< by Annie of Third Wave Domesticity >

It is a toss-up.

7^th grade vs. 8^th grade

N SYNC  vs. Bad Religion

I don’t even know where to begin.

“HERE WE GOOOOOOO, HERE WE GO ONE MORE TIME EVERYBODY’S FEELING FINE… HERE WE GO NOW… NSYNC HAS GOT THE FLOW.” I will declare N’SYNC at the Broward County Fair (Britney Spears opened… and it was FREE) as my first “real” concert. Who attended you ask? My mom (but of course), sister, brother, and permitted friend. Why did I want to spend my evening watching these beautiful men dance? LANCE BASS. That’s right, that frosty blue-eyed babe stole my heart. I think we all can understand why I am stopping my story here. This experience doesn’t need any more of an introduction, its greatness speaks for itself.

Fast forward a year. Punk, Meat is Murder t-shirt… be still my heart. My first REAL concert took place without my mom, brother, and sister. I was given permission to see Bad Religion, Blink 182, and Phoenix TX with friends and my friend’s older brother. We drove all the way to Miami… scandalous! My friend’s older brother wore a Dead Kennedy’s t-shirt. I imagined he was a character in Daria. My one friend became the coolest girl I knew when she crowd surfed. I bought a Blink 182 t-shirt and wore it every day for the next few months.

When great gurus, philosophers, religious leaders, and the like talk about bliss/heaven I believe they are referencing the perfect concert. A shared stage: Bad Religion and N SYNC. N SYNC opens of course.