The Power Of Love

This just in: I’ve had a change of heart (or as close as I have to a heart, anyway). I officially take back all of those times I mocked marriage and the T-Swifts out there (or as I lovingly refer to her, T-Squints) who singlehandedly set women back 50 years. Okay, I’m kidding, I’ll always be the first to bash that Aryan headache and her “lyrics” aka plagiarism from the valentines I sent out in 3rd grade. Anyway, the point is, I found love in a hopeless place. And “hopeless” is putting it kindly when you’re living in between two fried chicken shops smack dab in the cocaine center of East London.

I met my soulmate (or the Bowie to my Iman, take your pick) last Thursday at the Airborne Toxic Event show. It was a pretty standard night for me: technically speaking, I didn’t actually have what you would call an, uh, ticket. Well, I did, but I’m guessing it could be found on my front doorstep back home in El Dorado Hills… probably next to some Greek pillars or the water fountain Marti painted and possibly even molded herself. Yes, my parents’ house most closely resembles a foreign art gallery, let’s not get into it.

Either way, after charming the bouncers with my American Hollywood accent, I was ushered into the club just in time to down their entire supply of cranberry vodkas while the drinks were still half off. (I’m always one to appreciate a good deal, and like my mother never said, there are sober kids in Africa!) Concert highlights included:

– It was the band’s first time ever playing a new song off their album. Mikel introduced it by stating “This song is called True Love and it’s about just that” so naturally I was a little taken back – I mean, a wedding proposal so early into the show? Still, I was flattered.

– Things got a little more intimate between me and Mikel when he began climbing the sides of the stage. It was pretty hilarious, actually, because he’s scaling the column like Spiderman and you could see the bouncer below attempting to yank him off. In fact, after a while, he began multitasking by sitting on the bouncer’s shoulders and singing with that voice that could make angels and/or Oprah cry. My man is a bit of a rebel, what can I say.

– Anyway, the exciting part was when he dove into the audience exactly where I was standing. Even though I was filming, I wasted no time helping him crowd surf with my free hand that I subsequently vowed to never wash again. If my phone hadn’t been MIA then, it would have been the perfect time to mass text the world “I think I just got to second base?” Story to tell my grandchildren someday: check.

– And if that moment wasn’t enough of a religious experience, I reached enlightenment at the end of the concert when I actually talked to him. Honestly, I wasn’t planning on getting a word in because the fans were swarming like Beliebers and I was on the outskirts of the crowd. I think I uttered something under my breath like, “We should get married” and he stopped signing an autograph to pause and say, “What was that?” in my direction.

– Keep in mind a million other Brits were shouting/throwing their underwear at him and yet he still singled me out. I couldn’t tell you why, but I’m assuming it’s that “love at first sight” thing Nicholas Sparks taught me so much about. (Let’s pretend for a second that I didn’t fall asleep halfway through The Notebook.)

– So he asked me what I said and I replied that, “From one American to another, I love you.” Professing my affections in public: also check. Words can’t describe the amount of joy I felt next (but think “a lifetime supply of Prozac” or “that feeling you get when you google pictures of pugs in baskets”) as he leaned forward through the crowd to shake my hand. If we want to be “factual” about it, the actual words he responded with were “Aw, thank you” – but if anyone asks, he recited Shakespeare’s most romantic sonnet to me and got down on one knee. Same thing, really.

– In conclusion, what a show! The only disappointing part is that I wasn’t able to experience it with my dad, Tim, the saint who introduced me to the band in the first place. I knew last minute flights to London are a little hard to come by so I decided to film a bunch of the show for him… but to my devastating horror, 90% of the audio was muffled when I played it back the following morning. God, it was like watching Mufasa fall into that stampede all over again.

– And so, because of that, I layered one of their songs over part of the video. Still, some of the singing is clear (even if my filming screams “I’ve had more sober moments”) so feel free to take a look and be overcome by Mikel’s charm. Wedding invitations on the way!