my sum 41 experience

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Peytonmallory41
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my sum 41 experience

Post by Peytonmallory41 »

hello TNS users! my name is Peyton. you can find me on Instagram as @_sum41_. I thought I would share my Sum 41/Deryck Whibley experience here. I have been requested to post it here once, but never got around to it as I'm more of a millennial, social media person. ha. :hehe: This is a very long story, so get yourself a snack and get comfortable. This forum doesn't seem to be very active now days, but maybe we can bring it back. :2cool4u: ANYWAY!!!!! let's jump right in, I am a younger fan. I am currently only 18, about to be 19 this December, but I'm as devoted as some of the long term fans, trust me. maybe by the end of this story, I can convince you. I used to be a huge fan of Avril Lavigne back in the day and actually hated Deryck Whibley (wow not very convincing) :holyshit: :blush: :suicide: (we don't speak of those times), but I came to my senses and realized that Avril is a total bitch...I mean...I decided I was no longer interested in what she was doing... :holyshit: :devious: So, I became a fan of Sum 41 in 2012. It was the most magical time of my life. I was able to look up things about the band and find new information every day. Can't really do that anymore. haha. when I first became a fan, I was pretty sure Sum 41 was over and I was going to just have to live with the fact that I was a fan of a dead band. right after I became a fan is when those awful pictures of Deryck started popping up online. it sucked. that sounds so immature, but there is no other way to describe it. nonetheless, I decided to make an Instagram early 2013. My friend at the time wanted me to. I made a fan page for Sum 41. I was only 15 at the time. I named it something TOTALLY misleading like "sum41official." this was before sum 41 had an Instagram, so some people actually thought I was Deryck, and I wasn't enough of a douche to speak to them as Deryck, but I was just shitty enough to not answer, neither confirming nor denying the fact that I may very well be associated with the band. of course, someone called me out and I changed my name to "sum41.officialfans" or something, this is when the "." was first allowed to be used. around this time is when Deryck surfaced to the world of social media and made a Facebook. I didn't have Facebook, but I made one just for him; to try and get noticed, and it worked. I posted a photo of myself in the pieces outfit for Halloween that year and then I said something along the lines of "happy you're on Facebook now!" and he replied to both of my desperate attempts on November 11th. my mom didn't even believe it at first. she was even more skeptical when he started calling fans, but sure enough, it was him! :devious: fast forward, he posted about his collapse... I can't even begin to describe how terrified I was, but like the fighter he is, he came back from it. I was unsure about the future of Sum 41, still. I wasn't sure if anything would be the same, but at this point, I loved Deryck and wanted to continue sticking around. a lot of fans had given up on him, but I refused. I still loved him.
He made Instagram. I was thrilled. I left comments for him that he continually replied to, thanking me and answering questions. this guy I had idolized for about two years now, was talking to me online.
I had been struggling with depression for a number of years, I don't want to sound cliché, "I had depression and he saved me," no, it was different. I had reached a new low of feeling completely and utterly hopeless. it hurt physically. I woke up in a bad mood. I was never truly suicidal, but it crossed my mind more than it should. it scared me. I knew I wasn't in my right mind and I felt trapped. I decided to vent on Instagram about some of my problems. Vague things like my anxiety over a test or my unintentional rejection of my friends. my main problem was the stress over my absent father trying to make a re-entry into my life. I had never felt comfortable enough to come right out and say that or even talk about my feelings about it to my mother, but I decided I should take the step and post about it online in hopes of helping someone in a similar situation and helping myself feel less alone. my father was coming to spend a week with me and I decided I would document that week in a series of posts each day and describe how I was feeling. it was hard to expose myself like that, but it felt like the right thing to do. everyone was very supportive of me and even if it didn't cure me, it gave me some solace in that moment. toward the end of my documentation, I was surprised to get a lengthy message from Michelle Gordon, Deryck's mother, about my struggles via direct message. she told me some very comforting things and was genuinely able to help because of her experience dealing with Deryck and his absentee father. I was so flattered and shocked. At this time I was unable to completely take it to heart as I had a chemical imbalance in my brain that didn't allow me to think logically...but I was appreciative of her attempts to help me feel better. a couple days later, Deryck himself left a paragraph on my post about his similar struggles with abandonment and how he has coped. I thanked him and he left another long comment saying I shouldn't waste my time worrying about it. it was such a nice comment and very kind of him to take time out of his schedule to write to me. looking back, it is advice that I still think about regularly when I'm feeling down about anything, but at the time, the most I could get from it was feeling flattered and star struck. severe clinical depression is no joke. how is it possible that the person I have idolized for years gave me personal advice and my main feeling was skepticism? it makes me feel guilty now to think I was so paranoid I couldn't just accept that he was genuinely concerned about my well being. I was on the brink of hitting rock bottom before I decided I should be medicated. I hadn't wanted to because that meant I was sick. that meant I wasn't ACTUALLY happy. I was hopped up on pills that MADE me happy. my real state of being was cynical and miserable, but since being medicated, I see that isn't true at all. I am a happy optimistic person who had a disease. it was scary for me to come out of my depression. I had been in it for about 6 years and when I came out, it was a whole new world to me. I had nothing to fall back on anymore. no excuses. if I felt sad, I had no reason to be anymore. It helped that Deryck was open about his awakening into sober living, because on some level I was very able to relate to him and felt how hard it was to make a major life change like that. After that, I drew some portraits of Deryck and he commented on a few of them and even reposted one of them (although that was before the comments, but oh well!!!), but it was special because this was before he regularly commented on fans posts. In total, I have had over 20 comments back and forth with him and a good amount of them have been on my posts and he's given me countless likes. :glad:
