The Most Exciting Day of Delaney's Life

Sometime in the spring of 2006 it was announced that Keith Urban's tour would stop in Calgary. We weren't able to acquire our shared Calgary Flames seats for the show, but I was already a "Monkeyville" member, so I hit the presale with a vengeance. Sadly, the presale tickets were second tier, as were the presale tickets I got the next day at the radio presale. By the time the dust settled, I had 3 sets of 2 tickets, 4 tickets for Tuesday night and 2 tickets for Wednesday night, and none of them were great seats. However, I had a plan.

There was a Ticketmaster auction offering 2 front row tickets and a "Backstage Experience" with Keith. My husband and I knew that that would be the highlight of Delaney's life. So, we began bidding. Some 7 days later, and a significant chunk of change, we were declared the "winners." Bob and I agreed that we could NOT tell Delaney about the news or she would harrass us Delaney for the next six months.

In the meantime, I started sorting out recipients for the remaining 6 tickets. I would attend with my girlfriend and my girlfriend's daughter would attend with Delaney's sister, and I donated 2 tickets to a charity auction.

When we won the auction, I had emailed Ticketmaster to request a 3rd backstage pass so I could watch Delaney's excitement as she met her hero, Keith. I never heard a word, nor did I have any communication with Ticketmaster regarding the times or the when and how of the meet and greet.

In June, tragedy struck, and my 40 something girlfriend died, suddenly and expectedly while getting ready for work. I was devastated. I couldn't imagine attending the concert without her, and offered my tickets to a friend in Edmonton.

As the show date neared, and I still had no details of the meet and greet, I contacted local radio mega-talent and super nice guy, Doug Veronelly, who promised he was ask around for details, and I continued to call Ticketmaster. Finally, on the day of the show, I got confirmation that our tickets and three, that's right THREE backstage passes would be held for us at willcall.

I couldnt' wait to watch Delaney's reaction to meeting Keith, but there I was, with no ticket to the show. However, the wonderful staff at Ticketmaster found me a single seat, about 6 rows up, where not only did I get an amazing view of Keith, I could also very clearly see Bob and all of Delaney's reactions during the show.

Because it's difficult for Delaney to wait for long periods of time, I decided that I would go early and pick up the tickets and wait for her to arrive, closer to event time, with Bob. We sat and chatted as we waited for the show, of course she still has no idea about the meet and greet. About 20 minutes before the rendezvous I spotted Doug Veronelly. I hadn't met him before, but I wanted to thank him for all his kindness in helping me track down our meet and greet details.

"Come on, Delaney, let's go meet Doug Veronelly from Country 105."

I introduced myself, and Delaney and Veronelly smiled and said "and you must be Delaney, and you get to meet Keith Urban." Of course, this was the first she had heard of this surprise. For a moment, she was speechless, and then she thanked him profusely for the opportunity. Smiling, he gently told her it was her mom and dad who had arranged this wonderful treat.

Then we were whisked off to our audience with Keith.