Last week Steve and I went to see Kelly Clarkson at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. Orange County to LA rush hour traffic makes me a little cranky. Getting to the theater on an empty stomach and then being told they don’t serve nachos can make me get all Naomi Campbell on your ass! Let me preference this story by saying after fighting traffic, searching for parking and then adding a dry, stale hot pretzel for dinner to the mix, my head was spinning 360 degrees and it’s quite possible I was spitting green bile. Yep, this one’s going to be a venting session…

I’m no marketing expert, but I am a Ralphs Club Card carrying member. I endure all the custom advertising to the left of my Facebook page. I take note every time Target sends me a breast pump coupon after I purchase a baby shower gift. I am well aware that my buying habits are tracked daily. As a result, I am certain that Ticketmaster is clever enough to know that Kelly Clarkson fans are over 30, have jobs in the morning and value their sleep. So why can’t they relay this messaging to Miss Independent herself?? After listening to the very talented and funny Matt Nathanson for 45 minutes, there was a recess full length lunch hour of prep time before Kelly made her appearance. The 8pm show was actually a 9:30pm start time for the main attraction. Now I’m not one to brag, but I have been known to stay awake until 11pm on a Friday night. However this was a Tuesday night and on Tuesday my bedtime is set at 10pm. I still had a full hour drive back home in front of me!

This is in no way a critique of Kelly’s performance. She put on a fantastic show, was well worth the cost of the ticket and even brought out quite a few surprise celebrity guests (a perk to living near LA). I’m simply suggesting that those of us who are old enough to purchase our own tickets and have careers that require the use of a brain the following day start a petition demanding senior citizen (redefined as 30+) concert nights.