Cyndi Lauper gives me a night I'll never forget...

Last night I went to the Human Rights Campaign's "Rock to Win" concert headlined by Cyndi Lauper, Melissa Etheridge, Rufus Wainwright, Margaret Cho and Thelma Houston.

The concert was stopped when Hillary Clinton made her fantastic speech at the convention and I'm so damned glad because watching it with thousands of people like that was almost as good as being inside the Pepsi Center itself. I had supported Hillary and felt lukewarm about Barack Obama but her speech really did rally the troops behind the nominee. It was such a triumphant night for this amazing woman and for the Democrats.

But, I digress.

The HRC concert was at Denver's Fillmore Auditorium and after I filed my story to The Denver Post, I settled in and danced around during Cyndi's awesome set. Had not seen her in concert since she toured with Cher eight years ago or so. She is a treasure, a wonderful soul and a brilliant talent.

She opened with her newest hit, then did a haunting "What's Going On," as well as that great song "I Drove All Night." Her voice was soaring and after a few songs, she kicked off her boots and danced around that stage like there was no tomorrow. The highlight, as I knew it would be, was when she got out the dulcimer and sang "True Colors," the most meaningful of songs about being who you really authentically are. Cyndi ended things on a fun note with "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and brought out her son Declan (he must be around 11?) and he danced onstage with the same free spirit as his mama and it was a joy to watch.

Before the show, we had a little bit of time in the VIP tent with the performers and I asked Cyndi if she has seen any changes among LGBT voters since she began her True Colors Tour with the HRC last summer. Here's what she said:

"When I first put the ("True Colors") tour together, I saw a lot of apathy in the community and I know that apathy comes from feeling hopeless and hopelessness comes out of helplessness. We put this tour together to give information to the people because information is power and I strongly believe that this nation was built on the power of the people. ... I saw more hopeful people because there was information there for them to help themselves. Voting is one of the ways to help yourself. If you don't vote, you continue not to help yourself, you continue that feeling of hopelessness against a world that may be aggressively diminishing your civil liberties."

Cyndi had a pretty funny answer when someone asked her what she thought of people who were so disappointed that Barack Obama edged Hillary Clinton for the nomination that they were considering voting for John McCain: "I would say, don't vote insane."

"I would say, if you want to vote for your pocket, think of if it's been picked already and how much your dollar is worth today after this adminsitration."

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