Unless you were alive during Beatlemania, or perhaps were caught up in the white glove, dance move 80s craze of Michael Jackson could you begin to fathom the mania over Justin Bieber in Calgary Monday evening.
At that wasn’t even during the concert.
Thousands of fans flocked to the Pengrowth Saddledome, each (aside from most parents) stricken with their own case of Bieber fever.
Fans hung from fences, shrill bursts of screaming, sometimes random, other times prompted by television cues outside the ‘Dome could likely be heard near Talisman Centre, across Macleod Trail.
In fact, the sugar sweet pop epidemic rendered many teen fans speechless, only capable of uttering single words like, ‘unbelievable’, or ‘dream’ or ‘crazy’.
“A dream come true would be meeting him,” said 14-year-old Biebliever Mikaela Chadwick, perched on the east side of the ‘Dome with 14-year-old friends Becca Calb, Amy Kirchner and Darrien Smythe waiting for a glimpse of Beebs near his travel trailer.
Two lucky fans did get the chance to meet the man, er, teen, himself – and Mariana Cofre, 15, and pal Nicole Press, 16, even got hugs from the teen idol. Photo evidence? They don’t get the pics for 72 hours, they were told – so friends will have to wait.
“It feels like a dream,” said Cofre on the Saddledome steps. “It was unbelievable.”
The concert was probably solid saccharine entertainment for a packed house – but the show outside, and the unbridled youth enthusiasm for Justin Bieber in Calgary was worth the price of admission on its own.
