Selena Gomez & the Scene: We Own The Night

Oh, how times have changed. In May of last year we were "forced" to spend a week in Mexico City when security concerns in Mexico prevented us from being able to attend the Guadalajara leg of Ricky Martin's Música + Alma + Sexo tour.

Last night I found myself in the very arena that eight months ago was out of reach, travelrestrictions having now been lifted.

Arena V.F.G. (Named after famed Mexican singer Vicente Fernández Gómez) is an indoor concert and sports venue located on the outskirts of the city, just past the Guadalajara International Airport. Okay, well, indoor is a bit of a misnomer. It really looks more like an outdoor rodeo arena that had a metal frame constructed over the top that was then covered with siding from Sears.

That description alone should make you think that the acoustics aren't the best. It's not bad, though. It's terrible. It won't hinder the concert-going experience for someone familiar with the artist, and who plans to sing along merrily. Those that like to go and experience new music will find themselves sorely disappointed however, as they will be unable to appreciate much of the music or lyrics through the echoes and feedback. Fortunately, I fell into the former category.

Selena Gomez & the Scene arrived...on the scene (ha! wordplay!)...last night to entertain a crowd of 12,000+ teenaged girls and gay men with an impressive set list of twenty of their greatest hits.

Okay, okay, so they've only had seven singles. They're enjoyable singles, though, and all seven were present last night. The rest of the show was filled out with entertaining songs that you'd a least be familiar with if you had given the CD's a once- or twice-over.

Main Set:

"A Year Without Rain" "Hit the Lights" "Round & Round"

"Love You Like a Love Song" "Spotlight" "Bang Bang Bang"

"When the Sun Goes Down" "Intuition" "We Own the Night"

"The House That Built Me" "Falling Down" "Super Bass" (Nicki Minaj Cover)

"Rock God" "Middle of Nowhere" "My Dilemma"

"Off the Chain" "Whiplash"

"Tell Me Something I Don't Know" "Naturally"

Encore:

"Who Says"

TJ did not join me for this evening of tweenaged entertainment. Despite being an avid A-Teens fan, he felt this was a little too adolescent even for him. Fortunately, our friend Yeyo had no such misgivings. We had a great time singing, dancing, and making fun of teenaged girls that scream at anything that sparkles and/or moves on stage.

I don't care that she's 19 years old and people make fun of me for liking teen pop. Selena Gomez is a beautiful young woman with an undeniable vocal talent. She's a Disney kid after all. The mouse doesn't mess around.

I've never seen Wizards of Waverly Place, the Disney Channel program that gave her her big break. I hadn't even listened to much of her music before I decided that I wanted to go to this show. But I loved her anyway.

I loved her because when we arrived in Falls Church and began our new lives in the Foreign Service, her single, "Naturally," was a staple in every bar and club. It's such a youthful, innocent, playful tune, and it really stood out from both the snobbery of the club scene and the self-indulgence of most artists on the airwaves.

I loved her more when we arrived in Guadalajara almost a year later and discovered that "Naturally" was a staple in every bar and club here, too. I'm not sure how it happened, but I've had Selena Gomez songs dedicated to me no less than three times in the last year. Ridiculous, but kinda cute.

We'll discover what our onward assignment is soon. We have no idea where we're going, what language we will have to learn, what type of people we will meet.

But everything will be okay. Naturally.

Mexico City, Day 1: Música + Alma + Sexo

Well, I might as well come to terms with the fact that Ricky Martin and I have not eloped, though this is probably evident, as I surely would not have the time nor inclination to blog about the concert if things had turned out as planned.

Despite this epic disappointment, our first day in Mexico City was amazing. Our flight departed and arrived on time. The shuttle from the Toluca airport to the one in Mexico City (strategically planned for best flight times and prices) left and arrived on time and ended up being a free service. We were able to pre-pay for taxi service to our hotel, ensuring that the driver wouldn't "take the long way..." and THEN he drove off very quickly, saving me the tip money. Our hotel let us check in early, enabling us to be well-rested before the bon-bon shaking commenced, and they even arranged for a taxi to pick us up an hour beforehand. This went from a complicated process to an easy ride, though none of this would have been possible without our ever-helpful friend, Vicente, who works for a local airline and has accompanied us on this adventure.

I have adored Ricky Martin since his English debut in 1999. I even have one preciously awkward memory that occurred during the summer session following my freshman year at Texas A&M, in which my friend Jarrett and I stood before his roommate's CD collection, perused the Ricky Martin CDs, and definitively stated "He's gay." We were talking about the roommate, not the singer, but that ended up being true anyway. Neither of us know what happened to this particular roommate, but my friend and I would ultimately come out to each other the following spring. Yeah, because the fact that we both listened to this same CD that aroused a deflecting bout of judgement towards another person shouldn't have tipped us off...

