Retro Report - Jensen and Jason's Jam Session - LACon 2011

Photo credit - sweetondean: Jensen Ackles Vegascon 2013

In 2011 I did my first Creation convention. It was the first time I met Jensen and Jared and somehow, it changed everything.

I can't even express how excited I was about meeting the Js, especially Jensen. Man, I was excited about meeting Jensen. I had decided I wanted to do his meet and greet so I bid - and lost... by $1. My heart broke into a thousand pieces. 

But luck and the convention Gods were on my side, when a special event was announced... Jensen was going to do a jam session with his friend Jason Manns. He'd never done anything like this before. It was going to be him and Jason and just 40 fans. It was going to be a 45 minute informal jam. 

I had to go. 

If I'd won the meet and greet, I could never have bid on the jam session, so it was kismet in someway that I missed out on Jensen's meet and greet, because on Sunday February 13 at 5.00pm, I found myself sitting in a small room awaiting Jensen and Jason and their guitars.

A few days after the event, I managed to put my feelings, my overwhelming feelings in to words. I was still on holidays, I was at San Diego Zoo, it started to rain, so I went to the coffee shop with a hastily bought giraffe shaped notebook and wrote.

This is my report. I know many have read it already, but many haven't. It's a report that I've read back over and over, because I am still blown away by the fact that I got to experience this. I still remember it so clearly, the feeling in the room, my feelings, the rush of emotion, Jensen's awkward nervousness, the laughter and the tears. It was something I will never, ever forget. It was probably the best thing I've ever done. 

Be warned, my report is a bit on the gushy side! Remember, this was only a few days later, after my first convention, after my first meeting with Jensen, where he exceeded any and all of my fangirl expectations with his grace and sweet nature.

