Bring The Boy Back Home

I think even Christie Brinkley passed us in her Ferrari

I have to warn you, this is long....

Last week we received an email @ work, which was part of group mailing list for "Arts & Events". They were offering a coupon code to get discounted tickets to see The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber at the Kennedy Center ($90 orchestra tickets going for $25). Of course my co-worker and I jumped at the chance and got ourselves tickets (the 2 of us plus her 2 boys).

The show was on Saturday, Dec 28th at 7:30 pm. She said she'd pick me up at 6 pm. She calls me from her cell and says there has been an accident on the road which caused a backup. So she arrives at 6:30pm. I was a bit nervous with the timeframe but no biggie.

We're chatting in the car and she mentions to me she and her husband used to go to the KC before the kids were born (her oldest is 11!!) but she remembers how to get there. Okay, I guess (even though we had no maps or GPS in the car!). So we make into DC with no problem whatsoever and at about 7:05. We're early!!! She says we have to get onto Whitehurst Pkwy and then to E Street. But we see the KC from the overpass and she just gets on a ramp, that goes around the KC and ends up in Rosslyn, VA!!!! (Sunshine, my friend, I was laughing inside remembering the day you guys were trying to get to the Verizon Ctr and could see it from the road and not get there).

So I say "I remember this area, we're close to the Iwo Jima memorial..." and there we see the Iwo Jima Memorial. I swear to you I felt like I was with Chevy Chase in the car. After that we just went around and around, finally made it back to the Natl mall, got to a ramp that seemed to go towards the KC and then got onto George Washington Pkwy on the way back to MD. OMG!!! I had to roll down the windows. I was starting to get hot and really nauseous.

Okay, so she calls her hubby (actually, her kid had already dialed the phone LOL) and we manage to get onto E Street - finally - but no KC, just the Watergate. Then we see a cab and the driver gives us better directions and at one point I see this entrance that says "John F Kennedy Center" and I started screaming "make a right here! here! here!" (LOL). At this point, we make into the drop-off location and we're afraid to move, but the parking lot is right ahead so we get in ($17.00 to park BTW!) at 7:27.

So we get to the theatre and we still had to get tickets at Will call (oh dear) but in the end we only missed the intro of the first song.

(A short intermission here before I start commenting the concert. Go freshen up!)

The concert was really good. It was a collection of songs from Andrew Lloyd Webber's shows. The first part of the show had many different shows. The second part was centered on Sunset Boulevard, Evita and Phantom of the Opera.This website posted the songs and some photos of the evening.

The Orchestra was really awesome, but a performer called Ron Bohmer really stole the show. His songs were spot on and he hit notes I had no idea a man could do. Especially the Phantom songs.

There were a couple of performers there that - seriously - I don't know how they got the job. I mean, I was ready to pull the mic from their hands. It got to a point that I stopped applauding altogether.

(Okay, show is over. You might want to use the bathroom before we head home)

Now we're back in the car and I start to sweat. But we made it safely to Clara Barton Pkwy. I let out a sigh of relief since it's the way I come home from work when I drive in. I just had to be sure to tell her when to make a left so we could make it back to the beltway. Oh, yeah, she got off the wrong exit to bring me home. Thankfully, it just made the trip 5 minutes longer. We made it home alive.

But next time, I'M DRIVING! (and with a GPS just in case)

Josh Groban @ the Emmys

The best thing that happened this week!

I am serious, the week was horrible, and this put a big smile on my face.

I have all Josh's CDs, but I love him even more now.

You make me feel like daaaaancing

The Wiggles rock!

We had a blast. We met and sat with Ann (w/ Bob & kids), Erica (w/ kids) and Amy (with her mom, kids, and the one on the way).

They even played Aquarela do Brazil for Ben's exit after Itsy Bitsy Spider. Quite an exit, actually! Per Anthony, Ben had more fans that the Wiggles themselves. So many people had signs for Ben, it was unbelievable.

LMBO @ Wiggly Olympics. They had the rings up, like in gymnastics, and Anthony, Paddy & perhaps Ado we hanging there during the monkey dance. We had score cards! (Ann's idea).

Erica had these really cool rings that blink and she shared them with us. T loved it and was in Wiggle-Heaven!

I was quite impressed with Anthony during the show. The man's unstoppable! Except when he had to tie his shoes - twice. Hey, I agree with the sign, Anthony for president. I'd vote for him! :) "If president, I declare every day is polka day" LMBO

My favorite new song: the fairy dance. Love it! I was trying to dance it in the kitchen. Hubby was rolling his eyes - I wonder why :)

LOVED Sam singing in falsetto, you make me feel like dancing. Yep, I did. I would have gotten up, but technically it's a concert for kids :)

Jeff played Humpty Dumpty and had to climb and sit on a wall. T said Humpty Dumpty did not fall from the wall, that Jeff was only scooting down. LOL!

Murray rocks. All the time. I just feel I have to say it again. And he ALWAYS finds us.

The Wiggly dancers were amazing. The new choreography by Caterina was great! Ado & Megan are awesome! Megan is a new dancer, who flips like Ado, she's incredible. And Clare Field. I loved seeing Clare onstage. She's all grown up now. I was all proud of her, as if it was my own daughter there.

