A HOTT Mess

What's the deal??? I hope this post finds everyone in good health and spirits. As for me everything is everything. In my last few post I have tried my best to capture the emotion of one black man's continuous fight (both internally and externally) to live a life above the standards that society has basically come to know is the regular for us black men.

I have come under fire (in some cases) for standing up for what I believe in. Did I back down? Hell no! Because if I did then I would not be true to myself. I will admit it has been quite the challenge and in some cases quite the fight but I REFUSE TO LOSE. My spirit is at stake and as I press forward I will admit I am afraid of failing, I am afraid coming up short, I am afraid I might disappoint those who truly have shown me UNCONDITIONAL love and support, and I am most afraid of being sent to hell instaed of heaven but I will continue to press on and give it the best I can.

But instead of rambling on I want to trun to the side for a minute and talk about an event I had the opportunity to attend and what I saw.

My wife took me to see Anthony Hamilton, Heather Headley, and Van Hunt and DAR Constitution Hall this past Saturday and before I talk about what I saw let me give PROPS to the artist for putting on one of the best shows I have ever attended. Here is my 2 cents on the artist and performances they gave.

Van Hunt has a Curtis Mayfield/Lenny Kravitz type flavor and I really enjoyed his performance. I look forward to seeing more from him.

Heather Headley "like OH MY GOD!!!" what a performance! She in my eyes turned out her part of the show. I felt like I was attending one of the awards shows live. The light show the music just had that Grammy/BET Awards show feel. She has been added to the list of artist I would go see if they were in town.

Anthony Hamilton let me say this...If you have never seen this cat in concert I STRONGLY suggest you make it a point to!!! I saw him the last time he was here with Angie Stone and after he performed I was ready to leave because in my eyes he was the show. This guy is very energetic, has a great band backing him up and is very interactive with the audience. Ask the ladies that had the chance to dance with him.

But this time around this show was much more than a show. There were some things that not just touched me about his performance this time around. It also inspired me, motivated me and will forever be embedded in my heart. The first being his wife is one of the backup singers. I thought that was so special to see her not just singing but also right there to support her man as he performed. That is so cool to see that. I have been blessed to not just see that before but to be up close and personal with it. My Pastor and his wife are like that also. I get chills when I see the two of them right there doing the thing together. To me it is a very powerful statement about the LOVE & SUPPORT that exist in their marriage.

To be honest as much as I know my wife supports me in what I am doing I deep down wish she was right here with me doing this too. She has so much to share and I know without a doubt she would have such a great impact on helping someone somewhere. I will just continue to pray that one day she will be right here with me.

Another thing that impressed and touch me ever so deeply was when Brother Hamilton took time out of his show to allow us to give our lives to GOD. I have never seen that take place at any concert. I have heard artist give thank to GOD for the blessings during the performance and even suggest that we (as people) give our lives to GOD but to actually take the time to allow someone to give their life to GOD is beyond words. Truthfully I cried because I was touched by the fact he cared that much about every person there. It has been said if you have never been to church you will definately go when you attend his concert. Trust me when I say it is true.

To Anthony Hamilton,

My brother you are grately blessed and I can't thank you enough for sharing your blessing and GOD's word with me. I will forever cherish that.

Now that I have shared mine about the show let me get on to the topic today..."A HOTT MESS". Let me say firstly I have nothing against fashion and even I find some clothes and colors cool to wear but what has happened to the dress code for concerts? I wore some nicely pressed jeans, a collared shirt, and a blue blazer. The shoes were colored coordinated with the whole outfit but some of the things I saw people wearing promted me to play a game with my wife called a HOT mess. What we did was just observe what people were wearing. But what we were unaware of was we were not the only ones indulging ourselves in this. The couple next to us as well as behind us were also partaking in it too.

What do I remember...There was a couple that had come in prior to the concert starting. The guy had on a very nice 2-piece casual suit, maybe tan in color but his date (not knowing exactly what relation she was to him) was rather wide and thick and she had on a white outfit. Now here were a few noticeable issues I had as a man with what she was wearing. The pants really did seem too small for her size, you could see the cellulite and her undergarments. Totally not what I would have allowed her to walk out the house wearing. Yes my wife chimed in on it too.

Then there was a young lady who was dark skinned but had on way too much light makeup, there was the guy who had on a very nice suit but what killed his outfit was the hat he chose to wear. Too small for his head. Lots of guys wearing their hats inside (mostly baseball caps), some jeans/polo shitrs/tennis shoes combinations, one guy in a Washington Wizards sweatsuit. Hairstyles...oh my GOD...did they get their hair done or just grab the closest wigh they had? In some cases it really was a bad representation of how we (blacks) represent when it comes to fashion. Some things are not for some people.

Outside of the sideshow in between set changes I really enjoyed myself.