This Time, Next Year.

In Which Darren Criss Trolls My Life for the 6th and 7th Time: The Apocalyptour

Today is Friday, May 25th. The day after the Los Angeles leg of the Apocalyptour (that’s super hard to spell, my god.) I was greedy fortunate enough to go to both the Wednesday and Thursday shows at the House of Blues. 

On Wednesday, Darren did a small acoustic set before Charlene Kaye went up. This made the show a lot longer, but of course, it was worth it. Darren is always so charming and smooth onstage. His adorable banter in between songs, and the passion that he exudes while singing is always so wonderful. He seems to single-handedly put everyone at ease, like he emits endorphins with his music or something.

Charlene was great, too. So much more talented than I ever knew before. And she clearly loves connecting with the audience, as well. Although I didn’t know any of her songs, I thoroughly enjoyed her set, and plan to listen to her entire albums. And she understands the power of a good guest vocalist. ;)

Wednesday had considerably less people. Maybe about 70 in all. Still an quite enthusiastic crowd, but just a lot less mob-like. It seemed a lot more intimate. I felt like the cast could really see us. And I totally had a moment with Joe Walker at the end when he looked out into the crowd, sexy beast that he is. Devin Lyttle, Lily Marks, and Evanna Lynch were mingling through the audience. We talked with Devin for a while, who remembered us from JMOMS. She’s such a sweetheart! After the show, the cast came out and took pictures, signed, and talked to all of us for a few hours. Except Darren, who left early. 6th failed attempt at meeting him.

Thursday, the crowd was massive. 300 at least. We got pretty good spots up top, with the VIP’s, including Curt Mega, Ryker Lynch (warblers,) Nick Lang, Mia Swier (Darren’s GF,) Max Adler (Karofsky,) and a more. We watched the show with Nick, who remembered me from the last time we met. He’s like the sweetest guy I’ve ever met. The whole time he was quietly singing along. It’s a shame he doesn’t get more credit. By the end of the night, we were like best friends.

After the Thursday show, Darren was escorted by security to his car, where a single obsessed fan girl ran after him, over the barricades and past security to him, and got a picture. So for those of you wanting to know what it’s like to try to meet Darren, there it is. For me, it was the 7th failed attempt.

After that show, the cast was packing up and couldn’t spend too much time talking with everyone. Most of them gave us goodbye hugs, though. Kind of a shame they were on such a tight schedule.

The show itself was fantastic. They put so much effort into every aspect of it, and probably spent so much time rehearsing and planning. The music, the costumes, the dancing, the format, the EVERYTHING was completely professional. There is so much talent in this cast. They really love what they do, but more importantly they have the knowledge and talent to do it extremely well. I was most impressed with everyone’s endurance. They sang sooo many songs! And they never sounded strained, or tired. Each one was just as calculated and spectacular as the one before. I couldn’t be more proud of their success, and proud to be a fan.

On to the fangirling. 

I think I speak for all of us, when I say that I don’t count Darren when I talk about “favorites.” He’s just a cut above. Of course Darren is everyone’s favorite. But counting him with the other boys, diminishes everyone else.

So, not counting Darren, I’d have to say that my favorite it Brian Holden. He’s just so cute! He’s not the tallest, or the buffest, or the most popular, or even the most charismatic. But I still find him incredibly attractive, physically and mentally. Always have! Such a sweetheart when we met again. Piercing blue eyes. Great smile. He remembered me! Meaning, naturally that we’re getting married. :) 

Having said that, I found myself repeating a single phrase compulsively throughout the entirety of both shows, both out loud and repeating through me head: “Joey Richter is JUST. Soooo. Good looking.” He’s a cute kid, from the first time you see him on YouTube, of course. But in person, I was like, in shock. I was caught off guard at how beautiful he actually is. I met him earlier this year at JMOMS, but I was in such a state of shock, that I blanked out and forgot to tell him my name, or anything important.  So, Wednesday, I was determined to finally have a meaningful conversation with him. I told him my name, and he immediately hugged me. Needless to say, he’s totally charming, nice, funny and adorable when you meet him. In the picture, he got super close, and I felt his breath on my forehead. Not complaining, in the least bit.

Now, this doesn’t mean that I don’t care for the other guys, and the girls. I do! I just don’t need to talk about why I love them all. You already know why. Just watch the videos.

So, in the end, The Apocalyptour was a success and an amazing experience. I’m so glad I got to go. And I suggest to anyone who hasn’t attended yet, and has the opportunity to, GO. You’ll enjoy it more than you’ll ever expect, or imagine. Trust me.

For the rest of the pictures from the show, visit Breyana’s blog. I took a bunch of the pictures, but they’re from her camera.

Only at the Ace.

If you’re not from or familiar with Palm Springs, you don’t know what the Ace Hotel is. So for all you foreigners, it’s probably the trendiest place in the Coachella valley. Which isn’t saying much. Coachella weekend, it’s the home of wonderful after parties full of beautiful people. Any other day, it’s a charming hotel filled with trendy young people desperate to escape to bigger things, but can’t, so they settle for the next best thing; the almost-LA Ace Hotel.

While spending a few days in my home town, my friend Jazz and I decided to go lounge about with the hipsters. While mingling, we hear someone near us mention the name of a certain actor. We both thought “Cool, someone is mentioning him out in the desert! Someone cares to talk about him.” A few minutes later, Jazz jumps up and down, eyes wide open. “It’s him!”

I walked up to  the man wearing swim shorts, a t-shirt, and a towel around his neck, and to my surprise, it actually was him. Who?

Benedict Cumberbatch.

Yep, you heard me.

Sherlock was hanging poolside, with a cocktail, in Palm Springs.

We called him, and he said in a soft voice “Oh, hello!”

We spoke to him for a few minutes, talking about the show, and Star Trek. Such a nice guy! He politely, and gently declined a picture, though. The way he did it though, was so sweet, that it almost made me feel bad for asking. It was as if he didn’t want to make us made by saying no. “It’s just that I’m on holiday, and I look a mess, and it’s the middle of the night. How about next time? If we could maybe do it next time?” 

We, of course, obliged. 

We kept talking, however. When we told him our names (Marcelle and Jazz) he exclaimed “You should make a movie with those names, I swear!” To which I replied, “You could be in it, too with your name!” He laughed.

Before we said goodbye I said the thing I had planned to say to this man, for the last year. Something we all want to say to him.

“By the way, Tumblr loves you!”

He didn’t know what it was.

“It’s a blogging website. They all just loooove you and Martin.”

“You see, to me, it’s all like Pandora’s box. I’ve never been on it!” 

My friend: “I suggest you don’t. There’s a huge fandom dedicated to you.”

“That’s very sweet!”

Such a pleasant surprise. In like, the strongest sense of the phrase. It was SO SURPRISING to see him there. And he is just SO PLEASANT.

Oh, and his British accent is super pretty.