That was Money

I have an imaginary checklist of goals I hope to accomplish before I die. It’s imaginary because A. there is no physical list and B. I don’t actually know what these goals are; usually things get added to the list after the fact because I think they’re awesome. Anyway, I got to add and then mark off an item from the checklist this weekend. I got one ticket to paradise. That ticket allowed me to see one Edward Joseph Mahoney live in concert. That’s right friends, the Eddie Money. It’s hard to imagine anything be more kick ass than seeing Take Me Home Tonight live. Unfortunately Ronnie Spector wasn’t there to complete the original duet, but in her place was a special treat, Eddie’s daughter Jessy. He introduced her as Jessy Money. Really Jessy? You’re trying to have a recording career and you’re using the same fake last name as your dad? That’s pretty lame.

The crowd was an interesting mix to say the least. About 25-30% were people like me and my friends, people in their mid 20’s who enjoy 80’s music, but more than anything enjoy how cheesy it all is. Seriously, I was cracking up the entire time, how could you not? Another 35-40% was hardcore Eddie Money fans. People were buying his albums in the 70’s and 80’s. Just white trash central. There is nothing better than seeing an incredibly trashy woman in her late 40’s who you just know was a crazy Money groupee 25 years ago. I doubt his fans have names, but they really should call themselves Moneyacs. Or Moniacs, whatever it doesn’t matter. I really wanted to buy an Eddie Money t-shirt and immediately cut the sleeves off. They rest of the crowd was there for an entirely different, dreamier reason. The headlining act was Rick Springfield, and there were a lot of older woman there ready to swoon over Dr. Noah Drake. And swoon they did.

One thing was pretty surprising. Eddie Money, despite not putting out a hit record in over 20 years has 6 or 7 recognizable hits that a 26 year old like myself can rock hard to, but one hit wonder Springfield puts on a way better show. And no, he didn’t play Jessy’s Girl on repeat for an hour. It’s pretty easy to see why though. They’re both 57 but Mr. Money has done some hard living in his days. All the drugs and rockstar living has really taken a toll. He’s like a dead man on stage. Although he still had enough life left in him to really nail the requisite 80’s saxophone solo. And I still did a lot of fist pumping. Dr. Drake on the other hand has really been keeping himself together. He was running around like a maniac. I was shocked to find out how old he was. He did half of the concert in the crowd, climbing over seats and playing the guitar while crowd surfing. I was pleasantly surprised with how entertaining it was. I would seriously recommend a Rick Springfield concert; it doesn’t even really matter if you’ve only heard one song of his before.

Throw in Scandal as the opening act and you have a real cheeseball 80’s bonanza. Not quite enough for me to get over missing Huey Lewis and the News last Monday though. That one’s still on the list.