Wednesday, July 11, 2012

I'm a woman like that (#iPPP)

A child of the 80s and a diehard General Hospital fan, Rick Springfield has been on my list for a long time. I finally saw him in concert with my mom four years ago (I'm not sure who was more excited).

circa June 2008
first generation iPhone pic

I've been to a ridiculous number of concerts in my three-and-a-third decades of life, and I've seen some amazing performers, from KISS to Aerosmith, who really know how to put on a show, but none of them played to their fans quite the way Rick did. Aside from playing a few notes on the guitar with a bouquet of roses, there weren't too many "frills" (other than his sexy self, of course). But he took his life in his hands by coming into the audience, letting women grope him, signing albums, and talking to moms and boyfriends who were listening to the concert via cell phone. I vowed at the end of the concert that the next time I saw him, I was going to be close enough to reach out and feel his Human Touch.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I found out that Rick was coming to a little venue right where I live. I immediately sent out the following email to a few of my fun-loving girlies:
Who: R, S, K, L, M, E, J, M, L, and anyone else you want to invite (girls only!)
What: Rick Springfield concert (big bangs optional, but totally encouraged)
When: July 6 @ 7 pm
Where: Tin Roof
Why: because I'm a closeted Rick Springfield groupie, and while I'm not above going by myself, it would be much more fun with girlfriends (see also: Why not?!)
Cost: $31.73 per pre-sale ticket
xo,
Cheryl
Four messaged back with enthusiastic "I'm in!" squeals and immediately discussed what we'd be wearing. I'm not sure any of them realized, though, what they were signing up for with me.
Hi, ladies. Re Friday: gates open at 5. I'd like to be there by then (at latest) if possible. We many not get close enough to be spit on by Rick, but I'd at least like to see every ripple of muscle with my naked eyes. Should naked be somewhere else in that sentence? ;) Let me know what time works for you and where you wanna meet. Can't wait!
*Crickets.*

By Thursday, the sound of crickets returned to squeals of excitement. It turns out that my girlfriends are just as crazy as I am and will do pretty much anything in the name of fun, so we all got to the venue (aka an open parking lot) at 4:30, where we sweated our boobies off in the 100+ heat for the next five hours, all in the name of Rick.

Groupie attire? Check!

As you can see from the following unedited iPhone pics, it was SO WORTH IT.

Rick takes the stage. Let the screaming begin!

Who needs a guitar pick when you can play with a bouquet of roses?

I see you're sweating just like the rest of us.
Why not make yourself more comfortable (aka take off your shirt!)?

He's so close, yet still so far.
And clothed. What's up with that?

Oh hai. You heard me.

And this is where I almost fainted.

This is the face of one happy fangirl.

GFunkified

8 comments:

Cheri said...

I've only been to two concerts in my life... I saw Captain & Tenille at the New York State fair, circa 1979??? And I saw Hall & Oates when they came to play at my college. I suppose that dates me. Also shows that I grew up poor and sheltered, right? I don't get the hype... maybe if I had someone like you to attend with, i would understand!

Greta @gfunkified said...

Oh my goodness. How much fun was that?! Especially with all the girls! Awesome.

Anonymous said...

Love sweaty dirty rocker boys! Looks like you had a blast!

Debbie said...

Love your blog post and pictures! I saw Rick in the 80's once and then pretty much forgot all about him until Nov. 08 when a friend asked me to go see him with her for 2 back to back shows. I've been hooked ever since and since my son is grown and on his own now I'm re-living my youth. I travel to see him when I can and he's not playing Minnesota. Since those first 2 "rediscovering" shows I have been to close to a little over 20, traveling to IL., WI., IA., SD. IN., and even flying to NJ., MD., TN. and NM. twice (my son lives there so got to see him and he went to the shows with me)! He's addicting! I didn't go on any of the cruises but I am going to the Club Med Cancun event and will see him in Waterloo, IA the 26th of this month. If you can afford it I highly suggest buying a sound check meet and greet pass for one of his shows you're going to. It is $300 but well worth the Rick hug you get when you get your picture with him =)

Deb
dmtwolves@msn.com

Fritter said...

Am I seeing things, or does he indeed look awesome?!?!? And I too was a GH groupie- and completely remember him on there- great post, I would have gone with you for sure!!!

Anonymous said...

Cool pictures - looks like so much fun!
I've only been to two concerts in my life - Asia and Four non Blondes. And that was a long time ago. 'Cause I'm a child of the 70s ;)

Unknown said...

Well that looked like a ton of fun! Didya get him to autograph a body part? (Just wondering.) ;)

Jessica said...

How awesome you could be a groupie again for a night.