Ah, summertime weather in Michigan. It makes me so happy. I am not a fall or winter girl. I am more of a spring and summer girl. My most fond memories take place in the spring or summer. Going to concerts, beach days with my family up in Baldwin, Michigan; swimming in my grandpa Jim and step-grandmother Karen's Olympic-size pool in Flint, Michigan, with my baby cousins. Spring and summer are also a peak time for me and my tarot reading business. This is usually when people around Flint, Michigan, have disposable income due to getting their taxes back. My season is NOT witchy. Oh heavens, no! It's tax time!
Right now, I'm sitting in my bedroom with the warm air coming through the window. I got my fan going and some tunes playing on the Spotify. I just finished revamping my blog, making it more me. I also decided to take the plunge and buy a domain name for my blog. Samanthajeantate.com is officially live! It will forward you to my blogspot/Blogger!
Along with my blog, I have listed my books you can purchase from and a tip jar, if you feel compelled to tip me for some odd reason (I've seen other bloggers have a tip jar on their sites before).
So with this nice weather, it's got me thinking about summer plans. I am planning on attending Pixies' North American Tour at the Fillmore Detroit. I was originally going to go with my on-again, off-again boyfriend Justin, but he's having car issues and will not be able to make it up here. I may end up not going if I can't find someone to go with me. I may have to sell the tickets. I'm hoping I don't have to sell the tickets because I really want to go, and also I don't feel like getting on Burton City Chit Chat or Grand Blanc Residents Uncensored and having to figure out if someone is going to scam me or not.
I tried giving the tickets to my sister, who introduced me to Pixies. The night that I am going to go on happens to also be my nephew Sollux's 18th birthday. Sollux isn't a fan of concerts. So Sollux and his mom definitely can't go together. Maybe my sister will change her mind?
I know what you're thinking...wait...aren't you on the autism spectrum? Yes, yes, I am. However, I enjoy concerts when it's a band I enjoy listening to anyway. I've been to four concerts total in my life.
My first concert was when I was 15 and a freshman in high school. I went and saw former New Kid On The Block Joey McIntyre on his Stay the Same tour. I was in the pit, and I was screaming my head off. I lost my voice! Joey was such a great performer, even my parents, who were hanging out at the bar, enjoyed his performance. I forget who opened for him. It was some rapper. He was pretty good, too. When Joey McIntyre got on stage, I almost cried. It was on my bucket list to attend one of his concerts, since he and New Kids On The Block broke up.
My next concert I attended was in 2011. I finally got to see New Kids On The Block, as they got back together. They were on tour with the Backstreet Boys. Jordin Sparks opened for them. It was amazing. I enjoyed Jordin Sparks. She sang a song that reminded me of my first love, Z. The song was "Tattoo". I was scream-singing it, thinking about Z, I remember. I attended this concert with my high school friend Tiffany. We got lost on our way down to the concert, and two cute guys helped us find our way.
Joey McIntyre at NKOTBSB 2011
This particular concert is also when I said I was no longer going to anymore New Kids On The Block concerts unless I got front row seats and could do a meet and greet photo op. Our seats were terrible. They were playing at The Palace of Auburn Hills (now known as Little Caesar's Arena). Our seats were in the nosebleed sections, I could barely hear them. As a matter of fact, here's a clip from someone at the show! You can tell how horrible the sound was in there! And I was really looking forward to the "Single" opening because I had just recently got out of a relationship, and he was supposed to go with me originally.
So after that horrible experience, my next concert was in February 2014. This time, I was seeing a real band. I bought myself, my sister, and my brother-in-law tickets to see Pixies / Cults for Christmas 2013. I remember being nervous because I had never listened to Pixies before, other than what my sister played when she would babysit me as a kid. I was expecting fireworks and a lot of noise. When we were at the concert, I plugged my ears the majority of the time because I was afraid of fireworks and explosions. But to my surprise, there were no explosions or fireworks. The crowd wasn't super loud. The music was AWESOME (especially Cults, which ended up becoming a new favorite band!). I enjoyed myself for the most part. Except for some idiot dancing and he spilled beer in my hair.
The Pixies February 2014
My next concert wouldn't come until June 2022. I had just finished paying off student loans with my stimulus checks from the government. I decided to splurge and thought it would be fun to do a girls' trip with two of my best friends, Jen and Sabrina, and do a meet and greet with New Kids On The Block. My mom didn't like the idea of all three of us going. I had also gotten into a fight with Sabrina and Jen. So instead, I asked my sister and her best friend to go. I then made up with Sabrina, and Sabrina still wanted to go. So I bought another ticket and a meet and greet for all four of us, since Jen didn't want to go. I then booked a hotel room at the casino, since that is where they were playing. All in all, this whole concert cost me over $2,000. But it was worth it.
My sister, her best friend Andrea, Sabrina, and I got to meet New Kids On The Block by ourselves. We each got to hug them. We got our photo taken with them. Donnie Wahlberg thanked us for coming, and he said he appreciated us. I told Joey McIntyre I was his number one fan, and he smiled big and thanked me. And Jon Knight talked to me a bit, asking where our group was from. I had a brain fart, but then remembered we were from Flint. I was smitten after that conversation with Jon. And all he did was ask us where we were from LMAO. This was a dream come true and was number one on my bucket list since I was eight years old.
All of us meeting New Kids On The Block (with their masks on since it was post COVID -- first year concerts came back)
My last concert happened last summer, in September 2024. I went and saw Cage the Elephant and Young the Giant with my niece, Frances. It was a couple of days before my birthday, and I wanted to bring in 40 by doing something fun. Cage the Elephant was a band my on-again, off-again boyfriend Justin introduced to me back in 2013. We joke about the song Aberdeen. We'll randomly text each other Aberdeeeeeeeeen. If you know the song, you know the song! I was really hoping they would play Aberdeen. But I got wind of their setlist. Aberdeen was NOT on the set list! I was disappointed and crushed. I almost didn't want to go! But I sure as heck glad I did go! My niece was dancing the whole night, Young the Giant played my favorite song "Cough Syrup", and Cage the Elephant did my favorite song "Telescope". I once made a tarot spread based on that song.
The openers for this particular concert were Willow Avalon and Bakar. I was in love with Willow Avalon. She sounded like Dolly Parton. She also had funny stories with her songs. One thing I remember was she said was "His brown eyes were full of shit". I died laughing. I immediately posted that to my Facebook.
And that sums up to all the concerts I've been to. Tell me below, what was your favorite concert ever? Bonus points if you have a link to their music (YouTube, please!)
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