So here it is - a look back...nearly 3 years now (and 6 Creation cons later), to the day my world somehow changed and to Jensen and Jason's Jam Session.

~~~

First things first, this may get quite personal also, I don’t think I’ll be able to capture the raw emotion that I felt throughout this jam session with Jensen and Jason Manns, no way and I can’t give a blow by blow account with song lists and what-not, the only thing I can do is try to explain just how wonderful this experience was, I’ll try…..here goes.

So after a FANTASTIC day snuggling and cuddling Jensen and Jared I just had the jam session left. I felt so lucky. I was one of the 30 people who won a ticket in the auction. Creation sold another 10 tickets at the convention, less than I was expecting, so the audience was only going to be 40 people. 40 people, Jensen and Jason.

I was also lucky that Hazel, who I had shared a couple of fun photo ops with, had a ticket to the jam session too. It was due to kick off at 5, so we went back to our rooms to get rid of our bags, cameras and phones as requested and then came back downstairs about 4.30 to wait. There were already a few people queued up so we fell in line out in the hall and wondered how the seats would be allocated. A couple of Creation representatives turned up and explained that the seats would be allocated via a lucky dip draw because we’d all paid the same amount and this seemed like the fairest way. On one hand Hazel and I agreed that this was a great way to do it but on the other hand we were kind of bummed out because we really wanted to sit together.

So I went up and pulled my seat number and it was 22, not bad I thought, then Hazel pulled her seat number and she pulled 21! We couldn’t believe it! It just seemed to be the perfect way to round off a perfect day. It was kismet.

We were ushered into this TINY room with 4 rows of chairs, which were quickly squished into 3 rows by Gary from Creation. Hazel and I were in the 2nd row pretty close to the centre. Now, for some people the way the setup laid out was not satisfactory. There was a little bit of bitching and griping about the fact that the guys were just going to sit on seats in front of us, not on a raised stage, people were complaining they wouldn’t be able to see them even before they sat down, they were saying for the money we paid blah blah blah….whatever people, seriously I couldn’t understand it! We were less than 2 metres from where they would be sitting, this was a jam session, a jam session not a concert and the first time Jensen had ever done anything like this, is that not special enough for ya? I was baffled. I felt so blessed, so blessed to be there, to be one of 40 people to experience this special moment, no-one’s moaning was going to spoil my glow that’s for sure.

Jensen and Jason came into the room all smiles and carrying their guitars. Jensen had changed out of his much fondled dark shirt into a pale blue one, he was also sporting a grey beanie and big glass of whiskey, both of which he joked were his attempt to look like a musician!

He was very nervous, very. He couldn’t believe the level of interest in hearing him sing. He was equal parts touched and surprised. He rang Jason in a panic when he saw how high the bidding was going. They both decided they better get together and practice a bit, work out a set but then they realised what they promised was a jam session, not a concert, it was supposed to be casual and impromptu, it was supposed to be two mates singing together like they do when they’re just hanging out so that’s what we got and by God it was wonderful.

I’m never going to be able to express to anyone who wasn’t there what the emotion in that room was like.

Jensen started with one of his favourites songs. Now we all know he can sing right? Wrong…the man can SING. His voice is just amazing! He has a seriously, seriously lovely voice. When he started singing that first song I found that I was gripping onto Hazel’s leg for dear life and she was holding onto me! We basically hung on to each other throughout the whole thing. Jensen had shifted his chair and we were right in his line of sight, we were literally looking right at him. As he looked skyward, closed his eyes and let it rip the emotion of the day and what I was now experiencing threatened to overwhelm me. A lump formed in my throat, my eyes filled and my breathing got pretty damn shaky and that is how I stayed throughout the whole thing, right on the verge, it was just that wonderful. Every so often an errant single tear would drip down my cheek and I’d quickly try to whisk it away without him seeing, just what he needs right? I’m pretty sure he caught me a couple of times, but I just felt so lucky, so very lucky to be sharing this with him and Jason.

There were lots of flubs, from both of them. Jensen blushed a couple of times, big red blushes bless him but we encouraged him on. Every time he made a mistake he gave himself away with laughter or a funny face, he’s so adorable. Many verses were mixed up, words inexplicably forgotten, parts of songs sung over again until the words came to him. Even Jason got struck with a case of the wobbles; Jensen said it was because the anxiety was coming off him in waves.

Jensen told stories about the music he loves, about how he first learnt to play on his dad’s guitar, which he now owns, about how he first met Jason and about how sometimes when he’s listening to music he gets very lonely, up there in Vancouver all by himself in his trailer. He spoke about how the other men on the crew often talk about their wives and girlfriends but Jensen says, “None are as fine as mine.”

Jensen and Jason shared a lot of the singing, but Jason tended to sit back and let Jensen take centre stage most of the time, much to Jason’s amusement and Jensen’s embarrassment. When they sung Hallelujah Jensen took a verse as Jason very quietly strummed. It was breathtaking, in fact the room was so still and silent I wondered if any us were actually breathing at all, all I could hear was the occasional sniffle and not just from me. It was so magical I got goosebumps all over and those errant single tears got a bit more flowy.

As his nerves started to settle Jensen’s voice got stronger and stronger, I kid you not, his voice is stunning.

Ok, I’m not capturing this.

This jam session felt like a very personal experience. It was so intimate, the stories, the blushing, the joking and the laughs. The songs he chose to sing, the way he sung them and what they meant to him. I got to experience something that will never happen again, because this was a first and even if Jensen and Jason decide to do a gig together at a future con it will never be the same, because it will never be like this. I doubt it would ever be so small, so unrehearsed, so raw or so beautiful.

My heart broke a thousand times over as I watched Jensen sing. The energy he gives out, his obvious beautiful spirit and gracious nature, the kindness and gentleness, all the things I'd experienced during the day seemed to pour out of him and fill the room and fill our hearts over and over. My happiness in this single moment was so acute I could barely speak! As Hazel and I clung to each other we both fought back tears and I just kept whispering “oh God” because the whole thing was so special. It felt so special to be there. It was a truly sublime moment.

At some point Jensen asked how long they had to go but they had already gone longer than promised. Our 45 minute jam session came in around 1 hr 15. I could have watched him and listened to him for hours, to both of them, because Jensen and Jason sound incredible together!

When Clif and Adam from Creation finally pulled the plug, Jensen tried to explain to us what we all mean to him, both individually and collectively. With his hand on his heart he thanked us for all the support we give him, thanked us for being a part of this and for allowing him to be a part of us. It was genuine and heartfelt and he looked like he was struggling to get it out without choking up.

That right there was the end of me. After they had left, Hazel, myself and another friend Terri all huddled in the vendor’s room and hugged each other sobbing. We weren’t the only ones though, there were plenty of teary moments and everyone who attended was totally blown away.

I know you may all think I sound crazytown but this is how raw and perfect the experience was for me. Sure, I’m a fangirl but I appreciate talent, I appreciate good people, people who are raised well, who are polite and generous natured. These things are rare. To say that the jam session topped off a day filled with perfection is an understatement!

I’m so lucky, this man who, let’s just say I respect so much, lived up to and exceeded every expectation I had of him. I totally get it, I totally get why all his cast mates past and present adore him, I totally get why everyone who works with him have only nice things to say, that his friends sing his praises, I totally get it, because in meeting him and in being lucky enough to experience him so unguarded as he told us stories and sang, I was offered a tiny glimpse of his spirit and it was so very beautiful.

I’m so lucky. I will cherish this day for the rest of my life.

Well that’s it…that’s the best I can do. I hope it gives you just the tiniest insight into this very special event. 

As always, thanks for reading.

Postscript: I sent a message to Jason to thank him and I got a lovely message back.

