Last night I, along with what seemed like a bazillion other parents, took my daughter to the American Airlines Center (AAC) to watch the Miley Cyrus – Wonder World Concert.  Now mind you, I didn’t exactly do too much research on this because I thought this was going to be your typical Hannah Montana concert. Let me tell you, I was wrong! 

First of all, before I even had a clue as to what the show was like, I had to deal with what seemed to be the most disorganized and incompetent ticket system I have ever seen.  From what I was able to understand from speaking with some of the frustrated crowd, Ms. Cyrus’ concert promoters decide to make this a ticketless concert. So when someone purchased their tickets online, they were instructed to print out the confirmation statement and present it at the door along with a credit card and their ID to get in. Well I don’t believe it was clearly communicated that they needed to bring the credit card that they used when purchasing the tickets because I understand that was one of the issues holding things up.   (You might think that would be obvious, but apparently it wasn’t.) To make matters worse, not all doors were equipped to scan the confirmation statements and patrons were told to go to the ticket booths to get “actual tickets” in order to gain entry. So you know what happened then….a tidal wave of humanity crashed down upon the ticket booths that had signs saying “Problem Resolution” flashing in the windows as parents with crying children in tow, tried to exchange their paper confirmation statement for actual tickets. And, adding to all the fun, there were no distinct lines for people to stand in. So you had the people waiting with tickets to get into the AAC mixed in with the hundreds of people trying to get into will call, mixed in with even more people trying to exchange their paper confirmation statement with actual tickets.  It was an absolute mess! I was just in New York City (trip post coming soon) and prior to the trip I purchased theater tickets online.  After you order, you print your actual bar-coded ticket from your printer and use that to enter the theater. They have that process down to a science and it was flawless! The Miley Cyrus concert promoter needs to take a note from the Broadway Theater ticket agents!   

I do want to also put this very important note in here:  I heard a couple of comments blaming the AAC for this nightmare ticket confusion.  If you were there in the mess and believe that the ticket issue was AAC’s fault, then you would be mistaken! These organizational decisions are strictly controlled by the concert promoter, not the venue.  I’m sure the AAC was just grateful that Mother Nature was being kind to them or things really would have gotten out of hand.  You have to understand, there were people who had to stand in line over an hour, with multiple little ones in tow, to retrieve their tickets.  Honestly, I would rather have had a root canal…without Novocain! 

If you were able to get into the AAC before the opening act, Metro Station (Miley Cyrus’ step-brother Trace and Mason Musso, brother of singer/actor Mitchel Musso), finished performing, you might have thought this opening act had a very “Heavy Metal Band” feel for a pop concert. Well you would have been wrong, because unfortunately this was a sign of things to come!

There was a slight break as the Miley Cyrus concert set was prepared (which also gave a bit more time for those outside to get their ticket mess straightened out) and then the show began.  Flashes of light filled the arena and then, from the center of the stage came Miley, encased in ice as fake snow and winds filled the video monitors. She emerged dressed in a silver-topped hoodie and go-go boots. It was obvious by her short leather hot pants and top that this concert was a bit more adult oriented than I had thought.  Now mind you, I realize that teen fashion has gotten a bit more provocative over the years, but when you have an audience made up of girls under the age of 10, this choice of outfit just seemed trashy, rather than flashy!  And it didn’t get any better as the night went on. By the third costume change when she performed her hit “Fly on the Wall,” I was wondering if Ms. Cyrus’ had shopped the Madonna garage sale, because her outfits were defiantly taking on that look.  Then she performed “Let’s Get Crazy” which had an amazing video package projecting on these giant, awesome multi-media walls.  Too bad she sang the first half of the song flat. 

Miley redeemed herself by performing her hit “Hoedown Throwdown” from her movie Hanna Montana – The Movie and her new song “When I Look at You” from her upcoming movie The Last Song, due out in theaters April 2010.   I thought both performances were exceptionally well done.  “Girls Night Out” followed with another great video package to support the song and I remember thinking, maybe we are on the upswing.  That was until I heard the familiar guitar opening to Joan Jet’s “I Love Rock and Roll.”  Question: why was that playing?  Answer: because Ms. Cyrus decided to channel Ms. Jett and let loose singing that song.  Don’t get me wrong, she really did perform it well while sitting on a motorcycle that flew over the audience.  But it was odd to see Miley Cyrus performing a Joan Jet song, (although, not as odd as the Michael Jackson Thriller dance moment that was just kind of thrown in mid show).

The concert continued and ran in total about 90 minutes (your typical timeframe).  Ms. Cyrus ended the evening with her hit “The Climb” which almost sounded like a duet with the audience thanks to the young girls, who made up the majority of the sold out venue.  And what was Ms. Cyrus’s choice of fashion for her finale?  Tighty Whities and white t-shirt get up.  Oops, forgive me, the tighty whitie shorts were trimmed in lace.  I guess that dresses them up!