So here i was in New york, prepping myself for the drive to Boston to be a the Millenium Campus Conference, and to attend Brad’s concert in the Rozy Theater. And i receive a mail from ourstage.com stating that i was the happy winner of a backstage pass to the concert. At first i thought it was a prank or you know a tease. Yeah i’m a winner if i do this or that etc .. But the more i read about it, the more it sounded legit, and then my brain kinda froze for a second and then exploded in joy .. WOW ! I’m gonna meet braddigan ! No way !!

So, believe me the drive from NYC to Boston could have been boring under other circumstances but i was so excited, that it went very fast ! Listening to Braddigan and other compatriots (Barefoot truth, pete francis, Dispatch ) along the way, i enjoyed that trip but not as much as i would enjoy the next day and the concert!

I arrived at the roxy theater a tad late, everybody was already there, shame on me ! Hopefully, Braddigan was still sound checking, so i didn’t cause any trouble. I met the ourstage team (scott, quinn, alyssa…) Very cool guys (and girl :) ), and the other winner of the contest, Lori.

We were briefed on how it was gonna work. and then brad arrived and greeted us. But it was too early, we had to do it all over again cause the cameras weren’t rollin’ when we said hello :) So we had to pretend that we had never met..

At first, i thought we were just gonna meet him and that would be it, but we ended up talking to him for almost an hour and a half. He talked to us about his experience in Nicaragua and costa rica, showed us pictures of his stay there, and of the concerts he’s been organizing for the people living in the dump.. He told us how he met ileana, the 13 year old kid living there who changed him profoundly. His speech was inspiring, and most important, it sounded genuine !

You always fear that someone you respect a lot but have never personnaly met will disappoint you once out of the spotlight, and the added charisma of the scene. But Brad didn’t disappoint me at all, on the contrary, i have now even more respect for him than i did before.

After the interview, we’ve attended the sound check which was awesome and the concert ! It was not a room full of people, but it was dedicated fans that knew the words and were there listening to the music with respect. I had a blast !

His version of fallin’ that night was amazin’ with a drum solo by Jesus that was really nice, and i loved Ileana. It was intense. I almost think that he wiped a tear off his cheek at the end of the song. I can’t be sure, and probably will never know but …

I then had a great night with the guys from ourstage, having drinks and talking about music, food and wine .. Thanks again you guys, and i’ll see you soon in Boston !

Long live Braddigan ! And check out what’s happening in Zimbabwe !

/marc