~~~

Of course, Jensen did do one more jam, this time with Steve Carlson, but this, this was his first and I was there. 

When I read this report it brings the memories flooding back of how moved I was by the whole weekend and by my first convention with Jensen and Jared. And as I start preparing for Vegascon 2014, which will be my 7th Creation convention, I realise nothing has changed. I still get this excited, I still get totally overwhelmed, I still get nervous and gushy and weird and I still want to jump up and down and clap my hands! The only difference now is, that these days I know so many people at the conventions that I'm not doing any of it alone!

At Dallascon this year, I ran into one of the fans who was also at the jam session.  Jessica. We went, "oh hi!" when we saw each other and then straight away started talking about this jam, this day and how we still relive this moment over and over.

Jensen and Jason's Jam Session will always be one of my most cherished memories and believe me, I know how lucky I am to have experienced it.

In case anyone is wondering, this was the song list - in order - that Jensen and Jason did for us, on that pre-Valentines day Valentine in February 2011...

Thanks for reading and indulging my reminiscing!

-sweetondean

Rock n Roll Radio - Ray LaMontagne.

Crazy Love - Jason Manns/Jensen Ackles

The Weight - Jason Manns/Jensen Ackles at Jus in Bello 2010 (also The Band)

If I Had a Million - Pat Green

She Talks to Angels - The Black Crows

Hallelujah - Jason Manns

Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd (special request from Clif!)

Your Song - Jason Manns

God Willin’ and the Creek Don’t Rise - Ray LaMontagne.

Free Fallin’ - Tom Petty (also John Mayer)

Walk Away - Ben Harper

One Crazy Awesome Sunday with the Js – Part 1

*all photos used are by me.

Well here I am, another Supernatural Convention in my rear-view mirror and I’m already feeling the long drag until the next one.

My name is Amy and I’m a Supernatural convention addict.

It started last year…no wait, it started before that. It started in 2010 when I went to All Hell Breaks Loose 2 in Sydney. Just being amongst people who didn’t think I was loony-tunes was such a revelation. Let alone meeting the fantastic cast members who attended. Misha, Jim, Rob, Julie and Sam. Of course that year, there was no Jensen or Jared. So for a gal who goes by the moniker sweetondean, there was nothing else for it, I was going to have to head over the seas to get my chance to meet the man in my life and his ridiculously tall buddy.

