As I left the EW offices last night and headed down Broadway towards the Nokia Theatre, I was a bit anxious that, at all of 25 years of age, my presence at the Breaking Dawn Concert Series would severely skew the median attendee age. Silly me. I forgot someone had to bring all those teenagers. And so, along with a gaggle of girls, a few boys, and many eager (and a few not so eager) parents, I crammed into the lower level of the intimate black-veiled concert space. All around me girls sporting Twilight-themed tees ("I Hate Driving Slow," "The Forbidden Fruit Tastes the Sweetest," "Team Cullen") held animated discussions about the hidden symbolism of the saga’s covers, which team they pledge allegiance to, and who that darn Jacob should imprint on. At various moments, for no discernible reasons, chants of "Ed-ward, Ed-ward," began pulsing through the crowd. (Sorry Team Jacob, you all should have stepped it up a bit.) As the theater’s large chandeliers finally began to dim and a ruby red spotlight was cast on the long book cover banners dangling above the stage, I regretted not stopping to buy earplugs to dampen the piercing screams.
Our host for the evening was former America’s Next Top Model contestant and current MTV VJ Kim Stolz, who warmed up the crowd by asking several screech-inducing questions (thanks, Kim), before bringing out Stephenie Meyer playlist MVP (and proud Team Edward member), Blue October‘s Justin Furstenfeld. Meyer, who can’t write without listening to music, first heard the band while penning New Moon and was blown away by how their song "Hate Me" so summed up Edward’s emotional state (more on that to come). With just a guitar in hand, the alt-rocker played a three-song set of some of the band’s tunes. Meyer herself then took the stage for a reader-submitted Q&A session with Stolz. A few tidbits gleaned from the sesh: Meyer cries frequently while writing, she enjoys reading her books again, her favorite moments in the series include the tent scene, the meadow scene, chapter three of New Moon, and Bella running into Edward in Volterra; if it hadn’t been for Edward’s return, Jacob would have won Bella’s heart through a "slow escalation of physicality;" and one of the craziest plot recommendations she received was to kill Renee. (Check out our Stephenie Meyer interview for more author factoids and Twilight tidbits.)
To close the show, Furstenfeld joined Meyer on stage to play three of the band’s songs featured on her playlists, including "Sound of Pulling Heaven Down," "Overweight," and the highly anticipated "Hate Me." If a movie version of New Moon is ever made (fingers crossed), this song will surely be Edward’s anthem as he tries to do what he thinks is right by abandoning poor Bella. Take a look at these ridiculously on-point lyrics:
Hate me today
Hate me tomorrow
Hate me for all the things I didn’t do for you
Hate me in ways
Yeah ways hard to swallow
Hate me so you can finally see what’s good for you
Wow, is all I can say.
All in all, the concert was the perfect warm-up to my midnight Barnes & Noble run (are you as tired as I am?). I’ll now leave you all to your shiny new copies of Breaking Dawn. But before I do, did any of you catch the concert (live or streaming on EW.com — and we’re aware there were a few technical glitches, but we’re working to fix them for next time)? Or are you going to attend one of the other shows in Chicago, Los Angeles, or Seattle? If you saw the show, what was your favorite part? Are you now inspired to pick up a copy of Blue October’s Foiled and add it to your personal playlist? Please spill.
FTA: Meyer cries frequently while writing
I would, too, if I wrote like that. This series is awful: horrendous writing, awful plot, characters that are offensive to men, women, AND vampires. It’s baffling how popular this series has become.
Between the Watchmen, Twilight, Batman (2), and Hills cover stories this year, has this magazine been taken over by 16 year olds?
I’d hate to be 25 and look like her. I’ve seen 37 year olds who look younger. The least she could do is put some conditioner in that frizzled mop.
I dont know why every one so far hates her and her books but I don’t. Stephenie is awesome and so are her books.
The person who wrote the article is 25, Stephanie Meyer isn’t. Why the hostility?
Wow. There is a lot of immaturity going on with the responses to this story. It is definitely ok to not agree with the masses, but you can do it in an educated/intelligent manner.
The median age is hardly going to be skewed by your presence. Get your measures of central tendency right next time.
True, the median is robust against outliers. Which is why it is preferred for home sales data, etc.
I’m seventeen. I was there. I enjoyed myself immensely.
You’re not seventeen. You weren’t there. You wouldn’t have enjoyed yourself if you had been.
I’m sure I speak for many other Stephenie Meyer fans when I say that I see and respect your views, and would greatly appreciate it if you would respect ours. No one ever said you had to enjoy Twilight, so why waste your time grinding it into the dirt?
It sort of goes back to that old adage, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”, don’t you think?
I, for one, am going to be grateful when all the hype for this is officially over. I expect to have to suffer through a few more years of this series’ popularity while the movies are cranked out. Once that is over, it will all fall under a category of “what were we thinking?” as the teenagers who enjoy it so much now begin to realize just how subpar this series is.
Many adults cant understand why we teenagers are in love w/ Edward Cullen & the Twilight Series. Take a moment and look at it from the girls POV. Edward Cullen is deemed as the perfect man with only about 2 flaws; 1. He drinks blood(which Bella hates) & 2. He is very overprotective. BUT, Bella doesnt care! He’s nice, caring, un-controling(like few guys nowadays), & does his best to make sure she is happy no matter how bad it could hurt him. If it means letting her go to be with another guy, then he’ll give in to her. He wants her happy no matter what. He’s the perfect guy that every girl wants to find some day, if they havent already. And since he’s a fictional character(and taken), it just makes girls love him more because he’s something desirable yet unattainable. I’m not really sure why some guys like it, they just do. The vampire part just adds to the drama & thrill. Personally, I’ve loved vampires since I was 5. So obviously, I love this book unquestionably! GO TWILIGHT! E&B 4EVR!
THANK YOU!!! U are sooooo right, and all the people who hate twilight, well yall just need to stop pounding it cause there are alot of people who LOVE it (i am one of those people) and just because you leave some comment saying how bad it is dosent mean the saga wont still be loved, i get you dont like it but you need to respect the people who do.
I was there in the Nokian theatre with my 12 year old niece and 17 year old sister. I am 30. The setup of the theatre and how they handled the autograph signing was horrible. There were few chairs and people packed in like cattle. As if the hot crowded theatre wasn’t bad enough, they made an announcement that Stephenie was only going to be signing for one hour.
Naturally, chaos ensued. People were pushing and passing out. I was scared to death we were going to be trampled. There was no way to even get out or help anyone who had passed out on the floor. Finally, they made another announcement that Stephenie would be signing for everyone.
I love the books and feel it was such a shame that the poor management caused such a disgrace. They are lucky no one got seriously injured. Shame on them.
The best book of this series… i finished it in 16 hours straight…
Just finished breaking dawn. I could not put it down! I have to say though, it was not my favorite of the 4. Too much space age fantasy. Why now leave it at Vampires and Werewolves, why involve the teenage mutant ninja turtles. Again, the book held me spell bound through all its 750 plus pages. I was also the best vampire at barnes and nobles last night. team edward!
The book was so awsome not anything i would of expected! Well i mean Renesmee was totally unexpected I mean who knew?! Gah i couldnt eat or sleep cause i was so into the book xD I love it