Aretha Franklin at the Greek Theatre!

The air was cool and humid at the Greek Theatre's elevated location, quite a challenge for anybody who sings with such a wide range as Aretha Franklin. After a little bit of struggling on the first couple of songs, she lit-up the fire and boy did she bring it. She was simply breathtaking. A stage presence that's larger than life, a soul-shaking voice, the treats didn't stop here: Ali Woodson, formerly from The Temptations, made a surprise appearance on stage for a stirring Gospel song. They were later joined by a full-blown Gospel Choir.

The audience was electrified, wild roars and standing ovations greeted nearly every song in the night's repertoire, everybody was clapping, dancing, wiggling in their seats, the way it ought to be.

This was Brandy's birthday present to me. She bought the tickets a day after they went on sale right around my birthday. We've been looking forward to this moment for months.

I still can't believe it. Aretha Franklin is no-longer to me just a collection of CDs, an iTunes playlist. She's a legend, The Queen, I actually got to see in real-life, in the flesh.

Coming out of the concert I started lamenting at the state of today's popular music. Maybe I was born in the wrong decade. I see very talented artists such as Beyoncé stuck in the traditional rut of pop songs that don't nearly show-off their musical abilities, while focusing more on the "Music Video" aspect of the performance. One day I bought the "Fighting Temptations" soundtrack, which shed a whole new light on Beyoncé's amazing talent.