Last year I did LAcon. Or as I like to call it, the beginning of Amy’s bankruptcy (I kid…sorta). I was blessed to not only meet fellow fans, some of whom have become my closest friends and my convention cohorts, but also to get full on J&J hugs and attend Jensen’s jam session with Jason Manns.  The whole experience was wonderful. The whole experience spoiled me forever. I was hooked.

I followed up LAcon with Chicon…with the friends I met in LA. This time around I did the Jensen meet and greet….. Oh dear. It was all kinds of perfect. He was all kinds of perfect. The spoilage continued.

I was in a predicament. How could I ever do a convention without including something that allowed me to sit in a small room with this man and his freckles? (I have a bit of a thing for the freckles).

The answer was simple: I couldn’t. There was no turning back.

So Burcon rolls around and yep, me and my buddy Hazel, who had basked in the glory of the jam and Chicago meet and greet with me, decided come Hell or high-water, we’d be sitting in a small room with Jensen again. At LAcon his meet and greet had gone for crazy money and I missed out….by one dollar….I may or may not have cried. Then as luck would have it I got a ticket for the jam, which was one of the highlights of, well my life actually! So this time around, having seen LAcon prices, having done the Chicon meet and greet, we had a pretty good idea of what we’d be up for. We placed our bid and tried not to compulsively visit the page for the next week. Both of us were awake to watch the final minutes of the auction tick over. Miracles of miracles, not only did we win 2 seats but the auction closed way under what we thought it would! We had money left over! So at 4am in Sydney and 6am in Wellington NZ, we decide, via a series of frantic and somewhat over excited texts, to bid on Jared’s as well. Guess what. We won that too! You could hear the cheering back and forth across the Tasman that morning! Meet and Greets with both the boys, I was thrilled.

Flash-forward and it’s Sunday March 4 at Burcon, or what I like to call, J-day. As Alice of The Winchester Family Business did a great write up of the Js panels, I won’t be doing that here. I’m just going to give you a sense of my crazy Sunday and then, to the best of my ability in parts 2 and 3, report on both the Js meet and greets.

Having the 2 meet and greets meant that Sunday needed to be like some kind of strategic military operation. It was going to take organisation and maybe a bit of brain engagement, which doesn’t come easy for me on J-day, as you will see.

Hazel and I prepped. We worked out all our timings. We found the meet and greet rooms early, so we’d know exactly where we were going. We even walked the route from the photo room to the meet and greet room and kind of timed it. We weren’t sure how they were doing the seating. In Chicago it was pre-organised, but we heard that sometimes it was lucky dip and sometimes it was first in best seat (it was lucky dip), so we needed to make the trek across the building in the quickest possible time, just in case. We felt ready, we felt organised. We had no idea how crazy it would be.

And so it begins….

