In A Different Universe

The Blondie concert was SO MUCH FUN!!!

Husband and I got to Atlantic City at about 6:30, plenty of time for drinks, dinner and for him to win $80 in the 5 cent slot machines!

Dinner was yum. Sangria! Martini! And look, oysters! And little cheeseburgers that look like muppets!

Not a frequent visitor to casinos, I was amazed and entertained by the variety of slot machines out there.

Even the bathroom was cool:

Finally it was time for the show. The venue was tiny!! The view from our seats:

On our way in I noticed the guy in front of us looked really slick. Like, short spiky hair, expensive suit. And he was wearing a laminated backstage pass. I still had that note from my voice teacher, and I was still wondering how to deliver it, so I filed Mr. Backstage Pass in the back(stage) of my mind.

Then, the concert started. WOWOWOW!!! Now here's where, if I ever wondered if I was from a different universe from other people, this concert may have proven it. I was the ONLY PERSON DANCING. Ok that's not entirely true. There were a couple of people right up front, and occasionally some people above me to my right... and also... Mr. Spikyhair BackstagePass, a little behind and to my left. This was BLONDIE, people!!!! Not a string quartet. I was on my feet the entire time, dancing and singing, jumping and fistpumping and having a blast. Every now and then I peeked around and saw the rest of the audience just... sitting there. Once the woman next to me stood up to dance. Someone behind us yelled, "Down in front!" and she sat. I turned around and yelled, "STAND UP AND DANCE! THIS IS A ROCK CONCERT, NOT AN OPERA!" The people right behind us were grumbling too, sort of under their breath but loud enough for me to hear, "I can't believe this. I didn't pay for this. I can't see." I very nicely URGED them to get up and dance. What was WRONG with everyone???? I wasn't going to just sit there like I was singing kumbaya around a campfire. Seriously. It wasn't until they played One Way or Another, about two-thirds of the way through, that people got to their feet.

Hey look!! It's Debbie Harry!!!

That's pretty much the only good photograph I got. However there are lots of fabulous photos here on the Artskooldamage blog.

And now... Here's my fangirl moment, because you know I had to have one. At one point, I don't remember what song, I could SWEAR she was copying my dance moves. I'd do something, then she would. Then I'd think, who did that first? Me or her? Then it'd happen again. So there. My fangirl moment. I danced with Debbie Harry, while everyone else (except for those few I mentioned) sat around me.

Here's a playlist of videos I took. I should post a warning - if you're prone to seasickness, don't watch. I was dancing the entire time. Also, they're not in order of performance. If the blogger format cuts off the YouTube window, you can find the playlist here.

After it ended, I realized I had one last chance to get my voice teacher's note backstage. You guessed it: Mr. Backstagepass man. I timed getting to the stairs when he did, and said, "I think you and I were the only ones dancing for this entire show." We chatted about that, and I asked if that was a backstage pass. I pulled out the note and explained to him that I study voice with the same woman Debbie studied with in the 70s, and this was a note from my teacher to Debbie, could he possibly deliver it? Well. He thought it was awesome, and he said he'd love to. I introduced myself, then he told me his first name, then repeated his full name in a sort of upspeak, as if to say, "You've probably heard of me?" Besides the fact that it was too loud to really hear, we all know I basically live under a rock. So even if I had heard his name, I doubt I'd have heard of him. Maybe he was a fashion designer, or a photographer? Doesn't matter. He was super sweet and took the note back for me. He even apologized that he couldn't take me backstage with him. How sweet is that? I'm really so happy to be able to tell my voice teacher that her note was delivered.

As we left the theater lobby, two tall, glamorous women approached me to thank me for dancing! They said they loved my energy, that it was contagious and inspiring. Then 2 minutes later another pair of young women came over to say that my enthusiasm inspired them to dance. So you all can imagine, I was dancing like a dancing fool. I loved the music, I sang along. They did old stuff, they did new stuff, they did... The Beastie Boys!! Fight for your Right to PAAARRRTAAAYYY! I think everyone was already standing up by then. I mean, can you IMAGINE sitting through that?

So the person sitting in front me recorded almost the entire concert on her iPhone, in between texting and posting to Facebook. Her videos are no doubt smooth and steady. And I bet you can hear me singing in all of them. Heh heh.