Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Ethan and the Rock Star

In June, Chad got a text from Branden (mission buddy, old college friend, and now the bass player for the Neon Trees) saying that he was gonna be in town and wondered if we'd be able to get together the next evening before his band played . Of course we said, YES. We also decided this time around that we wanted to bring Ethan. I knew it would be a cool experience for him, getting to meet Branden, and going to his first concert. So we met up with Branden, his wife Emilie, and a few other friends the next evening at a very nice restaurant where Ethan was the only kid in the whole restaraunt. They didn't even have kid menus. On the way to meet them he was nervous. We told him it was ok, it was just Branden, but to Ethan, he was meeting a real, live rock star. During dinner Ethan had a question for Branden and so he got up and moved over and sat by Ethan so they could chat better. Branden answered his questions and he showed him some pictures on his phone from his tour. He was so sweet to Ethan all night and really made him feel special.


After dinner, we watched them perform. It was a little loud for him. He plugged one of his ears most of the time.
It was getting late and I still had to work and we were gonna leave before the concert was over. Emilie found us and said they were just about done, so we decided to stay. I'm so glad we did, because the best part for Ethan was yet to come.
After the concert Emilie led us downstairs through security so we could see Branden and meet the band. We were standing around chatting when Branden came up behind us, picked Ethan up, and swung him around. Soon the other band members came out and Branden took Ethan under his wing and made sure he introduced Ethan to each of them, shook their hands, and had them autograph the piece of paper Ethan had been given with the evening's list of songs.
Branden also orchestrated this photo op with the band. We got one shot and luckily all our eyes are open! If you look closely you'll see the lead singer's hand resting on Ethan's shoulder. What a night to remember! And thanks to my mom who with very late notice was willing to watch Gavin until after midnight.

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