"The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." Proverbs 16:9
It all started two weeks ago, when I found out that some of my favourite Christian rock bands EVER were playing in Halifax on September 12. Needless to say, I was a little excited (okay, a lot excited). Dad and I got general seating tickets and, last night, headed for the Halifax Forum. But shortly before we left, one of Dad's friends (Mr. Hubick) phoned him and told him that he could get us free tickets, because he was close friends with the drummer of Manic Drive (an awesome band that was playing).
The doors of the Forum were set to open at 4:45 P.M., and Dad and I were supposed to get there about that time so that we could meet up with Mr. Hubick and get our tickets. While we waited with the crowd of people, Mr. Hubick mentioned how he might be able to get us to meet the band. As we talked and waited for the doors to open, the parking lot in front of the Forum was getting pretty crowded. Hundreds of people waited to get into the concert. And what happened next, but the first amazing thing on this amazing night! The drummer of Manic Drive (Keith) gestured to us from the entrance doors to the Forum and let us in! We entered the Forum before anyone else, and I got pictures with Manic Drive, and we got to help them move some of their stuff. As this was the first stop on a Canada-wide tour, things were pretty disorganized and running late.
As we were talking to Keith, he mentioned how because of the craziness of the first night of their tour, they hadn't been able to find anyone to run their merchandise table. Mr. Hubick, another friend that he had brought, Dad, and a slightly ecstatic me happily offered to tag-team. The merchandise tables were all set up on the main floor, where the stage was. The only thing in front of them were some chairs for the the V.I.P.s, and, though the V.I.P. chairs got a little busy during the main part of the concert, the merchandise people pretty much had the best view in the house!
Anyways, as we were hanging around the merch table (as we cool people call it), and as I purchased the first Manic Drive t-shirt of the evening, what to our wondering eyes did appear but a strangely familiar face lugging loads of luggage over to the empty merch table next to us. It took a second to recognize the man under the baseball cap and hoodie, but I nearly fell over when I recognized Manafest (a.k.a. Chris Greenwood)! Chris was under a little stress as the doors were to open in ten minutes, and he had nothing on his merch table and no one to run it. Well, thank goodness Dad was there, because, as we said jokingly afterwards, if it wasn't for him, Manafest probably wouldn't have hit the stage that night. Okay, that probably isn't true, but Dad did help a lot. He kindly offered to help Chris set up and watch his merch table. Chris was very appreciative (so appreciative, in fact, that he came back in between acts to see how Dad was doing and see if he needed anything, give Dad a free t-shirt, give us a free autographed CD!) Yeah, Manafest rocks.
So, with Mr. Hubick at the Manic Drive table and Dad right next to him at the Manafest table, I was just hanging out between the two. Well, as the first band hit the stage at nearly six-thirty (half an hour after the concert was supposed to start), the man who was running the merch table next to Manafest (Big D) was getting very worried. The band's merch table had just two CDs on it, that was it, but the merchandise trailer had just arrived, and he had to help unload. But who was to watch his table? Well, thank goodness that there was a sweet, innocent fourteen year old girl, who happened to have never, ever, ever run a merch table before. So, he gratefully handed me the money pouch with probably $500 or $600 in it and headed for the trailer. As he helped unload, I manned this table for most of the night. But what band's table was I manning, you wonder? Oh, just ... Thousand Foot Krutch's!!!
What a night. For my help, Big D gave me a free Thousand Foot Krutch t-shirt. Manic Drive gave me a free poster and signed it, and, as I previously said, Manafest gave Dad a free t-shirt, and us a signed album. What. A. Night. For those of you who aren't into Christian rock as much, or who have never heard of these three incredible bands, I encourage you to check out the links to these rockers who continue to rock out for the glory of God!
(Keith - the drummer of Manic Drive - and me before the concert)