In September 1985 my posse and I, along with several thousand similarly rabid teenaged girls, descended upon Oakland Stadium to witness the miracle that was Wham!

We stood through a full opening set by Katrina and the Waves and another by the Pointer Sisters. I bought a T-shirt whose then-scandalous price I still haven't confessed to my mother. And we screamed our fool heads off for George Michael.

That was just about the last time Michael deigned to grace a U.S. stage; in the intervening years, it seems he's played more court dates than concert dates. But the singer has been dribbling out material over the past decade-plus, and on July 2 he visits KeyArena on his "25 Live" career-retrospective tour that sold out across Europe last year.

In a profession built upon experimentation and boundary pushing, Michael has never wavered from his calling of pure, unapologetic pop, polished within an inch of its life -- and it's served him well.

This tour promises wall-to-wall hits, and the man has racked them up in an array of different grooves, from impressive early efforts like "Everything She Wants" to the lush lounge of "Kissing a Fool," the plodding yet brilliant #1 "Praying for Time" and 2004's pulsing, addictive "Freeek!"

Not nostalgic enough to meet a three-figure ticket price? Live Nation will sell a limited number of $25 seats to the fleet and the lucky this weekend. For 25 hours -- from Friday, June 20 at 5:25 p.m. until Saturday, June 21 at 6:25 p.m. -- you can take a shot at scooping up this bargain at Live Nation's Web site and all Ticketmaster outlets, or by phone at 206-628-0888.

We've all been around long enough now not to fall for the urgent, last-chance-ever "farewell tour" come-on. All the same, Michael is the Halley's comet of MTV's early graduating classes -- whose faces pop up on the annual summer circuit before we've had time to miss them.

So if you (or your girlfriend of a certain age) have even a passing interest, it would be prudent to mark your calendar. If you're in the nosebleed section, flash me the sign. I'll be the one in the threadbare 23-year-old T-shirt.

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