VMA's Round Two
MTV VMA's, Madison Square Garden, August 28th, 2016. It was that sacred occasion when MTV would grace New York with its presence for the VMA's. I wasn't 100% sure if I wanted to hack it again - until Nick Jonas was announced as a performer and DNCE was nominated for Best New Artist. I obviously submitted my lottery the moment it opened before even knowing my baes would be there, but now my attendance definitely mattered. I had to be there live in the flesh to see my favorite band accept their first award when they won (of course they did😉).
The icing on the cake was how to be two places at once. Nick's performance was off-site. Good thing it was pretaped, and good thing 1iota loves to give this superfan tickets to all things Jonas. The Tick Tock Diner was the place to be for all things bacon. Bacon cheeseburgers, bacon cheese fries, cobb salads (with bacon). Nick Jonas was throwin’ some bacon on it all - with his friends of course. When I overheard a PA say, "Joe's going to sit here" at the only open booth in the room and directly across from me, I thought, "Joe, as in Jonas?" Sure enough, there he was along with his band of merry men (+JinJoo) leaning on my booth waiting for theirs to be ready. I knew I was in for something good when that table remained empty and had Coke's when we all had water. But wait there's more! Why on earth did I hear a PA say, "Odell Beckham Jr."? Oh right, because he's here too. Who knew Nick was friends with The Fat Jewish? I mean Taylor Hill made sense, Nick became an honorary angel at the Victoria’s Secret Swim Special earlier in the year. "Look like you're having fun but act natural" was hard when you're checking to see if Joe Jonas is looking at you. But I guess I did something right, because when they moved to the next room of the dinner I was one of the lucky few to go with them.
I was originally placed at the bar that Nick Jonas was going to jump over and serenade us, but I was sadly moved as the crew wanted paid professionals there in case Nick fell (or kicked someone in the face). To another booth I went, with a good view of Nick but definitely no air time for me. I was just an able body in case they panned to the left, but I had a front row view of Nick repeatedly sliding across and table and trying not to rip his pants since he had to wear this outfit for the VMA's in just 3 days. What was supposed to wrap at 12am turned into 2am, and though I didn't eat dinner while staring at bacon everything all night, it was definitely a worthy experience to say the least. And that was only the beginning of my VMA weekend.
From unfortunately having to writhe through another VMA's with Kanye's ranting to swooning as Drake professed his undying love for Rihanna, it was as per usual quite the controversial show. The best part of the pit this time around was from where I stood, I could see all the celebs sitting in their seats and interacting during commercial breaks. I was beyond thrilled to see Mr. Catfish himself, Nev, and he was beyond thrilled to see every single person that said hi to him. He seemed like a kid in the candy shop with every interaction he had that night, it was endearing to watch.
I don't know what would have happened if I was alone when a crew member asked, but I'm glad I got to see the show with my two best friends. Considering it's a lottery and you only win one ticket, it's a Godsend I even got to go with one person let alone two. I'm thankful because it's a long time to stand alone and not have anyone to lean on when your back gives out. And after all, it's nice to have someone to share the memories with. Thank you 1iota for letting me be a part of this grand experience once again!
