I always heard you haven't really lived until you are showered by rose pedals from Rick Springfield's guitar...

July 18, 2008: I'll have to begin this story about a month back. On a fateful night when Tai was saving small children, he became intoxicated by the joy of running up a bid at a live auction and ended up saving many, many (many) more children than he ever realized he could. What, you ask, did he receive for his selfless, chivalric donation, other than the joy of saving small children? Well he was rewarded with only the sweetest auction prize ever: 4 FRONT ROW TICKETS, 4 BACK STAGE PASSES, AND A SIGNED GUITAR BY THE TOTALLY INCREDIBLE RICK SPRINGFIELD (the other Boss)!!!! Have you stopped hyper-ventilating yet? I know, I still get excited at the thought. Well, after buying a CD to find out who Rick Springfield is, Tai immediately inviting all of his friends to the once in a lifetime opportunity. I was fortunate to receive the call.

I'll be honest, when he first asked me, I was surprised that Rick was still touring. At one point in my life, wishing that I too had Jesse's girl, there was no way I was going to miss this opportunity. After daily phone calls to confirm that I was still coming, the day finally arrived. Upon hearing of the chance to not only be serenaded, but actually meet Rick, Elizabeth immediately flew in for the event. In true Tai form, the night began with a feast from Dorthy Lane (fortunately no Dom P was involved). After eating a plethora of random food and listening to "Jesse's Girl" on repeat, the four of us, Tai, Elizabeth, Anna, and myself, made the journey over to Fraze. The entire night we had been talking about "Rick Springstein," "the Boss," and "Bruce Springfield." What if when I actually met him I accidentally called him "Rick Springstein"?

I knew front row meant you were in the front row, but I never realized how front row, front row actually meant. When the lights dimmed, the thousands (OK hundreds) of middle-age-housewives went crazy. Then he appeared. He sported a classic soap-opera/rock-star-haircut, leather jacket, tight jeans, boots, and a surprisingly great build for a near 60 year old. When he walked out, turned, and made a standard rock star pose with electric guitars wailing in the background, I thought to myself, "This will be hilarious!" But once he started in, my fist instinctively began pumping and did not stop all night!! I've seen many talented musicians, one's that when you walk away you think, "Wow, that was a really talented musician." No offense to Rick, but I wouldn't say it was the most technically amazing music, BUT he rocked harder than I have ever seen someone rock and it was the most fun I have ever had at a concert. I'm not going to lie, I don't think there were 4 other people in the state of Ohio rocking out as hard as we were for the next several hours. I was pumping my fist as hard as anyone could, Anna and Elizabeth were doing normal rocking-out dancing, and Tai was doing a standard rock-out that would get you kicked out of 99% of all venues while randomly pushing the monitor in front of us. And Rick definitely took note of our incredible rocking out, because he kept coming over to stand on the monitor in front and sweat on us. Don't believe me? Check out the video around time 4:20......yea that's OUR fists you see!!!!

What you also see in the video, is the first time that he did the rose pedal shower. It might have been one of the most classic things that I have ever seen, and I've seen many classic things. The crowd went nuts with hundreds of middle-age-housewives going nuts. Granted after the 10 next times that he did the rose-thing it started to loose its effect, but it still is one of the most classic things I have ever seen. The highlight of the concert, other than being teased by "Jesse's Girl" intros, was "Don't Talk to Strangers." For a song that consists essentially of 4 words, he was able to rock it out for over 10 minutes. He traveled into the crowd where he was felt up, down, and all around by middle-age-housewives, called one woman's husband on the phone to remind him to not talk to strangers, then brought 3 young children up on stage to help him sing the complex lyrics. One of the 3 was Grace, who sat behind us. I think it was her mom's proudest moment. Then there was another little girl who went on stage but refused to sing or say anything. But after some comforting by Rick (don't worry, he's not a stranger), she touted a quiet reminder not to talk to strangers.

While I was sorry to see the singing end, my bicep felt as though it was about to rip from all the fist pumping. The wait to see Rick took a little longer than I had expected. We had to show passports, work permits, get DNA tests, take a verbal and written test, do some calisthenics, then undergo a severe interrogation to prove that our passes really were real passes (this is for the safety of Rick we are talking about). When I met him, I wanted to tell him it was the most thrilling 2 hours that I have ever experienced, but I knew he gets that all the time. So, I played it cool, showed him I was just a normal man.

Over the next several days, I slowly regained the ability to move my arm, but the excitement of the evening never ceased. I never would have thought that what began as somewhat of a joke would turn into the most exciting concert of my life. Thanks Rick.....and don't talk to strangers.