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Last night I went to the Heart concert. Ann and Nancy Wilson. Heart! I know this dates me but who cares. They are not Beyonce*, they are not necessarily current in the charts (are there still charts?) and maybe that’s why I like them. That and the memories their music invokes; a scratchy, vinyl version of Magic Man being played over and over while sleeping over at my best friend’s house. By the light of the record player we would discuss what our own magic men would be like when they finally came into the picture (for me, he showed up 32 years later, but he is indeed magic. And I have honestly “never seen eyes so blue”).
Nothing is more inspiring to me than a live performance. It could be a performance of third graders playing kumbaya on kazoos and I will be inspired and moved to tears. But front row, my face at knee level with Ann and Nancy was MOVING. And it made me think about Miley Cyrus. Bear with me, here.
Part of my job at work is to update our social media outlets to keep us current in everyone’s minds, to advertise and to educate. In scanning said social media outlets every day I am exposed to certain popular culture moments that I would rather not be exposed to, honestly. Monday morning, the Facebook hub-bub surrounding Miley Cyrus’ performance at the VMA’s was deafening, and/or blinding. So, I watched the performance.
I posted on here before about women in “entertainment” after watching Rihanna perform at an awards show, a performance that was basically porn. This is what women have to do to become the most popular entertainer? It’s really depressing. I admire women like Adele who can sing the shit out of any song and doesn’t take herself too seriously. I admire Patty Griffin, Emmy Lou Harris, and Sarah Bareilles for being stellar musicians and writers.
None of them have ever had the need to put their ass(ets) on display in such a degrading way, the way Miley did the other night. I feel for her. She obviously has such a need to distance herself from her good-Disney-Christian-girl image that she is willing to do whatever she can to get there, and/or does whatever people are telling her to do. She looked shameless and not in a good way. She also looked happy and in control of the situation, proud to be there, nailing all her moves. Her confidence showed at the end of the performance, as if she knew she’d stuck the landing of her beam routine and was about to receive a perfect ten. But where was the heart? I saw a whole lot of tongue (WTF was that anyway?), but no heart.
Ann and Nancy brought it the other night – you know, the Heart part of a live experience. Yeah, I get it’s a different generation of women entertainers, but these ladies are artists. They are a perfect ten in their musicianship, their writing, guitar playing, singing and confidence on the stage. They were comfortable enough in their own bodies to not need to strip down, to not need backup dancers, to not need so much sex and hub-bub going on that viewers would be distracted from the fact that they really don’t have anything to offer, because guess what? They have it all and they put all their assets on wonderfully clothed display and it was bloody inspiring. And yes, I got all teary at one point.
I don’t want to talk about Miley Cyrus anymore. I don’t want her to be a part of my thinking, so I’ll wish her the best and move on; may she experience the pleasure of feminine power and confidence without having to use a giant foam finger.
Heart brought the goods the other night; the juicy, deep, intimate, sexy, beautiful, gut wrenching goods. And we were all the better for it.
*I actually like Beyonce, FYI. She’s a great performer without an overload of sex, just maybe not the best singer or musician. “All the Single Ladies” and “Crazy In Love” are both on my dance party playlist. So am I legit now? Also, I have used “Hub-bub” twice in this post. What are the odds?