Fun. and Other Bootyshakin’

As something of a joke, a good friend of mine (and a fellow Queen fan) told me that he wanted to introduce me to the second coming of Freddie Mercury. I expected him to either show me a video of a man with other-worldly vocal range and power, or a flamboyant, mustachioed rock star with a flair for the dramatic. I can’t say that I was disappointed when it turned out to be the latter. Oh Lord, was I in for a treat. Here’s what he let me feast my eyes on:

Now, when I fell in love with Queen as a teenager, it was pure audioslavery. I played out the cassette tape of Queen’s Greatest Hits and ended up listening to the CD in my bedroom for hours on end. I had very little idea about the extent of the homoerotic flamboyance that Queen was known for. Later, I got to see some of the odd music videos that Queen put out. While Freddie Mercury invented the male version of the belly-button cleavage jumpsuit, for this video, he just ditched the shirt altogether (when he wasn’t dressing up in drag, that is):

This new band goes by the name of Foxy Shazam, led by singer Eric Nally. As my friend and I discussed the similarities between the two frontmen, he fired up another video to give me another taste of Foxy. While this video is in living color, it also has some colorful language. We’ll call this video NSFW. Oh Lord.

Let’s just say that this exposure to Foxy Shazam was enough to infect me. I quickly became addicted to the videos, and even procured the CDs legally, happy to be supporting this band that had given me and my family so much happiness. Oh yes. My kids are big Foxy fans too. I even introduced some of my students to Cincinnati’s greatest export. After a few weeks, the virus had spread all over the school. Our school’s basketball team even started using “Unstoppable” in it’s pre-game warm ups.

Although my odometer has ticked past 31, I have a genuine desire to see this group live. I found myself disappointed and sullen when the band had to cancel their Indiana tour stop this past winter. When they finally released dates for the new tour, Indiana didn’t make the cut. If I wanted to experience Foxy in the flesh, I would be road-tripping to make it happen.

On June 7, 2011, Foxy Shazam is scheduled to open up for Panic! at the Disco in Cleveland, OH. I’ve had a love affair with PATD for quite some time now. Also on the docket is some band with the ridiculously simple and annoying name of Fun. I looked them up on YouTube just so I could have the satisfaction of knowing what exactly it was that I wasn’t going to like about them. Much to my chagrin, they are utterly amazing. If you don’t like this video, then you just don’t like Fun.

It’s been over two years since I’ve been to a real concert. It’s less than two months until this one. If you are looking for me over the next couple of weeks, chances are that I will be bootyshakin’ on my iPhone to my Fun. Foxy Panic! mix. Are there any other fans out there?