Twilight's "Jackson Rathbone & Ashely Greene"

This would be my first time attending a 100 Monkeys concert on May 21, 2011 at the El Rey Theatre in Los, Angeles. I am not a fan of the group per say but I am a huge Twilight fan so if Jackson Rathebone aka Jasper Cullen were performing then I would certainly be there. There would also be a likely chance that I might also see the other "Cullens" as well. There have been rumors mulling around that Jackson was dating Ashley Greene, and Paul McDonald, former American Idol contestant, was dating Nikki Reed. So yes most likely if I didn't see them at the concert then I most definitely would at the after party at Angels & Kings in Hollywood. Jackson Rathbone facebooked a mass invite that whoever went to the concert would be invited to the after party, so of course I jumped at the chance.

The music for the opening acts were not that great, so my cousin Jasmine and I waited patiently until they were done. The concert was standing room only with seats to the side of the theatre but of course as soon as we rushed in we headed towards the front of the stage. There were teenagers already lined up across the stage and I thought, just great. But being second row wasn't all that bad either 'cause I was wearing 5 inch platform heels. After the second opening act my feet were killing me and so decided to take them off, good thing I have a zoom lens on my camera. I just could not believe sitting in front of me was a woman in a wheelchair though. Shouldn't they put handicapped people in a designated area so they don't get hurt from mashing or what not? Well needless to say she remained there all night putting a damper on myself and some of the other fans trying to get closer to the stage.

Jackson finally came onstage and immediately the girls started screaming! Me, I just wanted to video record some songs and take lots of photos so it was very annoying hearing the screams, especially when I played back the video. People who watched my YouTube videos even commented on it as well. I cannot help that and certainly cannot tell the teenage girls to shut up either. I surprisingly enjoyed Jackson's performance. He was energetic, goofy, playful and very animated. Not a boring performance and but most likely would not go again because of the screaming teens and opening acts.

My cousin Jasmine and I overheard while we were standing in line that the venue for the after party was a bar and not very big. We decided we were going to leave the concert early to get in so we could meet Jackson and the other "Cullens" if they decided to show up. Kind of wish we hadn't done that though because later that evening Paul Mcdonald sang a few songs and yes Nikki Reed was escorted to the front of the stage, security in hand, and swooned as her boyfriend and soon to be fiance sang to her. I say 'sang' to her because he barely took his eyes off her I was told as we sat waiting for them at Angels & Kings bar. Man I could just kick myself for that decision, oh well. Not only that, Ashley did make an appearance to the concert and took a few photos with some of the fans that were sitting in the seats to the side and standing in the back.

Yah, my cousin and I missed out so we were hoping we could meet them at the after party if they decided to show up. It was barely midnight when Jasmine saw Jackson in the front entry way but disappeared as soon as he appeared, so we assumed he left because it was so crowded. Few minutes go by and we hear some screaming, and people hovering around one of the booths. Yes Jackson was inside with the band so I quickly took my camera out and headed in that direction. While I stood in an unofficial line, I could hear one of the girls say, "I think that's Ashley", and I said "Are you sure?" Sure enough as I zoomed in on her with my camera I could see her sitting very close next to Jackson and they were talking in each other's ears and I even saw them kiss once or twice! Wow, I was amazed and shocked because I did not even know that this brother and sister onscreen act was actually dating in real life. Did I get my video footage and photos?? Well yes I did but not without almost getting thrown out because of it. I was not told we were not allowed to take pictures and video of Jackson there. I even told the manish woman blocking all my shots that if it was not published anywhere in the invite or anywhere in the bar that I was allowed to take my photos and video. She actually told ME that the flash was annoying them that's why I was not allowed to photograph or record them. After a few minutes of us going back and forth and me sneaking a few shots, she alerted security and I quickly hid in the men's restroom. The women's restroom had a long line to timbuktu as is always the case and I had to use the bathroom pretty badly anyway.

It was nearing closing time and my cousin and I still had not met Jackson or Ashley, and Nikki did not show up with Paul to the after party. Security was yelling at us to get out and the manish woman told us to leave as well. She said only the last remaining people in line for an autograph were allowed to stay. Wow, I am not going to meet Jackson or Ashley?? I was livid! I got a couple shots of them and only 26 seconds on video, but you could barely see Ashley, a girl sitting beside her blocked my camera with her hand and told me the same thing about my flash, you can hear us on the video I posted on Youtube which by the way is doing quite well. I suppose they thought I was paparazzi because I wasn't using a small pocket-sized camera. Oh well, I got one awesome close up shot of the two of them, almost kissing but not quite. Now that would have been my money shot right there, but no dice. Next time I won't miss that shot, you can count on that miss manish woman!

Here's a link to the video if you'd like to watch

http://youtu.be/7sZe34VQFGc