The MMVA Weekend

I Gotta Feeling – Black Eyed Peas

I gotta feeling, that tonight’s gonna be a good night…. that tonight’s gonna be a good night…that tonight’s gonna be a good, good night…Friday, Saturday, Saturday to Sunday. Party every day, P-p-p party every day.

This feel good song and latest single by The Black Eyed Peas was similar to how I felt over the past weekend. The weekend I would like to call “MMVA Weekend”.

Starting off with my desire to go see Lady GaGa for a second time at her surprise show in Toronto, it ended up being a party weekend that included all nighters, after parties, friend hangouts, celebrity meets and much more. Starting on Friday and leading right to the end of Sunday and the early hours of Monday, it was definitely a party every day.

To make it a readable blog, I’ve divided the blog up chronologically to go day-by-day in the epic weekend adventure.

Day 1: Ottawa to Toronto, Friend Hangout, Lady GaGa Concert + After Party Friday, June 19th, 2009

An early start or maybe a late end was how my Friday began. Because of my excitement for the coming weekend, I did not sleep Thursday night, and left my home around 4:30am on Friday to catch the 5:45am train to Toronto. I arrived in Toronto around 10:30am with opening arms from a good friend of mine. We spent most of the day hanging out in Toronto that encompassed going to Centre Island, to having bubble tea and watching the construction of the MMVA stages. It was an overall fun time with some little complications but nonetheless fun.

After saying bye to my friend I ran down to the Guvernment Kool Haus. The Guvernment Kool Haus was the location of the Lady GaGa concert. I had VIP tickets that entitled me to a pre-party with GaGa (changed to an after party), early entrance to get VIP seating and private bar access; the latter which didn’t mean anything to me. Regardless of having early entrance, I was so excited to see her again that I couldn’t help but run. Upon reaching the venue, the line outside the venue was over a block long. I dashed to the front and was directed to the VIP long that was about 10 fans long. At that point, I also saw another friend of mine who was almost at the front of the regular line; it was she who told me about the surprise show. We texted back and forth while waiting and I found out she waited all day in line and had developed a burn because of. After about 15 minutes of waiting, an attendant came out and explained the VIP procedures. Parallel to the e-mail the VIP ticketholders received, the attendant reasserted how the pre-party was cancelled because of scheduling conflicts and that we can either get a refund, or get exclusive entrance to GaGa’s hosted MMVA pre-party after the concert (this also served as the concert’s after party) at Ultra Supper Club. I was definitely up for going to Ultra especially after my great experience I had last time I was there. After their explanation, they gave everyone who chose attending the after party option a wristband that gave VIP access. Shortly after, we were let in.

As soon as I was let in, I quickly got merchandise (just a GaGa thunderbolt necklace) and head to floor. Upon reaching the floor, I head to the centre and was pretty much front row. This got me so pumped because last time I saw GaGa, my only complaint was my seating (near the back of the auditorium) so this time I was so excited and energized to see the show again; full throttle. The venue slowly filled up and the anticipation began. Everyone was crazy waiting. After about two hours of waiting and listening to a DJ play the same songs over again, people fingering the stage because GaGa wasn’t on, and meeting a friend, GaGa finally took her throne; the stage.

The show’s was pretty much identical to the one seen in Ottawa, so I’ll save on that song by song detail, however the front row experience was just so much more incredible. Seeing her that close and signing back all of her songs was just an experience of its own. GaGa seems to make every one of her shows unique and once again she did the job. She mentioned how this was her final show of her “Fame Ball Tour” and the final time she’d be performing at intimate venues like this. She also mentioned about her coming back for her Kanye West & Lady GaGa tour and performed a piano version of Heartless. After the show ended, she did her normal encores while saying “you didn’t think I’d leave without singing Poker Face did you?” The show ended with a bang, everyone was happy and it seemed as if GaGa’s performance compensated for her tardiness.

