One Night With Justin

January 17, 2007 is a night I will remember forever. It is the night my dreams became a reality for one night and one night only. On this day at 7:30P.M., at the Save-Mart Center in Fresno, California, I saw the man of my dream, My Love, Justin Timberlake. What made this night even better was the fact that I was about 20 feet from the stage. I had floor seats to the most amazing concert ever. My roommate and I were in heaven. Justin came to Fresno on his FutureSex/LoveSounds tour. Joining him on tour was female singer Pink, who was the opening act, and producer and rapper Timbaland, who joined Justin on stage for a new numbers, including a monologue of his own. Pink opened up the show at the stroke of 7:30. She came out in a denim tank top and denim pleaded skirt. She got the party started. Her performance was energetic and amazing. She even performed an acrobatic routine in the air. At around 9:00P.M., the teasing began. The band members slowly made their way to the stage and they began to play a little interlude. The arena, already lively, began screaming their heads off, crying, shaking, jumping up and down, and anticipating the moment when the most amazing man in the world would reveal himself. The first song started up. It was the title track FutureSex/LoveSounds. Justin emerged from the center of the stage, dressed in a black suit, with a white guitar around his neck. Silk screens were surrounding the entire round stage. The stage was set in the middle of the arena. Long rectangular bars were attached to the stage so that the performers may get closer to the audience who were in the seats on the sides. There was also another platform where the performers could walk on, and would walk from one side of the round stage to the other. The silk screens were used to display the performers, for those who had seats far away, and for the audience when Justin or Pink were on the opposite side of the stage. In front of us, where my roommate and I were standing, there was a VIP section. These VIP had access to a full bar, and the tables where they could sit was the actual platforms that the performers walked on. Not one person had a bad seat. The stage was designed so that no matter where you sat, you received the entire experience. Justin performed for a solid two hours. He performed his most popular hits including Like I Love You, Cry Me A River, Gone (which he recorded with NSYNC, the boy band he was once a member of), What Goes Around.../...Comes Around, My Love, and of course, SexyBack. The majority of the audience was, of course, females. Some brought, or dragged, their boyfriends, brothers, or fathers. Others brought their mothers, or best friends. There were people of all ages. There were little girls, who were probably seven years old, and there were grandmothers there, sporting Justin Timberlake t-shirts with their granddaughters. They were all there for one reason and one reason only. That reason was to see the one and only, the most handsome, talented, gorgeous man in the galaxy, Mr. Justin Timberlake. Everyone was very excited to be there. Everyone had smiles of their faces and was counting down the hours, minutes and seconds until he would appear to make everyone’s hearts melt. As soon as he appeared, the screaming would not stop. The tears began flooding. I will be totally honest and say that I was one of those females who was freaking out, and screaming until my throat was raw, as tears rolled down my face. The mood of the arena was indescribable. You could feel, taste, and sense the excitement of the night. The words to describe it do not exist. This was by far, the best feeling I have ever experienced. Once the concert was underway, everyone sang along. Everyone in Save-Mart Center knew the words to his songs. When the notes of a new song began, the audience went crazy (all over again each time), and began singing. Most of the younger demographic wore homemade t-shirts displaying “I LOVE YOU JUSTIN”, along with his picture. Teenagers and young women wore barely there clothing, ten pounds of make-up, and high heels. The older demographic seemed to wear what they felt was most comfortable. The male population of the night, wore jeans and either a t-shirt or a button down shirt. As for me, I was wearing what I felt appropriate; a nice blouse, with a crop jacket over it, jeans and boots. Justin’s band consisted of a keyboardist, guitarist, drummer, and a bassist. It was nothing fancy, just the basics needed to put on his show. The intensity of the music was unbelievable. You could feel the music inside of you. It was perfect. It was extremely loud, like a concert of this magnitude should be, but not so loud that it was annoying and you receive a headache. Justin’s voice blended in beautifully with the rhythm, pitch, melody, tone, of the songs and music. Justin has, in my opinion, a one-of-a-kind voice. I always know when he is singing, or a song on the radio is him. He has perfected a variety of different tones. He can do falsetto, vibrato, and can do it with or without a nasal quality to it. Not only has he perfected these tones, but he has perfected playing a variety of instruments. During the performance, Justin, brilliantly played the guitar, acoustic guitar, keytar, keyboard and the drums. Justin is also an incredible dancer, composer, writer and producer. Every detail about the show was amazing. His performances were full of energy, emotion and sex appeal. He also improvised like a pro. During an intermission of sorts, Justin made a toast to Fresno, stating it was his first time being in Fresno, since he went solo from NSYNC. He then took a shot of liquor from a test tube. The arrangement of songs was marvelous. He performed hit after hit, song after song. He played his hits from his first album Justified and all twelve songs from his most recent album, FutureSex/LoveSounds. The musical arrangement was amazing. The rhythm and tempo of each piece was riveting. It gave me the chills for two straight hours. He had so many surprises for the audience, and he kept everyone on their toes, with us not knowing what he was about to do next. What makes Justin’s music so different from other music that I’ve heard is the story behind each song, the lyrics, the emotion and that he gives his all in each song he performs and records. I listen to R&B, rap and pop music. Justin is a mixture of R&B, soul, and pop. He blends these genres so well. Most of the music I listen to sounds rushed, and the lyrics aren’t as brilliant as the ones Justin pens. He touches my heart, with each song he does, whether it’s a fast, up-tempo song, or a heart-felt ballad. It is literally impossible for me to pick an individual piece out of the entire mind-blowing show. However, I did have an emotional attachment to a song he sang. It was total surprise when Justin performed Gone. When I heard that first note of the song, I lost it. I started crying. This song reminds me of those that I have lost in my life. It also is just an insanely beautiful song. When Justin sings it, I get weak in the knees, my heart flutters, I became breathless and I can not stop crying. His voice, the high notes he hits, the emotion that he pours into this song, I am breathless now as I type this, just thinking about that beautiful moment. For almost the entire show, my mind and eyes were on Justin. I say almost, because a few times, during the show, while I was lost in his moves and voice, I thought about getting my hands on him. I thought about meeting him and having a conversation with his gorgeous, handsome, beautiful self. What held my attention for most of the show was his beauty, his dance moves, his humor during intermission, and just watching his every move. The performance was so full of variety, I did not know what to expect. It was part of the growing intensity and excitement. I think it would be impossible, physically and literally, and scientifically, to make his performance any better then what it was. He did everything to perfection, even if something happened that was spur of the moment or improvised. While I have attended many, many concerts in my lifetime, this was definitely a new experience for me, because it was like something I never have and never will ever experience again. Nobody in this world can top what Justin did. Did I like the experience overall? I did not like it at all, nor did I love it. I say this because like and love is too weak of words to describe how much I enjoyed this show. There are no words in any language on this planet to explain how much I enjoyed it. This show embodied almost every aspect of what we have covered in this course so far. I attended this show on this first day of instruction, so what I witnessed, I didn’t know the terms or anything about it, besides my feelings for it. After attending this show, and taking the course, I learned what the elements of the show were, and how they are supposed to be done, and perfected. Justin Timberlake must have taken this course, because he perfected every term in this course. He is a master at what he does, and looks good doing it. That, was my one night with Justin.