christina!

christina aguilera was in town last night. and let me tell you, she was hott. i really don't understand how her voice can go that strong for so long. she's superhuman or something. either that or she doesn't talk except for at her shows to conserve her voice. wow.

i got tickets through someone at work. long, convoluted story but suffice it to say we were sitting in section 112 about [------this------] close to the stage. it was amazing. first we grabbed dinner at matchbox - and how could i have forgotten how delicious that place is? it's truly going to be dangerous when we move into our new building on 9th st. so i tried to prolong dinner as long as possible in hopes of missing out on the opening act, but unfortunately i failed.

we got to our (great) seats right as the lights were going off. and then danity kane came out. and i was all ready for them to be so bad. but they weren't just bad - they were horrendous. they can't dance, they can't sing and they looked completely heinous. christina's backup singers put them all to shame. but, luckily we only had to suffer for 20 minutes.

next up were the pussycat dolls. now, i'll admit i'm not the biggest fan, but i was told that they put on a great show. and wow, my source was right. that one girl can really sing. and they are truly performers (i guess it helps that they started out as a burlesque show in vegas, but whatever). also i actually recognized a few of their songs, which was nice. also one girl looks like rachel mcadams and another looks like the girl from party of five and mean girls. at least in my opinion.

they finished up with "don't cha" and then the lights went on again. and then the anticipation set in - i was so ready for christina - and i was so ready for a big show. but, i'll be honest - i wasn't ready for what was about to happen. i felt like i was at a broadway show/circus/concert bonanza. it was amazing.

she came out in all white. and all her dancers were in white. and her entire band (horns and all!) was dressed in white. it was very retro. and she just started belting out - and never stopped. we had a little friendly "bet" before the show about how many times we thought she would change her outfit. i jokingly said 8 times. i couldn't have been more wrong. she legitimately changed her outfit after every song - sometimes just adding/taking off a piece of clothing - but still. i think my favorite costume change was when she ended one song and went to the back of the stage and her back up dancers somehow managed to put black lace crotchless pants on over her current outfit of white hot shorts and ridiculously high white patent leather pumps. it was truly an amazing feat.

so she razzle dazzled through all her hits. she even retro-ized two of her older hits - "what a girl wants" and "come on over." honestly, it took me a while to even recognize what songs she was singing until i could really recognize the lyrics. after a bunch more songs everyone disappeared from the stage and some grossly disturbing video for "i got trouble." i'm sure that was completely awkward for the parents behind us who brought their 13 year old daughter and her friends. yikes.

and then the circus came to town. and i'm not even kidding. her backup dancers (who were absolutely amazing, by the way) came out in full circus attire. there was a guy on stilts (who still managed to break it down), some trapeze girls, flame throwers, and some woman with a cage-like skirt walking a "dog," which was actually one of the dancers. it was wild. [note: once i can figure out how to post a video on this thing you can watch the circus act for yourself.] and from there they segued nicely into dirttty, in which christina rose onto the stage on a carousel horse. and her girl dancers were dancing on poles. wow.

but that doesn't even compare to lady marmalade. the outfits were ridiculous and there were pink feather everywhere. even the backup singers were waving them. and then two of the GUY dancers were wearing silver go-go boots. it was like the girl from px, but even hotter.

i came into the night expecting a great show - but i was literally blown away. she's definitely a show stopper - sorry danity kane, but you are most definitely not.

next up: mat kearney, eric hutchinson and a summer of fun at wolftrap!