Well, Alex is here!
So, Alex showed up from Santa Fe, and his cousin came in from Ohio, and Luca and I met up with them at the condo. From there we went to the Orleans and had dinner at TGIFridays. It was a birthday dinner for me and Alex's cousin, we both have the same exact birthday! We might have had a fancier dinner, but we had only so much time... we had to get to the MGM Grand Casino for the Cyndi Lauper True Colors Tour show. We got to the MGM Grand and Luca and I did a bit of gambling; he won and I lost, but just tiny amounts.
Then, we made our way to the Arena,for the concert. We were way early, but that was fine. As we were walking around the arena looking for chocolate for Alex, I heard people yelling my name! I looked in that direction, but the nearest people were quite a bit away... couldn't really see... and then one of them screamed the name of my company and then I saw who they were. We did the whole jumping up and down and aren't you so excited to see Cyndi and Andy Bell and!!!!! It was a nice moment, a bonding with some of the gay kids.
Now seriously, if you have the chance, do go see one of the dates for this tour! It was fabulous!!! Yes, fabulous!!! The Dresden Dolls are rather interesting. I liked them and so did Alex. The guy in the group finished the set in his underwear, which always helps, I think.
After that, the Indigo Girls came on and they were very sweet.
Oh, Oh! Margaret Cho was the Emmcee! She introduced these first acts and did some comedy and she was brilliant! She also showed a video of her new film which looked hot.
Then, Debby Harry, (formerly of Blondie) came on with her new band and I was hoping for something good. Maybe it was, but the instruments were mixed up so loud over the vocals that I couldn't really tell. It was the first night for her new act, so maybe it will get better, but we were just waiting for her to finish.
Then, Cyndi came out for a few minutes and everyone screamed! She talked about why she was doing this tour and how after she met Shepard's mother and after she had read so many of the e-mails from gay people about how the song "True Colors" had helped them get through some bad times, she knew that she had to do something like this.
She introduced Rosie O'Donnal, who did about 15 minutes of really funny stand-up. Her comments about "The View" were limited: She said, "You know, I really did the best I could!" Then she said, "I really need this tonight, to be here with my gays!" She said some very funny things about Trump and Larry King. I wasn't sure if she was going to be a good addition to the evening, but she was wonderful.
Then she introduced the next act by saying "I know for you guys, this is Gay Church! Erasure!" The house went wild and Andy Bell came on and did 45 minutes of, well, it was Gay Church! He had three amazing back up singers and the total effect was faaaaaabulous! I wanted to see Erasure for over a decade and when they did "Chains of Love" I was delerious!
After that set, Margaret Cho came out in character with a butch lesbian gril character and they did a lesbian rap that was very funny, Then Margaret talked for a bit about how she is probably a lesbian now... and then she introduced Cyndi!
Cyndi came out in this huge hat and a black wig and the very tight dress that you see above. She was singing a new song, so I can't tell you much about it, but she was belting it out. About half way through the song, she dumped the hat and before it was over she had ripped off the wig. As the next song started, she kicked off her high heels and stared stomping around the stage singing with all of her four plus octaves in full power. I've wanted to see her for ever, since the first time I heard her and she did not dissappoint. She totally rocked the house; people were on their feet and screaming. After like twenty years in the business, she is at the top of her form. She worked the stage from one end to the other and also came up into the seating area to sing. At one point she was about 15 feet away, but no one crowded her; they were in awe. She was astonishingly wonderful!
After a while, her dress started to fail, the part that was supposed to cover her left boob kept slipping, but she kept singing and finished the number. She came to the mike and said, "Are there any children in here? Cause I'm having this problem with this dress. You know, I always have all these grandios ideas... and then I end up lookin' all disheveled!" And then she laughed and bounced right into the next song which I think was "Money Changes Everything". At one point, one of the guys in the front row offered her his men's shirt and she looked at it and brought to her nose and shrugged and put it on, without missing a beat during the song. She wore the shirt for the rest of the night, but came out on stage after everyone else had left to give it back to the front row guy, who I am sure just peed all over himself at that point. I would have.
Rosie came out and played drums for a song or two with Cyndi and the band and then everyone came out to do True Colors together. This was really a fantastic evening; the four hours went by really quickly. I haven't been to any kind of rock concert for a long time, but I would go to see this show again. If you have the chance, see this tour show; it's great, it's fun and it's all about us.
It was a fabulous night! We got Alex and his cousin back to their condo and I went on home. It took me about an hour to settle down and go to sleep, but I woke up after four hours; I was wide awake! I had breakfast and checked out my e-mail and such and then decided to lay down and read for awhile and then I was out like a light for another four hours.
It was all totally wonderful....
