So you say you want another perspective on Zombieguide’s pilgrimage to Wolf Trap? No? Too bad! Here’s more impressions of the show, this time from my amigo Chris, who attened the Meet and Greet and was my helper monkey with taking pictures, etc.
Hey everyone. I’m Chris; Alex’s friend who went to the Baltimore Mistletoe Meltdown. After coming back from Wolf Trap, let me just say one word. Wow. The whole experience was absolutely amazing. The concert was really great! The set list was especially good for someone like me with limited knowledge of songs by The Cranberries. The lighting was great, the songs were fantastic, and seeing Dolores up close dancing was pretty damn awesome. One thing that I found kind of odd however, was the lack of people standing in the crowd. I’ll note that I didn’t really stand up much until half way through, but I don’t think more than 5-10 people in the rows in front of us even stood until the final song. Dolores made many attempts to get people to stand up, even by taunting us, to no avail.
During some of the more electrifying songs, Alex and I, two of the probable ten people in the whole audience who had glow sticks would wave them at Dolores. During one song while we were doing so, she held out the microphone in our direction and winked. That was really awesome! As for the show, it was one of the most exciting times I’ve had in a long while.
However, there was an event Alex and I took part in prior to the show. This of course was the “Meet and Greet”. Around 7pm, about an hour and a half before the Meet and Greet, Alex and I experience a few looks when talking about meeting The Cranberries. We even had two ladies come up to us and freak out. I think they got the impression that Zombieguide was handing out Meet and Greets. We didn’t bother to explain it, so oh well. We then of course met board member Yusef. After some waiting around, and discovering are awesome seats (which were in the fourth row, only a couple of seats left from direct center), we met up with Yusef again, his friend, and two other ladies who had meet and greets also. We spent a good twenty minutes sitting in a nice little lobby section by the entrance to the dressing room. After Alex, Yusef, and the other two ladies talked about Cranberries stuff that I simply had no idea about, I saw Dolores lead the band in. Alex then scream “Oh My…” After Alex and Yusef and the ladies shook Dolores’s hand and gave her a hug, they moved on to talk to others. It was at this time I was standing by Dolores and we casually said “Hi” to each other. By now, most of you may think I was undeserving, but I’ll be the first one to admit it. After handing her my ticket and asking for her autograph, the nervousness kicked in and I muttered a choking “Thanks!!”
Most of my meet and greet was spent taking pictures for Zombieguide. It was then, that I saw Don, Dolores’s husband. I swear that for one second, I had mistaken him for wrestling superstar and legend, Hollywood Hulk Hogan. After slightly laughing to myself, I tried to get a picture of Dolores signing Alex’s poster. I was unable to do this however, as Don was always within five feet of Dolores and just gave me a blank stare. This image came to my mind, as I pondered whether of not to ask him to move please.
I thought it best not to ask him to move. He looked rather threatening. After Alex got all of his autographs, I handed him the camera back and then mingled with the band. Standing next to Fergal, he greeted me with a “Hi Again”. I shook his hand and apologized that we didn’t have any soiled napkins from $20 Super Dogs for him to sign. He just smiled and replied, “That’s good!”
After a minute or two, I went over to gather up the “swag” that we didn’t get signed, when suddenly; Don was coming after me with his flashlight!
All he said to me first was “Move’, while waving his flashlight around. I gave him a scared and confused look when he said again in a nicer tone, “You’re gonna have to move out of the way so you can take a picture of the band”. I suppose I am being hard on Don though. After all, what are we to him than just some snot-nosed little brats that want to get near his wife? After saying goodbye to the band, we were quickly led up to the ground floor again and back to our seats. It seemed like “meet and greets” are very nerve racking for the people in charge of protecting the band.
Well, that was it. I can definitely say that this was better than the Mistletoe Meltdown; however there was the lack of excitement of chasing down a bus to get a signature, as well as the time of near solitude given for a short interview. All in all, it was a great experience that I can’t wait to experience again!
One last word, sorry for the unprofessional pictures. My hand was shaking with nervousness like crazy; so much that I barely could hold down the button half way on the camera to focus it without taking a picture.
