I will admit that I'm rather prone to dramatics, but I outdid myself when the e-mail arrived telling me I'd won Meet and Greet with Megadeth in Dublin. I screamed so loud the neighbours rushed over to see if I was alright! The few days leading up to the show were nerve-wracking; I have a propensity to say stupid things at stupid times, so ended up running through various scenarios in my head "Say this, don't say that," but when the day itself arrived I surprised myself by being calm.
I had my instructions as to where to pick up the pass on the day, and once I had done so the whole process was surprisingly easy. Expecting to be left waiting for hours on end, we were actually brought straight through to a room off the main auditorium and were then told the band would arrive soon. Everyone lined up in a row and chatted nervously, but once the band walked in we were put at our ease. They all arrived together, with Chris walking down the line first, shaking everyone??s hands and saying "Hi, I'm Chris." I barely managed to stop myself saying "I know!" James and Shawn chatted with everyone for a while, and I had them all sign my United Abominations album booklet, but I have to admit I was so afraid of saying something idiotic I barely even made eye contact.
Dave was last to move down the line, and I was pretty surprised by how tall he was in person. He was perfectly willing to talk to each person for however long they had something to say, and so when he got to me I figured that I might as well say something! Last February at a gig in Oslo, Norway, Dave had taken my camera from me mid-show and taken photos of himself and the crowd with it, so I reminded him of that and thanked him, because the crowd had been brutal, and being the only girl anywhere near the front of the stage, I had been pushed around in an effort to rid of me! By Dave taking my camera, I'd got some respect and been left alone afterwards.
I ended up having my photo taken with Dave and Chris, which was pretty cool! While one of the girls who worked at the venue took our photo, Dave said to me out of the corner of his mouth "She looks like she's wearing a tablecloth!" Their uniforms are pretty awful, but at first I thought he was saying something about me ??? so foot in mouth as usual - I said "uh... thanks." "No I was talking about her not you!" Luckily I semi-rescued myself by telling him I'd realised that as soon as I'd replied. I got a smile from Dave anyway when I thanked him for the photo, so hopefully I redeemed myself somewhat!
As suddenly as the band had arrived, they were gone. Myself and one of the guys there ended up being interviewed for the club, and it was only as I left the meet and greet room that I realised the photo that had been taken with Dave and Chris was unbelievably blurry and out-of-focus. Slightly disappointing, but having said that, I still have a signed album cover and a great memory of the whole experience that I certainly won't forget any time soon!
