Peppy's Dream Moving Adventure Blog

Sorry this is late, but I got home at midnight last night, and I was SO exhausted that I couldn’t even think about blogging.  Forgive me!

Yesterday was crazy.  It was POURING on my way to work.  Two days of rain in a row.  I kept calling it a “San Diego Miracle!”  If it wasn’t for the fact that we were going to the concert, I wouldn’t have minded at all, but we were going to the concert!

I was worried about the weather all day, even though I wore sensible shoes and my leopard rain slicker.  I had on several layers – I even brought gloves – but I did not relish the thought of standing in the rain.  I kept telling people, "You're not supposed to worry like this in San Diego!  This is why I left NY!"

There were a lot of people in the firm going to the concert – at least 10 that I knew of – and there were 4 of us in HR alone!

We talked nonstop about the concert all day.  Rosemary had yet to get the tickets.  Believe it or not, they were being Fed Ex’d from Arizona to the ticket broker in Point Loma, which is about 20 minutes from the office.

I told her that I could leave at any time, so we could go pick them up, park the car downtown, eat dinner and then walk over to PETCO PARK, the outdoor stadium where the concert was being held.

It all worked out perfectly!  First of all, by around 2:00pm the sun was shining and it was warming up.  I knew it couldn’t stay dreary for long.  This is San Diego!  It’s paradise!

At 4:00pm we all left.  Rosemary and I both drove our cars to my apartment.  I put my car in the parking lot and got into her car and we drove to the ticket broker.  We got the tickets (she would NOT let me pay – nor do I know how much they cost, because they were prepaid when we got there).

Next, we drove downtown to PETCO PARK and parked in a lot about 2 blocks away.  Then, we walked to a local sports bar (which was right across the street) to get dinner.  There are a lot of great restaurants in the Gaslamp Quarter, but we didn’t want to walk the 5 or 6 blocks each way.  Rosemary wasn’t wearing as practical a shoe as I was!

We had dinner – I had a veggie sandwich, which was delicious, and Rosemary had a burger.  The food was good and the service was great.  The tickets said 7:30pm, so we got there around 7:15pm.  There weren’t many people there at that time, and there’s no opening act, so we wondered when she would start.

We stopped before going to our seats and bought t-shirts – I treated to dinner and bought Rosemary her choice of t-shirt, since she wouldn’t let me pay for the ticket.  I bought a t-shirt, too, which I promptly put on (not only did I look cool, but I figured it would be an extra layer of warmth, even though I didn’t really need it!).

There were big screens on the stage behind the performers and the band and they had gorgeous graphics, or funky pictures (she even used some of Keith Haring's art!).

We hung out, talking and looking for our friends (we found 2!) and we were really impatient for it all to begin.  We were also wondering about the results of the election (even though we were pretty sure of the outcome).

There were two really tall girls standing right in front of me (just my luck!).

Madonna did not start until 9:00pm!!!!  So, we were hanging out for an hour and a half before the concert even began.  The good news is – it was perfect outside – not windy at all, and not a chill in the air.  I had on my layers and I was just fine, but there were a lot of girls walking around half-naked!

The only way I could really see -- and take great pictures -- was to stand on a chair!

There really were a lot of interesting people at the concert, ranging in age from about 7 to 77!  There were a few drag queens completely done up like Madonna in different eras of her career – the bride in “Like a Virgin” and the cone bra from the Blonde Ambition tour.  They looked pretty fabulous!

Finally, it started.  From the moment she came out, the music did not stop – and she hardly had a moment off stage.  She was amazing – dancing, singing, playing the guitar.

She is such an amazing performer.  She may not have the best voice, but she puts her heart and soul into every number and has such enthusiasm.  I always thought Madonna would have an attitude, but she was so sweet and funny.  You could see her playing off of and interacting with all her dancers and you could tell they were friends, or at the very least had a great working relationship.

She was totally stoked because Obama won and she kept saying how happy she was.  She actually did an entire number where everyone was wearing Obama t-shirts, and she had the giant poster (that red, white and blue one, which I love) on three big screens.  She’s totally into Obama and she said it was the happiest day of her life!

I don’t know how it would have worked if he lost, but – hey – we didn’t have to worry about that, did we?  Meanwhile, we didn’t even know who won until Madonna told us and the crowd went CRAZY!  I can say I’m one of a few thousand who found out the result of the election from – Madonna herself!

I felt lucky that I voted by mail, because I didn’t have to worry about running around in the rain – or having to do it before the concert.  I am not a very political person, but I just want to say how thrilled I was that Obama won and what high hopes I have for the future of these great United States.

Anyway, Madonna looked great, even though she’s a little too thin and veiny for my tastes, and her costumes weren’t that exciting.  She wore red gym shorts with sneakers and knee pads, then blue gym shorts, then purple gym shorts.  I was saying, “Enough with the gym shorts!”  Then she wore these weird black pants for a few numbers.  There were a few numbers where she wore a pretty black dress with very colorful ribbons and that was my favorite.

She played a lot of her best hits -- putting a twist on some, so they sounded new and exciting -- and also played a lot of songs from her HARD CANDY CD.  Some of my favorites were VOGUE, BORDERLINE, SHE'S NOT ME, YOU MUST LOVE ME (from EVITA) and LIKE A PRAYER.

She also played RAY OF LIGHT, LA ISLA BONITA and INTO THE GROOVE.  There were 23 numbers all together.

She played for two full hours.  When it was over, the crowd filed out of the stadium in such a calm and orderly fashion.  I was very impressed.  We walked to the car and Rosemary drove me home, dropping me off at midnight.

I came upstairs, washed up, said hello to Conrad, and got right into bed.  I didn’t even open my mail.  I was so tired.  I don’t know how Madonna does it.  We’re the same age, and she was so amazing and energetic.

This was my favorite part of the show -- it was a combination of Greek, Hungarian, Gypsy, and Klezmer!

She sings and dances and she never even seems out of breath.  I was exhausted just watching her for 2 hours!  I love her!