Happy 30th birthday to my friend, Will @ BeTheBoy.
Knowing Will as I do, I'm certain that he is thrilled to not only be sharing his birthday will Sir Paul, but to be sharing his 30th year celebrating Rush's 30th anniversary. Will, i'd tell ya to kick back and listen to some I think I'm going bald, but I think that applies more to me than it does to you. So, kick back and listen to their classic,Put Your Shoes On! and have a great weekend, my older and wiser friend.
(Hey Will, remember that poker night when you bitched about Rush and then Otto and I played them for hours to piss you and Billy off? good times, eh?)
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I have been so damn busy this week with my client coming for a visit and finals starting tonight that I have totally neglected my responsibility to post on the Rush concert. So, for a delayed "review", read on...
Bruce and I went to see our musical heroes celebrate 20 marvelous years last Sunday night at the Verizon amphitheatre, which is also known as "If you don't have Verizon, your cell phone will not work and you'll be forced to use Bruce's 1997 cell phone for a bootlegging attempt" amphitheatre. As you can clearly see, the former is concise and my bootleg attempt was perfect if you really wanted to hear drunk white trash Rush fans whoopin' and hollerin'. The drum solo did not have the clarity that the WT did so I scrapped the attempted audio post.
Bruce did a great job of summing up the concert on his blog, so I am going to share the personal feelings i experienced during the evening. While riding shotgun down I-70, headed into the nether land of Kansas, I watched the other cars, trying to pick out those that were heading our way. As a teenager, these cars were easy to identify, they were crowded, smoke-filled, longhaired musicians strumming or banging along to their favorite albums on the way. On our current trip, I identified a red Toyota corolla with a carseat and the retractable sun visor. The car had three well-groomed guys in it, none of them smoking or rocking out and yet I knew exactly where they were going.
We arrived at the amphitheatre, Bruce carrying a backpack to hold ponchos for possible rain and binoculars (how old are we?). The security man gives me the once over (looking, not patting) and asks if i have a pack of cigarettes. I politely say no, wishing more than anything that i did. He lets me through and i realize that i could very easily have just smuggled in enough pot to get an entire section high. After Bruce is finished, we cruise up to the souvenir stand to gawk at the prices and the Rush thong, picturing our wives wrestling each other in them. We move along to our seats and the best pre-show entertainment anyone could dream of...watching old Rush fans.
The previous night, I watched the SNL repeat which had a commercial for ladies who had aged and wanted to remove their not-so-trendy-now back tattoos. I wanted that commercial to play on the big screen for all the 40-50 something crowd before me. Men with 4 large, gaudy earrings, mullets down to their low back, women with faded tattoo and what every you call those shirt that are backless except for the tie. I always associate them with nasty old biker women.
Then there was the younger crowd (read as early 20's), looking cool and trendy. I pointed one guy out to Bruce and said, apparently, he does not realize that wearing early 80's Billy Joel t-shirts is not a cool retro fad. If it is, thank god i am not in that generation. Then there was, The Band, or the group of guys who obviously had a band together. The only one that really caught my attention out of irritation was the dude who obviously mistook the Rush concert for a Phish concert. If you've ever been to a Phish show, you'll understand what i mean...he kept doing that damn acid head spinning dance where he flails his nappy-ass hair everywhere and dances in place.
As the show began and I looked around the amphitheatre, I began to notice something. Something very strange, but very inspirational. There were parents with their teenage children everywhere. They were talking to one another, rocking out together, and enjoying the show together. In particular, this mother-son combo in front of us impressed me. She knew the words to every song and knew the answers to every question he asked. They laughed and cheered together. It was not uncool to be at the concert with his mom, his was awesome (or whatever word kids use these days).
Now, forget the rest of the review, the show was awesome, the guys rocked, i inhaled my surroundings a few too many times (enough that my wife thought i seemed a little off when i got home), and i again learned that i am too old to stand up for 3 hours and 20 minutes. What I really want to talk about it this whole parent/child concert thing. As i watched them all, i thought, should anything every happen to me and i am taken away from this planet early, i need some people to take my children to see the band's i loved. I nominate my wife, obviously, for those musicians that I enjoy and she loathes, I need my friends to step in. I want my kids to see the bands play live, hear more about them than they care to know, and understand what made me like them so much.
It is somewhat difficult to compile a list now, as we are talking about what bands will still be around in 13 years (i want the kids to be old enough to somewhat understand). So, who is going to take my kids to see what bands? Post your answers in the comments.
Oh, and if you take a small child to a concert, like under the age of 6, do you have to buy them a ticket? What about a kid that you hold throughout the show? They are not taking up an extra seat.
