"PLEASE, let me be your Rock of Love..."

[NOTE] Leading up to this concert, I couldn't find many reviews -- mostly because this was only the third or fourth stop of this tour -- so I hope this helps people going to future concerts get an idea of what's in store.

As I mentioned last week, my girlfriends are fantastic for supporting my love of Bret Michaels and this weekend only elevated my irrational obsession of the "seasoned" rocker.

My four friends and I journeyed down to the House of Blues in Showboat Casino Friday night (March 20) for Bret's Atlantic City stop on the "Rock of Love Bus Tour."

We made it down in good time, but our 20-minute check-in and dimly lit hotel room made getting ready for the show a frantic mess of high heels, eyeliner and lingerie (What? Did you think we would show up to a Bret Michaels concert and not dress the part?).

Doors opened at 8 and the show was set to begin at 9, but we unfortunately got in there a little later than I had hoped and fans were jammed tight up to the stage. My friends and I scooted through the crowd and landed about 20-25 rows of people away from the stage. I wanted to get closer, but we were essentially stonewalled by people much larger than we. (Rachel would later say we were blocked by the "fat fortress.")

In my opinion, Bret brought the house down. His voice is a little gruffer than it used to be and he didn't play long (little more than an hour?), but his and the BMB's energy had the crowd -- hardcore Poison fans, Bret Michaels solo enthusiasts and reality television lovers alike -- dancing, jumping and unskinnybopping all over the place.

Bret was smiling the entire time, doing some dancing in his skintight jeans and repeatedly reaching out to the extended hands of fans pouring over the railings. He told mildly insightful stories about his songs (like writing "Every Rose" in a laundromat), reminded us that "ROL" has been the highest rated show on VH1 for three seasons and directed cameramen around the stage as they filmed segments for the channel.

The music was a mix of old Poison, new Bret Michaels Band and cover songs. He opened with the again-popular "Talk Dirty to Me" (for all the Guitar Hero fans in the room), ripped through the "oldest of the oldschool Poison" with "Look What the Cat Dragged In," ended with "Fallen Angel" and encored with "Nothing But a Good Time" (which I called from a mile away -- video below).

Bret also went oldschool with covers of "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Knocking on Heaven's Door." Of his newer material, he played the theme to his hit reality show, "Go That Far," the corny-but-catchy "Bittersweet" and --my favorite-- "Driven."

Looking back, I'm a little disappointed we didn't work to get backstage, and while I didn't get to meet Bret, my friends and I did manage to meet and get a hug from Chuck Fanslau, the drummer from the Bret Michaels Band (and who infamously kissed Beverly in ROLB ep. 4 -- pictured below)!

So, overall, Bret Michaels' solo concert was nothing but a good time and my friends and I are already planning to see Poison (with Def Leppard and Cheap Trick) in June when they kick off their tour in NJ in June -- whoo! And you can bet your extension-wearing, silicone-loving butt I'm going to be front row next time Bret comes to town ;)

Bret: 'Bus,' birthday and a book?

During my blogging sabbatical, lots of exciting and offbeat stories made it to the forefront of every imaginable news outlet (excluding, of course, The Jerc Store). Among these were the "Octo Mom," a violent chimp attack, a crashing plane miraculously landing in the Hudson and Chris Brown allegedly beating girlfriend Rhianna.

I'm over all of these stories, and --frankly-- too lazy to write about them, so let's move on to more important things, like Bret Michaels.

Today is his 46th birthday -- rarrr.

A big thanks to my girlfriends for dignifying my irrational love of the Poison front man: A group of us is going to see Bret in concert next weekend at the House of Blues in Atlantic City. (And we're buying appropriate "Rock of Love" attire, to boot.)

But what really prompted this Bret lovefest post is the announcement this week that he will be penning a "tell-all" autobiography called "Roses and Thorns: The Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy to My Realty." Got a nice ring to it, eh?

The book, which hits shelves in June, will explore "every aspect" of Bret's life, including the sex, the drugs, the rock 'n' roll...and the diabetes? He'll also go into detail about his very public conflicts with Poison guitarist CeCe DeVille.

And speaking of the band, Poison will be touring with Def Leppard and Cheap Trick this summer. Hey, whaddya know? They kick off the tour June 23 in Camden. Hmm... Maybe I will get more miles out of my new hookerwear than I thought!

"If you wanna be my lover..."

As a poor journalist, shelling out $100 for anything makes me grimace...but dropping $105 to see the Spice Girls in Philadelphia last night was anything but silly and completely worth it to fulfill all my wildest 1997 dreams.

The concert "started" at 7:30, but the British fivesome didn't come on until 8:30 and there was no opening act. Had we planned on the delay a little better, my friends and I might have gotten some brews at the McFadden's inside the Wachovia Center, but as we climbed and climbed and climbed to our seats, it was clear we weren't going anywhere until the show was over. Yes, that's right--very last row.

Here's the view from our seats, with and without zoom:

The crowd was without a doubt fired up before the show even began, with tons of glitter-clad teenage girls and 20 somethings dancing and singing to the "warm up" music, but when the lights came down and five podiums arose from below the stage, it was complete pandemonium.
"La, la, la, lalala, la, la, laaaa... When you're feeling sad and low, we will take you where you wanna go."

The concert kicked off with the high energy "Spice Up Your Life." Watch this video and tell me this doesn't look like insanity. (And PS. ignore the singing around me. I forgot to inform my friends that I would be taping, haha.)

During their first dialogue, the Spice Girls announced that they were getting "Silly in Philly," and then broke into my personal favs, "Stop," and "Say You'll Be There." The girls were dressed in coordinating gold, glittery outfits and they all looked phenomenal. The girls slowed it down a bit for their newest song, "Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)," which gave the amped up audience a chance to get a breather--and at our altitude, that was tough.

