OMG. MIA.

It's been too long since I've been dancing.

Not the kind I do to shift gears in the car on the way to kindergarten drop-off on crabby mornings. Not the kind of stand still and slightly swing a hip at a wedding. Not the relieve-my-DMode-days to an audience of all the not-goth clothes in my closet.

I needed to be sweaty. To gladly leave the heels behind to jump around and wave my hands in the air and let my hips be free. I needed to tear it up. Just enough.

So I promised myself that, as this year comes to a close, I will buy tickets to shows I want to see. I decided I'd buy two tickets at a time, with the good intention and hopefulness of finding a friend who wants to not-talk over the throb of the music for a couple of hours now that we have the luxury of a well-earned wristband to buy ten-dollar Miller Lites.

That began with Lollapalooza, which was not such a success after all. And it moved on to MIA, who played tonight at The Vic, one of those great, vintage venues that's just big enough for a medium-sized crowd of people to push up to the stage all at once and still leave a clear path to the ladies room.

I went with another Jessica, and there, in our cute boots and skinny jeans, we were wedged in among the fetal-aged hipsters all rubbing up on one another and old, balding guys standing strangely alone. The show was high-energy and non-stop and probably should have lasted longer than it did. But MIA, one of my very favorites, was right there. So close that her words were barely audible and the floor bounced as the crowd rushed forward to sing into her mic.

She was incredible, masterfully beckoning the audience toward her and then backing away. And good Lord, she smoked a bowl on stage, which is ballsy even for The Vic. She wore neon pink Spandex leggings and short shorts and one of her own over-sized concert tees. Her hair was everywhere.

I'm nowhere near hardcore. But that part of me that needs the release of thunderous music in a a small enclosed space with a bit of room to shake everything I got? She was out tonight.

Somewhere in the weird culmination of smoke and giant plastic glasses and metallic headbands, I am pretty sure The Jessicas tore it up. For real.