Ricky Martin wouldn't admit his own sexual orientation for another ten years. It delighted boys and traumatized girls the world over. Along with Lance Bass and Neil Patrick Harris, Martin has played an important role in providing strong role models for gay youth in the last few years. Well, maybe not Lance Bass. In the midst of an outbreak of teenage suicides prompted by the torments of public school bullies in late 2010, Bass admitted that he used to be a bit of a turd.

Tonight's concert took place in Palacio de los Deportes, which, as it turns out, is a remnant of the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games, when it hosted the basketball portion of the world famous sporting event. In its new life as a concert venue, it has hosted the likes of KISS, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Pearl Jam. And, of course, Ricky Martin. On May 12th, Kylie Minogue brought her Aphrodite Tour to the venue.

Música + Alma + Sexo is a tour de force of more than 20 of Martin's greatest hits...

Set List

"Será Será"

"Dime Me Que Me Quieres"

"It's Alright"

"Que Día Es Hoy"

"Vuelve"

"Livin' la Vida Loca"

"She Bangs"

"Shake Your Bon-Bon"

"Loaded"

"Basta Ya"

"María"

"Tu Recuerdo"

"El Amor de Mi Vida"/"Fuego Contra Fuego"/"Te Extraño, Te Olvido, Te Amo"

"Frío"

"I Am"/"I Don't Care"

"Más"

"Lola, Lola"

"La Bomba"

"Pégate"

"The Cup of Life"

Encore

"Lo Mejor de Mi Vida Eres Tú"

...and despite the fact that the majority of the show was in Spanish, my enjoyment was undeterred. I've been listening to these songs nonstop for weeks. The melodies and music are captivating, regardless of language comprehension.

And I'm sure all of the half-naked men didn't hurt the situation.

Sure, coming all the way to Mexico City to see Ricky Martin was a little bit crazy. But from what I've seen of the city so far, this is going to be a great vacation, whatever the impetus. And it's not like there isn't a precedent: We planned a 2006 summer vacation to New York City around a Madonna concert at Madison Square Garden.

And...while we're speaking of Madonna and New York...I've just learned that Ricky Martin is set to star in an "Evita" revival on Broadway sometime in 2012...

The Things We Do For (Artificial Celebrity) Love

There is a rather funny plot point in "It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie" in which Kermit and the gang face the possibility of losing their theatre space, and all Pepe the King Prawn can think about are his desires to go shake his bon-bon with Ricky Martin in Miami. It all works out in the end of course, but Pepe's selfish persistence, despite the repercussions, is hilarious.

And now, it's personally relevant.

One of the drawbacks of life in the Foreign Service is that your life isn't always yours to do with as you please. Due to safety concerns, the US government will occasionally place travel restrictions on its employees abroad. This is done for their continued well being, of course, yet sometimes it can be somewhat bothersome.

A recent example of this is when we learned of Ricky Martin's May 18th concert at Arena VFG. TJ always told me that he would leave me for Ricky Martin. I was always okay with that, because I figure I'd at least try to give him a run for his money. And then Ricky Martin came out of the closet, sweetening the "possibility" of such an event. And now, for the first time, we found ourselves in a position in which we could fight it out for the man of our dreams. Only...we can't go to Arena VFG. The arena lies just outside of Guadalajara on a roadway that we are prohibited from traveling on at night due to recent violence instigated by the drug trade.

After a couple of months of bickering back and forth about our options, which included sneaking away in the dead of night and hoping for the best, or renting an armored car (both my ridiculous ideas), or simply, rationally, forgetting about it altogether (TJ's idea), we finally reached an agreement.

Having not taken a vacation since our Oct/Nov 2009 trip to Paris to see our friends Yann and Charles, it was decided that perhaps we were due for a break. And since Ricky Martin was scheduled to be in Mexico City on May 15th at Palacio de los Deportes, and since we had been wanting to go to Mexico City anyway, and since our friend Vicente works at Volaris and would be able to get us discounted tickets...we thought now would be a great opportunity to take some time off from work.

And so we set about requesting the time off, buying conert tickets, and making hotel/flight reservations.

And then, of course, once all of this was done, the travel ban got lifted a few days ago.

Sigh.

Let's console ourselves with a pretty picture of Ricky Martin. And because I have to keep up appearances, I'll make it a wholesome one.

Given the chance, Ricky and I will leave the kids with the

baby-sitter (TJ) and enjoy a night on the town in Mexico City.