by zappo Wed Jul 12, 2017 4:24 pm
Saw Carly Rae Jepsen at some free, M&M's-sponsored show at Wicker Park's Chop Shop, last night. It was the most fun I've had at a show in like nine or ten years. I was by far the oldest person in attendance and one of, at most, ten straight men (security guards notwithstanding) in an audience of about 400. Not once in my life has a woman ever flirted with me at a bar, club, or show, but I had to turn down two very interested bros, last night. I mention the women only because I can no longer count the number of times I've been aggressively hit on by gay dudes. I don't mind. I've always found it to be quite flattering, to be honest, even though I usually wind up feeling kind of guilty for being straight.
One guy was called onstage before the show started, as he'd won VIP tickets. Or so we thought. He was actually there to surprise his boyfriend (whose last name was "Siemen," much to the joy of the crowd, which chanted his name as he walked up; a guy next to me complained, "I wish my last name was Semen!") by proposing to him onstage. He said yes, wept, and the crowd went wild. It was a lovely moment and I, temporarily buoyed by the euphoria in the air, felt like maybe there was a little bit of hope left for the world, after all.
Given that I was easily one of the tallest people there and that I was in roughly the middle of the crowd, I was regularly pointed at and made eye-contact with when Jepsen was singing to a "you" during various songs. It was embarrassing but amusing. And certainly nothing I'd ever experienced, before. I definitely felt like a deer in the headlights, at first
After the show, Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" was played over the PA. As we slowly made our way through the balloons, out of the pressure cooker that was the show, onto the street, and off into the night, we boisterously sang it together. Great times. Much better than the new, heinously bad caramel M&M's which they were pushing hard, in my humble motherfucking opinion.