I rarely go to concerts anymore unless it is Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (next concert will be my 30^th!) I have seen just about every band multiple times and to be honest, if I do not possess the Holy Grail, a backstage pass, I don’t want to deal with the hassle. Once you go to the dark or VIP side, there is no going back!

We headed to the Hollywood Palladium, a venue I haven’t been to in years, and hit up the Alabama Shakes concert. I love this band. They got together in duh, Alabama, in 2009. The group consists of power house lead singer and guitarist, Brittany Howard, guitarist Heath Fogg, bassist Zack Cockrell, keyboardist Ben Tanner and drummer, Steve Johnson. They were Grammy nominees this year for Best New Artist.

The Shakes shook the Palladium tonight making rock ‘n soul for over 90 minutes of bliss. Brittany Howard is mesmerizing and there are no theatrics or costumes…just a powerhouse of a woman, wearing a pleated dress, black tights and flat booties. Brittany is a substantial woman in every respect and she owns it. No spanks for this amazing lady. She could be the reincarnation of Janis Joplin without the booze (mix in a dollop of Nina Simone, Bonnie Raitt and Mama Cass). All she guzzled tonight was bottled water. She sang from the heart, made eye contact with the packed house and gesticulated with feeling as she crooned and belted out the lyrics to the tracks from their debut album, “Boys & Girls”.

We stood in the front of the balcony and witnessed the band up close and personal. Steven Tyler was our balcony mate and you can believe that he never saw talent like this on, “American Idol”. BTW, his hair looked perfectly coiffed. Thankfully, his feet were covered! Bradley Cooper in all his fine glory was taking in the action with his barely legal girlfriend. Men do like them young.

I haven’t been to the Palladium since I saw Joe Jackson play there in the 80’s. Live Nation took it over and did a fine restoration. There was even AC in the venue and you know what I am like when cool air isn’t blowing.

I did witness a whole lot of PDA’s. Similar to sporting events, why go if you are only going to make out, feel each other up and become intoxicated. There were some drunk white girls who didn’t stop dancing, if one could call it that. If they weren’t wasted they would have been very embarrassed. I even got an unwanted eyeful of some girl on girl action…Hollyweird in all its’ glory.

It was a magical night with my daughter and her great college and real life friendie. Kim is part of the family and has passed all the mandatory tests…she is a NY Giants and Yankee fan and can critique and character assassinate with the best of them, namely Courtny and me.

My Friday words of wisdom to all you blogettes, to expand your musical knowledge, immediately download or Google the YouTube video of Alabama Shakes hit single, “Hold On’. It will blow you away.

Footnote, we found parking on the street, no one threw up on us, and we beat all the traffic out of the venue…life is good…rock on!