My Sweet Suspense Concert Experience

August 2, 2015 by fabulousfeministfangirl 1 Comment

I MET MY IDOLS (aka Sweet Suspense) TODAY!!!!! *insert fangirl squeals here*

Sweet Suspense, one of my favorite bands, is on the road with the Pop Nation tour this summer, along with Round2Crew, The Fooo Conspiracy, Carson Lueders, The Bomb Digz, Katelyn Jae, After Romeo, Chris Miles, Dyllan Murray, and Frankie Z (for more information on upcoming shows, visit http://www.popnationtour.com/). Normally, on weekends in the summer, I go to the beach with my entire extended family, but this weekend, my mom’s college friends are in from out of town and she is spending the weekend with them, my grandparents and uncle are in a distant city for a wedding, my cousin is at sleepaway camp, and my brother broke his foot, so I jumped at the chance to see Sweet Suspense in concert. The experience was absolutely incredible, but let’s just say that the events leading up to it were…interesting.

As always, to protect everyone’s privacy, I will refer to people as the roles they play in the story. If you need a reminder of who is playing which character, please refer to this cast list:

ROBYN as my friend who accompanied me to the show

BOMB DIGZ FAN #1 as the person directly ahead of me in line

TICKET COLLECTOR as the ticket collector outside the venue

TOUR MANAGER #1 as the first Pop Nation Tour manager I met

TOUR MANAGER #2 as the second Pop Nation Tour manager I met

ROUND2CREW, THE FOOO CONSPIRACY, CARSON LUEDERS, THE BOMB DIGZ, KATELYN JAE, AFTER ROMEO, CHRIS MILES, DYLLAN MURRAY, SWEET SUSPENSE, AND FRANKIE Z as the acts on the Pop Nation Tour

BRYANA “BRY” SALAZ as herself

MILLIE THRASHER as herself

SUMMER REIGN as herself

Now, on with the show.

I went to the concert with my friend, Robyn. We took the subway to a stop that was within walking distance from the venue of the concert. The meet and greet was to take place at 1:00 PM. We got there at about 1:15, and the line wasn’t really moving forward. Robyn and I figured that there was probably some sort of delay or something, so we continued to stand in line while I sang Broadway show tunes to pass the time.

At about 1:30, the line STILL wasn’t moving. So, we asked Bomb Digz Fan #1 if she knew anything about the meet and greets.

“They ended at 1:15,” she replied regretfully.

I dragged Robyn inside the venue (there was no security guarding the door), and asked the ticket collector about the meet and greet.

“We changed the start time to 12:30, so the meet and greet ended at 1:15. I’m so sorry, call the ticket provider for a refund.”

“But…but my friend is in the show,” I pleaded.

“And who might your friend be?” Ticket Collector asked.

“Um…Bryana Salaz from Sweet Suspense.”

Ticket Collector looked at me skeptically, tilting her head to the side. She was about to say something, when I interjected, “I paid good money for meet and greet tickets, and I don’t want it to go to waste.”

“Call the ticket provider and ask for a refund,” Ticket Collector said through gritted teeth. “Meanwhile, here’s your wristband. Enjoy the show!”

Ticket Collector gave me a wristband labeled “Under 21.” I stomped out of the venue.

45 minutes later, Tour Manager #1 came up to me.

“Were you the person who came up to the ticket collector and asked to meet one of the acts?” Tour Manager #1 asked.

“Yes,” I replied.

“Who did you want to meet?” Tour Manager #1 asked.

“Sweet Suspense.”

“And what is your name?”

“Maisie, spelled M-A-I-S-I-E.”

“Come with me, Maisie.” Tour Manager #1 led me downstairs, where he explained to Tour Manager #2 that I had paid for meet and greet tickets prior to the show and that I wanted to meet Sweet Suspense. Tour Manager #2 then led me to the artists’ lounge backstage. I saw Millie (one of the girls in Sweet Suspense) in the lounge, and it was all I could do to keep from screaming.

“Sweet Suspense, a fan wants to meet you!” Tour Manager #2 called to them. In an instant, three girls whom I always thought existed only on my Twitter feed appeared in front of me. Millie Thrasher, Summer Reign, and Bryana Salaz.

