I Heart Rick Springfield

The concerts were the most amazing, incredible, energizing, exciting experiences of my life! I know it sounds silly to say that about a rock concert, but it's true. Rick clearly has so much fun performing, feeding off the energy of the crowd, that he gives it right back tenfold. The first night, he was able to come into the crowd for a nice long time. He never would have done that in the 80's because the girls would have killed him in their excitement and eagerness to literally get a piece of him. But we've grown up now. As he has stated before, we have jobs and families, and we've grown into respectable, responsible citizens. We love him as much, if not more, than ever, but now his concerts are about having a party, and enjoying a good time, not creating a mob scene. The second night there was even more energy and enthusiasm. It rained the entire night, from the time the opening act finished until just after Rick left the stage for the night. His set was delayed about 45 minutes, and the people who stayed were true fans. He still came out into the audience, getting soaked in the process, but he didn't seem to care. He seemed extra jazzed that we were willing to stand in the pouring rain for so long. It truly was electric. There is no way I'm waiting another 21 years to see him in concert again. The frequent flier miles are getting put to good use sometime soon. I can't wait to go to another one of his parties.

The lousy seats turned out to not be a problem, since on the first night, I couldn't contain my excitement when Da Man moved into the crowd. I scooped Monkey up and headed down the stairs to get closer. Good thing I had Monkey with me, too, because people didn't seem to mind that I was inching closer and closer, under the guise of letting an adorable child get a better look. As long as people saw him, they just smiled and stepped out of the way so he, and out of necessity, I, could see. The second night, we moved even closer since a lot of people left due to the rain and the delay. There were times during the two nights that we were a mere twenty feet away from the greatest singer, songwriter, and musician who ever existed. I am a happy girl. And it's all thanks to Monk being so cute.

I'm telling you, anytime I have to go someplace with crowds where young children are few and far between, I'm taking that kid with me. I think we could have made it all the way to the front if I'd started moving down earlier. Not only that, but he is a magnet for free stuff! The first night, we began the evening sitting next to a nice older couple who had season tickets to the venue's concert series. They weren't familiar with most of Rick's work, so I happily filled them in on his immense talent and appeal, as well as the names of the various crew members we saw getting the stage ready. I'm sure they were fascinated. Anyway, they told me about some of the other acts they had seen at the venue, and we had a lovely conversation. Monkey was miraculously polite and well-behaved during this chat. Until he decided he was hungry. I had already bought him a nutritious and filling fast-food meal on the hour-and-a-half drive to the concert. But he chose not to eat that, and instead busied himself with the fascinating toy that came with the delicious meal. So that food went to waste. And I was unwilling to take out a loan to buy the venue's concessions. I told Monkey that he had already had the opportunity to eat and he blew it, so I wasn't going to get him anything else. The truth was, it was hot, I was wearing my too-tight rock-and-roll jeans, I had already put in a full day's work, and I just didn't feel like getting up and walking up the stairs to the concession stands. The nice lady next to us asked if I minded if he had some ice cream. I told her I really didn't, and she offered to get him some. I followed Southern protocol and said she didn't have to do that, and she followed Nice Lady protocol and said she didn't mind. I tried to give her the money, but she said she'd take care of it. So I intensified the Southern protocol and protested, but she insisted, saying they didn't have any grandkids close by. Well, I know better than to argue with a grandmother. Ridiculously long story short, he got a free dish of ice cream before the first concert.

The second night the rain drove most of the crowd to stand under the small covered area by the concession stands. Absolutely despising crowds and being mildly claustrophobic, I was happy to shiver by our seats while we leaned into the covered sound booth. But Monkey wanted to go under the covered area, and he whined so much that I finally got sick of it and relented. We'd been standing there about two minutes when some man handed Monk a small flashlight. For no reason. Just because. Since it was clearly a give-away item from the venue, I didn't feel the need to invoke the Southern protocol. So Monk was not getting rained on and he had a flashlight. Now he was a happy camper. At one point someone from the venue threw t-shirts out into the crowd to try and appease the masses. A few minutes after throwing the last one, the same guy with the flashlight gave Monk a t-shirt. I don't even think he was one of the people that got one; I think he took it from someone else. But he felt bad for the kid and said it was to give him something dry to put on. Being another give-away item, I still didn't protest. And when some other lady tried to help me put it on him, we ended up spilling her red wine on her white blouse. I felt horrible, but she acted like it was no big deal. I don't think it had been her first glass. Plus, she seemed to think Monk was cute, too; not only does he get free stuff, but he has the power to prevent anger in others. So for those still reading, the tally is now one ice cream, one flashlight, and one t-shirt. And the best is yet to come.

At the end of the second night, I gathered up our binoculars, t-shirts, his flashlight, etc. so we could begin to make our way to the car. The guy who had been dancing and drinking with his girlfriend/wife/whatever in the spot next to us started saying what a great kid Monk was. Okaaay. I mean, yeah, I think he's pretty awesome, but all this guy had seen of him was him standing on a chair and sometimes singing along, so...what? He asked me if Monk could hear anything at all. I assumed he was referring to the bright orange ear plugs I had made the kid wear in an effort to protect his tiny ear drums. They were the kind used for swimming, and they spread out over the whole opening of the ear. Very noticeable. I said, "Oh, yeah, he can hear everything just fine. Those are just to protect his ears, but he heard everything." This guy kept saying what a cool kid he was and that he wanted to give him something. So out comes the protocol again, and again, it was met with dismissal. He starts to give Monkey some money. I tell him and the gf/wife/whatever that it was really not necessary, but he just insisted and she just smiled. They had both had a few glasses of wine, I think. Apparently the wine was pouring as much as the rain was that night. I assumed he was only giving Monk a dollar, so I wasn't going to keep the protocol going too much, but then I saw that it was a twenty dollar bill! Now it was no longer protocol; I was really trying to stop the guy from giving away his money. Again he insisted. So I figured he was either too drunk to realize what he was doing, or too drunk to care. I also figured that if he was drunk enough to give twenty bucks to some kid he doesn't even know, for no reason at all, I was sober enough to let him. So I told Monk to thank the man, and we went on our way. Later I decided that maybe the man didn't hear or believe me when I said Monkey heard everything just fine. Maybe he thought Monkey was deaf and that it was pretty cool that he was enjoying the concert even though he couldn't hear it. Maybe I should take the kid on the road and see if we can make some serious cash. Apparently all he has to do is stand around and people start emptying their wallets.

Between the free stuff, the powerful energy, and the homina-homina-homina of the shirtless encores, Rick's concerts are officially some of my favorite moments in time.