My Sam Smith Experience

September 21, 2014. Undoubtedly the best day in my life as a Little Sailor. Not only because I got to spend the whole day with Sam, the band and the crew, but also because I got to share it with two of my best friends in person and tons of other amazing fans online, who were genuinely rooting for me.

Let’s go back to the beginning though, shall we?

I still remember buying these tickets in one of my marketing classes. This tour was announced right around the time Sam blew up so I knew I’d have to act fast. I was ready to rely on my mobile app, hoping I didn’t get caught for using my phone, when my teacher let us have a free period. I have never rushed to the computers so fast. I managed to score my ticket for the Toronto show and in less than ten minutes the show sold out. The mental excitement and preparation kicked in immediately.

Right around the time of the show, I started using my @SamSmithCA Twitter as a platform to find other fans going to the show and also to arrange a second poster project and the Life Support Jar. Two of the fans that I found were Rachael (@rachaellbarr) and Jenna (@Jenna_Barr). I had everything set and we planned to meet up in line early in the morning with a few other fans.

Come now to around noon on the day of the show. Rachael and Jenna were third in line at the Kool Haus and saved me a spot. Doors were not opening until around 7-8pm so we got comfy as could be and let excitement be our adrenaline (also the anticipation for Sam’s arrival). The first tour bus pulled in with the band guys. No one came off.

Then, the unthinkable happened. One of the venue employees came over and awkwardly, and harshly, tried to tell us the show was cancelled. We were all very skeptical so we let him pass by, especially because the tour bus didn’t move. Reuben came off the bus and we chatted for a bit but he couldn’t tell us anything. So, I sent Sam a message on Twitter...

“I'm so sorry. I have tonsillitis. I am so so so so sorry.”

This was followed up by the unfortunate official show cancellation from Sam. We were, of course, devastated but understanding. We didn’t want Sam to feel bad doing a show when he knew it wasn’t up to his standards. I messaged him back letting him know that we all understood and wished him well.

However, I still had my jar and I was determined to get it to him, now more than ever. I had a hunch for the hotel and as soon we saw the band’s bus leave, we knew it was going exactly where we wanted it to go.

In an extensive and incredibly unpredictable series of events, we ended up at the hotel and spent time hanging out with the band. While Sam was upstairs resting, Reuben was an amazing host downstairs, bringing out his guitar for a jam session, inviting us out to the band dinner and then, when we politely declined so we didn’t feel like intruders, bringing us takeout from the restaurant.

In between the jam session and dinner, I was able to get a hold of one of Sam’s tour managers and get the jar brought up to Sam. We were sitting on a ledge outside of the hotel when my phone lit up and I almost dropped it.

It started off with this Instagram post: http://instagram.com/p/tOOZ-QR2ey/?modal=true

Then, I received an influx of messages from my friends telling me Sam had just posted a picture of me on his Instagram. But, it got better...

“I'm crying. I hope you know how much I love you and all my fans. You are the reason why I'm happy again. Thank you so so much xxxx”

That was exactly the reaction I wanted and so much more. Just knowing I could bring someone who has brought me so much joy even a fraction of that same happiness was beyond gratifying.

Sam was extremely gracious, and I wish I could share that with every fan who helped make that moment happen. I could not think of an artist more deserving of that love.

Shortly after 9pm, the rain started falling and we all admittedly lost a lot of hope. I wanted to hold out so we decided to wait until 9:45pm and then head home. I let Sam know one more time how thankful we all were and how glad we were that he was taking care of himself and that he liked the present.

If you don’t mind me getting preachy for a second...of course, if you want something badly enough it will happen; the key is patience.

And so, after nine long but fun hours, around 9:31pm, we all finally got our moment - and it couldn’t have gone more perfectly.

Rachael, Jenna and I (who was charging my phone on my lap) were sitting on the floor under the cover of the parking garage next to Sam’s bus, seeking cover from the rain, when we saw the tour bus door open and Sam’s manager walk on with a humidifier. Then, Sam’s angelic presence came and peeked around the corner. It took me a second to wake myself up and I instinctively screamed, “HOLY CRAP YOU’RE REAL I LOVE YOU.” *met with laughter* I jumped up, almost falling over and smashing my phone to the ground, and brought him “in my embrace.” Oops.

The three of us spent a good five minutes with him, talking and laughing and hugging and taking pictures. I showed him the posters that were supposed to be at the show and he laughed and felt really bad. He kept one for himself. He thanked us again and told me to message him if I ever needed anything. (KING!!) We parted ways with hugs and plenty of in-person well wishes. I headed home, being the happiest and most grateful little 17-year-old on the planet.