“Hi, sweetie! What’s your name?” Millie asked, hugging me.

“Maisie,” I replied meekly.

“I feel like I recognize you,” Bry said, looking at me sideways.

“I’m @amazingmaisie28 from Twitter, the writer.”

All three of their jaws dropped onto the floor.

“Stop! No you are not!” Bry exclaimed, giving me a hug.

“Shut up!” Millie said incredulously.

“Oh my God!” Summer gawked.

“I’ll leave you girls alone for a moment.” Tour Manager #2 led us into a stairwell and closed the door.

“You are so so so so so talented! Never, ever stop writing! I love you!” Bry said. “I always read everything you send me, and I’m blown away. And you’re so cute, too!”

Wait, was Bry fangirling over little old me? I thought.

“Ohmigosh, you’re adorable!” Millie chimed in.

“Wait, you know me?” I asked.

“Of course!” Summer said.

“You guys inspire me so much. I get bullied a lot because I’m creative and I love to write and I’m Jewish, and you guys keep me strong and keep me going and I love you so much and thank you for always being there for me.” I said.

“You’re such a beautiful writer, and creative people are, like the bomb, so yeah.” Bry laughed. Summer and Millie looked at me with sympathy in their eyes. “Obvi!” They responded.

“And I act and sing and dance and do yoga!”

“Oh my God!” Millie exclaimed.

“Do you take classes?” Summer asked.

“Yeah, I’m in a hip hop dance class once a week. My teacher is the only dance teacher who has ever been accepting and patient with me. I couldn’t pick up choreography at first, but I can now learn a 1 or 2 minute routine in 20 minutes.”

“That’s insane!” Bry said. “Millie and I are, like, always in the back in dance rehearsals, and Summer’s always up front killing it.”

“Can we take a picture with you?” Summer asked. “We have to go soon.”

Robyn took a picture with us with her phone.

“Bye, Bry. Bye, Millie. Bye, Summer.” I gave each of them a giant hug. “I love you guys.”

“We love you too!” Bry called out after me.

After I left the room, I said to Robyn: “Did that really just happen?”

“They were so sweet to you!” Robyn replied.

Two hours later, all of the other artists had already performed and it was time for Sweet Suspense to do their set. I ran up to the front, wielding my iPod for filming the performance.

“WHAT’S UP BOSTON? HOW YA DOING TONIGHT?” Summer yelled into the crowd. We shouted back.

“I KNOW YOU CAN DO BETTER! NOW HOW Y’ALL DOIN’ TONIGHT?” Millie yelled.

I shouted at the top of my lungs.

“Okay, this first song is called ‘Here We Go Again.’ Enjoy!” Bry said, and took her first pose for the dance.

I belted out every single lyric along with Sweet Suspense, even though I was the only one who knew all of them.

“This next one is for all my ladies out there. Do we have any girls in the crowd?” Millie yelled.

I screamed and hollered, “FEMINISM FOR THE WIN!”

“WE LOVE YOU TOO!” Bry hollered. They then performed their new songs, “Like A Girl” and “Money,” both of which were AMAZING and had me dancing and attempting to sing along.

After they sang “Money,” Millie had a pouty look on her face.

“This is gonna be our last song,” she said.

“Yeah, but it’s my favorite!” Bry, ever the optimist, retorted.

“True, it’s also my favorite!” Millie said.

“This one’s called ‘Gibberish,’ and our cover of this song hit 1 million views on YouTube this morning!” Summer announced. I whooped and hollered. I probably contributed most of those views. Once again, I belted out the song along with my three sheroes. Throughout their whole set, I was blown away with the fact that they were singing everything live. They are SO TALENTED in person, almost better than they are in the studio!

I was crestfallen when the concert was over. If there was one moment in my life I could live and relive forever, it would be seeing Sweet Suspense today. It was truly one of the best live performances, if not THE best, I have ever seen. I hope to see the girls again sometime soon, and they are DEFINITELY getting free copies of my book when it comes out.