in 2015, the pledge campaign started and I decided to buy a skype session with Deryck. I just HAD to talk to him face to face even if it was through a screen. it was a huge investment I had to work off, but it was worth it to me. I missed the email confirming the date that winter, so I ended up waiting months until finally in May, I rescheduled. May 7th was the day. I had spent so much time preparing to talk for 15 minutes, but it ended up being more like 40 minutes. we just kept talking and talking. I was incredibly nervous, but managed to tell him I used to hate him and hated Avril now. haha he just laughed. :hehe: we obviously talked about a lot more things, one of which being that I had wanted to see Sum 41 live for my first concert (I know, pathetic for an 18 year old, but I'm poor!) even he was shocked, and was like "what you've never been to a concert?!" :balling: he asked why I wasn't going to warped tour and I said because I was broke. after the skype was over, I got an email that said he wanted to invite me to go to warped tour; two tickets! I was elated!!! this was going to be my first concert and it was going to be Sum 41 just like I wanted courtesy of Deryck fucking Whibley. the date was July 6th, 2016. I had told all my followers on Instagram that I was going to meet Deryck finally because I knew Warped tour was notorious for meeting the bands.
I had brought my best friend, Cielle with me. she agreed to be my plus one even though she didn't know Sum 41 at all. we got to the venue and my friend and I got something to eat and then I went straight to the Sum 41 booth to buy a shirt, but was concerned as it said they weren't doing a signing. bad news. I figured I was going to have to just look around for them. I was sure I could seek them out. It was about 1:30 when I started trying to get barricade for Sum 41. I was successful, but had to keep my place for about 2 and a half hours before sum 41 came on. FINALLY they came on and it was the most amazing thing. I had never seen them in person before. when they came out, it was surreal. I felt so sick from the heat, but I managed to scream and jump. I didn't have to film it because my friend was nice enough to film it for me. After the show ended, I realized the busses were behind the chain link fence and I could probably catch them going back to the bus if I waited by the fence. I had already caught Cone's pick, so I didn't want to stand and wait for more picks to be thrown out, but since I was at barricade, it was hard to get out. I had been beat up; pummeled. I felt nauseous and had bruises all over me, but I saw Dave. I yelled for him and waved at him and was being a total brat and told him to come to the fence. :hehe: he kind of looked like he knew me which is impossible because I've never met him, but he came to the fence after he looked like he had recognized me and said hi. I was SO nervous, he asked how I was and I said I was really good and then asked about the rest of the band. he said if I stuck around, I could probably catch them, then we took a photo. that was it. I had to stay. my friend desperately wanted to leave as she had been beat up as well, but I insisted we stay longer, but agreed to go back to the food/water area to cool off. I was so hot, I had no problem drenching myself and walking around dripping wet. it was that hot. I went back to the fence prepared to wait another 5 hours for them to come out, but then this guy on a scooter comes over to the fence and asks "are you Peyton?" I stood up and said "yes." he asked me to come to the fence and said Deryck was looking for me. he said he'd have to talk to some people because I didn't have a backstage pass, but he'd be back. I was left there with my friend (squealing of course) for about 10 minutes when he came back and told me to come with him back stage. my friend asked me to bring her camera to get signed and I brought back a journal I wanted signed and a portrait I had done of Deryck. I was brought back to the band's bus and told to wait a moment. the guy walked into the bus and moments later, Deryck himself walked out. we hugged and I made a fool of myself by saying "oh my god, you're so small!!!" :blush: :hehe: and he just laughed and gave me the nicest hug. I asked him why he brought me back there and he said he just wanted to meet and talk...we chatted for about 10 minutes or so before he said he had to go eat dinner, so we hugged again and then I went back out to my friend about to die. then she said we had to leave because she too, was about to die. :devious:
not too much longer after that, Sum 41 announced their Don't call it a sum back tour. my parents (mother and grandmother) had agreed to get me VIP tickets if they had any with a $300 limit. The top VIP was $300, but there weren't any shows in my area. the closest was Philly, but that venue didn't have the top VIP, so my grandmother, being the wonderful woman she is, agreed to send me to Atlanta GA. As the date came closer, I became more and more concerned about the threat of my flight being canceled because of Hurricane Matthew. I thought I was in the clear until the day before my flight, it was delayed until after I needed to be there. My mom, being the awesome woman SHE is, jumped on it to get me another flight out of Richmond Virginia. I am from Virginia Beach, Virginia, so Richmond is about two hours away. The new flight was scheduled to leave at 6:30 that morning, so I would have to go to Richmond that day and stay in a hotel to get to the airport the next morning. this was becoming a huge ordeal now. what started being about a $300 trip turned into a $1,000 vacation. but my parents