Pink in Provo: Neon Trees, Rooftop Concerts and Downtown


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When one door closes, another opens. Last week I was running around madly prepping for our 5th Year Anniversary Rooftop Concerts Show and this week I am returning to some writing projects I've been putting off for...oh...months and...oh...months.

But before I go cheat on my blog with another blog and another essay for another anthology, I want to share my experience on Friday night.

First of all, before the concert Christopher meticulously sprayed my hair neon pink. Then we drove to the Meet and Greet before the concert. The first person who saw my hair was my friend Scott. He said, "What did you do to your hair?" And I said, "You mean, I LOVE YOUR HAIR!" and he said, "BUT I DON'T KNOW IF I DO." But I did a photoshoot anyway:
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That's Fictionist.

And my sister Lucy who was supposed to be my "assistant" for the night. But mainly she just ate cheese and crackers and drooled all over her favorite band (Fictionist). In other news, I am on the look out for a new personal assistant.

There were a lot of jokes about my hair, you guys.

But then the Neon Trees came into the reception room and Tyler gave me a big hug and said,

"Courtney, I love the hair, you did it for us!"

And from that moment forth I wore that pink hair more proud than Katy Perry herself.

(Did I just type that sentence? And am I going to leave it there?)

Then we took photos with Sarah Wiley and Justin Hackworth. We called them the Founder's Photographs. Because we're the founders of the Rooftop Concert Series see?
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Isn't it cute how Sar and I are holding hands? I call her Sar.

The concert started shortly after this with the fantastic Blue Aces.
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(After the show the girls offered to babysit my kids some time. I love them.)

Then, Fictionist. For those who like intelligent rock.
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Note: they did NOT offer to babysit my kids some time. But I still love them anyway.

We had a half hour between the last two sets and so we filled it with sponsor swag and thanksgiving and a whole lot of love towards this incredible audience.
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All credit to my friend Devin Baer of Google Fiber Provo. He was the one who had the vision for this show. He also was generous with us this year as a sponsor. photo rooftopconcert-474_zps583b613b.jpg

And then, the Neon Trees came out and the crowd sorta went wild for them:
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During their encore, I got to go onstage with Mayor Curtis and present the band with keys to the city and declare October 3rd Neon Trees Day in Provo.
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By that time I had taken off my boots and was walking around on pinched, throbbing feet. Then my hair started flaking off onto my furry, John Snow yeti vest. My eye make up melted and sunk into my baggy eyes. My lipstick, a shade of a night well spent. We all congregated back into the reception room where we ate brownies and lemon squares and talked about everything.

Stu from Fictionist was riding a skate board and Carina showed up in a fabulous leather jacket. News about BYU's defeat to Utah State and Taysom Hill's broken leg were briefly mourned. Emilie Campbell told me a really funny story about pregnancy sickness and Costco chocolate muffins. My niece Morgan and her friends stopped in and made me feel like a cool aunt. The security guards on the other side of the glass doors stood by and watched.

My favorite part of the night may have been chatting with Kaneischa Johnson. She was the master planner of this whole night. She put a lot of sweat and tears into this show and it had payed off beautifully. "I have cried so many times tonight with happiness," she said to me. She totally deserved it.

And so another Rooftop Concert Series chapter comes to a close. What will happen next year? I don't know, but in the meantime, I have some essays that are begging to be written.

This is the life of a shape-shifter...
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...in pleather pants.

photo cred to: Justin Hackworth, Leah Naomi, Emilie Campbell and Sam Shultz.





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