Out of the Blue (Part IV)

The Concert (continued)
Rewind, if you will, to a few days following the flirtation at the water fountain I mentioned earlier. I had received the signal that Gabrielle sent out loud and clear and didn’t want to miss the boat. By the time the next day rolled around I was getting looks from all my teammates whenever they saw Gabrielle and I make eye contact, not to mention the razzing I got in the locker room asking when I was going to ask her out. I knew that I’d better do something quick or risk forever being branded a wuss.

Coincidentally, being a pretty big ELO fan back then, I had thought about getting tickets for the upcoming concert at the Forum in L.A. anyway. My little brother (Lbro) and I had talked about possibly double-dating for the event. Of course Lbro didn’t seem to have any problems getting dates, unlike his pathetically shy older brother. So the opportunity to ask Gabrielle was a no-brainer. So I asked her if she wanted to go. She excitedly said yes, and I had a really good workout that day. I went down to Tickettron (remember them, before they were swallowed up by the evil Ticketmaster?) the next day and purchased four tickets for the concert, on April 22nd.

As I just learned from the research I did to nail down the actual date, it was the final show on that abbreviated tour. ELO went in the studio a few weeks later to begin work on “Out of the Blue.” Okay, I promise that’s the end of the discography and tour information. Back to the story…

The concert was on a Friday night, so late in the afternoon I picked up Lbro, his date, and then finally Gabrielle at her dorm and headed up the freeway to the Forum. I can’t say that I remember a whole lot about the trip up, but I do remember that when we arrived and found our seats (in the upper deck), I was kind of disappointed at how far from the stage we were.

By showtime I wouldn’t care all that much.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’d had girlfriends before, but I was NOT prepared for this. Almost from the moment we sat down Gabrielle was glued to me. At one point I could have sworn her head was attached to my right shoulder. ELO was great, but the real music in my head was being played by that goddess on my arm. On the glide...er…ride home, her head rested in my lap (easy now…it was good, but it wasn’t that good). When I dropped her off at her dorm, I kissed her goodnight and floated back to my apartment. My roommate, Ron, was still up, so we sat and I told him about my amazing night. Apparently I must have been describing her as if I was in a trance, because at one point he stopped me in mid-sentence and said, “Man — you are messsssed up.”

Never had truer words been spoken.

Next: Double-Catharsis