While I was pulling out of the parking lot, Reuben and Bren were on the street jamming and I shouted out at them - they were both so happy for me and just incredible human beings.

AND SO WAS EVERYONE ELSE ON TWITTER! I was bombarded with love and fangirling and I still am, and it’s the best feeling ever. I really hope you all get to experience a moment like I did, and that’s partly why I made this site and why I continue to help deserving fans.

Please never, ever, EVER lose hope or patience. You will meet Sam, and it will be amazing.

BLBL

The day I met Sam Smith was something unbelievable. I remember on September 25, 2014 it was time for me to get up and go to school (of course). I couldn't get Sam off my mind. I couldn't get out of my mind that I was 10 minutes away from a person that meant so much to me.

Right after school my dad was going to downtown. I got my phone out and I was waiting for him to tweet something. My dad kept telling me to look out the window and see if he was there but I ignored them. When Sam tweeted, he tweeted a photo that I passed by. I felt like bursting out into tears because that was my only shot in meeting Sam.

The Sam Fam encouraged me. They told me the right time to go and I did what they said. My dad offered me one last ride and I wanted to make it right.

Around 9pm my dad and I left and we went to the Paramount Theatre. I went inside and my dad tried convincing them to let me in but they couldn't. They told me that I could wait by his tour bus. When the concert was over people came to his tour bus where I was standing, behind a gate. I remember people singing “I’m Not The Only One”, “Stay With Me” and “Latch”. I made a new friend that had a favorite song other than the three I just mentioned (thank the lord). Minutes and minutes passed by and my parents tried calling me but I didn't answer because I wasn't willing to lose my spot in the front. I honestly didn't want to let go of my dream I've dreamt of for months.

It was time and that's when Sam walked out. His smile, the way he looked at us made me star struck. He came close to me and greeted this guy first then he greeted me. I couldn't talk. What could I say? I didn't want to embarrass myself. Sam reached for my phone and tried taking the picture but he couldn't see me in the picture so he turned the flash on (I still laugh at that situation) and he took the picture. He means a lot to me.

So my sister and I arrived at the venue in Oakland around 11am and we were the 5th people in line. I knew when Sam usually arrived so my sister and I decided to split up. One of us waited by the buses while the other stayed in line. Around 12 I met up with someone from Twitter and my sister and I switched places so my new friend and I went to the bus area. There were two gates on opposite sides of the venue so we were like what the heck (it was our first time there). We decided to walk to the other side because it seemed more possible that he would enter through there. A few minutes later we were joined by some other guy who was also trying to meet Sam. He had been to this venue multiple times and had been successful in meeting every artist he came to see, so he gave us advice and told us that this was the way the artist usually arrives from. After a few minutes Broods' bus rolled in and we saw them come out (I'd rather not even get into what happened with them because uuGGHH). So now we were all (the 3 of us) super anxious and excited because we knew Sam would be coming any minute now.

At 1pm it finally happened!! So where we were standing it was a one way street and we saw Sam's bus drive past the other side of the venue, so we were all kinda low-key freaking out. Once the bus pulled into the venue the gates closed. At this moment the guy that was with us called his two friends and told them Sam was here & I texted my sister to hurry the heck up too. We were standing in front of the gate and watched as one by one each band member got out of the bus and security lead them straight into the venue. I was afraid they would tell Sam to go straight into the venue as well and I was about to start crying. Finally Sam walked out of the bus (AHH) and we waved for him to come over and he kept making these hand motions like “you want me to come over there?” It was cute. (Keep in mind it was still 3 of us at this point) He then walked over to security and asked if they could open the gate for him to come out.

Right when they opened the gate and he walked out I wasted no time and just went up and gave him the biggest hug ever. He was so cute, and then I told him who I was and he said something cute and pulled me in for another hug. We then took our picture and I asked him for another of us doing the “screaming airplane face” and he looked kinda embarrassed and was like “OH MY GOD, NOO!” and started laughing and I said “Sam, c'mon!” and he was like “that's an airplane thing, one time thing!” and then we just laughed and he started taking pictures with the other two people there. Then the two girls that the guy had called and my sister came running towards us. I went over to Sam and told him to take a picture with my sister and he was like “of course” and my sister was telling him how she ran her ass over just to meet him and she left her spot in line, but she hoped the people there would save her spot and Sam was like “I hope so too!!”. I then had him sign one of his tweets that I had printed that said, “My own mother hasn't bought my E.P - Bitch” and he was reading it first before he signed it and I asked if he remembered tweeting it and he said yeah and then just started laughing. Glorious moment.

