I got a ticket to the Stripped/Justified show last night!

Just one ticket, and totally last minute. I found it on craigslist, and lucky for me the person who sold me the ticket was a fun guy named Andre who was as into getting ridiculous at the concert as I was.

We ended up next to a young gay couple, one of whom was wearing the best shirt I saw all night.

Front of shirt:
I want Christina in the front…

Back of shirt:
And Justin in my rear!

That boy was totally high on something, and we sang along to every song, accompanied with a 9 year old girl who was shaking it like nobody’s business.

Me: You are beautiful…
Her: …no matter what they say…
Us: …Words can’t bring us down!

It was way, way too much fun.

Justin Timberlake did a 10 minute long beat boxing thing (on a crane, natch) paying homage to Planet Rock, and that classic of 1989, “It Takes Two.” Was he even born when that song came out?

The dancers were amazing. No joke.

Perhaps my favorite number was Christina Aguilera’s “Walk Away.” Perhaps I’m reading into it too much, but the song and dance routine seemed to be a study of pornography addiction, and questioning who’s really trapped by the cycle of exploitation. Regardless of what it really was about, it featured a hot male dancer writhing around a pole in a faux peep show, and I liked it. The dancer also drove the many little pre-valley girls attending the show totally bonkers. I was only driven mildly bonkers because, well, I’ve seen dudes take off their pants before.

It was funny to compare a concert like this with, say, a Phish concert. The Justified/Stripped tour is the same every night. Sure, other cities may not have Pamela Fucking Anderson do a guest appearence during Lady Marmelade (!!!), but other than that, it’s the same songs in the same order every night. Sure, the light show was comprable to Phish, but really, tours like this clearly aren’t set up for seeing more than one show. Then again, Phish don’t have those dancers.

Unlike a Phish show, however, I was dressed like a drag queen. You would have laughed.

PS: I bought a poster.

(More thoughts here)