"Lady is a Vamp" was excellent, followed up by the girls in a dressing room-like set to perform a sexed up version of "Too Much." I'm pretty sure this was when all the feathery props came out - bright boas during these numbers, and then giant, white, fluffy things for "2 Become 1," where the girls road an imaginary carousel with candy cane poles--VIDEO BELOW! You can really see how buff Sporty Spice is and how crazy the crowd goes for Posh Becks (though, I don't understand why).

After "Who Do You Think You Are?" the girls each had some solo time out on stage, and Victoria took it upon herself to ditch the singing and strut up and down the runway stage to RuPaul's "Supermodel" - WORK! Work it girl! Yeah. She sucks.

Scary Spice brought one of the six men in the entire venue on stage as she sang a cover of Lenny Kravitz's "Are You Gonna Go My Way?" as she whipped, gyrated and gave the guy a faux BJ--no, not kidding. Were they like this when I was 12??

Baby Spice sang her single--so...apparently she came out with a single. The aesthetics for the song were really cute--very Austin Powers-esque.

The group reunited on stage for a Spanishy rendition of "Viva Forever" and picked it up with their newer song, "Holler," in which they led hunky dancers down the catwalk on leashes. Girl power!

Geri came on stage, and much to my dismay did not sing her single "Look at Me," but she did belt out a pretty fun rendition of "It's Raining Men" (below, left). And then obviously, Sporty Spice sang her single--the most successful of the lot--the techno-inspired "I Turn To You" (below, right).

After slowing the pace down for "Let Love Lead the Way," the girls gathered at the end of the stage and Sporty Spice--in her cockney talk--described her admiration for her four Spice friends who have all popped out some Spice babies in the last few years...which of course launched them into "Mama."

The concert started going down the beaten Bah Mitzvah path as the band pumped out "Celebration," "We Are Family" and such. "Goodbye," which you can see my videdo of by clicking here, ended the set and the girls fled the stage.

After some crowd encouragement, the platoon of male dancers hit the stage again in rainbow wear and break danced to "The Humpty Dance," which I found particularly entertaining. And then it got Spiced-up with the girls reappearing and chanting the chorus to "If U Can't Dance."

And what would a Spice Girls concert be without some "Wannabe"?! By far, the best moment of the concert. VIDEO BELOW.

The concert ended with a funky reprise of "Spice Up Your Life" as glittered blasted the stage (below, right). It was absolutely insane.

Yes, the show was short (about 90 minutes), our seats were bad and the dance moves were a littly crusty. But the Spice Girls sang. They by no means lip synched (as evident by a few off key notes throughout), but Sporty Spice is without a doubt the most talented of the bunch, belting out song after song as the others seemed more like background singers at times. And the Spices looked fan-freaking-tastic. Mel B's and Geri's stomachs looked insane and Mel C's arms were jacked. The girls chatted it up on stage and kept the energy going the whole time. It was well worth the hundred bucks.

I went to a Spice Girls concert 12 years after their prime, and it was incredible.

[PLEASE CLICK HERE TO VIEW
THE ENTIRE ALBUM FROM THE SPICE GIRLS CONCERT!]

Hannah tries to pull a little switcheroo

Big news on the Hannah Montana front: Miley Cyrus is not the only bubbly adolescent bouncing around the stage during her "Hannah Montana" tour--there's an impostor, GASP!!!!

Yeah, this isn't really a big deal to me, but I know it comes as an uber shock to the bajillions of Miley Cyrus fans to find out that Miley is using a body double during shows.

When you check out the video below, you'll notice around the 2:20 mark that Hannah Montana is ushered into a trap door by a back-up dancer who blatantly covers her with a black cloak, and then suddenly, a Hannah lookalike pops out wearing gaudy sunglasses and hair covering her face and starts dancing like a complete moron. So obv not HM, duuuuhhh.

Representatives for Miley said the time is used for a quick costume change and otherwise, the teen superstar sings live the entire show.

I have two problems with this. First of all, what is the difference between Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus during the show? Someone please clear this up for me. Actually, I don't really care. My second concern is this: For all the money that this little girl and this franchise make, they can't come up with a better and less conspicuous way for the girl to have a wardrobe change?

I'm serious. Watch the video and see how awful the change is. Actually, this entire segment looks like a complete yawnfest. Why are people paying thousands of dollars and killing off their parents for this again?

No holds barred for Hannah

I bet my parents are glad that Hannah Montana did not exist during my childhood. Kids across the nation are begging, kicking and screaming to get their hands on HM tickets these days, and seriously, who wants to disappoint their kids?

But at the same time, spineless parents who will stop at nothing to get these tickets to please their kiddies (and probably brag around the water cooler) are ruining it for everyone.

Priscilla Ceballos, a woman from Garland, Texas, recently submitted an essay on behalf of her daughter, which began with the line, "My daddy died in Iraq this year," for a Hannah Montana Rock Your Holidays Essay Contest. Prizes included tickets to Hannah Montana's sold-out concert in Albany, New York in January, airfare and accommodations to the show and a Hannah Montana gift bag.

Her essay won the contest... only one problem: it was one big, fat lie.

The woman told contest officials that the girl's father, Sgt. Jonathon Menjivar, died April 17 in a roadside bombing in Iraq, but the Department of Defense has no record of anyone with that name dying in Iraq.

Ceballos admitted to the deception, according to a spokeswoman for Club Libby Lu, the store holding the contest. The company is considering taking away the tickets.

"We did the essay and that's what we did to win. We did whatever we could do to win." --Priscilla Ceballos, in an interview with Dallas TV station KDFW.

Ruthless, but hey, if a good friend of mine hadn't gotten me tickets to the upcoming Spice Girls concert, maybe I'd consider doing the same.