Miss Jackson, if you're nasty...

As if we weren't already dog tired from the wedding stuff and cousin visit and not to mention close to the poorhouse with paying babysitters for said occasions, Michael and I decided we could not pass up an opportunity to see Miss Jackson, that is Janet, if you're nasty, at the new Austin City Limits venue on Sunday night. I am not the kind of Janet fan to wear a concert tee to the concert, but I did spend a lot of time on Kelly Doze's grass in 3rd grade making up dances to "Control" and pining over high school boyfriends to "Again" et cetera.

It was amazing to see such a living legend. This tour is targeted at smaller venues, so that Janet (who by the way is "Skinny Janet" at the moment, akin to "Skinny Oprah") can "get in touch with her fans" playing all of her number 1 hits, which are many. The new ACL theatre in the W Hotel is super mod, serves a full premium bar and with only 2900 seats, is a VERY cool place to see a show.

We opted for one of the 75 standing floor seats, which meant that we had this view of Miss Janet. I'm not sure if we'd do it, again, considering with my 4 inch heels off I couldn't see a damn thing besides Janet's body and a light. Michael had a great view being taller than me. But, with the added 4 inches, I could both feel Janet's sweat flying off the stage 10 feet from me and see her. Note to self: bring Toms in purse next time. Janet looked and sounded great. At first, it seemed like she wasn't working the crowd the way she should in such a small venue (maybe she spent the day out on Lake Austin and needed her Monster energy drink to kick in, I dunno), but after she got going, we were feeling the love. A great moment was her encore, when she did "Together Again" and the screen behind her flashed all sorts of pictures of she and Michael growing up and the whole place was dancing and singing. It was a pretty emotional moment. At one point she threw her arms up during the line where she says "There are times when I look above and beyond. There are times when I feel your love around me, baby" and especially having lost my dad, my heart broke a little for her. There was big talk in the hall prior to the show, wondering if she'd do a "Michael" tribute. She didn't, so the "Together Again" was the only other nod to him, the other being when she did a virtual duet in "Scream" earlier in the playlist. As much as she tried to make her own name in the 80s and 90s, I think what she did do was perfect. I would imagine trying to sing his songs would be difficult, emotionally. Anyway, Janet, you rock. You seem a pillar of quiet strength. I just want to hug you!

Something I'm filing away from the evening... I was walking back from the bathroom and had a very dramatic moment where a well-dressed gay was walking past me going the other direction. He said "I LOVE your dress!" and I replied "Thank you!" It happened without either one of us stopping to miss a beat. For the record, I went with a light grey Jennifer Beals 1980s cotton cropped thingy with a large elastic black belt that was about 4 inches shorter than anything I'd normally wear. Anyway, dear gay, the self esteem of this tired 34 year-old mama of two says THANK YOU!!!! That one should keep me going for a while...