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All photos brought to you by FastTrain Photos taken by Enchanted Forest Photography

"Hey, you..." spoke a soft voice from behind as a set of thin, pale hands reached out for a hug. I turned to face Gerard Way and waited for him to realize he had made a mistake and I wasn't who he thought I was but he stayed put, hugging me, and said "it's nice to see you again." The first time I met him was in 2003, backstage at the Nintendo Fusion tour in Orlando. I was so nervous, I had to wipe my palms before shaking his hand and I fumbled like an idiot, trying to connect the microphone to the minidisk recorder in order to get a "liner" from him. Their A&R rep commented to him that we were the first radio station to play them and while he didn't say much more than "cool", that was something that apparently stuck with him as well. He sat there patiently, blue on black hair as I apologized and grappled with the cord... they weren't even "that famous" yet but I was already starstruck. The next time I met them was the following year after a show they played for us at the Masquerade. We all went for sushi afterwards and I recall being very (VERY!) jealous of the fact that Shark was sitting directly across from him, hogging his attention the entire time while I strained to hear what was being said from the other end of the table. Frank didn't care for seafood so I told him "just trust me" and ordered non-fishy rolls for us both (I can't stand seafood either). Later that night, the guys found out "Screech the soon-to-be bankrupt porn star" was doing standup downstairs and wanted to meet him. I snapped a priceless photo of them together that remains posted proudly on myspace.

Fast forward nearly 3 years later and Im no longer blonde. Gerard is. But his memory is that of an elephant rather than a goldfish and he apparently recognizes me, even if he can't recall my name. I was just as nervous as ever too. I wanted to compliment him on an incredible album but couldn't think of anything that hadn't been said already so I told him it was "the album of the generation". Not the year. Not the decade. The whole damned Generation. He smiled and seemed to like the sound of that. Then someone popped up with a camera and asked for a shot of the two of us together and he's clearly more comfortable with this demand than I am because he smiled and I cringed. I was told later that photos were also taken while we were chatting, unbeknownst to me, thankfully because my knowing is the problem, always...

After he walked away, everything I wanted to say to him and to ask him became clear and I mentally kicked myself for being such a stammering geek. To be honest, I didn't see much of this NBT. I was working (and sober). Fisher and Boy covered all mainstage activity, Jesse (and Phoebe and Joel) covered 2nd stage, Shark covered all interviews. I spent most of my time running around asking other people if they needed anything or if I could be of help in any way. Sometimes it was "yes" but most of the time it was "no" and yet I couldn't bring myself to abandoning them for the seats where my family watched the show. Sure, I slipped out for a couple songs here and there but it wasn't til MyChem took the stage that I looked at my boss and said "I'm done. I'm going to the Pit!" I had been there since 8am, cranky from lack of sleep and what I felt was lack of purpose, but once I made it to the Pit, which was blissfully not a fight to the death at this venue, everything became "right". I've said that the two best shows I've ever seen were U2 and NIN in Atlanta. Not because I'm the biggest U2 fan or because NIN floors me every time I see them live but because those shows in particular were nonpareil. Shows that gave me goosebumps on top of sweaty flesh. That night, I added MCR@NBT6 to that shortlist. I had seen MCR many times live. This was just different. Bigger. Spiritual. I forced Joel to swing dance with me to "House of Wolves" (yes, I'm a bully of a lead), I choked up during "I don't love you", I jumped, clapped, and sang every word to every song along with another girl beside me, not out of competition but out of mutual love for this band. We were at a revival and MyChem was bringing the Church. I had always been a Believer but let's just say I was re-baptized the evening of December 3rd, 2006.

"JAZZHANDS!!"