The two other girls there had him sing some stuff and Sam asked if they were coming to the show and they said no, they were waiting for the box office to open and then King Sam added them to the guest-list because he's an angel. After talking to him for a bit, getting autographs, and video shout-outs, we all started to say goodbye and then as he was walking back in I was like WAIT and he stopped and looked at me and I started telling him that he should say “hella” during the show because everyone would go crazy (Bay Area thing). He seemed so confused, like he knew what the word meant but he didn't know people here said that word. He kept asking me all these questions like “are you serious, what?, do people really say that?” after I said yes and explained everything like a billion times he was like “okay!!” (He never said it lmao).

As we were all walking back to the line we were all like WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED??! We were all just in...nirvana. It was amazing and we all smelled like him (because he literally squeezes you so tight when he hugs you) and we just sat down on the floor reminiscing. Overall it was an incredible experience. He was SO chill. He honestly treated us like friends and talked to each of us and made sure that he took pictures and signed autographs for everyone. I'm also really glad that there was a small group of us because it felt more personal. I checked the time stamps of the time when I texted my sister that he was there to when I texted my brother that I had just met Sam and we were honestly with Sam for a little over 10 minutes. He is honestly the most humble, down to earth, cutest person ever. The show was unbelievable. I 100% cried during How Will I Know and Lay Me Down.

PS Sam stole my friends picture and posted it on Instagram while we were waiting in line and it was pretty amazing seeing someone scream “SAM SMITH JUST STOLE MY PICTURE”

I have had a few Sam experiences. Starting from the beginning...

My great grandmother had just passed away in late July. It was the first time I ever lost someone. I listened to Sam's music the day I found out. Two songs that stuck out were Lay Me Down and Nirvana. Lay Me Down was the song that helped with the grieving process. Nirvana was the song that helped with closure. On August 4th, my twin sister and I got "Take me to nirvana" tattooed. This was my first tattoo. I was always afraid of needles but I did it for the love. This lyric reminds me that my great grandmother is now in nirvana looking down on our family. A few hours after getting our tattoos, I remembered that Sam was in LA with Disclosure performing on Jimmy Kimmel. LA is only 2 hours from my house so we decided to drive up. We didn't have tickets to the performance so we were hoping to just get lucky. Then, after 30 minutes.. we did it! We met Sam!! We showed him our freshly done tattoos and he was utterly shocked and surprised. He grabbed his phone from his friend and said "pose for me girls" and took our picture of our tattoos. Then we took a picture, got a hug and a kiss on the cheek! As we were leaving, I accidentally deleted our picture together. I was devastated.

My next encounter with Sam came 3 weeks later to the day. My sister and I won tickets to see Sam perform at Red Bull Sound Space in LA.. We were first ones in line that day and were front row to the performance. He only did 4 songs but it was magical. I couldn't believe how close I was to my idol and I was hearing him sing live. I fell in love with him all over again. During his performance of Nirvana (Acoustic) he seemed to notice my tattoo of his lyric and gave me a look as though he remembered me. So in love.

Then comes his show at the Greek Theater on September 30th. My sister and I got there at 11 in the morning with assigned seats.  We waited by the bus to see him. We ended up meeting Reuben first. He gave us sodas because he was concerned we would dehydrate. He was lovely. Then, we saw Sam. He was walking into his bus. 50 minutes later he walked off the bus and he waved at my sister and I. He then did his soundcheck. Hearing his soundcheck was mind blowing. It was so intimate even though it wasn't for a crowd. Almost as if it was just for my sister and I. As we are getting ready to go into the venue, we met Brendan. He was lovely as well. The show started and I started crying. His songs make me feel things I didn't know I could feel.  This concert was the first time hearing Lay Me Down live. My sister and I were hugging and crying the entire time because of the memories and emotions associated with the song. I'm grateful that Sam has given me that moment with my sister.

We left the venue during Stay With Me and headed back to the bus area. Finally 30 minutes after he fished his song, he emerged from around the corner and came to greet his fans. He made his way down to us. I said hello and he said, "hi, how are you guys? I know you've been here since early." I told him to look at my sisters leg because she has the Little Sailor tattoo he reposted on his Instagram. He looked at it and looked back up at her and smiled and said, "Aw it's you!" My sister and I melted. Then we took a picture with him. This time I actually kept the picture. It is one of my favorite things.

There are no words to thoroughly describe how I feel about Sam Smith. He is an angel that lifts me up when I am down. I feel such a connection to his music which in turn connects me to him. No other artist or person has been able to do that. I will forever love Sam Smith. Sam Fam forever.