My first experience at a tween concert

My daughter's friend, Savanna, received tickets to see Miranda Cosgrove in concert for Christmas.  She invited Darcy to accompany her and her mother.  The mother then suggested that I take the third ticket as I was "more fun" then she.  While I agreed that was a true statement, I had no interest in Miranda Cosgrove.  I don't care for the show she is in on Nickelodeon, iCarly, and I had never heard any of her music.  And the concert was in Tampa, which for me is like NYC.  I don't go there unless I have someone chauffeuring me.

Two days before the concert the mother conveniently got sick.  I said I would take the girls, and then I proceeded to convince Savanna's father to do the driving.  He hemmed and hawed some about it, but when I mentioned that parking might be a problem, and that we might have to walk several blocks in the dark I knew I had him hooked.  He is the most protective parent I know.  When the time came to leave, he was showered and ready to do the driving, and he decided to buy another ticket for himself so he could watch his daughter's enjoyment.

She had no wish for this to happen and had a little attitude.  Middle schoolers + parents = uncool.  Jim + Cara = we don't care what the middle schoolers think.  So the four of us piled into the van and headed for Tampa to see the concert.  I was prepared with directions that I had gotten from the theater site, and I was quite excited now about the concert because I read that the opening act was Greyson Chance, a kid I saw on YouTube a while back.  This kid had blown me away with his piano playing, his voice, and his ability to rearrange Lady GaGa's, Paparazzi, and make it his own.

The concert was at the Tampa Theater, a 1926 Tampa City landmark.  The stage is quite small for a concert, but the surroundings are absolutely breathtaking.  Paramount financed the theater with the helping of private backers back in the day when theaters were heavily populated.  The Tampa Theater was designed by the famous theater architect John Eberson who had visions and designed theaters with the illusion that visitors would feel as if they were outside in a romantic courtyard at night.  With 1,000 seats I thought it the perfect place to see a first concert.

With Jim behind the wheel of the van and a determination of getting a ticket, we got to the theater in plenty of time.  We paid to park in the lot adjacent to the theater, and secured Jim an aisle seat ticket.  Savanna had seen a pizza place as we searched for parking and so we walked down the street to try it out.

It was fabulous!  It was an organic place with all natural ingredients.  We had a Caesar salad topped with free range grilled chicken and an extra large half cheese/half pepperoni pizza.  The sodas were natural sodas that went down smooth after our jaunt to find the place. The waiter joked with us about needing ear plugs among all of the screaming tweens we were about to encounter, and so we enjoyed ourselves immensely.

After dinner, we headed back to the theater and hung out in the lobby, checking out the decor and the $40 concert t-shirts for sale.  Jim and I vetoed the purchasing of the shirts and instead forked over $10 for glow sticks which my daughter informed me were for holding up while the performers sang.  I told her back in my day we held up lighters.  She was not impressed.

First up was Greyson Chance seated at a keyboard with a three piece ensemble, which I felt he didn't need.  His voice is out of this world.  That kid can flat out sing (to use one of my brother's quotes).  He sang 6 songs in a half an hour, three of them alone and three of them with the musicians.  He rocked on the three songs with just him behind the keyboard.  I can't say enough about how wonderful this kid, he is only 13 years old, is as an artist.  He writes his own music and lyrics and can just belt them out with so much feeling.  He range is incredible and his baby face is adorable.  Savanna and Darcy were hooked and on the Greyson Chance bandwagon by the end of his set. 

I made sure to show the girls how to squeal and wave their arms in total devotion of one's idol.  They rolled their eyes, but it didn't stop me.  I was in love with this kid!  He ended and stood for another half an hour signing autographs, but we missed that as we were standing in line to use the one room restroom.  It took a half an hour for his equipment to be disassembled and Miranda Cosgrove's to be set up.

At exactly 8:00 the lights dimmed and the tween screaming began.  Holy Crap, but it was loud on this forty something's thirty something's eardrums.  I thought they might rupture and bleed, but that was nothing compared to how the decimals rose when Miranda Cosgrove ran out on stage and the music started.  Suddenly I was my parents, "I can't understand a word she is saying".

Her band consisted of a drummer, a bass player, two guitarists, a keyboardist, and a back-up singer.  They were so loud that you couldn't even hear Miranda sing.  For all I know she was lip syncing and a CD was playing in the background.  Miranda herself had obviously sucked down a gallon of caffeine because the 17 year old did not stop and stand in place for longer then 10 seconds.  She ran to the left of the stage, hopping and dancing, and then she ran to the right of the stage and hopped and danced some more.  Sometimes she ran to the middle of the stage and hopped and danced, and then she turned around and ran up four steps to stand in the middle of a platform to sing, dance and hop.  It was like watching a tennis match.  I couldn't take a decent picture because she never stood still long enough.  (Well, and I'm not too swift with my IPhone camera yet and my other camera ran out of battery).

Miranda had three costume changes and sang and hopped for an hour.  She looks just like she does on iCarly, and she has the most beautiful, long, silky dark hair that just moved so smoothly as she hopped and danced her way back and forth on the stage.  The concert was sponsored by Neutrogena, but I wanted to know what hair care products she used.
 

When the last costume change was complete she sang her two last songs.  Jim took the girls up to the stage for the last song, and they got to see Miranda up close and personal.  Greyson joined Miranda on stage for the finale, and they danced and sang across the stage shaking and slapping the fans' hands.  Both girls got their hands slapped and so they won't be washing them for the next hundred years. (Insert screaming!)

It was cool to witness this first time event with my daughter.  It brought back memories of seeing Shaun Cassidy in concert with my friends, and that feeling of pure happiness and awe at seeing your idol up close.  I did; however, find it interesting that these tweens were fawning over a girl entertainer....times they are a changing...