On May 25th, 2012, music happened. I attended my first Sugarland show in two and a half years. My mom and I left around 1:15pm and we arrived at Agua Caliente around 3ish. We had a TON of time before 9pm, so we walked around. A LOT. Time actually seemed to go pretty quickly. The only thing I had to eat was an order of fries…I was too anxious to eat. I met a fanclub member, John and he gave me his VIP bag! In it were the Incredible Machine band and a poster! People started to line up around 7:30 and at 8, we filed in! When I got to my seat, and saw that rainbow handprint, I was in tears. I just couldn’t believe that in less than hour, I would be seeing Sugarland! Around 8:50, Kathie and Todd came in and their seats were two rows ahead of me. A little bit after we said our hellos, the lights dimmed and we stand to our feet. Out step Jennifer and Kristian and they begin their opening number, “Wide Open” During Settlin’, Jennifer walks over to the part of the stage were my section is. She’s singing and dancing and looking at us and I wave to her. She’s smiling and waved back and I’m so shocked, I cover my mouth. Jennifer sees this and points to me, kind of mimics me and laughs! She’s too cute! For Tonight, Jennifer brings out her Duets partner, J Rome and they ROCKED it!
Afterwards, Jennifer asks that everyone passes their sign up. I had a very special sign there and I really wanted her to see it. After she looks at two flashy signs (one made with duct tape and Jennifer asks if there was a woman he was seeing), she picks up MY sign! It said “Please Call My Mom For Little Miss?” and she asks for the sign maker to come up. When I climbed up those stairs, I started to freeze up. Kristian holds out his hand and goes “Hi, I’m Kristian!” and he hugs me. When I got over to Jennifer and she asked what my name is, I kind of blank! It took me a few seconds for me to say anything and as I’m dialing my mom, I fear she wouldn’t pick up because it rang for a few good seconds! But she picks up and I’m all “Guess what…guess what…I’m on the stage!” I hand Jennifer my phone and she talks to my mom for a little bit. During this, Kristian brings me a stool to sit and gave me a bottled water and a towel because I think he thought I would pass out…I’m surprised I didn’t! They sang Little Miss and I’m looking at Jennifer and she’s smiling and the audience is smiling and at the end, Kristian gives me a guitar pic and later puts his head to mine and I do the same and *fangirl moment*. Just before I leave the stage, Jennifer hugs me! As I was going back to my seat, I get a BUNCH of high fives!
Their next song was the most voted by text message, Stand Up, but my mind was hardly on it, even though I texted voted for it. They played Genevieve for someone in the audience and Jennifer says that it was the first time they played it this year-I just wish I could have gotten the whole video! After a few more songs, Jennifer brings out her other Duets partner, John and they perform Stay…it was AWESOME! During the encore, I go down to the front of the stage with a bunch of other people, and get a hand slap from Jennifer and as they were waving goodbye, Annie looks at me, smiles and mouths “You rock!” Ahhh! I truly had an amazing time! I got to meet Kathie, Todd, Emily, Heather, who is a Facebook friend, another fanclubber named Jackie, Nicholas Lee, the boy who got to into Everyday America and a slew of others who congratulated me for getting on stage!
I now see why people attend multiple Sugarland concerts. The atmosphere is overwhelming, each show is different, and the anticipation waiting is worth it. Thank you Sugarland for putting on a WONDERFUL show and I will see you again! And here is my mention in the SugarBlog! "Allie Granberry was the second sign picked with a request for "Little Miss" dedicated to her mom, Sharon Lee. Allie was so excited she could barely breathe, and Jennifer said that it was fans like Allie that made the show fun for her. Allie called her Mom on stage while she and Jennifer sang. And even though her eyes were filled with tears, she had a huge smile on her face. Kristian brought her water when she got a little choke up, and everyone high-fived her when she left the stage. It was a night to remember for Allie – and for everyone in Rancho Mirage."
