I Had No Idea

Okay, so here's a little tid-bit about me.

There probably aren't many songs that I've actually never heard. Truly. {Okay, at least in the mainstream music world} And if they're any good at all, I probably know most of the lyrics. HOWEVER, 9o% of the time, unless it's just comPLETELY obvious, I don't know the artist singing the songs. As in no clue.

And so, last night, my friend Denise and I went to a James Taylor and Carole King concert. {I was plan B for her, and quite frankly I'm very thankful that her Plan A didn't work, because seriously, I don't think I've been to a better concert in a long time.}

So of course I know a lot of JT's work, but I just kind of thought that this Carole King person would be 'opening' for him and it really was all about him.

And all the people from that era laughed out loud. Ya, I was SOOOO wrong. She was amazing. A song would start and I would yell over at Denise, "NO WAY. SHE SINGS THIS ONE, TOO????" And then I'd turn and scream and clap and whistle and start singing at the top of my lungs. And so would she.

LOVED IT.

It just felt fun to be carefree and, um, young again. Not caring what the people next to us thought. Just lost in concert. Lost in great music. Lost in noise. {And as a wee little side note, we had to have been the youngest in the crowd by at least a decade.}

On the way into the concert, the parking lot guy said to us,

"Whoa. Foxy ladies!"

Hello zip in our step and sass in our sway.

I mean, we knew that about ourselves but to hear it yelled in a parking lot did boost the confidence level. I'm not gonna lie.

So we sashayed our way along Madison Ave, but we got to the security checkpoint and the guy looked in my purse and saw my fancy-pants camera and said I couldn't bring it in. NO WAY. Who knew that little rule? And so, unlike a too-large shampoo bottle at the airport that you can just throw in the trash, I had to actually walk, er, I mean, sashay all the way back to the car and stash it in the trunk in hopes that it didn't get ripped off on the West Side of Chicago. Rats. {Hence, our blurry photos are from Denise's phone but you get the idea. Did I mention we were in the 6th row? That's close, people.}

So here's something funny. Denise had informed me that Carole King and James Taylor used to be married but it ended in a nasty, ugly divorce way back when. So through the whole concert I kept thinking to myself, "Wow, these folks are so mature to be able to come back and reunite in front of thousands of people and sing these touching love songs together, that they no doubt wrote for each other at some point in their marriage before it came to a screeching halt." I just kept thinking, that maybe tonight would be the night that they would just kiss and make up and live happily ever after. And let bygones be bygones.

SO. Come to find out - AFTER the concert - from wikipedia on my computer in the comfort of my own home, that it was actually Carly Simon that he was married to and NOT Carole King. This, my friend Denise, changes the entire dynamic of the emotional side of the concert. That's a rather large blunder. I guess they both start with "C". But really? Okay, forgiveable, for sure. And it certainly does add to the fun memories associated with the concert. Just a little different twist to the concert than I thought through the entire thing.

{This shot is from the Internet - I have no idea where I got it but I didn't take it. But this is exactly what they looked like. 68 for her. 62 for him.}

And so, below are the aforementioned "Foxy Ladies" not at the concert because of camera confiscation issues, but after a great evening of music, friendship and fun.

Sometimes it's really okay to be someone's Plan B! =)

Fun night, Denise. Thanks for bringin' me along! And the memories keep being made. 20 plus years of friendship.