were still excited for me and supportive despite the costs (besides I had been working it off doing chores for my grandmother.) I was terrified because I've never ridden a plane alone before and the last time I was on a plane was 11 years ago. I got to Atlanta and had to wait in the airport all day. I took a taxi to the venue and was actually pretty early like I wanted. I didn't have to be there until 3:45, but was there at 3:00. the concierge started calling for VIP and it was just me and one other guy. it was his 41st birthday. during the show, Deryck shouted him out, actually!! haha. :glad: anyway, we chatted before we got to go in for sound check. during this time, I saw Cone and Tom walk out and they waved to me. :happy: I was being anxious and was scared that we'd only be in there for about 15 minutes (much like skype haha) but also like Skype, it turned out to be WAY longer than that. we watched them do the entire sound check pretty much. it was like a mini personal show. I was happy to be there with someone as big a fan as me. then the sound check ended. I was finally going to meet the entire band. I walked on stage first and was greeted by Tom and Cone. they shook my hand and introduced themselves and I introduced myself and explained to them the struggle of my trip here because of the hurricane and they were very friendly. Then I saw Deryck out of the corner of my eye behind me. I finished what I was saying to them and then turned to Deryck and said I remember you from warped tour!!!!" which was the DUMBEST thing ever because if you just read this whole thing, you know I also know him from plenty of other places, but I was nervous, okay!!! he said "yeah!!!" and hugged me and I told him about my travels here and said I was exhausted, but would make it for the show haha, but that I had a flight tonight out of there that night and he was like "tonight?" and I said "yeah, I think I can make it back. it doesn't leave until 10:30." at which point he said I was going to miss the entire show. I asked how long the show was and he said they didn't even start until 9:30 and wouldn't end until 11:00 or possibly later. he said I should try calling my mom and asking if I could book another later flight, but I knew she'd let me. my problem was that I didn't have a way back to the airport. I told the taxi man to come back at 9:30 and didn't have his number, plus my phone was about to die, so I was stuck at this venue, but even if I had found a way back to the airport, I was going to be starving because I hadn't eaten since 11 that morning and didn't have enough money for a taxi AND food. I told him I'd figure it out, but I was honestly terrified. We talked some more and then got ready to take pictures. I was standing by Dave and he said "why don't you get here, by him (Deryck)?" because I guess he knew I have a thing with Deryck and I was so happy, I stood between my two favorite members, Dave and Deryck. Deryck gave me the sweetest smile and put his arm around me and AAHHHH it was great. I'm fan-girling remembering it. :hehe: after the pictures, I told Dave I had met him at warped tour and was happy he was back in the band. we took a second picture with the other VIP people. Deryck gave me the sweetest smile and put his arm around me and just he is the sweetest thing. he was so nice and down to earth and easy to talk to. he looked so genuinely happy to see me which made me feel so good. they were all super kind and funny and great! so I went out onto the stairway where the backstage people go because for some reason I felt really entitled to do whatever I wanted. I felt like I knew them personally and could sit wherever I pleased...so I called my mom who said she'd book another flight for the next morning and I needed to try and ask about a way to get back to the airport, so the concierge came over to me and said Deryck had asked about me and asked if I was okay and what I was doing about the flight, so I was like "aww.." :blush: :hehe: and told him I had it all figured out except the way to get back to the airport after the show and he said he'd take care of it! and I asked him if there was anywhere to charge my phone and he said he could charge it on the bus! the fucking sum 41 bus!!! so my phone and bag were on the bus and I was sitting around on the stairs where I met some cool fans. Cone and Tom walked right past me and Cone was like "nice weather, huh?" and I died. :suicide: :devious: so Dave walked past me and said it was rad I was canceling a flight for them and I was like "only for you guys" :devious: it was time for the show, but my ticket was on the sum 41 bus and the guy seemed skeptical because that just sounds like a lie, but the concierge got my ticket for me after a minute and I was let into the venue. the opening acts went on for what seemed like forever and finally Sum 41 came on! I was bare foot the whole time because my feet hurt. :hehe: I was dehydrated and tired, but it was the most amazing show EVER. I had the time of my life. after the show, I went down to find the concierge to get my stuff; my bag, plus I got a signed vinyl and a signed set list, and he said Deryck had told him to make sure I was taken care of and he said it like over and over how concerned Deryck was and turns out he was so concerned, he made sure I got an Uber back to the airport all expenses paid, so I could get dinner!!! I was in such a daze, my ears were ringing from being right in front of the speaker, I was exhausted, running on about 4 hours of sleep in 48 hours...I got to the airport and had to stay the night there and spent my extra money on pancakes for breakfast after getting about 2 hours of sleep from pure exhaustion. and that's it for now. I am totally planning on going to see Sum 41 again during this tour and wouldn't mind traveling again to see them! I hope you got something out of this story...maybe seeing how great the guys in Sum 41 are, that a young girl CAN be a huge fan, that you're not ever alone, or maybe just that fan dream fantasies can come true...if you want to chat with me, please don't hesitate to DM me on Instagram, again, it's @_sum41_ :happy: hope you guys enjoyed this story, if anyone is even active...otherwise, I just spent over an hour typing into a black hole...
- Peyton
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Lirena41
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Re: my sum 41 experience

