The First Time I Saw the Osmonds Perform

Later that summer after Alan and Suzanne got married, Wayne called me on the phone at home and invited me to come to Las Vegas to see him perform. I didn't want to be too aggressive but I was curious about their show. Would it be like some of the rock and roll concerts that I had been to at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City?

If everyone had been like I was as a teenager, the pop, rock entertainment and music industry wouldn't exist. I only remember buying one record before meeting Wayne and it wasn't an Osmond record.  I never paid to go see a group perform either. My parents had taken me to a show in Reno or Lake Tahoe once where some older woman sang that they wanted to see, some musicals, etc. but never any pop or rock and roll groups.

The only time that I ever went to a pop or rock concert was when a date invited me. I remember attending "The Carpenters," "Elton John" and a few rock groups, so I was curious what kind of atmosphere was at an Osmond concert in a Las Vegas casino. I was positive it couldn't be all that uplifting. I talked my parents into driving me to Las Vegas to see one of their shows.

Almost as soon as I walked into the Tropicana hotel a girl from our ward in Provo spotted me and came up to tell me how she had spent the whole afternoon with Wayne up in their penthouse. I decided right then that I wasn't going to be like all the other girls and contact him. The girl asked me if I wanted her to tell Wayne and the Osmonds that I was there at the hotel and I told her "no." She made it sound like she and Wayne were seeing each other and looked a little relieved when I told her I didn't want her to tell him I was in town.

My dad kept telling me to contact Wayne but I told him that I really didn't know how. He suggested that I leave a message at the front desk but I had already decided that I wasn't going to tell him I was there. I was hoping that the girl in our ward would tell him, but of course she never did.

My parents and I went to the concert which I loved. The Osmonds were all so talented, had amazing production numbers and I remember the show having an upbeat, happy feeling. It was the first time that I realized what most of their hit records were, even though I did recognize the songs from hearing them on the radio. That summer "Love Me For A Reason" was released and I remember listening to that beautiful song all summer on the radio.

On the drive home I remember feeling disappointed that I hadn't been able to see or talk to Wayne but at least now I knew what their show was all about. I remember sleeping in the back seat of the car almost all the way from Las Vegas to Bountiful. Little did I know that this one show in Vegas was the beginning of many, many years of continuous concerts and shows in the future.