Tha Knows: A Night in Ventura

The Arctic Monkeys Concert that changed everything

The day was like any other. Except it wasn't. This was the day I would finally (after three years) see my favorite band the Arctic Monkeys. The line into the Majestic Venture Theater was wrapped around the venue and I was smack in the middle of it. After waiting for what seemed like an entire day it was 8:00 and the doors opened. The line slowly moved and I recognized many people from the fandom, however the moment was too surreal for me to greet any of them. Beyond recall my ticket was scanned, my bag was checked, and I was on the floor in the pit. I was with my cousin and she spotted a gap in the front to the far left of the stage where Nick O'Malley usually played. Reality set in. I was front row an Arctic Monkeys concert. Suddenly cheers irrupted from the balcony and I saw Alex Turner.

 He was wearing a white suit with a black bow-ish tie and high-waisted fitted slacks. Matt Helders wore his Olympic tracky suit bottoms and his own band's shirt. The first song was new and blew me away. It was called "Do I Wanna Know?" and Alex played a teardrop shaped (fitting) mandolin looking instrument. About half way through the set, the white suit jacket was off, his shirt was undone and Alex's boyish charm had suddenly disappeared when he blurted into the microphone "Is that enough buttons undone?.....or maybe not enough" the crowd cheered. My dreams came true and they played so many deep tracks like "Old Yellow Bricks" and "That's Where You're Wrong". Eventually they closed with "505" and I found myself wandering around outside.
                                                  Two hours of

waiting when by and I was looking up at the room where the monkeys celebrated. Out flew from the window a white sheet of crumbled paper WHICH I CAUGHT!  To my disappointment it was not the set list. But it was some sort of schedule thing that had a wifi password on it so I feel like they all looked at it which makes it special. Regardless I was still outside waiting as the security guards bullied me for being a fangirl and the crowd of fans slowly dwindled down to about 20 people. SUDDENLY! The guards linked arms and yelled "MAKE ROOM!" to which I pushed the guards with all my strength. The first to leave was Alex Turner's girlfriend Arielle. I shouted her name and told her I loved her. She replied "Oh my gosh I love you too!" she got into her black Mercedes-Benz.                                         

                                                 Next was the

man the myth the legend Alex Turner. He rushed out and stopped for a moment at someone I couldn't see then ran passed me.  I ,again, told him I loved him, touched his shoulder, and he waved to my direction and said "Cheers", hopped in the car and drove away from my life. Matt and his fiance Breana left next. Same routine. I told them I loved them and they half acknowledged me, a worth less mardy bum. As the rest of the band exited I was too overwhelmed to really move my body and the crowed rushed away afterwards. My cousin and I walked back to our hotel at midnight. Without warning my cousin Monica held up two signed tickets, which I instantly recognized to be Alex's signature, and mumbled the words "I don't even know...". She was the person He stopped for. The only person. We got signed tickets. Upon arriving to our room we both dazed off and were mostly silent until we both fell asleep. The next few days were hard on me. My post concert depression was on an all time high. I will get over it eventually. But for now the fact that it happened to me is unbelievable.

Love and post-traumatic concert stress,

Kit