Concert memories

Lester gave up his spot to go see the Legends of Summer concert with Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake so my sister could go with me.

So last night, she and I trekked through horrendous traffic, climbed to the top of M&T Bank Stadium (where the Ravens play) and danced, sang, rapped, clapped and screamed along with a sold-out crowd. It was a hugely diverse crowd -- black, white, Asian and all of the above -- and very eclectic -- from teenagers to soccer Moms, hip-hop heads and college co-eds, lots of couples, but also lots of groups of homeboys and giggling girls.

It was a lot of fun -- but I am dragggggggin' today. I didn't get back to my car until 1 a.m., and I didn't get to bed until 1:30.

Cary and Dean were up at 6:30 -- par for the course for them lately -- and my whole body hurts from all the walking Tahira and I did. (Yes, I am that out of shape.)

But the whole experience reminded me of my younger days, going to concerts with my friends or my Dad, boyfriends or wanna-be-boyfriends.

Best concert memories:

• Michael Jackson - Thriller concert! 1987. I was 13 and I spontaneously burst into tears when he came out on stage, just like they show during documentaries. I also wore one silver glove to the concert.
• Prince!!! in Philadelphia with my Dad. Seriously, like, BEST. CONCERT. EVER!  I cannot say strongly enough what an amazing concert that was. As a bonus, Morris Day and the Time opened up for Prince, and Patti LaBelle was in the audience and Prince brought her up on stage to sing a duet with him!
• NEW EDITION - every single time I see them! Helllooooo! Candy Girl for life!
• Maxwell with Lester on the eve of an anniversary trip, just before we discovered we were pregnant with Cary and Dean. We went for tapas before we went to the concert and something I ate made me strangely queasy. I was pregnant - just a little bit -- and didn't know it. And that was the first and only queasiness I had the whole pregnancy.
• Sade, with my mom and sisters. She put on such a good show and her voice is sooo lovely. She made me want to be elegant. (That didn't work out.)
• Outdoor festival concerts with Frankie Beverly and Maze, or Erykah Badu, or the ultimate legend, Chuck Brown!

There are probably lots more I'm forgetting, but those are some of the best ones.

Concerts are a lot of fun, even if I am too old to be packed into a stadium with a gazillion screaming people, walking along busy streets trying for an hour to hail a cab, and getting home in the wee hours on a worknight.

Wait. I take that back. I'm not too old.

The last song JT and JZ performed was called "Forever Young." I hadn't heard the song before, but it seemed to be a bit of an anthem for the kids in the audience. By the end of the song, even I was singing along.

Forever young, I wanna be forever young
Do you really want to live forever?
Forever and ever

Forever young I wanna be forever young

My achy muscles and tired bones might be saying something to the contrary right now, but I like the sound of that.