Once Upon A Time, Long, Long Ago...I Was Cool

Or not. Maybe I was just kidding myself.

I had always thought that I was a cool Mom that allowed her kids to do cool things.

*Sigh*

But, I found out on Friday that I am just NOT that cool and NOT that hip and dare I say it O.L.D.

Yes, Friday was the CONCERT TO SURPASS ALL OTHER CONCERTS in the eyes of Miss Thing and so we ventured an hour away to the half-open arena, along with thousands of other preteens sandwiched in to watch their idols. And I had brought with me Lil Man and DH - though by the end of the night, I'm really not sure why I thought either was a good choice. Lil Man was bored out of his skull and DH well, DH did not actually ENJOY himself. DH is a diehard KISS fan, a Van Halen fan, an Anything But The Bands We Saw Fan, but I digress. We were there for the kids. Right?

There is a certain excitement that rips through the air on the night of a concert, a sort of electricity. You are hoping they sing your favorite song. You are wondering WHAT the stage/lasers/lights will look like. You hope your seats are great. You hope the opening band is good. You hope they have great shirts. Dh and I have driven off to concerts COUNTLESS times with the band we were going to see blaring in the car. Not this night. The kids had no idea what to expect - so they were just QUIET in the back. Sigh. Can you imagine being that young again?

But with tickets in hand - we hoped for the best. Getting to the arena in time to spare, we secured our seats, bought water and new concert t-shirts for the kids. Miss Thing bought another Ali & AJ shirt for $35.00 (don't even get me started since she was wearing the new Ali & AJ shirt from Target that cost....ready???......$6.00!!) and Lil Man bought Drake Bell's.

They were REALLY excited. Though you really can't tell from that picture can you?



And so the concert started. Since the arena is open, it was in the upper 80's outside and about 100 between my legs. Why do you sweat there? What the hell?



Bianca Ryan, a 12 year old with a voice to die for started off the show and I was impressed. With HER. NOT with the sounds around me. Do you KNOW what thousands of screeching tweens sounds like? The screams were SO high-pitched and lasted so long - I thought my ears were bleeding.



Next up was Corbin Bleu, the 18 year old heart throb from High School Musical and Jump In. He could sing AND dance and was sweeter than Chocolate Mousse. I found myself thinking that he looked older than that. Maybe because I could not fathom that I paid $200 for my family to see him and I was double his age. DOUBLE. DH is more than double. But, we did have great seats, no? I took pictures - for the kids. I never took pictures at the concerts I went to. Cuz that would have been uncool. Or maybe its because I didn't have a digital camera back then....

By the time Corbin Bleu left the stage, the girls in the audience had been whipped into a frenzy and the screaming was unbearable. Or at least it would have been without one of these....



Nothing says I am enjoying my kids concert quite like a bong sized glass full of Southern Comfort frozen goodness. Don't judge - there were others who had them and beer - not many mind you - but we did make a point to raise our glasses and give the nod of "Oh yeah - I know we look like lushes - but I am OK with that!"



Next up was Drake Bell and I have to tell you, he rocked. Or maybe that was the brain freeze talking...or the fact that I had finished that whole thing between Corbin Bleu and Drake Bell? Whatever. He was really good - and the girls screamed even louder. You have never heard torture until you hear THOUSANDS of kids singing at the tops of their lungs the themesong to the Drake and Josh show. It wasn't FREEBIRD - but at least they were into it. Up until that point - there was a polite quiet over the crowd. These kids had never been to a concert before. Most were sitting in their seats - bopping their heads - singing along. There were not kids standing, no lighters lit, no smell of pot in the air - no stomping of feet to get your band to come back out for an encore. I hadn't sat in my seat at a concert since I went and saw Elton John years ago. Talk about a LAME concert.

God, I wish I had another drink.

Last up - these twits. Not only are they blonde and act stupid - they went and MADE UP A WORD for the name of the album. INSOMNIATIC. THAT'S the way to be a role model. As if the kids don't have ENOUGH trouble with the English language. See OLD showing through.....



Do you think I COULD get another drink? NO, I better not.



Halfway through their set, I look over and Lil Man has slumped in his seat and is snoring away. I reach over to shake him awake and DH stops me.

"What are you doing? Do you KNOW how much these tickets cost?"

"Yeah uh Sharpie? I'm glad that he's bored - cuz, honestly this is a total chick concert and quite frankly - if I were him - I would have gouged my own eyes out hours ago."

Ok then. Another drink it is.

Maybe this is why I used to get dropped off at my concerts. I guess it could have been worse....it could have been the Kidz Bop World Tour. Thank you tiny baby Jesus for not coming to our area. Amen.