The show was over and it was on to the after party at Ultra. The friend I made at the show was nice enough to give me a ride to the club and we chilled there as well. GaGa, again, showed up to the party quite a few hours late but when she did arrive, the club went bananas. Just Dance’s chorus played over and over and everyone went crazy. The security was strict. The fans were wild. GaGa was…well, GaGa. While waiting for everything around GaGa to settle, we were downstairs at the entrance of the club where Nickelback’s front man Chad Kroeger arrived and took pictures with some of the fans. He bumped into me while heading up the stairs and apologized for the bump. Damn! What an experience that was on its own!

We head back upstairs and waited at the barricade for GaGa. Security wouldn’t let any of the fans into GaGa’s booth so the fans retaliated when GaGa told the security to tell the fans she would stop for pictures and talking before she left. This made everyone, including myself, really happy as it was only a matter of time. The clock ticked and shortly after GaGa finally came to interact with the fans! Words cannot describe how dedicated she is to her fans and how much she cares. She didn’t just quickly say hi and leave, she took the time to sign autographs, take pictures, and meet all her fans! Waiting patiently I finally screamed out,

“GaGa we have the same birthday!”

She came up to me and said, “You do?!?!”

I replied, “March 28th, yup!”

“WOW,” she said.

“Can you sign this,” I asked as I gave her my Paparazzi CD-Single.

Many people were around so she took it and while interacting with others forgot to sign it and gave it back to me. I held it and waited.

“I came all the way from Ottawa to see you and your show today,” I exclaimed.

Admiringly she replied, “Wow thank you! Did you like it?”

“I loved it!”

“I’m glad,” she said, very appreciative.

“Can I get a picture,” I asked.

She nodded and posed while I asked someone to take my picture with her. She made the sexiest face and I was just stunned and happy to get a picture with one of my favourite singers! She started mingling with other fans and came back to my side as I asked her once again to sign my single and make it out to “Khizer”. I gave her my marker and spelled out my name as she personalised my CD. Then again, I took out my camera and took another picture with her, this time “MySpace” style. Those few minutes I had with her were incredible, fantastic, psychotic, sick, and hypnotic!

The friend that I had asked to take my picture got an opportunity to take a picture with her as well and I returned the favour. He was lucky enough to get two pictures with her as well, and get his sunglasses signed! After we both got our VIP GaGa treatment, we started making our way out of the club. We exchanged e-mails and everything and finally he asked me if I needed a ride somewhere and already grateful for everything, I denied the offer and said thank you.
The truth was, I was supposed to head to an all night party in Ancaster with my friends, but the last bus had already left Toronto and I wasn’t going to make him drive 1 hour out of his way to drop me. Instead, I spent the night in Toronto as a very happy hobo at a 24 hour Tim Horton’s. Oh how I love Canada for being home to the greatest coffee shop in the world.

Day 2: Toronto to Ancaster, Visiting Friends. Saturday, June 20th, 2009

Like Friday, it was another early start. I took the first train that left from Toronto and went to Aldershot. Because of my fatigue over the last two nights, I fell asleep on the train and didn’t wake up till about 25 minutes after the train arrived. MY BAD! As a result, I had missed the connecting bus to Hamilton GO, and had to wait 25 minutes for the next bus. It was all good. It was pretty early in the morning still that I wasn’t in a rush to get anywhere.

About 45 minutes later I arrived in downtown Hamilton. I still had a way to go to get to Ancaster. I went to Central Library and “freshened up” while texting friends to make plans for the day. Around noon I finally had some plans made and took the bus to a transfer point where I met my good friend. I’ve been friends with her since grade 8, and she’s been my longest friend in Ancaster! She picked me up with another one of my friends and we went for lunch at Jack Astor’s. A favourite of mine! After that we went for an adventure just like old times! It was a lot of fun and it made me reminisce about all my memories in Ancaster.