5 am Sunday - Wake up to the dulcet tones of Colder Weather by the Zac Brown Band, register that stomach is doing some kind of gymnastic move that would win it gold at the Olympics, get ready in pre-planned Sunday photo op outfit, say my mantra “He’s just a dude, he’s just a dude”, hit the breakfast, don’t eat because of the stomach Olympics, wait….only twitching slightly, gasp when Jensen suddenly appears by himself…come on….who in the audience didn’t think THE BABY CAME EARLY, breathe a sigh of relief when Jensen explains it was a car mix up, cheer when Jared bursts in late. Phew. Laugh. A lot. Bolt from the room when the panel is over, get first in line for the Jensen photos because we have the Jared meet and greet, check lipstick, check teeth, remind myself what my name is, what his name is, how to form whole sentences, step forward, say hello, ask for my poses with surprising externalcomposure, get awesome photo, say thank you, giggle like a thirteen year old, rush to the other damn building (Jensen will comment more on that) for Jared’s meet and greet, anxiously wait for him to arrive, grin like an idiot when he walks in the room, sit for 30 minutes transfixed by his ridiculously gorgeous dimples and surprisingly long eyelashes, rush back to the other building, wait for the J&J photo, check lipstick, check teeth, remind myself what my name is, what their names are, how to form whole sentences, say hello, say thank you, forget to walk away and have Jensen yell jokingly (in his Jensen stern *read smokin’ hot* voice) “Get outta here”, pull weird embarrassed face at Jensen, head-desk internally, find Creation attendant, get first in line for Jared’s photo because we have the Jensen meet and greet, check lipstick, check teeth, remind myself what my name is, what his name is, how to form whole sentences, say hello, blush when he calls me a dag (I’ll explain later), get awesome photo, say thank you, bolt back over to the other building again, try to stop nervous Olympic tummy from making a commando assault on my entire body, drop into a seat and wait for that guy to arrive, remember that I need to breathe if I don’t want to pass out, gasp when Jensen walks in, remind myself about the breathing thing again, gaze at him for 30 minutes while occasionally whispering under my breath to Hazel…Oh..My..God, ask a couple of surprisingly confident and coherent questions, wiggle so much that the ridiculously cliché bodyguard with the sunglasses on nearly makes a move on me, pout when my precious 30 minutes is over, watch him stride out of the room as I feeling equal parts elated and sad, sit for a minute absorbing it all, remember where I am and that I’m on a schedule, sprint up to the hotel room to get that Jensen banner I accidentally bought at the auction (how did THAT happen), sprint back down and drop into my seat in the auditorium to wait for the Js to come on and regale us with their silliness. Laugh. A lot. Go up first for the autos because I have that mysteriously purchased banner, nearly remove Jensen’s head when I flip said banner onto the table, apologise profusely while he laughs it off, get my autos, thank him for the day, blush when he’s all adorable back to me, briefly forget what I’m doing, where I am, who I am, float over to Jared in some kind of haze, have him call me and Hazel a couple of dags, giggle like a thirteen year old, give him a Boba Fett key-ring we bought in Legoland in Chicago, have him be all awww about it, thank him for the day, blush when he’s all adorable back to me and float away. Wait for the upgrade for Vegas, manage to go from row G to row C (!)…and realise….. IT’S ALL OVER……NOOOOO! Grab friends and go drown the post con sorrows in copious amounts of carbohydrates at McDonalds while I start counting the days until VanCon (167).

Doing the two meet and greets did make for a very hectic schedule, but I’m so stoked I got to do them both. It made the day all the more fabulous. You know, these conventions are the most fun I’ve ever had. Having done 3 now, I’m starting to get recognised by other regular convention goers and also, by some of the cast, which is unbelievably cool. I’m so impressed with everyone I meet and so very impressed with the cast that attends and how wonderfully laid back they are. I’ve not had one single negative experience. I sometimes read things about how some fans are disappointed by the reaction they get from the cast members, but I’ve never found that. Maybe it’s because I don’t go in there expecting the world. I understand the time constraints and the pressures they are under, I also understand they are people, they get stressed, they get tired, they’re allowed. So if I didn’t get the most positive response, I would totally understand why, but that’s not the case, because every interaction has always been brilliant. It might be because I’m polite and always make and effort to say something semi-intelligent to them. I always say please, always say thank you, I never assume. I do think sometimes fans can forget that we are all human beings and though I get ridiculously silly around Jensen, I treat him like a human being. I’m courteous and thoughtful about his personal space and never do anything without asking him first if he’s cool with it. I think, especially with him, that goes a long way to getting a positive response. That would be my advice for everyone who goes to these things, always be polite, never be demanding and always make an effort to interact. If you don’t speak to them, why would they speak to you in return? And remember they are people…just people…ridiculously gorgeous and awesome people, but people all the same. They let us hug them, do crazy poses with them and they do it all with a smile. How lucky are we? Very.

Ok….that’s part one! As always, thanks for reading, your support means the world to me!

Next up….Part 2 - Jared’s Meet and Greet... click here!