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2010-07-29 - 5:42 p.m.

Dear Doug, Dan, and Chris,

My name is Ruby Astari. I am a 28-year-old English teacher and aspiring freelance writer. My college friend first introduced me to your music and I instantly fell in love after watching your concert for the first time. I started collecting all your songs any chance I get. I realized that I found myself connected.:)

I got my second luck watching your show on January 23, 2007 - a day after Chris' 33rd birthday.

Lately,things have been a bit rough and stagnated in my real life. I'm worried about my father who is still battling the stroke. I feel emotionally detached to the people I love. I miss my best friend too, because I sense a strain between us. I'm also on a critical point of losing my faith in love.

Yes, Doug. I was the crazy girl in an orange shirt standing right in front of you that night. I don't expect you to remember me, but I flashed this message to you:

"MY THIRD TIME ATTENDING YOUR CONCERT. CAN I REQUEST A SONG? 'GOOD ENOUGH' OR 'WHO THE HELL AM I?' THANKS. love, RUBY ASTARI"

That was after you started the show with "Just One". Doug, you just smiled at me and said, "I'll try, but I have to convince these guys." (Speaking of that, I didn't catch your additional bass player's name. Was it Jeff? Sorry if I'm mistaken.) But then,although you didn't play any of my requests, I didn't mind. Actually, it's always hard for me to pick a favourite from all of your tracks.

The guy in a white jacket and glasses standing next to me with his girlfriend had been worried that you might not have performed "Running Away". I'd told him to keep the faith, and you guys did after "Inside of You" (which always makes me want to dance.) I loved it when you played "I Don't Think I Love You".

After hearing "What I Meant To Say" for the first time, I think I'm going to look for your acoustic album. Soon I hope. "Same Direction" and "Up and Gone" sounded very different and unique in acoustic version.

"The Letter" has always made me cry, because it is indeed a sad song and the way you sing it, Doug - it just brings tears to my eyes. So heart-wrenching. That was why I cried again when you played that. I even called out to you guys, "Man, that was sad. You made me sad!" I don't know why you sounded so surprised and said, "Sad? I'm feeling happy tonight. I didn't mean to make you sad. Why are you crying?" Man, that was quite embarrassing, because you and Dan and the audience laughed at me. I could tell that you were happy and so was I. It's just a really sad song and I'd also told you, "Because that was beautiful!"

Anyway, Doug - that meant so much to me when you pointed at me and said to everyone," Let's cheer this lady up again with our next song!" Thank you. "If I Were You" is a very inspiring track. (Also, I was happy that I'd made an extra cue before that one, hehe.) Then you guys went on with "Tears of Yesterday". I could sense that when you played "So Close, So Far", you were thinking about the people you love back home. It's a heart-warming one.

I tried hard not to cry again when you played "Unaffected". Btw, I love "Is This The Day?" When you played "My Turn", I suddenly thought about the real world and me.

Of course, we all sang along with you in "The Reason". I think you knew the guy next to me had already spotted your song list, because your crew hadn't placed it strategically that he could sneak a peek and take a picture of it. Oh, he even showed it to his girl and me. Haha, gotcha!

"Pieces" sounds kinda soft in acoustic, but that's okay. When you ended the show with "Crawling In The Dark", I'd suddenly wanted to laugh because I remembered your last concert in Jakarta when the amp suddenly blew up and Dan's electric guitar went dead in the middle of the song. Thank God nothing like that happened again last night. Dan, you seemed to be in a playful mood. You kept making funny, comical expressions to people who took pictures of you and called out to you. But I really, really loved your smile that night. I knew that I acted like a crazily ecstatic fan, but I didn't care. That was just the real me, inside and out.

Dan, sorry I was joking about you 'getting the manicure'. I knew your fingers hurt so much from playing guitar a lot for your previous show in Bali, and I was the closest to the stage to notice that you were wincing after playing each song. I hope your fingers heal soon!

I also thank God that the audience weren't the aggressive type. I guess that was why both of you - Doug and Dan - felt safe enough to come forward and shake our hands after the show, before leaving the stage. I hope you know I mean it when I shook your hands, looked up to you,smiled and said, "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Dan, even you stayed longer for the fans who were looking to get your autograph and take pictures with you. I had a chance to come up to you and asked, "Are you guys coming back soon?"

"I don't know," you said as you looked at the camera, squatting next to a smiling girl. Well, very well, then. I really do hope you guys are coming back soon.

All in all, it was a great performance. The only problem was the fact that we had to wait for over 1.5 hours for you before the show.

I feel so lucky. I thank God again that I didn't miss the announcement of your show on Facebook. I've never felt that close to you like that night too. You aren't just some snob celebrities out of reach. To me, you are truly talented musicians and such an inspiration. For that, I love you with all my heart. You have given us your great acoustic performance...and simply cheered this lady up! Thank you and hope to see you again soon. You've given me a reason to smile again. Maybe next time, you'll write another great song that can make me believe in love again. Cheers.

love,

Ruby Astari

 

 

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