LONG LIVE ROCK-N-ROLL!!!!!

As Stewie pointed out in his blog right after the Def Leppard concert he saw last year or in '04 (I can't remember?):

I got somethin' to say;
It's better to burn out
Than fade away!!!!!

The show last night was AWESOME! We were in about the 24th row, but with the first 20 or so rows being BELOW stage level (all of the looking up would have given me a headache!!!), we were DEAD CENTER EVEN with the stage and it was AWESOME! Today my legs and feet are sore and my ears are ringing like I took too many Tylenols, but DAYUM THAT WAS DA BOMB!!!!!!! :-D

Journey KICKED ASS - I don't know who their new lead singer is that's touring with them this summer (he stated he'd only been with them about 6 weeks now) but he is "TEH HAWT!" Weet-woo! >:-) His rendition of "Lovin', Touchin' Squeezin', " was SOOO good that if I closed my eyes, I really would have SWORE that it was Steve Perry up there belting out the good stuff!!!! And that's pretty amazing, because like them or not, Journey is one of the most enduring rock bands ever and Steve Perry has a vocal range to be envied by many! My favorite part was still the National Anthem as played by Neil Schon. Too right!

During the intermission, I thought I was going to DIE. It was 106F with about 40% (HEY- that's a LOT for Arizona!) humidity, ZERO breeze, and people were so thick you couldn't stir them with a stick or puy your own hand in your own pocket. So, after spending $15 for 4 bottles of water (which someone in line told me that was a "good price" *SCOFF!!*) we were able to cool off some.

*NOTE TO SELF: Next time you go to a Phoenix outdoor concert between April - October--WEAR SHORTS AND TAKE WATER!*

You think I'd KNOW these things by now. :p

Then Lepp came on. And they started with "Rock, Rock!" Oh MAN! That was the shizznit! Everyone in our section was going CRAZY! I was glad we stood in a section of active people. Nothing irritates me more than to go to a show and have a bunch of people around you just stand (or even WORSE, SIT) there and do nothing. That's just anti-American.

Stormy posted a comment on my last blog about Lepp's set list always being the same. Sometimes change is good, but as for me, last night, I NEEDED SOMETHING OLD AND FAMILIAR. I got just what I was looking for. I screamed along the lyrics during "Rock Of Ages" and "PSSOM" (<<---TRUE Lepp fans KNOW what THAT means!!) ; I cried during "Love Bites" and "Bringing On The Heartbreak" and I was "in the zone" for all of the other songs that are tied so tightly to the little bits of my youth and adolescence that are left somewhere deep inside my soul. One time the music was WHO I was...now, it's shaped the person I am. And like Freak says, "I kind of like the person I've become." :o)

And like I say..."I'm still a work in progress." ;-)

And on a related note....neith Journey nor Def Lepp are full of spring chickens anymore. These guys are ALL 40-50+ years old. And you know what I think!? They look a HELLUVA lot better than some bands with 20-something year old members running around in the present day! (:-O
I mean Phil Collen of DL is SCHMOE-KIN HOT! >:-)~ I woulda liked to "PSS" on THAT! I could've scrubbed my clothes on those abs! And *MY MAN*, Joe Elliot looked so good...I swear if I EVER get a hold of that man, he's gonna hafta call 9-1-1 to get me offa him! >:-)~ And Sav...well, Stormy, you were right - for the first 2 songs, the only indication that I had that it was HIM was how SKINNY he still is after all these years and the tattoo in his right upper arm. I hate the blonde STRAIGHT hair. That's just NOT the Rick Savage I have known & loved for 23+ years!!!!

But I digress.... It's almost inspiring to see that a lot of them have put down the bottle and picked up the weights...or the treadmill and the Atkin's diet or SOMETHING...I guess it goes to show a life of excess is fun once in a while, but you've got to have stamina for the long haul!

So all in all, my big concert event this year wins an A+. I love Cricket Pavillion in Phoenix, I hate Phoenix weather, but I LOVE rock & roll...and I can't wait until I can start taking my kids to concerts, too, so that someday they realize what a friend we all have in music.

ROCK ON! YEAH!