I Can Still "Rock, Rock Till I Drop!"

I was on the edge of my seat all day yesterday. Will we or won't we? Can we or can't we? Well the answer was we will and we can and we DID! What did we do?

WE ROCKED THE 80'S BIG TIME!!!

That's right, last night I was in my 80's big hair glory. Frank and I went to see Cheap Trick, Poison and Def Leppard in concert. It was AWESOME!!! I honestly didn't think we were going to be able to do it because I really only told him about it on Thursday and in order for us to go, well, the planets pretty much needed to align. A lot of things needed to fall in to place and they all did!!

We were out the door at 5:30, grabbed a quick drive-thru meal at Chick-Fil-A, drove in to Raleigh and hit relatively no traffic. When we made the turn in to the complex, the guy directing traffic motioned us where to park and it was basically like ten spots in from the exit to the parking lot - front row - so we knew that leaving was going to be a breeze. Walking to the pavilion? Not too sure. It turns out that at a brisk pace (thank you Walk Away the Pounds!) we were at the gate in five minutes. This is an important fact because we had to turn around and go BACK to the car because they do not allow cameras in and were doing bag searches! I know, I know, stupid of me to think that they'd let it in but I was not alone in my stupidity! And really, the joke is on them anyway because we all have CAMERA PHONES! I actually got some really, well it was really bad, but I do have some video of a couple of songs on my phone. (Insert me sticking out my tongue to the concert people). I mean, it's an outdoor ampitheater and I figured in this day and age, they'd let the cameras through BECAUSE of the whole camera phone thing. Honestly, what's the difference? You can upload pictures and videos from your phone just like you can a camera! Stupid rules make me crazy!

The crowds were light as we walked through the gate at 6:40, we grabbed some bottled water, rented some lawn chairs and found a great spot - not too close, not too far. In the lawn section, you're pretty far back no matter what so we chose accordingly. Cheap Trick hit the stage at 7:00 sharp and put on a very impressive show. It was still light out so they didn't do much in the way of lights or anything like that, but man, they can still perform. I didn't think they needed any big fancy stage show because the music spoke for itself. If they headlined anywhere, Frank and I both agreed that we'd go. "Surrender" was done a big too fast, but I sang my little heart out anyway! As the opening act, their set was pretty short 35-40 minutes, the crowd was small, but it was still impressive. They were who Frank really wanted to see and so I was glad that they were good.

In the last five minutes of their set, this obnoxious couple came and stood DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF ME, waving their stupid arms to signal for the rest of their group to join them and so I MISSED the end of the set!!! I shot daggers at them for the rest of the night - even AFTER I moved three feet to the right so that I could actually SEE the stage!

Thirty minutes later Poison took the stage. I LOVE these guys. Last time I saw them was in 1988 and I nearly got trampled to death after the show. Not fun. I had no real expectations because they kind of sucked back then live and I figured that they hadn't really improved. Well, guess what? THEY DID! THEY put on an awesome show! It was darker out now so they had better lighting and pyrotechnics and by now the ampitheater is packed! The music was tight, Brett Michaels can still sing and don't worry son, I did not try and find a way on to the Rock of Love bus to get my bra signed!

I couldn't find it...

Around 9:30, Def Leppard took the stage and they were the ones that I really, really wanted to see. Frank and I saw them back in 2004 or 2005 and while they were good, I was disappointed. You see, I saw them back in their hay-day of the Hysteria tour where they played in the round and I saw that tour two or three times and they were AMAZING. Well, last night, it was like 1988 all over again. There wasn't a lot of lazers like back in the day, but they sang all of my favorites and I just about cried! Joe Elliott was my make-believe husband back in my teens and so Frank (kind and loving man that he is) had to keep me grounded in reality by reminding me that he (Joe) really didn't know I was there. It was not me that he was seeking out when looked in to the crowd, it was not ME directly Joe was referring to when he said he loved us all. Way to kill the dream, hon.

Either way, whether Joe Elliott knew I was there or NOT (I chose to believe that he did), the show was amazing. His voice was strong for MOST of the set. To be fair, he used to have a really high voice and I don't think anyone could pull that off after almost 30 years of performing, so I wasn't surprised when he couldn't do all of the old songs quite the same. The band was great, the stage show was awesome and I found myself singing along to every song. Honestly, it was the PERFECT NIGHT!

You know what makes a concert like this great as an adult? Besides the music? Watching all of the idiots around you. I'm telling you, I'm 40 and I know it. I went last night dressed comfortably and stylishly (I couldn't find any leather or leopard print that looked good on me!) but there were people there - all of the female variety - that had me thinking "Does nobody own a mirror?" When you are older (I'm not naming an age) and significantly overweight, wearing lingerie tops without a bra, a denim mini-skirt and cowboy boots is just not attractive. ANYWHERE!!! Then there were the excessive drunks who just were loud and groping all of the people around them in their groups. That was pretty entertaining during the intermissions. There was the woman who danced like Elaine on "Seinfeld" that had Frank and I basically on the floor laughing for a good part of the evening. And then there were the "Woo Girls". You know who you are...and stop it.

All in all it was just darn perfect. I so love my hubby for doing this for me! He hates 80's big hair bands but, God love him, he did it for me. In the light of the next morning, my throat is killing me, my legs and feet are sore. The remnants of my big hair remain even after almost 10 hours of sleep. But it was so totally worth it!!!

Rock on, friends!

**Note** If any of you out there is into any of these bands, particularly Def Leppard, last night during the show Joe Elliott stopped and talked about someone that they used to perform with who died yesterday. The "Woo-Girls" in front of us wooed during his talk and so I missed who he was talking about. If anyone knows who it was, I'm just curious. Thanks!