Lust Chapter 2 or I'm Still Hot for Rick Springfield

How did you spend your 4th of July?

I spent mine lusting over Rick Springfield in Lake Forest.

Yes, we've been down this road before. As you'll recall, in July 2007, my girlfriends and I sat front-row for the Rick Springfield concert at Frontier Days in Arlington Heights. I documented that night in a post titled Lust.

My friends Lisa, Wini and I arrived at 6pm for the 8pm concert and got great seats about 25 feet from the stage. Remembering how Rick ventured out into the audience at Frontier Days, I suggested we sit right next to the marked-out walkway from the stage to the sound booth. Smart move.

As we waited for Rick to take the stage, we did some great people watching. There were three women in particular who were decked-out head-to-toe in full 80s attire. From their over-hair sprayed two-toned hair, hoop earrings the size of my face, and too heavy black eyeliner to their t-shirts with puffy paint that read "Rockin with Rick 2011," rolled-up cut-off jean shorts, and scrunchy socks with their Reeboks, these women had style. I'm not sure, but I think they even arrived in their DeLorean. They documented the evening with the same disposable camera I used in the early 90s. Truthfully, I don't think they had to look far for their outfits; I think they simply never left the 80s. You may think I'm making fun of these women, but I assure you I'm not. They owned their looks and my friends and I were impressed. I wish I had pictures, but I didn't have the courage to take them.

We also saw some women, who I swear weren't a day over 12, wearing "Mrs. Springfield" t-shirts. That's just wrong.

An 80s cover band named Sixteen Candles opened for Rick. Given that we were in the late John Hughes hometown, it should come as no surprise that they sang Don't You Forget About Me by Simple Minds and from the movie The Breakfast Club. Seriously. John Hughes Forever.


Sixteen Candles was terrific and we all agreed they'd be a fun band to see in a bar.

Rick took the stage moments after 8pm looking just as good as he looked in 2007 and immediately, all the women were squealing. Yes, me included. You did read Lust, right?

My first tweet simply stated "It's RICK! Be still my heart!" accompanied by this picture.

Do you see how good he looks? He sounded just as good belting out all the songs we all knew by heart.

My next tweet: "Forget Jesse's Girl, Rick Springfield oughta be Jessie's guy!" Don't you think?

There was no tweet to accompany this picture. I just love how much fun he's having. He was clearly as excited to see me as I was to see him.

Finally, Rick wandered out into the audience to see me, but some chick got her hand in the way of my great picture.

I tweeted "OMG! I just got a little "Human Touch" in the form of Rick's sweat from about 2ft away!" Yep, the chick got out of my way. I love this picture.

A few minutes later, the concert was over. Or so I tweeted. "Rick is done. I need a cigarette. #IDontActuallySmokeGetTheReference" But I was wrong as he rushed back on stage and I tweeted, "Oh. My. God. Rick came back for an encore. HALF NAKED with rockin 6pack abs and tattoos. I can barely breathe. #JustGetMeThePackOfCigs" In a tweet that still makes me laugh, some unknown woman wrote me saying "Um, no. You don't need a cigarette." Seriously. Didn't she get the reference?

After we came down from our Rick Springfield euphoria, the fireworks started. I don't think I've ever seen fireworks like I saw that night. They were happening directly above us rather than at a good distance, which made for a much more intense experience. I know my DC peeps are going to be upset, but I honestly believe the Lake Forest fireworks were at least as good as the fireworks on The Mall with the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial in the background.

As the night came to the end, I was a little concerned that we'd be stuck in traffic getting out of the parking lot and over to Wini's condo or Lisa's house at the College. Much to my pleasant surprise, however, we were out of the parking lot within 5 minutes and through the congestion on eastbound Deerpath within another 5 minutes. Less than 15 minutes later, I was headed west on Deerpath on my way to Arlington Heights the roads were completely clear. Kudos to the Lake Forest Police Department for awesome crowd control and traffic management!

Time hasn't stood still for either Rick or me, but four years later, our relationship remains solid and he still sends shivers up my spine.