I had been looking forward to this Friday night in September for... oh... about 15 years. Boyz II Men were coming to the Utah State Fair, and by jove, I was not going to miss it. My dreams were shattered at 1:30 PM, the afternoon prior to the event. My dear friend Missy sent me a gloomy text saying that the free tickets that the fair handed out at noon had already been depleted. I was stunned. HOW. How could fate allow such a blast of pain to pierce my body in such a cruel way?
Nonetheless, I carried on. I knew that I had to at least attempt to hear an echo of the sweet New Jack Swing so reminiscent of my childhood and tween years.
We arrived at the fair in high spirits, anticipating foot long hot dogs, funnel cakes, tiny women, giant alligators and guinea pigs. We were met with all but the guinea pigs. I was devastated about that, but that's another story for another time.
The calm, balmy night drew nigh upon 7:30, which to ticketholders meant Boyz II Men time. We allowed our bodies to be reeled to the stadium, like a siren luring us to its rocky shores. As we approached the stadium the sweet soulfilled lyrics of "On Bended Knee" swirled through the atmosphere and suckerpunched my heart. The previously irresistable cinnamon roasted almonds couldn't even compete at that point.
The gang and I (all in all there were about 15 of us) peered through slats in the chain link fence, boosted ourselves onto garbage cans, and gazed jealously upon the lucky ticketholders as they streamed through the heavily guarded gates.
We had almost become content with our situation. Every now and then we could catch a glimpse of the 90's motown champions and the sound wasn't half bad either, but then....
A miracle began. Compassionate strangers had pity on us, and almost one by one, we received tickets, each of us, to enter the throne of R&B mania.
I was psyched. Believe you me, my friend Jason and I jumped up and down screaming like giddy school girls for a good three seconds. It seemed almost too good to be true. But it only got better from there.
Missy, Meg and Hayley. Content with their long distance relationship with Boyz II Men...
Meg staring at a fence... or is she?
Our view from outside the fence...
Meg giving the mean guard her best "I'm just a cute little innocent muffin" face...
Jason pondering ways he could bust a cap for entrance...
AND WE'RE IN!
Boyz II Men were sure lookin like fine MEN in their suits... I knew they'd wear suits and they did not dissapoint!
Freak, they even had several, several synchronized dance moves...
At the end, for an encore, Wanya, the "emotional" one, serenaded us, unbuttoned.
Perhaps one of my favorite moments of the concert was during "I'll Make Love To You." All the girls rushed the stage as the delicious I'll Make Love To You chords fired up. I wasn't going to miss out on that action, so I flew toward the stage, hands straight up in the air, waving wildly, screaming at the top of my lungs in a frenzy. My friend Megan and I nudged our way into the throng of wildly obsessed women grasping their fingers at the long-stemmed red roses the Boyz II Men were graciously flinging. We couldn't see over all the arms and big hair, so Megan said to me "Hayley, step on my knee for a boost!!" so, I did. I stepped on her knee for a boost and for one fleeting moment I was on top of the world, THIS close to the BOYZ II MEN!!! Then I hear this "GET DOWN!" and this girl behind me shoves me as hard as she could. I of course, weighing the few pounds I do, was hurled into several other bossy bratty b****y women before I found a chair to seek refuge on. I thought for a moment "I could'v been severely hurt, and that was that girl's intention!" I was horrified. But that chair of refuge soon became my platform of poetic peace and love as Megan and I ourselves reached in desparation for a petal, a thorn, anything from these giants of soul!Though I failed to recover a rose from this sesspool of unbridled fanaticism, I came away thoroughly satisfied, right after a girl standing on the floor in front of me (while I still stood on the chair) glared up at me and said in a baby-mama accent "STEP OFF!" hands on her hips and errything. I guess that meant "get down off my chair please." I'm still not sure, I don't speak ghetto in its entirety. I tried to upload my video of "I'll Make Love To You" but it was too large.
My heart exploded at various other points in the concert. I LOVED when they sang "End of the Road" and they had the audience sing it... see the following clip.
Oh, AND, they sang Motownphilly. I went NUTS! I was out of control. In heaven. That's why the camera was so shaky and the clip is so short, I had to move my hips.
Their music, it's just... it's real music, it transcends the boundaries of time and opens the hearts of all. As Wanya Morris said last night. It's music "to dance to, sing to, clean your house to, and music to MAKE LOVE TO."
