I need to preface this with a flashback story.
Back in 1978, I was madly 'in love' with Shaun Cassidy. His posters adorned my bedroom walls. I sang his songs to the radio, and played his records on my stereo.
I found out he was coming to Indianapolis on (yikes!) Palm Sunday, and begged my mother to buy tickets.
Her response? "No; it's a Family Get Together, and you're not going."
I was crushed.
The day of the concert, I moped all the way to Granny's house, thinking my cousin and I would commiserate together.
But when we arrived....
"Where's Michele?"
"She's down at Market Square Arena at the Shaun Cassidy concert."
"MO-OMMM!!!!"
I don't think I spoke to anyone the rest of the day.
Fast-forward to 2019. I discovered he's touring again, so I bought tickets to the Atlanta show, since the Nashville Meet-n-Greet was sold out, and Atlanta wasn't.
Covid hit, and the concert was canceled. I stupidly took store credit for my purchases.
Oct 2020: Tickets go on sale in Nashville, and while there were no plans for a M-n-G, I bought new tickets to the show. Due to CV, it's postponed until Sept. A few months later, they open up the M-n-G tickets, and bingo! Bought 'em.
But there's a hitch. The new postponed date is over Labor Day weekend, which is a Blackout Day at my Evening Job. No worries; I'll get someone to cover. Then we learn we have to be FULLY vaxxed or show a negative test. I opted for the test.
M-n-G is cancelled; they're doing a Zoom virtual one. No problem. I sold one of my M-n-Gs, and found a coworker to cover for me, AND a friend to go with me.
We have arrived! After stopping a young lady to inquire about how the parking worked, I paid the $15 for 6 hours' worth of parking. Hallelujia; we don't have to drive around and search for parking! (We'd arrived just after 4pm Nashville time; our dinner reservations were for 4:30, and the doors opened at 6.)
Then Elaine and I discovered our home CV tests weren't valid, but no worries; for $15 we can take another one. We swab our nasal cavities painlessly and go back outside to wait 10 minutes.
That's where we discovered the young lady we spoke to in the parking lot was traveling by herself, so we invited her to sit with us at dinner.
Lisa Kemmling (flowered shirt), Elaine Litherland (black shirt), and yours truly as we waited for our food and drinks.
I'd ordered the Mushroom-Goat cheese-Risotto Balls and they were AMAZING!!! I also had a glass of the Debutane sweet white wine. Later, Lisa bought me another one.
Around 6:30, after finishing our meal (I also had a chicken alfredo flatbread pizza and Elaine had dessert), we were escorted to our seats, Table 55, two rows up from the front, and center stage. I also bought the hooded sweatshirt with the Magic of the Midnight Sky logo on the back. Lisa's seat was in the front table.
While we waited, we noticed a slight commotion along the far wall behind me. I told E it looked like Patrick Cassidy, so we grabbed our phones (along with Lisa), and went over to have our pictures taken with him.
He was so sweet! I introduced myself and told him how much I'd enjoyed watching his son Jack on The Voice in 2019, and that I'd been a fan of the entire family since watching Partridge Family on TV.
Lisa didn't have a camera on her phone, so I used mine for her photo. I didn't realize I'd photo-bombed her!
Then the lights went down and the man of the hour appeared! I think he's playing Magic of the Midnight Sky here....I was singing along to his next son, That's Rock-n-Roll!
He moved back and forth from guitar to piano, and here he is, just after taking off his jacket and talking to us as he rolled up his sleeves.
I think here he's talking about his childhood, and how he has PTSD 'because some of you acted crazy....you chased me; you ripped my clothes; you climbed on my car; you pulled my hair...." All said in humor, of course!
He did a tribute to his brother David; here, he's playing I'll Meet You Halfway.
This was one of his final flourishes on Da Doo Run Run...."Here's my final secret of the night: I have no idea what Da Doo Run Run means!"
The Shaun Sisters took a group shot afterwards, and we joked about how awesome it would be if Shaun were to photo-bomb us! But no....
All in all, I spent way too much $$ on food, but it was worth the 3 hour drive to finally fulfill a 43 y/o dream. I still hope he comes back to Indiana, but if he returns to Nashville again, I WILL buy tickets, and try to get a front-row seat again. Friend Penny (2nd from right in back row) handed him her linen napkin when he expressed a need for a towel (and then tossed it back to her!), and during Da Doo Run Run, he asked members for their names..."I met her on a Sunday and her name was Dawn....I hope I don't play any of these chords wrong..." and "I met her on a Sunday and her name was Tanya (girl in black on left)...".and I can't remember what he used to rhyme with her name!
I had many Shaun Sisters come up to me and tell me they almost wore their shirts, but we all had our buttons on!
My 12-y/o self is very happy right now.
