I have been a fan of the music group Blaqk Audio since 2007. When I first heard them on the radio, I instantly loved their sound. The singer of the band sounded very familiar to me (huge AFI/Davey Havok fan), so because telling who sings the songs on the radio takes so much effort *sarcasm*, I googled ‘Davey Havok’ when I got home that night and found that he and Jade Puget were in another band called Blaqk Audio.

I KNEW that voice was familiar! 

I instantly went to the nearest CD store (for the young readers, there used to be stores that sold these things called CD’s with the entire album on them. You didn’t get to pick and choose the songs that you wanted to download) and purchased the album, Sex Cells. I also searched tour dates…only to find that they had been in Cleveland three days prior to me first hearing them. Cleveland is a short three-hour drive from me. Needless to say, I was bummed but figured I would have my chance next time they toured.

Well, fast forward to 2012 when the next album, Bright Black Heaven, was released. Again, I instantly searched tour dates…and they were staying in California/Vegas this time. I think I might have yelled a few cuss words…maybe scared some neighbors. Still, I listened to the new album on repeat for weeks and loved their sound even more.

This year, 2016, another new album, Material, was announced as well as a tour on March 31. I scanned the dates eagerly and saw that the closest venues to Columbus, Ohio were in Chicago and Washington, DC. I flipped out..and also didn’t read the important detail that tickets were not going on sale until March 4th in the process of my excitement. I rushed home from work, attacked my computer to jump online to purchase my long-awaited tickets…and saw the devastating ‘This Event Is Not Yet On Sale’ notice…

…this is also the cause for my blood pressure skyrocketing into Type II Hypertension. I had the unfortunate luck of having my yearly health screening at work scheduled for the next day, and my blood pressure was the highest it has ever been. I will add here that after I had got my tickets, it went back down to normal. I requested a vacation day for March 4th so that I could get tickets the second they went on sale. I had waited NINE years for this…I was not losing my chance. Over the next four days, my stress level continued to rise as a million thoughts went through my head:

What if tickets sell out before I get them?

Who will go to Chicago with me? 

Will I be able to get off work to go? 

WHAT IF TICKETS SELL OUT?!?!?! ( deep breaths )

Yeah, I was a bit of a basket case. After four near sleepless nights, Friday came, though, and I was waiting, finger ready to press ORDER the second the clock struck 1 pm. I think that my exact order time was 1:00:09. Nine seconds past the official sale start time and two tickets were mine. I could unwind. Finally, after nine years, I was going to see my tied-for-first favorite band. (I’ll send a dozen homemade cookies to whoever can guess who the other band is. )

To jump ahead a few months and skip over some boring details, my good friend Cara made the trip to Chicago with me, even though she’d never heard of the band. We left on May 16th so that we could tour the city a little the day before the show, and then she waited outside of the venue with me for 4 hours before doors so that I could be one of the crazy fans waiting so I could get up close. Because she is a Country girl, Cara also decided that the crowd that the band generated was not her scene and decided to wait for me in the venue bar.

And close I did get. By the time Blaqk Audio took the stage, I was in the second row of people and could touch the stage if I wanted. Excitement doesn’t even describe what I was feeling, and the smile on my face never left as I sang (screamed) along to every song. The show was worth every second of the wait since 2007, and Davey Havok and Jade Puget were just as talented live as they are on CD (haha…ok, I-Tunes download). The night ended much too quickly, but finally, I could knock seeing Blaqk Audio off of my bucket list…

…I am also planning out the next time they tour already and where I may have to travel. Because let’s be honest here, good bands rarely come to Ohio…and now that I’ve seen them once, I have to go again.

The only request from my husband is that I don’t drag him along for the crazy ride.