The feeling that you get after you have just seen your favorite artist in concert is a feeling of mixed emotion. You’re elated. You’re on cloud nine. You’re sad that it seemed so short. You’re anxious to see the artist again. You say to your friend sitting next to you, “Oh my gosh!! That was amazing. I don’t care how much it costs, next time we are getting front row seats and backstage passes.” She wholeheartedly and excitedly agrees. You leave the concert with a sense of fulfillment and content. The night could not have gone any better. I wish this had been the case for me when I went to see my favorite artist, David Cook.


My friend Kalie and I had bought the tickets during our Spring Break in March. The concert wasn’t until September, but the best seats we could get were still pretty far away. But, it didn’t matter. We were going to see David Cook, the most gorgeous and talented American Idol to this day.

I hate to say it, but I sort of wished away my summer. It was the only thing standing between David’s sexy voice and me. Whenever I thought about the concert, it depressed me to know that I still had months to wait.

But, just like anything you painstakingly wait for, the day of the concert arrived. It was during school, so Kalie and I got to miss a few days. We drove down by ourselves to the Allegan County Fair where he was performing. We got there a little early, so we just stood in line, waiting to get in.

We finally were let in and took our seats near the back. The wait until the concert involved picture taking, people watching, and merchandise buying. (Who goes to a concert and doesn’t buy a tour tee?) When David finally came onstage, the crowd went absolutely wild, Kalie and I included. The next two hours were amazing. He was just as good live as he was on TV and on his CD. I was in heaven.

I’m sure that at this point in the story, you are probably thinking that this was a great night. How can anything go wrong? Well, I’ll tell you how.

After the concert ended, a group of people (mostly women) flocked to the gate off to the side of the stage next to David Cook’s tour bus. Logic: obviously he had to get on his bus at some point and when he did, he would stop by the fence and sign autographs. Kalie and I joined the group and had our cameras ready. We were so excited! As if seeing him in concert wasn’t good enough, we were going to be able to see him up close and hopefully get a picture with him.

We waited for at least an hour and a half outside that fence. We didn’t have anything better to do. The group of people got progressively smaller as the time dragged on. Kalie and I entertained ourselves by taking pictures and listening to some of the women try to get the guards standing there to go and get David Cook. However, their efforts ended in failure. Eventually, Kalie and I gave up. He wasn’t coming. We left, defeated, heartbroken, and without a picture with David Cook.


Just when I thought things couldn’t get worse, I spent some time the next day on YouTube watching videos of David Cook and reliving the better parts of the night before. I had gotten over him not showing up at the fence, until I came across this one particular video.

Can you think of a time when you have been miserable, thoroughly disappointed, and completely furious all at the same time? I can. The video that I stumbled across was filmed the night before. It was a 30 second clip of camera flashes, David Cook signing autographs, and of girls screaming and going crazy.
We had waited for an hour and a half at the wrong fence.