All I can say is WOW! It was a perfect late afternoon for a concert. A little hot, but all and all a great day. I was starting to feel the effects of no sleep as we arrived at Merriweather. Some friends of my friend had gotten there early and was holding a spot for us on the lawn, so we leisurely made our way through the crowds, and food stations and found our spot. Excellent spot, dead center, in front of the stage (well as close as you can get, while on the lawn). I met our fellow concert goers, and headed down to grab a drink. It was amusing to me that, Merriweather, an out door venue, had a "strict no smoking" policy. Oh rubbish! We walked around and found a secluded spot to suck down a cigarette and headed back to the blanket. As we walked through, I couldn't help but notice people sitting around smoking on the lawn, oh ok, I thought, guess we can just smoke anywhere then. So, we hung out and got to know our new friends for a while, and out comes Margaret Cho. . .hooray!! She was a great MC, did a bit of comedy as the first band set up. The band was The Gossip, and I must say I had never heard of them before. They were a bit angry, but still enjoyable. They did about 4 songs, and then exited. More Margaret Cho, hooray!! The next band that played was Dresden Dolls. Now, I had heard of them, but could not think of what song I knew. Whatever song it was, they didn't play it. The drummer was pretty hot, he started out the set wearing a long white night gown, and mime like makeup. By the end of the first song, off came the night gown, and he was left wearing boxer briefs and Renaissance style tights. HOT! They also did a 4 song set, and then we got to watch a little Movie, well, they showed a movie, we went off to smoke and grab another beer. After the short movie, my boy Rufus Wainwright took the stage. He performed with a full orchestra, well. . fullish, about 8 people. His songs were really good, though I was not very familiar with his newer stuff. As he announced his last song, we were treated to a surprise appearance by Cindi! The music started on Gay Messiah, and he started the vocals. At the first chorus, Cindi piped up and the two of them continued the song. It sounded incredible! After his set, we got a few more minutes of Margaret Cho, and then it was Deborah Harry's turn to rock the stage. I wish she had rocked the stage. After the first half of her first song, we decided it was time to grab some food. So, we headed over to the picnic area, ate some crappy food, and had some beer and a smoke. I was disappointed that Deborah Harry was kinda lame. I only recognized one song that she did, what the name of that song is, I couldn't tell ya.

Once she finished, Cindi came back out to introduce a video about the Matthew Shepard fund, in support of a Hate Crime bill that includes gays, lesbians and transgendered people. I am SO not political, but I promised my self to learn more about this bill . . if you want to learn about it, or show your support go here http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/campaign/matthew_shepard_act_dfa
After the video, Rosie O'Donnell took the stage. She was pretty funny, but a good majority of her act was devoted to Donald Trump. I guess it was funny to hear her side, and how it affected her family and stuff, but come on. . .that is SO yesterday! But, I give her props, she was funny. Ok. . . at long last, Erasure took the stage next. They were AWESOME!! Andy Bell came onstage in a jacket with Deborah Harry's pic on the back. It was a great tribute to her. They started the set with a couple of songs from their new CD, Light at the End of the World, good stuff, will have to download it. Then, the crowd freaked out when they went into Ship of Fools from The Innocents. Sounded amazing! I must say that they really worked the crowd. The rest of their set was all older songs (Chains of Love, Blue Savannah, Drama, Love to Hate You) and then, they played it. . the song that we all craved, A Little Respect. The crowd went CRAZY! They ended their set with Oh L'amour. I was kind of disappointed that that was their last song, but still they kicked ass!!!!!

After they cleared, they showed a Margaret Cho short, and she did a little skit. We decided to grab one last drink and smoke before Cindi. Cindi strolled onto stage wearing a Rainbow colored hat, and a fabulous Bustier and funky black dress with flowers on it. She started her set with Good Enough (from the Goonies) and the crowd ate it up. From there, she grabbed a guitar and rocked out on some of her newer stuff. I can't remember which song it was, but after 3 songs, she said she had a surprise for us, and called Rosie out on stage. Rosie took a space behind a drum set and went to town! She was pretty good! So, Cindi continued, with Rosie on the drums. I honestly can't think of any of the songs she did after that point, they all rocked and we danced to all of them, but I can't recall them right now. . . .so, she finished up her set, and then she called everyone back onstage. Everyone came out, except Rufus and Deborah. . I guess they had to leave, or just didn't feel like it. . .but, they ended the concert singing, yup you guessed it, True Colors. Even Margaret Cho got to sing, and she sounded great! Cindi played the Sitar, and Rosie gave a light beat in the back ground, but that was the only instruments used. It was BEAUTIFUL!

I drove us back to Crystal City, and we decided to stop in to Freddies, how on earth I was still standing is beyond me. . .remember, no sleep? So, I hung as long as I could at Freddies, drinking coke so didn't fall asleep on the drive home, then headed back to my place. . .ahhhhhhh sleep.