So what DOES one wear to the Hannity Freedom concert???

Jill and I were going to go the one in San Diego (held, appropriately enough, at the Coors Amphitheater), but she had oral surgery and I couldn't get a sitter. So now we're planning on hitting the big 9/11 show at the Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ, since we'll both be in NY that week.

As a teenager growing up in New York City, I went to lots of big rock shows in NJ--from my first concert ever  (Journey with Bryan Adams opening in 1986), to the requisite Springsteen home-town-blow-outs;  from classic rock reunion tours (the Who, the Doobie Brothers and the Rolling Stones) to Radiohead and U2 in the '90s.  I've noticed that the de riguer stadium concert going outfit hasn't changed much over the last two decades, particularly in New Jersey... where the kids still rock it old school... concert tees with  three-quarter length sleeves, jeans (tight for girls, oversized for boys), denim jackets, Timberlands for boys, high-high heels (a la Candy's) for girls. 

One side note - back when U2 was considered an arty punk band, the kids who were into them wore Docs...and maybe black jeans instead of blue. Now the distinction seems minimal, but then, it was HUGE.

And while New Jersey was and still is all about classic rock, country music is a non-starter. Seriously, not even a blip on the radar. So I'm checking out the bill for this "Freedom" shindig and I see it's perty heavy on the folks with cowboy hats--LeeAnn Rimes, Montgomery Gentry (remember?  one of those guys shot a caged bear!) and Lee Greenwood.  And I'm wonderin' how that will translate, um, fashion-wise up in the decidedly blue Tri-state area. Truth be told, in all my years growing up around there, I've NEVER seen the C&W look worn non-ironically. When BR549 comes to town, we kids grab the 10 gallon hats from the Halloween costume box and slyly tuck in our checkered shirts, albeit messily and have a grand ole time two-stepping. But we know we're just havin' a laugh.

I don't think the Wall St. Republicans and Upper Saddle River soccer moms are that kind of funny. It seems that irony, that most lefty of all literary devices, is a bit lost on these folks and so the dead-pan slogan T-shirts ("Hannity/Coulter 2008") and urban cowgirl frocks probably WON'T be an option...if we're talking about fitting in here. Again I ask...what to wear?

On the Hannity Freedom Concert series website, there are photos from the San Diego show, and the crowd shots are very telling--LOTS of red, white and blue. Overall, the men look like they could be spending a day on the golf course or at the company picnic--tucked-in polo shirts and chinos, some baseball hats, some jeans, but NO concert T-shirts! The women, again, very "casual Friday" or maybe "small town fourth of July parade"--button down blouses, skirts, sensible shoes. I guess the most notable thing is the average age of the concert goers...I won't throw out an actual number, but um, OLD would suffice. Wow. 

At least Jill and I won't be rolling up in her Prius, as we would have in Cali, but rather some rental car. And this one will be taking place at a Great Adventure...so theme park casual will probably suffice--not-too-short shorts, flip flops and a plain t-shirt, no slogans or band names. I will also bring a little American flag on a wooden stick and a sun visor. I will leave my "Stop Global Whining" tee at home, along with my smirk and sense of irony, and I will keep my mouth shut!

Jill's added note:  an interesting Wikipedia entry on Montgomery Gentry.

"On November 27, 2006, Gentry pleaded guilty to a charge of falsely tagging a bear as if it had been killed in the wild. It had actually been killed on a private game reserve. Under the plea agreement, he agreed to pay a $15,000 fine, give up hunting, fishing and trapping in Minnesota for 5 years, and forfeit both the bear hide and the bow used to shoot the caged animal in 2004."

The picture shown above is Michelle in front of my Republican ready Prius (donning an anti-hippie t-shirt).