Personal Reflection: Autographing Session with Tokio Hotel

Over the course of the NTO’s blog postings, you will get glimpses of our world and that magical connection to Tokio Hotel. Patricia will talk about her first autographing session with Tokio Hotel at Hot Topic in California.

Patricia’s Intro:

I am the mother of four children, ages 5 to 21. I am happily married to the last true prince of a man. In my life of 46 years I have done many things, from flipping burgers to Alpaca ranching. I am currently a real estate investor and Realtor. My 21 year old daughter is my partner. My hobbies include crochet, spinning, swing dancing, reading, sewing, jewelry making, and exercise walks with my dog.

I discovered Tokio Hotel from YouTube. Their video for Scream popped up on my recommended list for some reason, and I was blown away by the lyrics and presence of this band. From there it snowballed into an all-out love for their music and showmanship. My admiration for this band is now a constant for me. They get better and better with each new song.

Shortly after my introduction to the band, they released Automatic, their first single from their new album Humanoid. I was singing this song over and over after downloading it from Amazon.com! I bought an MP3 player just so I could listen to their previous album and this new song on my walks with my dog. Automatic never fails to put a bounce in my stride and a smile on my face!




Signing at Hot Topic, October 2009:

My son and I arrived at 2 p.m. and saw the line had started, but opted to get shrimp first. I had no idea that some of the fan club could get into the VIP! Oh, well. We still had a great time! Nicholas & I even got one of the fan club flyers!

They took people 10 at a time, so no screaming groups of girls all in one place, but it was still very loud outside as we waited to have our wrist bands cut off. Nicholas was number 5 and I was number 6. The lovely young girl behind us who had been fine the whole day suddenly started breathing too heavily, hyperventilating. I turned around and tried to distract her, told her to relax and take one breath, don't worry, it will be fine. Poor thing! The lady cutting the wristbands couldn't get Nicholas' off because his was wrapped around his wrist 2X. I thought she was going to gouge him!!! We get into the store and Nicholas starts losing his nerve and doesn't want to give Gustav the bracelet I made for Gustav's mom. So...we are T-minus 5 sec's and Nicholas is pushing the box at me, the fan behind me is still hyperventilating, and I am now completely distracted!

Nicholas gets up to Bill, who has a big smile and 'hi' for Nicholas. I'm juggling my 30th anniversary Vogue and the box, trying to open the magazine to the page which is marked with a piece of yarn I hand-spun from one of our alpaca's fleece (it was the only thing handy when I marked the place). Bill flashes another big smile at me when it's my turn and says, 'hi'. I manage a 'hi' back in the middle of listening to some alarm go off and the heavy breathing behind me because fan number 7 is still about to lose it.

Then, catastrophe (well, not really)! Only Bill was supposed to sign the Vogue. After all, it's a picture of him. I guess they are so used to 'signing and passing to the next person'. I tried to get out a 'wait!', but it was too late. Tom paused after he signed, I guess he looked up at my exclamation, but I have no idea because I was staring at the picture being passed to Georg. I just said, 'that's fine', because really, who can get upset, right?

I have absolutely no recollection of Georg. I had seen him before we got to the front and he was smiling very sweetly, so I assume he still was. I got to Gustav. He was saying 'you're welcome' to my son after he said thank you. I collected my magazine after he signed it, told him thank you, and then I put the bracelet in front of him and told him, 'Gustav, this is for your mom'. He looked me right in the eye and said, 'Thank you, I appreciate it', with the merest HINT of a smile. (He has an extremely deep voice. Can he sing, because his voice would be amazing if he can sing!) Note: after seeing them in concert, YES!  Gustav can sing!

As we leave, I realize my yarn marker is missing. I look back and Bill has it, so at this point I figure whatever Bill wants, he can have.

Someone was filming people on their way out of line and they got Nicholas and his shirt and a close-up of my magazine.

Whew! Short, but memorable because of all the wonderful fans around us. Thank you if we talked to you! I would do it all over again because my son and I had a wonderful day together with all the fans!

Edit Note: Gustav sang as a filler with Bill because his voice was the closest to Bill’s when he was having vocal issues from the cysts on his vocal chords. Bill eventually had to cancel the tour and have surgery.