From George Michael to Cher to Melissa: My favorite concerts
Happy holidays to all you cool cats and kittens. I hope you are all filled with joy and happiness this Christmas. I will be filled with the spirit of Tito’s. It’s a tradition. If not Tito’s, I will be filled with Pimomsas. Pimomsas are like a mimosa but with pineapple juice instead of orange juice. They are delicious.
This year, kind of as a Christmas gift, I got us tickets to see one of my absolute favorite bands — Twenty-one Pilots. The concert is not until September, but it is always nice to have something to look forward to.
Concert tickets have gotten so ridiculously expensive, though. Tickets for Adele’s show in Vegas are in the thousands. WTF Adele? “HELLO … from the parking lot!” Bitch done lost her damn mind.
If I am spending thousands on a concert ticket, it better come with at least a hand job.
My first concert was George Michael. It was Oct. 14, 1988. I was 16, and my fabulous Aunt Zina got us tickets. They were great seats. My favorite thing about the concert was how loud everyone was screaming.
You could literally yell anything, and it didn’t matter. I screamed that I was gay at the top of my lungs, and nobody knew what I said. It was way before I was out and there was something so liberating about screaming that. At one point, I also yelled, “I want your sex, George!” That made me blush, but it was absolutely true. I think everyone in Texas stadium that night wanted to fuck George Michael.
He put on such a great show. His voice was perfection. He strutted around in those tight ass jeans and was amazing. We knew every word of every song from his album — plus the songs he sang while he was part of WHAM! “Careless Whisper” is still one of my favorite songs.
We had a blast that night, and I remember being as close to my authentic self as I had ever been. My Aunt Zina has never had an issue with me being gay, and I think that night probably confirmed any suspicions she might have had about me. Or more than likely, she just never cared. She loves me and always has.
Aunt Zina has been my protector and friend for as long as I can remember. She made me feel okay with things and let me know I had a safe place to go if things went south when everyone found out I was gay. I think that is really why that concert was so special to me: I got to be with one of my favorite people and never once felt judged for being a little bit of an effeminate kid. I hope you all have an Aunt Zina in your life to make you feel special.
Do y’all remember Cher’s Believe concert at the Starplex Amplitheatre in June of 1999? That was probably the gayest thing I’ve ever been a part of. Homos as far as the eye could see — it was awesome.
It was like being in a packed gay nightclub. I went with my good friend, Robbie Dodd. We had lawn seats, but I don’t think we sat for very long at all. We walked around with giant beers in hand and man-watched.
The weather was perfect that day, it was warm but not sweltering, so lots of hot gay guys were running around nearly naked — short shorts with no shirts, dancing, singing and living their best lives.
The crowd would go crazy every time Cher would do a costume change, and she had many. It was like a huge sing-along. Cruising boys, drinking beers and dancing wherever we were when the mood struck. It was such a good time. Leave it to Cher to create the storm of gay perfection. It was an evening I will never forget.
Now you may not know this about me, but I am not a lesbian. Shocker right? But I am a huge Melissa Etheridge fan. Way back before Sept. 11, 2001, Valerie Lohr and I had tickets to see Melissa Etheridge at McFarlin Auditorium. I actually think the concert was scheduled for Sept. 13, but, of course, it was cancelled. It was such a scary time back then, and basically all public events were cancelled.
They rescheduled her concert for Nov. 12, 2001. I think it was one of the first concerts or anything like it after 9-11. Our tickets were in the balcony area, not really the best seats, but we were so excited to see her that we didn’t care.
Apparently, a lot of people were not ready to attend any large gathering of people by then, because more than half of the seats were empty. It was kind of heartbreaking. As soon a Melissa walked out to start the show, she stopped playing the guitar, she walked out with and pointed to the 20 or so people in the balcony and said, “Hey you guys up there, why don’t y’all come down here and join us up front?” Like I said, there were a bunch of empty seats. So, we tore ass to get down to the good seats. We ended up sitting three rows back near the center.
Melissa made everyone move forward, and there was no attitude from anyone who paid for better seats. After everything the country had been through, niceness was law of the land. I don’t remember a time when people were as kind as they were then.
It wasn’t a concert with a huge light show, lasers or fog, but it was one of the most spectacular concerts I have ever been to. It was just her and a single instrument that she played. It was her with a guitar; her with a harmonica. She played a drum; she played a piano. She is honestly one of the most talented people on the planet.
When she sang “Scarecrow,” a song about Matthew Shepard, it was just her and a single drum, and there was not a dry eye in the house. It was so powerful and moving. We left that night in awe of that beautiful woman.
If you ever get a chance to see her live, do it.
The Chicks (formerly The Dixie Chicks), Alanis Morrisette and Garbage are some of my other favorite concerts. The older I get, the less I wanna be around big crowds and screaming young’uns, but certain artists I will always try to see.
Except you Adele, you need a time out.
Remember to always love more, bitch less and be fabulous! XOXO, Cassie Nova