So the question of the past few days seems to be, "How was Nelly?" And I must admit, that's a good question. I must also apologize 'cause I have been s to the wamped since last week ... did 14 parent-teacher-student conferences yesterday and staring down the barrel of report cards to be written ... nothing fun about that ... but back to the excitement that was my life just 48 hours ago.
The ridiculously short version, for those of you with better things to do ... House Party '08 was awesome! Watching Nelly perform was all that I hoped it would be and more. One regret: wearing stiletto heels for five hours!
The "slightly" longer version ... I had it in my mind all week - since I won my tickets - that the House Party started at 8:00 pm. About 5:00 on Saturday evening, I decided to double-check the tickets and realized that the concert actually started at 7:00 pm. A quick and frantic call to Tammy put the wheels in motion and we both did our best to get showered, dressed, and looking ghetto-fabulous ... all in less than an hour ... while tending to our precious little ones!
BTW, we both looked SASSY! And I was rockin' the skinny jean ... thanks to my fashionista friend, Liza, who took me shopping :)
Our lame attempt at being gangsta :)Okay, so back to the story ... there's much more to tell ...
The drive downtown was uneventful - so much so that I don't even really remember it. Oh, I do remember eating a handful of edamame and a granola bar ... we'll call that dinner.
Tammy's hubby hooked us up with some free parking at his office building. As we readied ourselves - checking to make sure we had ID, the tickets, lip gloss - I asked Tammy, "Which shoes should I wear? The comfy silver ballet slippers or the Steve Madden metallic stiletto?" Her response, the one question I could only answer by wearing the heels, "Which makes you feel sexier?" A decision I would come to regret.
To make sure we'd be able to get back in the building should the partying continue past the pumpkin hour, we tracked down a security guy ... guessing he hasn't carried on many conversations with two hotties 'cause he was not all that helpful, he was wearing a blazer meant for a man three times his size, and he mouth hung open in between responses.
Just outside the garage - and not entirely sure how to get to the theater - we stood waiting to cross the busy street. Which led us to a chance encounter with a 92.5 Insider. First, she complimented my shoes. She said something like, "Those are really great shoes." And I said, "Great but not comfortable." Major foreshadowing! And then she asked, "Are you going to the House Party?" And then she walked with us to the Paramount Theatre - lucky for us because I am not entirely convinced we would've found it on our own. She also had a little "inside" dish to share on the way ... like the fact that my decision to get floor tickets - clearly putting me closer to the stage - would also mean standing the entire time ... and that Nelly's performance wouldn't begin until 10:30.
Once inside, we were greeted by some random guys, who we totally blew-off ... only to discover later that they opened the show - had connections - and I can't fight the nagging feeling that perhaps they had the connections to get us backstage passes ... if only we hadn't ignored them!
We made our way to the stage in time to see the opening and a great performance by the Sugar Hill Gang ... some o-l-d guys ... most famous for a song called "Rapper's Delight" ... it starts with "i said a hip hop the hippie the hippie to the hip hip hop, a you don't stop the rock it to the bang bang boogie say up jumped the boogie to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat" ... you've heard it before, right? Their performance totally made me smile in the same way I can't help but grin when I see an old couple holding hands. We also stood fairly close to the stage and met two "old-schoolers" - he knew every lyric and she wasn't going to take no crap!
After just an hour of standing on those darn heels, we left our place near the front of the stage to make a trip to the little girls' room. Back in the lobby, I bought a very expensive and very disgusting vodka and pineapple juice ... and we found a place to sit for most of Kardinal Offishall's performance. We took our place back amongst the crowd near the stage and watched for a song or two. First of all, his name is stupid. Neither his reggae hip-hop style, nor his one recognizable song, Dangerous, were a highlight of the evening.
The party really got started when Ton-Loc took the stage. His voice, his swagger, his well-known songs and lyrics ... I laughed, I sang along, I cheered, ... I thoroughly enjoyed this part of the evening. And I was happy to witness one of Ton's famous $100 Rap Showdowns ... now I have an even better mental image of my pal B-dog's attempt to win said contest.
Ton-Loc ended his performance at 9:40 and DJ Mayhem took over spinning and mixing and scratching some decent songs. But the entire crowd was feeling impatient; we were more than ready for the headlining act ... my boy, Nelly! 50 very long minutes later - at 10:30, Nelly and his crew finally took the stage. And he was very much WORTH THE WAIT! He was wearing dark wash jeans, a gray Polo shirt - yummy arms bulging through the sleeves, a navy blue STL hat, diamond stud earrings (the carat amount I don't even dare to guess), serious bling on both wrists, and the perfect sunglasses. He looked seriously HOT ... and I couldn't stop screaming and jumping up and down. He sang everything I expected ... Hot in Herre, Country Grammar, Over and Over, Air Force Ones, Ride Wit Me, ... and some new stuff - I especially liked his duet with Avery Storm ... and his St. Lunatics had a little rap-off that was off-the-hook! Loved it, loved it, loved it! My boy, Nelly, did not disappoint!
Cameras were not allowed inside the House Party. Tammy did try to take a few shots with the camera on her phone, but the quality was pretty iffy ... so I borrowed a few images from the 92.5 website. (I hope that's okay.)
Our night ended with a trip through the BK drive-thru ... the combination of skipping dinner and shaking our little mommy booties for like 5 hours really took its toll on our appetite ... a Whopper Jr. and some fries later, and we had regained our composure :)
A huge thank you to my friend Tammy for going along with me and making the night even more fun!
Again, I apologize for withholding this post for a few days ... based on some of the comments and emails and facebook wall writings, I fear I nearly incited a blog-riot :) I hope it was worth the wait!
