It happens to all of us at some point.
The lights go down. Your palms sweat and tingle with anticipation.
You scream with delight. Then, when you can't stand it anymore,
the first note rocks the auditorium! It's your first concert
experience. You don't really know what to expect, but you
know it's gonna be damn good. For Alyssa Lisac, age 9, this
unforgettable moment of musical epiphany came during Thursday's
Britney Spears spectacular at the Rose Garden.
Alyssa has always been hooked on music and dance. She's
a huge fan of Michael Jackson, for instance. "We've watched
Moonwalker so many times it won't play anymore,"
says her mother, Lynette. The King of Pop is a good start,
of course--and having an uncle in the industry is a great
help along the way. About a year ago, Alyssa got her first
taste of the live rock experience when her uncle, Mike Mitchell
of the Kingsmen, invited her to help them sing a song on
stage. The music bug bit her. It was only a matter of time
before she would dive headfirst into the concert scene.
What are the ingredients of a successful first concert
outing?
For Alyssa, it was good grades. That, and the fact that
because this is her last year as a single-digit age, Lynette
wanted to do something special for her daughter. Lynette
recalls her first concert experience in 1977, a Fleetwood
Mac and Little River Band concert.
"I was 16 years old and I really wanted to see KISS, but
my parents wouldn't let me," she says. "I loved Fleetwood
Mac, and Little River Band puts on a great show."
Alyssa missed out on her first choice for a concert when
last year the Backstreet Boys concert sold out, but Britney
serves just as well.
"We watched MTV's All Access show with Britney,
and we didn't see anything we didn't like," Lynette says.
"As soon as tickets were announced back in February, we
ran out and got them."
But what about outfits?
Lynette decided to leave this one up to Alyssa. The day
of the show, they ventured down to Clackamas Town Center
and picked out matching outfits.
"I was shopping earlier with some friends and was hooked
on this skirt," says Alyssa. Lynette had a skirt that matched,
and after shopping at Nordstrom and the Limited, matching
tops were found. The duo also donned new shoes.
Matching bracelets and necklaces were then fitted, and
it was off to McDonald's for a pre-concert meal. At Mickey
D's, the two picked up the new Britney/'N Sync CD and video
to make the night more perfect. But with just under an hour
to go, what were they expecting?
They entered the Rose Garden and headed to their seats.
Row D, section 121--pretty damn good seats! (Rumor has it
that if Lynette can't get close to the stage, in her mind
the show's not worth going to.) A seasoned concert veteran,
Lynette also equipped Alyssa with ear plugs to protect her
from the sheer volume of Brit's pop beats.
After the show I met them at the Blazer fountain. What
is Alyssa going to remember most about this concert?
"The loud noise," she says, looking completely blown away.
"It was better than I thought it was going to be," she adds.
With Britney's many elaborate costume changes, fireworks
and pyrotechnics, how could a girl go wrong?
Lynette compares Britney's show to a Rush concert. "I can
still remember my first Rush concert, with the electric
fiddle falling from the rafters with glitter," she says.
"But with Britney, she's a vocalist and is going to put
on more of a show with special effects, I think. We even
heard beforehand that she might ride a magic carpet over
the audience.
"There was no magic carpet, but there were a lot of other
things you didn't expect."
Both of the concert junkies seemed pretty beat after the
show. So, with her new Britney Spears teddy bear in one
hand and a commemorative glow stick in the other, what concert
does young Alyssa intend to see next? Without a second of
hesitation she yells out: "'N Sync!"
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