Editor’s note: I must begin this article with a sincere apology to Mike and my teammates who play on our awesome team in the UBC Rec Tier 1 Mens Basketball. Last Thursday I missed our game and it wasn’t for a particularly awesome reason – I missed our game because I attended an LMFAO concert at the Pacific Coliseum.

It all started about a month ago, when my two teenage cousins introduced me to LMFAO – they showed me the then latest single by “Redfoo” and “Sky Blu”, which was – and still is – called “I’m Sexy and I Know It”. Here’s a sample of it from the concert:

LMFAO is all about recycled content. For example, “Redfoo’s” catch-phrase is borrowed from Austin Power’s, which I imagine not all of his fanbase totally ‘gets’. It’s Yeah Baby! and he says/said it after pretty much every song. And the duo can thank will.i.am for a fair bit of their musical content, which they simply shouted over on more than one occasion. Still, entertaining guys – well, the “Redfoo” guy was, anyway. The other one didn’t make the concert on account of his “wiggle-induced” back troubles.

Anyway, how the heck did I shuffle my way to an LMFAO concert? Well, I’m a firm believer that, when family calls, one answers such a call. Even if one-half of a possibly-ironic, fairly misogynistic, spandex-clad, “hip-hop” duo was at the other end of the call.

I honestly didn’t know what to expect from the evening, and if I told you that I was prepared for what unfolded before me as I walked into the Coliseum I would be a big, fat liar. The first observation was one of surprise, as the demographics were not at all what I expected. Sure, there were many, many tween and teenage girls. But there were also older dudes in the audience, like the guys who sat next to me … who were there together … un-ironically … because they were fans. And the couple of couples in front of us lit up so many cigarettes and joints that we might as well have been at a Snoop Dogg concert.

And the outfits. Oh, the outfits. Aside from the inappropriately attired teenage ladies, there was some really winning creativity when it came to the way people dressed. Neon spandex, hilarious nerd glasses, big red wigs, cardboard-box-robot-heads, and many pieces of clothing that paid special hommage to the 1980s defined the style of this particular community. Also, shuffling is pretty darn cool:

Speaking of the community, if I had to describe it with one word it would be joy. And if I had to use two words they would be neon joy.

People danced and fist-pumped the whole time (except for the chain-smoking gentlemen in front of us, who had to sit down after 45 minutes of fist-pumping and dancing; incidentally, this made for a fantastic micro-anti-smoking campaign for my cousins), which is a testament to the energy that LMFAO brought to the party.

And, speaking of parties, this is really the duo’s only message: party. Technically, their message is actually party rockin’. It’s simple, succinct and they stick to it well, as I believe no fewer than three of their songs have the words “party rockin'” in the title.

In conclusion, as a young man who enjoys new opportunities to experience different communities, well, this was certainly a new and different community that I experienced.

At the end of the day, I’m not sure if LMFAO are taking themselves seriously (like, as seriously as guys who finish their shows clad solely in speedos can) or if they’re some kind of genius hipster commentary on the sexified consumerism of our misguided society.

But I do kinda sorta know one thing. And it’s something to do with Party Rocking …

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Photos courtesy of Eva Rinaldi (except the low-quality ones … those are mine from the concert)