The Miley Cyrus Concert

Last night Calli and I attended the Miley Cyrus concert. I would like to be able to say it was her first concert, but actually she went to see The Goo Goo Dolls with Richard and me when she was one. But I suppose this is her first concert that she actually wanted to attend. We heard that Miley was coming to town a couple months ago and I didn't think much of it. Then one day on our way home from a restaurant, listening to our Miley Cyrus CD on repeat, it hit me: why don't I try and get tickets to her concert? But as quick as that thought came, another one occurred to me that it was probably sold out. After all, this is MILEY CYRUS, aka HANNAH MONTANA. A few years ago when she came to town on her Hannah Montana tour it sold out in seconds. Nonetheless, I got home and went on Ticketmaster where two tickets popped up! It was a $150 investment, but we knew Calli would love it and it would be a special treat for her so we got them. The tickets couldn't be printed at home; for this event it was paperless tickets ONLY, which we would get at the door with our credit card we used and an ID. I paid no attention to this, which eventually came back to haunt me.

On Tuesday morning I was reading through all the reminder emails they sent me about the concert, when it hit me: I didn't have the credit card I used to pay with anymore!! About a month ago my bank issued me a new debit card, explaining that some of their customers' cards may have been compromised and for security purposes they were issuing me a new one, with a new number. I cut up the old one and didn't think anything of it. Until Tuesday. So I emailed Ticketmaster explaining the situation that afternoon. I didn't hear back until Wednesday morning and was told that in order to get my tickets I would need to fax them a statement from my bank, with their letterhead, that this was my old card, I was issued a new one, here is the number, blah blah blah. And such began a stressful day for me. I was immediately on the phone with the bank and after talking to three different people was finally told they would send me an email with this information. I felt like a weight had been lifted, I was so relieved. I told her about my time constraints and she said she would have it to me by around 1pm.

Well 1pm rolled around and I had no email. By 3pm I started to stress again and decided to call Ticketmaster to see what else could possibly be done. I spoke with two different people and were told the same thing about the letter needed. My only other option would be to refund those tickets and buy new ones, but I had to do it that day because they wouldn't refund the money on the day of the event (which was the following day). But it was a MILEY CYRUS concert. Surely it was sold out. Again, I called my bank to find out about this email they were supposed to send and I thought "well I could just look if there are tickets". So, while on hold, it was off to the computer I went to search for tickets and wouldn't you know, two tickets in better seats and for the same price popped up on the screen. I immediately hung up the phone and purchased them. Then I was nervous that maybe I wouldn't be able to get a refund on the other tickets because my card had been cancelled. But when I called Ticketmaster (yet again) I was relieved to find out that if the bank tells them that account is closed they will mail us a check. I put in for the refund and although we had to pay more up front than I would have liked, it will all even out again.

And that is the super long story of how our fantastic night almost wasn't. I spent part of the day in tears over the fact that I was going to let my daughter down. She had so been looking forward to this and I screwed up. I was mad at the bank for issuing me a new card when I didn't ask for it and for not sending that email (which I am still waiting on, if you can believe!). I am mad at Ticketmaster for not letting me print tickets at home; for having such rigid rules to pick up your tickets; for making me get a letter from my bank to change my card! And, perhaps most of all, I was mad at myself for not remembering that I needed the card; for not paying attention and taking care of this sooner.

Everything worked out in the end though. Calli really had a great time. We got to the AT&T Center at 5:30pm and had no problem getting in (I knew I wouldn't be 100% stress-free until we got through those doors!). We headed to find our seats, but still had about an hour and fifteen minutes to kill so we decided to get some expensive, foot long hot dogs. Calli ate her entire hot dog, with ketchup of course (I hate the stuff, so how my kids became ketchup fiends I don't know!!). Next we stopped at the souvineer stand to buy an overpriced shirt. What good is going to a Miley Cyrus concert if you don't buy a shirt with her photo on it to be able to prove that you went? The shirt is really cute though, Calli picked the one she wanted. She had worn her Hannah Montana shirt to the concert, but immediately wanted to put the new one on over it.

We still had half an hour to go, but decided to return to our seats. "Mom, can I have cotton candy?" "Mom when is Miley coming out?" "Mom, I'm still hungry" "Mom, why can't I have cotton candy?" Those are just a few of the phrases I had to listen to for the next half hour. "Soon, she is coming out soon. Would you rather just go home? Okay, well we have to wait then!" Those are the phrases I repeated over and over. And over. And over.

Funny enough, Metrostation was the opening band for Miley. I had no idea that her older brother was the lead singer for that band. Calli's absolute favorite song for the longest time was THE SHAKE SONG (I have no idea what it's really called, that's just what it's known as in our house). Richard downloaded it for her on iTunes and she would listen to it on repeat. So she got a double treat being able to see that song performed!

Finally, FINALLY Miley came out. Calli was so excited, as were all the other screaming girls in the audience. Calli kept putting her hands over her ears because it was too loud, but she would be screaming right along with everyone. The CD we have is a mix that we created with mostly Hannah Montana songs. It has a couple Miley songs so we recognized a few, but most were ones we hadn't heard before. Calli got up out of her seat and was dancing, waving her arms in the air and screaming or singing along when she knew the words. I could tell she was getting tired toward the end of the night when she finally sat down.

It was a really special mother/daughter thing to do. I know some people give me heck for going to a Miley Cyrus concert, but you can't understand unless you have a daughter between the ages of four and twelve. I am so lucky to have a little girl and one who likes to spend time with her mom and do fun things like this. I would sit through a million Miley or Hannah concerts to be able to spend time with her. I hope someday she will remember this special event, but she is right on the cusp of retaining long term memories at such a young age. So who knows. But I will always remember for the both of us.

Calli and me right before leaving the house for the concert

Sitting in our seats we had just found

Calli in her new Miley shirt

And here is the back. Calli picked this one because of the pretty dress. It also lists all her tour stops. Looks like she is off to Dallas next!

Calli and me enjoying the show

Calli covering her ears from the screaming...but still smiling!

And Miley came out finally!!

Okay, I thought she was playing the piano until she stood up halfway through and started just singing. So maybe she only played for half a song?? Or maybe it was just a prop. I don't know!

Miley rode her motorcycle around above the audience

Calli with Miley in the background

Having fun!

Goofball!

So I put my hands up, they're singing my song, the butterflies fly away!! This song has obviously been on the radio a lot so Calli was excited to hear it.