Melissa Etheridge...100% tough-ass broad!

So last night Brian and I went to see Melissa Etheridge. Although I would not classify myself as a huge fan, I have always enjoyed her music and since we received the $75 a seat tickets free - who was I to refuse?

Besides, I used my noodle and used the opportunity to pass out hotcards for my ally group prior to the show. We passed out about 250 cards in 15 minutes - sweet! Not to mention that PBS was there shooting footage for a documentary and got Brian on camera! The guy in charge of the PBS thing approached me to film some comments but I had to be between 18-25. I had to tell him that I was too old, but he made my night by not believing my real age and saying no one would ever guess that. What a sweetie!

It was a fantastic show that lasted 3 hours! Brian called her the 'Energizer Bunny of entertainers' and I joked that someone would eventually have to drag the women off the stage. It conjured up images of James Brown being led off stage only to throw off his cape and run back for more. LOL

The thing about this show that I enjoyed most was that Melissa was a real talker. It felt like a VH1 Story Tellers segment! She was very genuine and it was easy to see why so many shelled out the $100 a seat to be closer to her. It's hard not to admire her for all she has been through in life and all the things she stands up for. She talked about global warming and a recent trip to Alaska where she met a man who runs a dog sled business...he assured her that in the last 20 years he has indeed seen a change in the glaciers from the oceans warming. She wrote and sang a song in the new movie An Inconvenient Truth, but from her lips it didn't seem like a ploy or PR moment.

She also sang some very touching songs about her fight against breast cancer, "This is Not Goodbye," United Flight 93's heroic gay passenger, "Tuesday Morning," and Matthew Shepard's murder, "Scarecrow."

She really seemed to have a great time onstage and her 3 member band was very good. Her gutiarist, Phillip, had a very unusual way of playing. His arm flew all over the place like a monkey! It was kind of annoying...but I could not deny that the Toronto native could play. She spent much time communicating with the audience. She even asked two lucky fans to record the group using children's video cameras. Perhaps the most memorable and humble moment came when Melissa actually forgot the second verse of a song and had to ask for the lyric book to come out. It's nice to see even the famous have life moments which they wish they could have back.

So that is two great concerts with one to go -- we are supposed to go see Toad The Wet Sprocket next Wednesday. Will it be a hat trick of terrific shows? I hope so. I really liked them back in the day and I am looking forward to the show (which we received free tickets too as well!). Speaking of free things - I won tickets to go see The Devil Wears Prada. I'll let you all know how it is.

Here's a fun story to leave you with...before the concert, I took my kids to this place called Pump It Up. It is basically a warehouse that houses 4 bouncy/air-filled contraptions. I had two free passes and therefore didn't have to pay the $12 it would have cost to take the kids to play. Well, one of the items you could play on was an inflatable obstacle course. You have to climb over a big air bag, then squeeze through this roller thing and then climb the mountain and slide to the finish line. I took Meaghan on head-to-head. I was doing well until the roller thing. When I (and my fat rear end) squeezed through the roller part, I realized I had almost lost my damned pants in the process! I stood up and had to make a quick adjustment. To my horror it was in plain sight of all the other mothers who were sitting on bench and snickering at me. See Melissa - it could have been worst! :o) Needless to say, Meaghan schooled me - easily.