The Concert- Saturday night

by Taipo
taipogau@yahoo.com

Good God, was it cold! Not just for southern California, but for anywhere. If you haven't heard, we're breaking records all over the place here, with temps in the low 30's at night. It was windy, too. A group of us drove over to the Roxy from Burbank, and found about 70 people already lined up outside the place at 6:30pm. The doors were supposed to open by 7, but you know how that goes. The buses provided by Creation arrived around 7, maybe a bit after. It was 7:15 before we got in, in spite of a large number of folks chanting "let us in, let us in."

Once inside, pretty much everyone from the front of the line was jammed against the stage. We found a good spot and hung in there. I have to say, the waitress was a miracle in action. She pushed her way through the throng with professional ease, and never lost her cool. I hope all of you who were served by her gave her a good tip- she deserved it.

But y'all don't care about that! Still, I have to take things in order while I can. They played a lot of canned music while we all settled in, including Lucy's "Come to Me" singles from her CD. Yes, I said CD. It contains: Come To Me featuring Rupaul; Let it Whip; Come To Me Remix- Solar City; Come To Me Remix- Eric Kupper. What I heard of it at the Roxy sounded good, but I can't tell you about the quality of the CD I bought at the concert 'cause my CD player picked now to finally die. Well, these things happen.

Finally, they brought up the curtain on the small stage, and we got to meet Cat Crimins. Lovely woman. Knows how to put an audience in its place, though not how to keep us still. She was followed by Tig Notaro, who also sparred with the audience. She was very funny, I thought, and I hope I get to see her again somewhere.

They brought the curtain down again so Lucy and the band could take the stage. Lucy began singing before the curtain came up, which was a fun and teasing touch. It rose, and there she was, with her long, Celebrity Duets mane of hair, short-sleeved white shirt tucked (in the front only) into tight blue jeans that were enhanced with leather chaps. She wore a belt with a large metal buckle, and cowboy boots. Was she hot? Well, let's just say it suddenly wasn't so cold in Los Angeles!

From there, gang, it was what I could only call a "wonderful blur." I can list some of the songs she sang, but not in what order. About all I can do is relate what I remember as it comes to me. It's like flashbacks from an acid trip (not that I ever did acid, of course) but a really, really good acid trip.

Lucy danced, she undulated, she gyrated, and she belted out the songs like the rock star she's always wanted to be. Among other things, she sang "Down on My Knees," and did, of course, go down on her knees on stage. As someone said at the con later, she "did Melissa Etheridge proud" with "Like the Way I Do." She sang her cowboy song inspired by Lyle Lovett that she sang at last year's con. Let's see, what else- "Let's Give 'Em Something to Talk About" was another. It's hard to remember, and I don't always know all the exact titles, so I hope you don't mind.

I can say that Lucy talked to us about different things, such as the fact that she had traded in her old car for an environmentally-correct Prius. Except now she keeps getting pulled over, because she has very darkly tinted windows, the salesman having assured her he'd have her Prius really tricked out. Now she's wondering if the cops think she's a terrorist with her tinted windows and her kids in the back seat.

At one point, Cat Crimins decided that Lucy was so hot she needed wetting down. Lucy thought it was fake water, but Cat got the front of her with a wet sponge. I don't think Lucy quite knew what to do about that, but she managed. WE sure didn't mind. She "channeled Janis" as Danielle Cormack used to say, by singing "Another Little Piece of My Heart." She pulled off her top shirt for that one, I think- I know she did that at some point- to reveal another, tighter, smaller white shirt beneath. To quote a cliché, the crowd went wild. She was joined on that song by Miss Sharlotte, as Lucy called her in her blog. Sharlotte is a kick-ass, phenomenal singer and musical talent. Pay attention to her.

After that, Lucy left the stage to change while Sharlotte and the band rocked the house with a song Sharlotte had written. She explained that two years ago, her friend Billy was called up to serve in Iraq. She was worried about him, so she wrote the song for him so he'd have it in case he never came home. He loved it, and he played it for the guys, who fell in love with it, too. They cherished the song, called "When Billy Comes Home." It's good old rock-n-roll, a fast beat, and really positive, all about the celebration, the music and joy there'd be when Billy came home. In the middle, they slowed the pace and quieted down. Sharlotte told us that in June, a call came from Billy's mother. No, no, no, not that. Billy was coming home. And then, there he was, in his fatigues, solid and real and living, right there on the stage, with a kiss for Sharlotte, handshakes for the band, and hugs for the back-up singers. The tempo picked up, and the celebration became real. For me, that was one of the sweetest moments of that concert. Up until then, it was an awesome, I'll-never-forget-it, once in a lifetime night, but that moment made it magic, a night to remind us that there are always miracles, every day- that boys do come home, that love does win, and that every one of those boys, heck, every human being, deserves to be celebrated with a song like that. It means that even if the party at the Roxy has to end, the party in your heart never has to.

Okay, 'nuff preachin'. Lucy came back to the stage to wow us with an up-close and personal view of her silver-bangled Celebrity Duets dress. You know, the fabulously fringy one. She shook it like the Big One had finally hit L.A. She and the band swung into what I think is called "Shake That Thing," and on the line "See that girl with the diamond ring," she pointed to the side entrance, and Renee sailed out in a very short sapphire-blue spaghetti strap dress dripping with blue fringe. That woman shook every body part she had and dozens that weren't hers, while Lucy just tore the house down singing and dancing with her. The noise! Oh, my God. The crowd noise was so loud that night that it became its own living entity, like a giant mythical beast screaming out an aria from the rafters. There was no escape. At one point Lucy herself said it was deafening. And it never stopped. She told us at the con later that the fellow in charge of the Roxy said that in 20 years of concerts, he'd never been in an atmosphere like that one. We heard that the crowd was louder than the one for Bruce Springsteen. Well, heck, yeah.

After all that, we had "Come to Mama," and we had it twice. Lucy was nearing the end of the set with that one, and somehow, the crowd conveyed they wanted more, and they wanted THAT one. So she did. And she rocked it the way Janis would have, in my opinion, putting her whole body and soul into it. Both times- no just going through the paces for her. Uh uh.

Finally, she talked about her last song, and told us that she felt it conveyed a lot of what her fans, and the whole Xena/Lucy community was about. She mentioned that many of us had participated in "Feel the Love Day," and that this event, and other acts of charity we do, gave her career meaning. She was truly grateful for her fans. She sang for us "I Will Stand By You." It was a wonderful moment, with people swaying together arm-in-arm and singing along. It was time to end the concert.

But NO! Could Lucy's fans not call for more and still be Lucy's fans? Of course not! And they gave it to us. They came back out and gave us something I think is called "Hook up to My Bumper" (forgive me, but I'm older than I look in type) and "You Can Drive My Car." Then, it really was over. The curtain came down, the lights came up, and the rush was on to buy the CD.

There were a lot of moments that I know I'll remember later, but I've done the best I can. I do hope other folks will share their memories and experiences, and that we can fill in the gaps in each others' narratives that way.