looks like we made it...

So, about a week and a half ago, I buzzed down to South Dakota for a special night with two of my greatest girl friends.

 

And we went to a Barry Manilow concert.

Yes.

It is true.

A whole bunch of mid-twentysomethings saw Barry Manilow live.

Should I give some back story?

In middle school, I met a girl named Sarah.

One day, she was singing Copacabana in gym class.

Since my dad always had music playing when we were little, I knew bits of it and started singing with her.

Bam.

Instant, life-long friendship formed.

From that day, we tied everything into our fake-love for Barry Manilow.

It was our quirky little inside joke.

We made Barry t-shirts, were gifted random Barry items...

...like this Barry Manilow Bobble Head I gave Sarah {and I have an old autographed record, thank you very much}...

...and for both of our birthdays every year, we would find ridiculous pictures of Barry online and use a little Paint to add some personalization.

{Just google images of Barry Manilow. It's the best. They are all insane.}

When they found out that he was coming to perform just an hour from our hometown, Sarah and our friend Jill {who, poor girl, got dragged into our fake Barry-love just by being our friend growing up} demanded I come down.

I happily obliged :)

The whole concert was the most ridiculous thing I have ever experienced in my entire life.

First, while we were taking those pictures above, a creepy homeless man with a bloody, seeping wound on his face sat across from us and kept chattering at us.

Thus, we were quick to take these shots.

 

We also had all these people telling us how great it is to have young Fanilows out there, to which we just smiled.

{Fact: we were NOT the youngest people there, to our shock and awe.}

Inside, we got complimentary upgrades to our seats, putting us about about 14 rows from the stage, mandatory glow sticks {which were the brightest things I have ever seen in my life}, and a good view of all the crazy Fanilows getting trashed at the pre-show bar.

 

The pre-concert music was not fitting, being modern electro-pop and hip hop.

And then the opener made you think Beyonce was coming on stage, but, alas, there was Barry when the curtains opened, standing with arms spread out.

 {All the women went CRAZY for him, too. CRAAAAZY.}

 

I will give it to him, though.

He had just turned 70 and still has a truly great voice.

Crazy, talented Barry.

If only we had been born 30 years earlier  ;)

{We also thought his attempts at making modern-jokes was hilarious.}

 

Ridiculous. I told you.

There were many ladies that were in a tizzy.

The people were definitely the most interesting part.

From the sweet old grandma in front of us who could barley walk but still threw her hands in the air and waved them around with closed eyes and a smile to the creepy lady that sat next to me {and halfway into my seat, as well} who kept just staring at us through the concert with no expression.

{She would also randomly break out in song...?}

We also enjoyed the really wasted lady that kept running up and down the aisles to get better pictures and would yell things like,  "You're still hot!"

Only Barry could manage to sing a duet with his younger self...

So that, my friends, was my first concert ever.

Yup.

Ever.

Barry Manilow.

{It makes me kick myself for not grabbing those Maroon 5 tickets earlier this year...}

It was ridiculous.

But also ridiculously fun.

I haven't laughed that hard in a very very long time.

And I sure adore my Jill and Sarah :)