The reminiscing continued after my friend went to work and had to leave me for a while. In the meantime, I walked around the city dropping by different locations and meeting friends. I saw my “intellectual lover” at her work place and also dropped by my “frenemy’s” place. I saw my close neighbour before finally making plans with another good friend of mine for the evening. He’s always really open to hanging out and always opens his doors for me to stay at his place overnight when I come to Ancaster. I took in the offer and we had a party with some other friends that night. We had a great time and it felt just like our high school days! It was a lot of fun and definitely added to the epicness of the weekend.

Ancaster is the one place I can go where I’ll always be happy. Even if there’s no one to hangout with and even if I have no house there; it always is and always will be my true home.

Day 3: Ancaster to Toronto, hangout with friends, MMVAs + MMVA After Party Sunday, June 21st, 2009

Sunday wasn’t an early start…at all! My friend and I had both slept in and instead of getting breakfast, we went for a “Father’s day brunch” at Jack Astor’s. I know it was twice in two days, but the restaurant isn’t as common in Ottawa so since I moved, it’s a rare treat! The restaurant was walking distance from his house and it was a beautiful day so, we had walked there and back. On the way back we bumped into one of my old friends from Grade 11. She actually saw us walking, stopped her car and made the effort to come say hi and then give us a ride back. We were really close friends in grade 11 but slowly distanced for unknown reasons in grade 12 and ever since, so it was really refreshing to see her again!

After getting back to my friend’s place, I started getting ready to go to the MMVAs! It was my first live MMVAs. I had never gone before because it had always interfered with my school and exam schedule. This year, although I did have an exam the day after, I made it a mission to go! As soon as I got ready I dashed out the door. I had to take the bus to the station which would take me about an hour so I needed to hurry. While walking to the bus stop I saw my former Communications Technology teacher’s car at her workplace and hopped in to ask her if she could possibly give me a ride to the station. She said she’d be getting off work in 10 minutes and then she’d be glad to give me a ride! I was thankful to having such awesome teachers and people in my life.

While waiting, I called my dad and wished him Happy Father’s Day. I had to be really sneaky as he had no idea I was in Ancaster, or Toronto period. I was supposed to be in Ottawa…or so he thought. It was finally time to leave and I made it to the station just in time to catch the bus to Toronto. It was a packed bus and it was rush hour. Not really a good combination.

After reaching Toronto, I got my luggage checked by VIA and as a result had to get my train moved 2 hours since the luggage checked opened at 9 and my original train was at 7. It was worth it since it would be such a hassle carrying everything around at the MMVAs. After getting everything figured out, I finally walked down the streets of Toronto to the MMVAs. I met up with a friend that I met on my Summer Exchange program to Quebec in 2006 and we found a spot to stand to watch the red carpet show and the see performances at the main stages.
We made it half way through the red carpet show and were able to see many celebrities arrive the streets of Toronto in their own special way. Girlicious, Black Eyed Peas, Drake, Marianas Trench, and Billy Talent were all among the many stars that were in attendance at the MMVAs. The most shocking red carpet experience was by Aaron Carter who wasn’t advertised as coming and hadn’t really been doing anything “special” to come. I mean that in the nicest way possible. As the red carpet show was about to end, my friend and I started moving closer to the main stage. Eventually when we could move no further, we stopped and were about half way to the front of the stage. We had our cameras out and were ready to party. All we had to do was wait.
The show was going on air live so it started on time! The Jonas Brothers opened the show and it was incredible. Being a pretty big fan of their music, I was really excited to see their performance. They opened up with Burning Up which was a great start to the show and set the stage for a series of amazing performances by many other artists. The rest of the night was documented with Facebook Status Updates! We saw great performances by the Black Eyed Peas, Billy Talent, Kelly Clarkson, and most exciting, Lady GaGa! Her performance topped the MMVAs and was definitely worth seeing live on the streets. As mentioned before, she always adds something unique to her performance and at the MMVAs she performed a remix of Love Game / Poker Face that she created just for the MMVAs! Every performance was amazing and the fact that everything was performed live on the streets of Toronto was just brilliant. Tim Deegan from MuchMusic once said that there’s no need for wristbands because seeing it from the streets is very cool itself. He was very right and it was definitely an unforgettable experience.

