I am not a “I am woman, hear me roar” type of girl, not that there is anything wrong with that, it’s just not me. I have been known to roar, but not simply because I am a woman. Working together over the years, my friend Hope and I discussed this many times. We are on the same page.

So, when she told me she got us two tickets to see Melissa Etheridge at the Calvin Theater in Northampton I was psyched. Not because she is a well-known gay-rights activist or because she is a breast cancer survivor. Melissa Etheridge is very talented. A singer, songwriter, musician, and she ROCKS. I’ve never seen her in concert. I did see her in person at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport in 1994. I was going into the ladies room and she was walking out. She smiled, I smiled. When I came back out Greg declared “Melissa Etheridge just checked me out!” Hmm…he is a cutie, but yeah, I’m pretty sure it was me she checked out!

Anyways, I miss my ex-roomie and it’s been a good 6 weeks since I made the trip down the Mass Pike to Western Mass, so off I went. We used walk by the Calvin Theater all the time, look at the marque, and talk about going to a concert there. Here was our chance, perfect!

Now for those of you that have never been to Northampton, MA, it is a lovely town, right along the Connecticut River. With population close to 30,000, it has a thriving downtown area full of restaurants, shops, theaters, and great people watching. It’s fun! According to Wikipedia, it’s known as an artistic, musical, and countercultural hub. Greg visited for the first time about 5 years ago and fell in love with it immediately…

Yes, it is also the lesbian capital of the United States, not that there is anything wrong with that. I kid you not, it is a fact.

I lived and worked in the area for over 12 years, have many friends that are gay/lesbian, no big deal. It’s not something that really is top of mind, it is just a normal part of life. Until Melissa Etheridge comes to town! Some how this connection was lost on us until we arrived! The show was packed, really packed and Melissa Etheridge rocked it, just her, her guitars, and her piano.

Here’s the funny part – of course, the crowd was ALL women, duh – they rushed the stage, they danced, they sang, they hugged, they went crazy – she was singing their anthems and they ROARED! We had great seats, 6 rows from the stage, we were right in the thick of it. OMG. We enjoyed it, but felt a little out of place, we felt like a minority. But the thing was nobody cared, to everybody else we fit right in! 🙂

So that’s the tale of my latest adventure. I will leave you with the video of Melissa Etheridge’s 2005 Grammys performance while she was doing chemo and kicking breast cancer’s ass. If you’ve never seen it, watch it. It is quite an impressive ROAR and I can respect that.