NJ's Tiny Fan of Worcester's Greatest Band
I haven't had a chance to write this up yet, but I just wanted to shout out this community (and the fans of the other bands), the people that live in Worcester, the staff at the Palladium, and, of course, the band! I just want to share with you guys what made it so special! It's long, so don't worry about reading it all, but just know that some kid's dreams were made this weekend!!
I haven't posted in a minute, but you might remember me from being the person asking for a baby pit during the Holiday Show for my four year old nephew (at that time he was three), but it fell through because of the timing! He made it to Seven Hills though, and everyone that he interacted with made his entire weekend!!
My partner, my nephew, and I drove up to Worcester from NJ on Friday before the show and left that following Sunday. I'd like to say we stayed over because of him, but honestly it's because I couldn't do either drive the same day of the concert (I'm old!).
My nephew got to go to where the band "made the hot dog video" (George's Coney Island) for dinner on Friday before checking in. We almost couldn't get him to leave because he was enthralled at looking around (especially at the LEGO diorama of the restaurant in the case up front), chatting up other customers, and enjoying some hot dogs!
We took a walk that night and ended up walking to the Palladium to help him get familiar with the space. Some of the staff was setting up outside, but stopped to say hi as he was looking at everything. On the way back some folks let him pet their dog and they all got to chatting about why he was in Worcester, wishing him good luck at the concert (and talking about Transformers).
Saturday he had me make bracelets for the band, plus a few extra, while we hung out in the morning. We headed over for the VIP event and met some cool people while waiting on line.
I think he might of had a little bit of an out of body experience when he finally met the guys. He was very starstruck, but made sure to get a high five and give the band bracelets! He finally opened up and started talking when Dan reminded him to drink water (thank god, because it's hard to get him to) and my nephew excitedly told him about his Minecraft water bottle.
My nephew and I walked around a bit, helping him get familiar with the area, when one of the Palladium staff came up to chat! The security guard asked him if he'd be crowd surfing, which I didn't even think of. I started to say maybe in a few years, but he assured me kids apparently crowd surfed all the time and said he'd see him at the barricade!!
We left for a bit and then returned, cart in tow. My nephew is on the spectrum, so we had to leave a few times when he got overwhelmed, but once Four Year Strong was coming on, he was set on staying. We parked the cart, got as far to the left of the stage that we could where he could still see, and got ready.
My nephew then got to crowd surf not once, but twice, before the show started, and everyone was cheering for him as he was hamming it up! He got to see and give his friend he made earlier one of his bracelets before coming back to the crowd side.
The night was filled with dancing and singing! His ears perked up when the band said they were going to play Maniac and wanted to see crowd surfers. I was a little hesitant, but we got him up a little bit away from the edge of the crowd thanks to some amazing folks and I held his hand as he surfed. My partner waited at the end of the barricade for him and we got right back to having a blast!!
I think he'll probably remember this for the rest of his life. He has the flag and poster signed by the guys up on his wall above his bed already and keeps telling everyone that will listen about what he got to do and everyone he got to meet. I know this won't reach everyone he met, but I wanted to say thank you to those of you here that might have been part of this ❤️