George Michael is my God

"I won't let you down, I will not give you up."

I'd been looking forward to it for months. I joined the fan club so I could buy tickets early, my hands shaking when that day arrived, and I became the proud owner of two tickets to see the man I fell in love with when I was 15.

My friend Paige was going to come down from Atlanta for the show. I was very excited to see her, since it had been almost a year. But less than a week before the show, Paige got the trifecta of ear, nose and throat ick, and couldn't fly. Well, the doctor said she shouldn't fly. But, she really couldn't. We were sad, and she was missed.

My friend Trisha was able to step in at the last minute, thankfully, and it was off to the show!

As a little nod to our teenage years, when George's face stared out at me from my bedroom wall, I thought, what could be more perfect to toast the occasion than what we used to drink then! I couldn't believe they still sold them. Yep. Exotic Berry wine coolers from Bartles & Jaymes (Oh, if only they had had the original flavor). Well, we forgot the cooler, naturally, so we had to swing by Publix and settle for Seagram's Berry. Warm. Good times. (On a side note, those things only have 4% alcohol. I think Nyquil might have more. Do you even need to be 21 to buy them?)

Once inside, the people watching began. (well, it started in the parking lot, it just got better inside.) People's idea of concert attire is almost as good as what they consider airplane travel attire.

And then the room went dark, and the crowd started screaming. A light display on stage started, looking like falling rain and stars while George sang "Waiting" from the Listen Without Prejudice album. Then he got to the line, "Here I am!" The stage lit up red, and the man himself appeared.



We all leaped to our feet and didn't sit down for the rest of the show. After a not so brief moment where he enjoyed the adulation from the crowd, he went right in to "Fast Love" and "I'm Your Man." And then, he made my night complete by singing "Father Figure," my favorite George Michael song. EVER.

This was the last show of the tour, so George said we got the party show. And it certainly lived up to the hype. The show was full of old and new favorites, from WHAM! hit "Everything She Wants," songs from Faith like "Hard Day" and, well, you've got to have "Faith." His new songs were met with the same enthusiasm as the old favorites. I love "Amazing," and "An Easier Affair." When he sang "Outside," somehow he was suddenly dressed like a cop. He must have been wearing stripper rip-away clothes over that get-up. It's a little blurry, but it looked like this.



At one point, George apologized for his voice, as he had caught some sinus thing (hmm... and he had just been in Atlanta. Conisidense, Paige?) But did he lip sync? No he certainly did not! He belted out those songs, and showed off his moves, working the crowd into a screaming mass. At a few points, he held up the mike and let us sing a verse, since everyone was already singing along with him. I know I was.

He finished up with two encores. The first was a flawless "Careless Whisper," and then he came back out and asked what we wanted to hear. We all screamed "Freedom!" And that was how it ended. He didn't let us down, and he didn't give us up. This tour was a thank you to his fans for 25 years of support. It was the best "thank you" card I've ever gotten.