Poor Kristy, she had such patience getting the roses and bones from the kiddos. She was overwhelmed and in a hurry to get back onstage. BTW, the costume changes were many and SO quickly.

I took 450+ pictures so it will be kinda hard to narrow it down. I may get to it, eventually :P

But this one of Murray really stood out:

And she's gold!

Yes, people, Madonna is 50 today!

I remember twirling around the house singing "Everybody", her first hit back in 1983-84. The first of so many. I can probably sing most of her songs by heart, even the ones that were not a big hit.

She most certainly was a big influence in my life, musically. Plus she helped me learn English too!

One day, I will still see her perform live. While I don't, I'll stick to her CDs.

Cause I gotta have faith faith faith!

You are far,
When I could have been your star,
You listened to people,
Who scared you to death, and from my heart,
Strange that you were strong enough,
To even make a start,
But you'll never find
Peace of mind,
Till you listen to your heart

The 100th concert of the 25 tour!

George was divine. He is awesome! I danced, I clapped, I screamed. Now I'm sore. I will call in sick in the morning.

What can I say? I had been waiting for this moment for a long time. I grew up listening to George, and learning his lyrics was a huge part of my knowledge of English. I always tell people I learned the language from GM and Madonna. And while I always though George was extremely hot, I did not have a crush on him.

He opened the show singing backstage. The stage was like a huge screen, top to bottom, and reflected different images. A few images started to appear, then he came onstage with the band and some wonderful back-up singers.

It was super cute at one point he produced an old b&w photo of him and his sister with Nanny Josephine (who sported a beehive like Amy Winehouse's - LOL). She was in the audience and he dedicated the concert to her. My friend and I gave a big shout out to all baby-sitters out there. Because they do rock! (my friend is a sitter and I used to be one, so... :P)

The song "Amazing" was dedicated to his longtime partner Kenny. Sweet!

During "Outside", he came onstage dressed as a cop. Boy, the cops around here are not that hot. Seriously!

He played some of his best songs: Father Figure, Too Funky. He even sang cover versions for Roxanne and The First time I ever saw your face. The end of the concert was an encore with "Careless Whisper" & "Freedom '90". I was just a bit upset he didn't sing "Wake me up before you go-go" but that didn't really fit with the tone of the concert, so in the end I was ok with it.

Non-stop screaming moment of the night: he sampled "tudo bem?" in the intro of a song. I was in Heaven. Then I had to squeeze in a call to Oregon (I didn't hear you, friend, but I know you were listening).

LOL moment of the night: this lady sitting behind me taps me on the shoulder, gives me her business card and asks me to email her the photos I took. She does house cleaning and gave me a few more cards to share with my friends. My friend and I were ROFL.

Here is a one-minute portion of Faith. Video by me :)

It's tomorrow!!!!

And if he sings "Desafinado", I'll faint!!!

'Cause I've got one hand in my pocket...

Alanis Morissette will be playing the DAR Constitution Hall on September 22.

I... must...go!

That's another concert way overdue...

Groupie!

I was reading my friend Sunshine's take on concerts - and I mean non-Wiggles stuff - and I started remembering the concerts I went to when I was young---er...

The greatest frustration of my life is that I've never seen Madonna perform live. Seriously! She played back home when I was 15 and my father didn't let me go. All my friends in high school went and I was so mad. To top it off, my cousin got married on the same day, and from the reception I could see the all concert lights. I was furious. I still tell my dad I never forgave him for that. In 2001 I had another shot at it, but the concerts were sold out. Then after that she totally snubbed the DC area. And I just can't afford to go to NYC to see her. I have a full time job and a kid...

My dad was not fond of concerts. I remember when A-Ha played live in 1989 and both my aunts went. He didn't let me go either.

But I do remember the very first concert I went to: Roxette. It was on May 9th 1992. Yes, I remember! I was going crazy. Roxette is my favorite band, ever! It's so funny that here in the US Roxette and A-ha are one-hit wonders. I own all Roxette CDs - even the one they did in Spanish - and there are many, many wonderful songs that were huge hits all over the world, except in the US. Well, I guess it was before youtube era...

I saw Roxette again in 1995 and that was the best concert ever!!! I was in the mosh pit, a couple of feet from Marie Fredriksson. My friend was feeling bad and threw up right next to me, and I didn't even notice! That's how insanely cool it was.

I feel sad Roxette is no longer together and that Marie's health is not the same after her bout of cancer. I do hope she's alright.

I did see other concerts. I saw the Rolling Stones live, which was amazing, and opened by the Spin Doctors (that was not a great opener). It was so cool to see a living legend, live!

I also saw Whitney Houston, right around the time she did the Bodyguard and she was on top of the charts. I saw Supergrass and Smashing Pumpkins together. I saw The Cure, and I was in the front row. If I reached up, I could touch Robert Smith, who was really nice to us. It was late, it was not incredibly packed, and he just stayed near where we were to sing. "Yooooooooou are just like heaven, yoooooooooooou".

Oh, and let's not forget U2!

I think that was it... Really good times!

After that it was just Sesame Street Live and a string of Wiggles concerts... tee hee

But... George Michael, here I go!