They are funny feeling, but cool, and totally not dirty :) I thanked him and headed for the door.
I found Andy Skib by the door, and asked for a picture. He was cool and totally held my shoulder while we were taking the picture. I said, "I have to be honest, I kind of fell in love with you tonight a little bit," and he said, "Really? Okay, I can take that." I told him he was really good, and we left. The rest of the night was a blur of trying to go to sleep and texting Kaleigh to brag.
So there you have it! Kind of long and rambly (and obnoxiously juvenile, I'm sure), but I'm sleep deprived and hyper. Feel free to repost/comment/whatever, especially if you were at the show! I'd love to hear from you, because we probably saw each other at some point. I'll post pics when/if I get the cord to my mom's camera.
We left for Tulsa around 3, went to the hotel, found a place to eat, and went to the venue. The Flytrap is actually really cool on the inside, but the neighborhood squicked me out a little bit. It's mostly because I'm not used to "big" cities at all. All in all, it was easy to find. Okay, on to the interesting stuff.
We were some of the first to be let in, and Jason was still out on stage doing soundcheck or whatever. I don't think he knew they were letting people in yet, 'cause he tried to get over to the stage door but got a little ambushed. I asked to take a picture with him, and he was like, "Suuure," and so we did, but he totally didn't seem like he wanted to be talked to at that time, so I just thanked him and let him go. There were like twenty other people wanting pictures, too.
I headed over to the merch table and met Jason's parents, Rene and Betsy. They are the nicest freaking people ever. Rene was all, "Don't you want a Jason Castro calendar?" And I was all, "Yes! I do!" So I bought one. And then I freaked out because Michael Castro (Jason's hawt brother) was standing right next to me, and I turned around and Jackie (Jason's sister) and Mandy (his girlfriend) were right behind me. It was surreal. I asked Michael if I could get a picture with him and attempted to chat, but he was being attacked by girls of all ages. Boy shouldn't have been standing in a corner.
Then I awkwardly waited for Jackie to not be surrounded by a hundred people so that I could talk to her, but that never happened. I decided to go stake out a spot in the crowd, and got a second-row standing place. It was sweeeet. More on that later. The lady I was standing next to overheard me telling my mom I was way more nervous to talk to Jackie than I was Jason, and she said something like, "She is the easiest person to talk to! Just go talk to her!" So I decided to try, but she and Michael were talking to someone I didn't recognize (it turned out to be Season 7 contestant Jason Yeager), so I stood around and was extremely awkward for ten minutes. I finally asked her for a picture, and she was so freakin' cute! She's tiny, oh my gosh. I thought she might break if I put my arm around her, but I did anyway. And then I was totally going to strike up an awesome convo, buuut that didn't happen. I am way too socially inept.
Then the show started! The opener, Bryan Jewett, was good, but I felt like all of his songs kind of blended together. Andy Skib, David Cook's friend and bandmate, came out next. He was amazing. I realized why people were so excited to see him. At one point, he dropped the cap to his water bottle, and the girl next to me yelled, "Can I have it?" and he said, "You want my water bottle cap? Well... okay. What else do you want? Wait, don't answer that." It was cute. He gave it to her, and I was jealous. They played David Cook's old CD, Analog Heart, in between acts. I was excited!
Then Jason came out, and I was so close I could have reached out and touched him. I could hear his voice going into the microphone more than I could hear it coming out of the speaker. It was great. His set was so amazing. I can't even make words to describe it. He opened with a full-band version of "Someday," which sounded great. I honestly can't remember what all he played or in what order, so here are some highlights:
- "Hallelujah," a more full version, with no cracking voice at the end. I wanted to cry.
- He was introducing a song, and he talked about it for a while and couldn't remember what it was called (which was hilarious), so I was like, "IT'S CALLED 'SO FAST' JASON I LOVE YOU OMG" and he goes, "There it is! Thank you." and smiled and pointed and I died. He kept looking at me after that.
- The new music is awesome, you guys. There's one called "It's Alright With Me" that stayed in my head for hours. "Shine Your Light" is really pretty, too. "Love Uncompromised" was probably my favorite, though.
- His banter in between and during songs was so incredibly cute. ("There's a solo here, and you're supposed to tell jokes, but I don't have any jokes, so I'm just gonna talk...")
- The encore, of course, was "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." It was so incredible.
After the show, he stayed around to talk to everyone in the audience. It finally got to be my turn, and my stomach was flip-flopping more than I thought it would. I had him sign my birthday on the calendar I bought (he signed, "Happy BDay! -JC" with a little dreadheaded guy on it). We talked for a little tiny while, and then I asked for another picture. He was like, "Sure!" and put his arm around me before I could get mine around him, which was greeeat. I accidentally-on-purpose put my hand on his dreads while we were taking the picture. They are funny feeling, but cool, and totally not dirty :) I thanked him and headed for the door.
I found Andy Skib by the door, and asked for a picture. He was cool and totally held my shoulder while we were taking the picture. I said, "I have to be honest, I kind of fell in love with you tonight a little bit," and he said, "Really? Okay, I can take that." I told him he was really good, and we left. The rest of the night was a blur of trying to go to sleep and texting Kaleigh to brag.
So there you have it! Kind of long and rambly (and obnoxiously juvenile, I'm sure), but I'm sleep deprived and hyper. Feel free to repost/comment/whatever, especially if you were at the show! I'd love to hear from you, because we probably saw each other at some point. I'll post pics when/if I get the cord to my mom's camera.