How I learned my ABC's

As you know, by nature, concerts are a real sensory experience. It's more than just going to hear a musician and/or group drive through a setlist to get to his/her/their biggest hits. The memories and emotions that come up can be unexpected and even revelatory.

That definitely was the case for me at the Nokia Theater last night. I don't know how many times I've seen Rick Springfield, but it's got to be at least a dozen by now. And as much fun as I have rocking out, I have as much recapturing the old feelings.

So they had two "adult beverages" for sale with sort of familiar monikers: A "Port Charles," some kind of sour apple concoction and the "Dr. Noah Drake" -- Absolut Pepper, lime and soda. I chose the latter, thinking that the former would have had my eyes watering. Ha on me, my nostrils are still inflamed from Dr. Drake. And my quip to the bartender -- "This tastes nothing like him!" (As if I would know!)

It was Mark's second Rick concert, and lest you think he's being dragged, he actually likes the guy and bemoans the "teen idol" status that will forever keep him from being recognized as an actual musician and -- wait for it -- solid guitarist!

We also met a really cool couple. The man, from England, is a HUGE Rick fan and his wife, from Albania, had never seen him before. And we had some pretty impressive seats -- four rows from the stage on the left. Mark noted that the speakers in front of us had wayward rose petals near it, fallout from Rick's proclivity for shredding roses fans give him on the guitar.

The show starts with "Who Killed Rock N Roll" and I'm just rocking out and lip-synching, 'cause people are there to hear him and NOT my voice. And then "I've Done Everything for You," and now the flood of flashbacks start. At some point, I noticed I was playing air guitar, and that's something I can't remember not doing. I learned air guitar from Rick Springfield!!!

"Affair of the Heart" ... always one of my personal favorites ... and I'm still air guitar-ing along ... and remembering sitting in front of MTV for hours, just waiting for the video to come back on again. "I don't have to look any further than into your eyes."

"Living in Oz," the title track from one of his best albums and Rick and I are having similar hair problems, namely the hair's in our respective faces while we're rocking out. ... "What's Victoria's Secret?" If I can properly call a Rick song "insidious" it's this one, because it gets stuck in your head for weeks! ... "Alyson" and always trying to figure out who his co-star was. (Maybe his autobiography coming out next month will shed some light on that.)

"Venus in Overdrive" and Rick points out his cue cards courtesy of the "Yeah, Yeah Girls" (each one has one that says "Yeah") ... "I'll Miss That Someday," a great example of how Rick can mix really heartfelt emotion with a penchant for rocking out. ... "Love Is Alright Tonight," the song that was in my head prior to the show. And I can see 14-year-old Paige rocking out in the bedroom...

Then Rick gets serious. He noodles around with some riffs -- and won't be denied by the still squealing female fans -- en route to a very spirited cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Fire." So spirited, in fact, that I was in full hippie rockout mode. Whirling dervish mode, I believe Mark would call it. And so dervishy that it took me half of "Don't Talk to Strangers" to recover -- to be specific, the part in which (the backup band) sings in French.

But then another revelation. Was Rick my "gateway" to my extreme love for Clapton and Hendrix? Because those guys, in turn, led me their inspirations (Muddy Waters, the three Kings, Buddy Guy, Robert Johnson). Even if I didn't know at the time that Rick was studiously trying to copy "Crossroads" note for note, some of that had to appear in his music and, thusly, was passed on to me.

Of course, there was lots of Rick banter between songs. He was given a sippy cup (with the stopper still in it!) full of wine, which he heartily drank throughout the show. One of the guys in the crowd had a hat that rivaled bassist Matt's, so that became a running theme in the show. And as always, much fun with crowd participation on "Don't Talk to Strangers."

Rick always puts down his feature film, "Hard to Hold," deeming it "Hard to Watch," but I'd like to remind him that he got good reviews for it, even if the movie itself didn't. And I could point out the time I took a middle-aged newspaper columnist to the movie ... and he enjoyed it! Anyway, cue "Love Somebody" and more air guitar.

"Human Touch" ... which gets him all kinds of pinched and rubbed on, but not me, 'cause he didn't get near us. (And that's not me anyway, however, I do think the two ladies in front of us woulda left some bruises.) And "Jessie's Girl." I hadn't heard that one before. ;)

"Jesus Saves," which I expected would be Mark's favorite -- and it was -- and "Kristina," reminding me as always of being at a March of Dimes walk-a-thon with my sister -- two headphones plugged into one Walkman jack and listening to that song.

And then that was it. Didn't it just start? Well, thanks for the history lesson, Teach. I'll miss that someday...