After the show, my friend and I head to Ultra where the official after party was being held. We arrived as soon as many of the celebs were going in. We were right in front of Brody Jenner when he got out of his limo, and I was able to grab her hand. My friend and I waited for a bit, and eventually she thought it was best if she went home. I dropped her off and at first, I was going to head back home as well, but I thought I would spend another night out and head back to Ultra. To my surprise, there were still many celebs who had yet to arrive and by this time the rush had died down, so I was able to position myself right at the barricade for the red carpet! I saw the Black Eyed Peas walk in and Tabook said “what up” to me. After they went in, the PR for Ultra started signalling other artists/ bands to come in. Here is a list of the celebrities I saw walk in and had conversations with!

Reggie Bush and Kim Kardashian – Saw them walk the red carpet

Marianas Trench – Saw them walk the red carpet

Robin Antin – She walked in with Girlicious. I asked her to come take a picture and she did. I then told her I loved her, and of course she said she loved me too. As she walked back to the red carpet, I told her to bring the Paradiso Girls (an upcoming all girl group she created) to Canada and she happily said “YEAHHH! PATRON TEQUILA!” I shouted out back, “It’s a GREAT song,” as she did more red carpet poses.

Girlicious – Right after, I called Chrystina from Girlicious and asked her to take a picture with me as well. She did and again, I said I love you so much, and she replied with “I love you too handsome”. Dang!

Tila Tequila – Saw her walk in. She was a total bitch going in and didn’t take pictures with anyone.

Lights – She came in and was posing for the red carpet when I called her up and asked to take a picture with her.

After that other bands went in. They were expecting the newly formed band Stereos as well as Taylor Lautner to come, however they didn’t show up. I was surprised I didn’t see Aaron Carter! The party was rocking and from outside you could hear them playing Black Eyed Peas’ latest album, The E.N.D. Celebrities slowly started leaving the club. Karl Wolf, Marianas Trench and many others were leaving in their limos and taxis. I bumped into Sarah Taylor as she left and told her she’s my favourite VJ. I asked her how the after party was and who her favourite was and she didn’t even have to think to say “GaGa!!!” I also saw Video On Trial Juror Trevor Boris leave the party totally wasted. Another interesting leave was by Tila Tequila. She demanded that they open the barricade for her instead of her walking through the designated exit. I asked her if she could take a picture and she agreed, but instead just walked away. This gave me even more reason to dislike her. Finally I saw who I thought was a character from Twilight come out with her friend and asked her, “Aren’t you from Twilight?”

“Yeahhh!” she replied.

“Can I take a picture with you?” I asked.

“Sure!” she replied as she finished sending a text and posed for a picture.

A character that was so evil in the film was so nice in person. It was then that the party slowly began to end and all I really waited for was the Black Eyed Peas to come out. I overheard the security guard say that they will take them out through the back so I rushed to the back only to be overtaken by security. Unfortunately the security ruined my chances of a picture with them or a proper meet. It would have been a bigger disappointment, but I was fortunate enough to meet so many celebs on the red carpet and have a great weekend that I didn’t complain.

It was déjà vu once again as I head to the same 24 hour Tim Horton’s as a very happy hobo. It was an extremely long weekend and it was good to sit down and rest.

Day 4: Toronto to Ottawa, journey home and final exam Monday, June 22nd, 2009

This day concluded my epic weekend. The Via Rail station was minutes from the Tim Horton’s so I walked there and picked up my luggage. I then got onto the train and slept for almost the entire ride home. After getting home I had to run to my Psychology exam, before finally getting home.

Overall, the MMVA weekend was a fun filled, sneaky, epic, and adventurous weekend. I was surprised at how I was able to pull everything off and was so thankful for the many memories and experiences I had. I definitely look forward to the MMVAs next year and see what kind of adventure that brings!