Big Time Experience

The boy turns eight in a couple of weeks, and as an early present, we decided, sort of last minute, to get tickets to see Big Time Rush with Victoria Justice.  If you have kids under the age of 15, you probably know who they are.  If you don't, you probably aren't missing anything. (Although I confess to enjoying the bubble gum tunes of BTR myself, and acknowledging the swoon factor of the guys in the group, even if they are technically young enough to be my sons.  Ugh.)

Just as we bought the tickets, though, Andrew came down with a random case of strep throat.  I mean, why not?  Even after spending a gajillion dollars on tickets, fees, taxes, and surcharges, there was some doubt about making the trip.  None of us were sure that a three hour one way trip, untold walking and crowds, and the rigor of the show itself, would go well under the circumstances...fever, nausea, occasional vomiting, etc., but I was hoping that he'd have had enough meds by that point to start feeling better.  We quickly nixed the idea of staying over, and of trying to add other attractions like the Aquarium, both for cost and time reasons.  I was glad of both, even when we got home at 3:30 the next morning.

I'm not a fan of getting into big cities.  The traffic wigs me out, I panic on highway bridges that are curvy and high in the air...so that deters me somewhat from going to Baltimore more frequently. But I like the Inner Harbor, a lot.  I need to remind myself of that and go back soon.  

Pier 6 Pavilion is a great place to see a show.  There's not a bad seat in the place, the breeze from the water is lovely,  and you can't beat the scenery.  Nothing will ever, ever beat seeing Rick Springfield there, but any moderately entertaining group would be worth it.

Overall, the trip was great, if quick.  Andrew held it together, and while he wasn't the party animal he might have been under normal circumstances, he enjoyed himself.  As always, though, I have some random thoughts about the experience to share.

•$30.00 to park a car for a couple of hours is ridiculous.  For that much, they should wash the car and clean out the McDonald's trash from the trip.

•Buy t-shirts from the shady guy in the parking lot instead of from inside the venue.  And haggle with him!  I don't care what truck they fell off of, or if there's a spelling error I haven't seen yet, $15.00 is waaaaay better than $35.00, and that guy needs the money more than Kendall and Carlos do.  

•I'm a purse-stuffing pro.  I realize that this means I'm well-prepared to be the old lady wrapping rolls up and putting them in her purse, but I can live with it.  Here's the trick:  small bags of Goldfish, or little cookies, and some Capri Suns in the bottom of the bag, and placed carefully under brightly wrapped feminine hygiene products...then find a line with a male security guy.  Works every time.  They won't dig, I promise you.  And they're lucky I wasn't there with nefarious plans, because I also had multiple pill bottles full of such hard-core OTC drugs as chewable kids' Tylenol and Pepto-Bismol.  They easily could have been quaaludes! (I just aged myself again, I am aware.)

•Be prepared to move away from THIS to salvage your concert experience.

And ladies, if you should ever be inclined to wear this, please make sure that a) your belly isn't as big as your butt b) it's long enough that you won't give a decidedly unwelcome peep show to my husband and kid, and c) that you keep your ass on the ground with all of the other adults instead of standing on a chair with your makeup-wearing seven year-old who will likely bless you with a grandbaby in about seven years.   

This view was better, in spite of the trash can, and Andrew could actually see something other than...well, what he could see before.

•I found it odd that Victoria Justice would  spend fair amounts of her set preaching about opportunities for girls and setting sights high, then cover that "I crashed my car into a bridge, I put your sh*t into a bag, I don't care!" song.  It disturbed me to hear thousands of preteen kids singing along with it, and we wonder WHY we have issues in our society?  

•Nobody, and I mean, NOBODY else but yours truly could get trampled by Carlos Pena (of BTR) and not realize it until afterward.  I was so focused on trying to get this picture that I didn't see all of the band members leave the stage, and thus, was nearly knocked down by a large, burly man leading the way as Carlos made his way around the pavilion.  At least Andrew will have a story to tell!

Overall, great experience for Andrew, and on the heels of him receiving a response from his very first fan letter earlier in the week, hopefully something he will remember.  And while it's a "boy band" enjoying fifteen minutes of manufactured fame and not "real" music, they're good role models, and I'll encourage that as long as I can.  Thanks, BTR, and especially Kendall!  Not Carlos, though, because if you're going to knock me down, you should at least realize it.