Post by Lirena41 »

That was a lot to take in haha. Sounds like an awesome experience in the spam of four years! That must've been a dream come true to do that. I am so happy that your mother and grandmother were supportive of your trip to Atlanta. What a nice thing to do! I definitely hope that you'll see them again someday.
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Post by Roach41 »

I love reading this kind of stories (I read the entire story hehe) I'm glad that Deryck was so kind helping you with his advices and everything else he did for you :)
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sprinks41
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Post by sprinks41 »

Hey Peyton! I already know about all this since I've been following you for a while on Instagram (j_larkin87). Glad to see you made it to TNS finally!
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jacobbadillo41
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Re: my sum 41 experience

Post by jacobbadillo41 »

I understand what is it have troubles and that music Help you out that water well, My mother died when i was 10,i could overcome it 4 years later thanks to listen sum 41 they made me more happy, people arent awere of that music can do for you. At now im 21 and i have never seen to Sum 41 in concert, this Jan i will can to see them in Madrid in My first show of them!
Thanks for share your expirience, your great experience, it is some crazy haha, im Glad for you! You deserve it!

by the way, I follow you on instagram for along time
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Peytonmallory41
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Re: my sum 41 experience

Post by Peytonmallory41 »

jacobbadillo41 wrote:I understand what is it have troubles and that music Help you out that water well, My mother died when i was 10,i could overcome it 4 years later thanks to listen sum 41 they made me more happy, people arent awere of that music can do for you. At now im 21 and i have never seen to Sum 41 in concert, this Jan i will can to see them in Madrid in My first show of them!
Thanks for share your expirience, your great experience, it is some crazy haha, im Glad for you! You deserve it!

by the way, I follow you on instagram for along time
I am so sorry about your loss, but am so glad you have been able to cope with the help of Sum 41's music. it really does work miracles. :happy: and thanks for being a follower!!! i plan on blogging here a lot more!!!
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Peytonmallory41
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Post by Peytonmallory41 »

sprinks41 wrote:Hey Peyton! I already know about all this since I've been following you for a while on Instagram (j_larkin87). Glad to see you made it to TNS finally!
hey, I'm glad I did too! it's a lot of fun! can't wait to continue blogging here!! thanks for being a follower of mine! it is very much appreciated! :glad:
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Peytonmallory41
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Post by Peytonmallory41 »

Roach41 wrote:I love reading this kind of stories (I read the entire story hehe) I'm glad that Deryck was so kind helping you with his advices and everything else he did for you :)
hey, thanks for reading it all. honestly didn't think anyone would. :devious: he has been very kind to me and I can never thank him enough. can't wait to blog here more often and sooner or later post more experiences!!!
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Peytonmallory41
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Re: my sum 41 experience

Post by Peytonmallory41 »

Lirena41 wrote:That was a lot to take in haha. Sounds like an awesome experience in the spam of four years! That must've been a dream come true to do that. I am so happy that your mother and grandmother were supportive of your trip to Atlanta. What a nice thing to do! I definitely hope that you'll see them again someday.
thank you, Lirena :happy: it was incredible, but it totally doesn't end here!!! to be continued!
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