THE CRANBERRIES IN CONCERT Septiembre 16th. Los Angeles, CA 19998th Sept. 1999I´m restless.....I already have the answers from the trivia and in just a few minutes we´ll be able to send the faxes to Central 4, hence the date for doing it is the September 9th.The Trivia is quite easy, you have to identify 5 phrases that belong tp diffrent Cranberries songs....The answers are (not in order): Animal Instinct, Linger, Ode to my Family, Promises and Salvation. It´s time.....the winners will be faxes #4 and #44, the winning price: a double trip to the Concert at "Universal Amphitheatre" in Los Angeles, California. Together wiht my friend, we´ve sent aproximately 50 faxes, so there´s nothing more to do.... just wait the results and if we´re lucky, a phone call telling us we´re the winners. On Thursday 9th, around 5:30 pm, the phone rings and I answer.......On the other side a voice says: May I speak with Rosa Aurora Martinez please? (yes, it´s me, better known as Angie), my legs begin to shake, and when she says...I´m speaking from Central 4, do you know why?......well you can imagine.....I had to sit down! I inmidiatly answered: for the Cranberries contest???.....At that point I didn´t know if I had won a Cd, a poster or what....but she said....yes.....I have the honor of telling you that you´ve won a trip to the concert!!!!!!..... I won´t make it longer....with my broken voice because of the emotion, I agreed with her to send her the data of the two person that would made the trip and send her a fax with the visas and passports. On the folowing day they´ve called me again and tell me that we were not only to assist to the show, but the record company had made arrangements for a "meet and greet" with the band after the show...Wowowowowowowow!!!.....from that moment, I plan and seek all my mags, papers and album artcovers so that they (the berries) can autograph them. The day I´ve been waiting has arrived: 15th. September 1999. The meeting is at the Benito Juarez International Airport from Mexico City at 6:00 am, because the flight departure is at 7:30 am.Ironically, that day we celebrate the Mexican Independence day....and that was the contest motiv "Vete a dar el grito con Cranberries...(here we say "dar el grito" to the independence celebration ceremony). Once at the hotel, we meet the Universal responsable on LA. He tell us, that we have a free day and a meeting on next day directly at the Amphiteatre one hour before the concert, ther we will get the tickets and the backstage passes 8) 
16th September 1999: The ConcertThe day of the concert has arrived!!....because we are invited by a TV Station and a record company our escort from "Central 4" carries a video camera and instructions to film us in the city, at the concert entrance and on backstage... so (being myself a proffesional photografer), I take advantage of the situation and I ask him to pass my photo camera as part of his equipment so that I will have photos from such magnificent event and he accepts the idea 8DBefore entering the concert room, there is a full impressing marketing machinery.Because the tour is sponsored by Ford Mustang, there is a stand where you can take a pic with a new mustang and later download it from the Internet...there is a tent where you can have free temporal tatoos, and because the designs are really cool, there´s too much crowd, so I couldn´t get my tatoo 8( There´s also a Universal stand, whre they sell official T-Shirts, some tour sets that include 2 singles, a book with data and wonderfull pics and a guide with Cranberries trivia. Now, we are in the concert room. We are not at first row, but becuase this Amphiteathre has a section without chairs or seats in the front section, this is good, because we are at numbered 5th row of the numbered section 8) There they tell us that the contest took place in 3 diffrent world places: Taiwan (where the winner was an american that anounced on radio that he would like to institucionalise the official "Cranberries Day"), France (where the winning couple didn´t tell us what did they have to do in order to win, because they weren´t much comunicative), and we (the only country with to winners, with a total of 4 winners), and we all were to take part on the backstage 8) The concert was really good, though the sound in Mexico was better (they´ve told us they were dealing with new technisians and sound engineer for the year 2000. The gig was opened by "Collective Soul", but they had serious sound failures, so the concert was delayed for more than a half hour (the problem was discovered once the concert has started). They (the cranberries) sang practically all the "Bury the Hatchet" album, plus the hits Linger, Ode to my Family , Zombie , Salvation.... one of the most impressing tunes was "Dying in the Sun", where they put on her ( Dolores ) a big light with sun shape (Nearly 25 yellow lights) and her piano.... Fergal Mike and Noel are sitting on the floor on the stage while she sings, and the effect is really shocking. But the big absent was Daffodil Lament 8( The concert ends with Dreams , wich they sing 2 times!!!..... The stage is empty in about 5 minutes, and we are conducted behind the stage to a very big outdoors place where there are snaks and drinks. Of course I couldn´t eat or drink anything because of my nerves!!.. The BackstageAfter about 25 minutes, the Universal contact clicks our VIP passes wich have the country initials from the wining countrys and they take us to another place, a stand room where there is a buffet and a bar. There were other persons with VIP passes, (but they were not contest winners), and they have to leave and soon we are the only persons on this room.The wait is quite long, aproximadetly 3 hours and is a lil cold, but nothing else matters....we are patient. In the meanwhile, Alex (the man responsable from the channel station who took us) is setting the digital video camera to film the event, and I off course mine... there they tell us we will have a lil more time than the other countrys, becuase the record company is very interested on having it taped on video because there will be a special airing with " The Cranberries " in Mexico 8)
We continue talking, and when I ask about her baby, her face lights on and begins to talk about how happy she is for being a mother. Afterwards I ask her if they will be in Mexico soon and she tells me YESSSSSS, but it will not be possible until March (2000), because both Fergal and Noel will be fathers and they want to suspend the tour so that both can be with their families. I congratulate her for such news, and my friend ask us that we stand together for a photo. Of course I´m ready and Dolores has also no problem. Then I see Fergal coming out..... and of course I launch myself there!!!..
So the contact from Universal says that time´s out and is the for the Taiwan couple of winners...but without any doubt, be form for a last group pic. Unfortunately, Noel as soon as he came out, he came in again ( he only gave time for signing 3 of my album covers, but no to talk with him... and that´s becuase my friend tooked him by surprise and put the covers in front of him without any exit je je je). On the group photo, there we are the events director from Universal in LA (wich is not the same guy who made all the arrangements) a friend from him... My friend Xóchitl (light brown jacket), me (black waistcoast and blue shirt) and the other two (mexico) winners...ah, and I gues Dolores and Mike are also in between ji ji ji 
That´s the last thing we are alowed to do....and Dolores manages to film a short clip: Hy Central 4, I´m Dolores from the Cranberries......... They kiss us goodbye, and the dream ends..... we are again simple mortals, but a veryyyyyyy lucky and happy ones!!!!! 8) That´s all about the contest and trip from "Ve a dar el grito con the Cranberries en LA" that was organized by Central 4 here in Mexico.....thanx for your patience and atention.... Angie dtrekker@compaq.net.mx |
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