The Entry That Made It Possible

-----Original Message-----
From: John Tilden
Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2008 8:30 PM
To: 'contest@brianwilson.com'
Subject: That Local Lucky Old Fan Tour Contest--Warner Theatre, Washington, D.C.

Brian,
I would love for the opportunity to see you perform "That Lucky Old Sun" on 11/18 at the Warner in Washington, D.C. I live about an hour away in Maryland. I've been fortunate to see you perform a couple of times, and it has always involved driving for several hours.

I saw you for the first time at the Beacon in New York City, where I happened to be in-state for a friend's wedding, and made the trip to NYC in between wedding activities. My wife had never seen me so excited.

I saw you in Philadelphia after a friend and I drove up from Baltimore just so we could see Pet Sounds with an orchestra. We were stuck in the pouring rain on I-95 for hours on the way home, but it was sunny inside the car!

I saw you perform "Smile" in D.C., but I happened to be in New York five hours away because of a commitment I'd made before your tour was announced. I had a full weekend, drove home, then drove into D.C. to see the show. It felt like it was over in a blink. I cried during the show, but my wife was kind enough not to notice.

That was all before I had my kids.

I've never been disappointed by your shows. I saw the Beach Boys 14 times, but never with you in attendance.

I may have the only kids (8 & 6) that know "Barnyard" better than they know Disney songs!
I got That Lucky Old Sun direct from your site, to say "thank you" for still putting out interesting music for all these years.

Unfortunately, this time around I can't spend the money on a ticket for your Warner concert. I love your music, but it's important to my young boys that I show them that I can sacrifice things that I would love to do, so that they know when I tell them "no" to something because they don't have the money right then when they want, that it applies to Daddy, too.

Even if I'm not selected, Brian, thank you so much for all of the wonderful music you've given the world.

John Tilden