Last night I had the awesome privilege of spending the evening with 7 of my favorite people thanks to a wonderful birthday gift given to me by the my absolute favorite 3 people in the world, my husband and boys. The 7? My closest friend, who I've known since I was 3 yrs. old, her husband, and the band members of Def Leppard.
My friend and I grew up in the same small private school in Florida, from preschool to high school graduation. We both ended up moving to the same state, which still blows my mind, and have settled into our "adult" lives just a 3 hour drive from each other. In our school, rock music, dancing, skirts over 2" above our knees, public displays of affection, and chocolate were all considered abominations sent from the Devil himself to corrupt us. Okay, chocolate was never preached against, I have come to that conclusion on my own, but the rest would bring fire and brimstone, lightning bolts, locusts...you name it...crashing down on our very heads. Needless to say, I being the good little private school child that I was, avoided all of these distractions from the straight and narrow path, until I was suspended for something really dumb (on my part and the school's) and finally decided, to heck with it! If I was going to get in trouble for that, anything goes! Well almost anything. I'm proud to say that I've still never had a cigarette in my mouth and have never used any sort of drug unless you count that stuff they gave me following an appendectomy. After two days of being certain in a hallucinogenic, paranoid state that my heart was beating way too slowly, I "just said no". Anyhoo, (please excuse my rambling, I'm still jacked up on caffeine and loud music) that's when I discovered rock music and how much I really, really like it. An 80's punk/new wave obsession started not long after and is yet to wane. (A Psychedellic Furs ticket for an upcoming concert is sitting on my writing desk as I type, which is driving me to distraction now that the DL concert is over. Can you say "mid-life crisis"?)
Def Leppard had just released their Hysteria album the first time I heard them and I was hooked for life, but had to wait over 20 yrs. before I had the chance to see them live. Some people want to through hike the Appalachian Trail (I was one of them until I tried a few hundred feet of it), some want to climb Mount Everest, I wanted to see Def Leppard before I or they died. They weren't getting any younger and neither was I. Two summers ago, my wish came true when they made a tour stop in a neighboring state and I made it through the concert without even blowing out a hip.
Last night I got to do it all over again and with my best childhood friend. It was amazing! We both got to be 16 again for a few hours. I'm ignoring the fine lines that are so obvious in my photos from last night and going to just pretend that it's true and that we are not just a couple of almost 40, old fart moms. At least she's been such a good friend that she hasn't made me do this aging thing alone (actually, she still looks 16). Alone...that reminds me...Heart opened for DL and those girls can still rock! Alone was one of our favorite songs as teenagers. So cool to hear it live with my sweet friend. Well, I'm very grateful for my husband, friend, and her husband for supporting my concert habit and Def Leppard addiction. Here are some pics. of our fabulous night. There was no hoeing involved.
 |
| Wouldn't you know, the power went out when it was time to get ready to go? Fortunately, there is an outlet in the back of our van so we were able to turn on the van so my concert buddy could heat up her flat iron. Cracks me up!! |
 |
| Had to put on our makeup in the van too. |
 |
| ...while listening to Def Leppard, of course. |
 |
| It was a long drive to Charlotte, NC and the Verizon Amphitheater but we made it with a few minutes to spare. |
 |
| A "mirror ball". How appropriate for the "Mirror Ball" tour. |
 |
| Nancy Wilson of Heart. Amazing! |
 |
| Heart |
 |
| Nancy doin' her thing. Goosebumps!! |
 |
| Every time is like the first time...the moment when the lights go up and there they are!! |
 |
| Acoustic bit of Bringin' On the Heartbreak. |
 |
| Photograph |
 |
| The fake-out end, people screaming for an encore. |
 |
And for your listening pleasure...
Barracuda~ Heart, Charlotte, NC 6-22-11
And...
Undefeated~ Def Leppard, Charlotte, NC 6-22-11
I guess some folks didn't adhere to the "no video recording" rule. Already found Youtube amateur videos of last night's concert. Whoo hoo!!
I've just reread this to check for errors and realize that all of my excitement over a teenage obsession must mean that I've never really grown up. Mission accomplished!! Oh, and I had a "chemical laden", artificially sweetened diet soda during the concert. But in the words of my hero, Scarlet O' Hara, "I won't think about that today, I'll think about that tomorrow. Tomorrow is another day..." Tomorrow I will be my old, crunchy, organic self.
No comments:
Post a Comment