Let me preface this post by saying two things. 1) I've loved Justin Timberlake (after my first love Lance Bass, which let's face it, is a whole 'nother issue) since I was eleven with the passion of a thousand suns. And 2) if Nsync chose to get their collective shit together and go on a reunion tour, there is no limit to the amount of money I'd spend to plant my ass firmly in ground seats in which I'd fangirl like I'd never fangirled before.
Fangirled isn't a verb you say? It is now.
Basically, my love of Justin Timberlake knows no bounds.
I mean, seriously. I'd hop on it so fast, his head would spin.
I started the beginning of 2013 only mildly flipping out because JTimbs announced he was releasing new music. Mind you, new music after a SEVEN YEAR HIATUS. SEVEN YEARS. The boy left me parched and I was ready to drink whatever kool-aid he was putting out.
And his kool-aid was so deliciously fantastic (I had the CD on repeat for a month and a half. Not even a little bit of an exaggeration), I promptly dropped $350 dollars for a single ticket to his Legends of Summer Tour with Jay Z.
Don't act surprised, JT.
I'd been waiting impatiently for months for July 22, 2013 to roll around. It became the shining light at the end of my very long work-week tunnel. I knew all I had to do was survive 10 hours of work on Sunday and I'd be Chi-town bound to see JT in the flesh.
It had been eleven years since I'd seen him last in concert for the Justified/Stripped Tour. Eleven years, and I was more than ready for his voice to invade my ears live and in living color.
Ticket price is a dirty lie. But look at where I sat!
Our seats were freaking fantastic. I have a thing about getting as close as I physically can to the stage at concerts, ticket price be damned. These were worth the $350/piece. And, because two girls want to sit next to their mothers, I got to move a whole row closer.
Oh yeah, you're jealous.
The entire stadium was packed, which I thought was pretty awesome. And the crowd just had this energy. A DJ played for about an hour before JT and Hova actually decided to grace us with their presence (almost an hour and a half after the scheduled time. I can't even be mad about it) and nearly everybody was up dancing and singing along.
It was also a relatively mixed crowd considering how different Justin and Jay Z are musically. Obviously, a lot of young white girls were in the audience, but there were a lot of older couples, some families and a fair amount of people who were there more for Jay Z than Justin.
Finally, they hit the stage together to get the night started with "Holy Grail" and I was probably about two bounces away from literally pissing my pants with excitement.
Yes, exactly like this. I fully realize I'm an adult, thank you.
And, MAN, what a concert! The chemistry between Justin and Jay Z is just electric and they performed with such fluidity together. Several songs they sang together regardless of the original artist and it just flowed incredibly well. For a couple of songs, Justin joined Jay Z by playing the guitar and rocking the hell out of it.
What you're looking at is musical perfection.
Now, I was going to this concert entirely for Justin and none for Jay Z, bye. If any of you are wondering how I feel about Jay Z now, let's put it this way: I spent $24 buying all the songs he performed immediately after the concert. His stage presence is contagious and the crowd really got into it. I mean, I don't really dance (like, ever) and I couldn't help but bounce along to the music.
You, sir, are awesome.
Justin debuted his newest single off the second half of The 20/20 Experience "Take Back the Night" and damn is that a catchy song. It's been on repeat since yesterday and I have zero regrets about how I'm spending my time. It just makes me ache for September that much more.
Also, can we talk about how Justin's concert version of "Cry Me A River" takes me to church? First off, he starts it with that stupid catchy "bands a make her dance" lyric and then turns the whole damn song into this hardcore rock song that makes your panties drop. And, the previous song he sang was "Until the End of Time" (which contains the lyrics "this one's for the lovers") and kicked off "Cry Me A River" by saying, "It's not all peaches, bitch!"
Cry Me A River concert version >>>> EVERYTHING.
Oh, and he sang "Pusher Love Girl" and I screamed like a five-year-old on Christmas morning. That song is my JAM and is flawless. And not only did he sing it, he sang the entire version with the awesome end coda, which is superior to the rest of the song.
I'll fight you if you don't think this is awesome
In all, they performed for two and a half hours and the show ended pretty damn close to midnight. My lungs and throat burned from so much screaming and obnoxious singing. My feet were numb and sore from so much white girl dancing. My ears rang until morning from the musical barrage that reigned my eardrums.
I've seen a lot of concerts in my time and this easily ranks in the top 5. In fact, I dare say it ranks #2 in my concert going experiences EVER. If you have the opportunity to see the Legends of Summer Tour, DO IT. It was electric and full of excellent crowd energy and you can't beat the performance both Justin and Jay Z bring to the place.
Laughing all the way to the bank. SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY.
And guess who just found out Justin added a tour date to his 20/20 Experience Tour in Chicago?
:)
