Be bop a lu, she bop

Over the past few months, I've shared some memories of concerts I've recently attended - including Fleetwood Mac and Madonna. Just a few weeks ago, I was lucky to snag tickets too see my original 80s idol. In the beginning, there was Cyndi.

Let's jet back to 1983. I was getting used to the idea of 'half-days' and then 'full days' in school; discovered an Etch-a-Sketch would lose its silvery contents when dropped and cracked open; and television cartoons started playing early Saturday mornings.

It's not like music wasn't being played in my family's house at that time, it most certainly was. I guess I just didn't pay much heed where the music was coming from. Might have been the radio, the record player, or the 8-track player. But there was this one day in particular I remember - my mom laid in my hands a seemingly huge cardboard record sleeve. On front was a lady with long orange hair, dancing barefoot in front of 'The Wax Musee.'

When mom played the record, I discovered people besides the likes Mr. Dress-Up, the Sesame Street gang, or Ron Hynes could carry a tune. Boy, was I ever smitten with Cyndi Lauper. She might have been 'so unusual,' but could she ever sing. In fact, this lady's voice coming from the record player sounded like she was having a blast, as though some sort of amazing party was recorded for everybody to hear. And before long, it seemed like she was singing all over the radio and it everybody knew the words to Girls Just Want to Have Fun.

That record must have been played a billion times over the next few years. And even though my taste and choices in music changed and evolved over the years, Cyndi's She So Unusual remained one of my favourite albums.

Fast forward 26 years. My sister and I decided to take a holiday. We agreed there was no better place to visit than New York City. Having both been to the city before, we knew we wanted to check out more of what New York had to offer.

We agreed on the dates and booked our flight and hotel, and started looking for events that we both wanted to see. Low and behold, I found out Cyndi was playing in Englewood, New Jersey while we were in New York City. Snagging us seats that were a mere dozen rows from the stage, I emailed my sister to tell her the ultra-exciting news. Being a few years younger, she seemed slightly less than enthused. Didn't matter, we had tickets to see Cyndi!

On the day of the concert, we got ourselves over to New Jersey. No small feat, considering we decided to avail of public transportation. But we arrived at the venue without a hitch and settled ourselves into our oh-so-close seats.

Cyndi was a bit late coming out, but that didn't matter. Dressed in tight black leggings and a flouncy red top, Cyndi was nothing short of stunning. Her naturally white-blonde hair was done up in tight curls, with black streaks running through. She kicked off her shoes and poured herself into the music.

For a solid two hours, she danced, sang and told stories about her life. Of course she sang her classic stuff, along with newer and obscure songs. Fans were treated to the likes of She Bop (my favorite performance of the evening), All Through the Night, Goonies R Good Enough, and Hole in My Heart, Into the Nightlife, and a superb rendition of At Last. Even my sister got down with Cyndi (and especially enjoyed True Colours).

Cyndi jumped and danced all over the stage throughout the show, even walking off-stage and singing while standing on the theatre's seats. She also took to running up and down the aisle, when yours truly took the opportunity to reach out and touch Cyndi's arm.

It really was a night to remember and certainly worth the almost 30-year wait to see Cyndi perform live. (And in case you're wondering, we safely made it back to New York City using public transit.)