singular experience

Just a note.  If you are at all a Michael Bolton fan... you might not appreciate this post.

 Because, yes, this post will be about the famed Michael Bolton who has been the subject of mocked delight over the years.  

It all began a few weeks ago when Ian and I were passing the Paramount theater in downtown Ashland and noticed that Michael Bolton was comin' to town.  We laughed and thought aloud-- how funny to be able to see him in concert.  Of course, knowing neither of us would spend the money for that kind of hilarity, we forgot about it.

Then lo and behold, the day of the concert, the elementary school's librarian came to our office and exclaimed "Does anybody want to go the Michael Bolton concert?  I have two free tickets I have to get rid of."  You bet I took them.  But only after a swift phone call to Ian asking amid chuckles if he wanted to see Michael Bolton of course.  He laughed.  Then he agreed.

It was a Tuesday evening.  Drizzly rain.  Extremely difficult time parking.  Giggling in unbelief all the while.

{taken with iphone}

 We could hardly contain our excitement.

And the concert began.  We were surrounded by screaming women, all of them over-forty.  The lights went out and 'I Can Go the Distance' began to play.  And finally-- he appeared with a spotlight on him, arms raised.  Ian had to shush me multiple times on account of my giggling being offensive to the avid fans all around us.  Micheal sang a few of his own songs, sang some Otis Redding and Frank Sinatra.  All very fun.  Then he sang Puccinni's 'Nessun Dorma' (if you can imagine.  Hope nobody Italian was in the audience.  Yeesh)  I think my favorite detail of the concert was Micheal's intro to every song.  "This next song is from my timeless classics album, " or "This was my second biggest hit," and my favorite: "This song is one I hope will become a classic."  Too funny.  Another detail I adored was probably all the women shouting from time to time.  Mostly "I love you Michael," "I miss your hair" and at one point there was a long shout of something no one could understand because of their heavy Kentucky accent.

But the greatest moment of all was one totally unexpected and unplanned.  I had told Ian before we sat down that if we were lucky enough to hear 'When a Man Loves a Woman' that he would have to get it on film.  My design being that this classic hit is one we have always enjoyed exaggerating (even though that one line is all we actually know of the song) and would be a good theme for the time we went to that Micheal Bolton concert.  ANYwho.  After about an hour into the concert Ian's scrunched up knees against the tiny seats of the Paramount could survive no longer.  He turned to me and told me he needed to walk around and that he probably wouldn't come back.  It took me no longer than thirty seconds to follow suit.  I figured we could just hang around the edges and listen.  I couldn't see where Ian had gone and decided to stand in the space between the lower and upper seats.  I stood there for about ten seconds before an usher informed me that they were trying to keep that space clear.  Only then did I realize that all the ushers were kind of huddled around the outer skirts of where I was standing.  Particularly the lady ushers.  I found Ian in the lobby speaking to an acquaintance he hadn't seen in a while.  We stood there for a moment when I realized that Micheal's famous 'When a Man Loves a Woman' was starting and I tugged on Ian's shirt to get him to come film it.  We walked up the stairs and guess who was standing on a platform not six feet from us?  Oh yes.

I was trying to get Ian to film all the swooning women who were beside themselves with delight at his closeness.  They all stood up excitedly and took pictures.  One woman had her hands over her heart and was mouthing the words with absolute tenderness in her eyes.  Classic.  And I know the video's a tad long for what it is... but CHECK IT OUT when he walks past and looks RIGHT at us.  Oh yeah.  (Notice my giggles?)

We left after that.  We figured nothing else could top it.  We spent the rest of the night wandering around downtown and bursting out in laughter whenever we remembered what we'd just experienced.

Oh, it was an adventure.  And how many people do you know can say they've seen Michael Bolton in concert?