My First Rock Concert.

Life must go on.  And so it happened that I was voluntarily dragged by a good friend of mine from high school to a rock concert. Yes,  I have never been to an actual live rock concert before, so I had no idea what to expect.   The part that made it acceptable was that I actually loved two of the bands that were scheduled to play last night.  ( I like REO, But not as much as other people...) 

Being a newbie to the whole Rock and Roll scene,  I had to experience a bit of Hazing from my two chums that accompanied me.  And along with it, I learned a thing or two for my next experience... should that ever happen again.   

First lesson:  Chug a Beer before you get in to the gate.   You might think this is easy, and, well, it kind of was.   The uncontrolled belching that followed was just part of the experience, I was told....  Personally, I like to enjoy my beer a little more than chugging it at a quick step.   But in the end,  the beer was gone and all three of us could go into the park unfettered with the high cost of Alcohol.   (By the way,   a light beer will not relax you as much as you might think....But, it did create a story.) 

Second lesson:  Water bottles are not allowed!   I thank David for this one.  Moments before we enter the gate, he hands me a water bottle and tells me to put it in my jacket.... since he has no pockets  that would hold it.   What he did not tell me was that the water was CONTRABAND!  This is the kind of guy who hands you a loaded handgun just before you go through airport security.  And then laughs at you when you get put into the "time out" booth waiting for a full body cavity search from the TSA.   Lesson learned!  

To add insult to injury,  Tom and Dave shamed me for not smuggling in the contraband properly.  Had a KNOWN... I might have tried a little harder to put the bottle in a different, less obvious pocket. As it was, I surrendered the contraband  and was able to dodge the cavity search.   Who would have guessed water could so dangerous?

Are we going into the clouds?

Third lesson:   Cheap seats in the nose bleed section are just temporary.. if you play your cards right.  I was happy and content being in the cheap seats,  but apparently,   three middle-aged  guys sitting together is a sad thing to some people.   Therefore... To cheer us up!

The view from the Cheap seats.

They upgraded our tickets to the near front row section!   We suddenly found ourselves nearly next to the stage.

The NEW seats!

  Dave said if one of us had looked crippled, we might have been able to get the really good seats in front!  I'll try to work on a proper limp next time to see if I can increase the odds. 

Better View!  Much Better!

Fourth lesson:   The concession stand does not take cash!   How is this possible?   Did Bidenflation screw up the beer and hotdogs at the Ballpark?  As a "Thank you" for the invite, I offered to buy a round of beers.   I figured they would be expensive, but was willing to pay. Luckily, they were under $10 each for a 20 ounce glass, so I waited in line while Styx was playing "Blue Collar Man." (one of my favorite songs!)  Only to find out that they do not take cash when the lady in front of my tried to pay with a $20 dollar bill.   I did not want to use a card so I ducked out of the line empty handed.   Another failure! Looks like we would all be dehydrated before the end of the show.

Lesson five:   Eat before you go.   We stopped by a place Dave knew and I got to try Pho for the first time.   It is basically a hot pot with noodles.   The broth is the main take away.   There was so much flavor going on  in that broth that I had  to finish mine.  The noodles and goodies in the broth were nice, but the broth alone was worthy of savoring.   I would highly recommend to anyone who has never tried Pho. 

And finally:   The music is different from the music on the radio.   Yes, as I had feared,  the music was different.   But honestly,  I think it was BETTER!   The music hits you in the chest and you can actually feel the beat.    You can sing along with the band... and they encourage you to do so.  Live music is like fresh food.   Fresh trumps everything!  And live music is the same.   The fact that the guys were playing their instruments with such accuracy  while also singing AND jumping around was impressive. (Especially if you have ever heard a "bad" band live before.)   Some of the singers had lost their voice range, but that did not seem to matter.   Whenever a note came up that they could not hit,  the shoved the mic at the audience and we made up the difference.  It was spectacular! 

Loverboy  in the 80's

All the bands were awesome,  But I think Styx stole the show personally.   They can still hit those high notes and I knew most of their songs by heart.   I can't help it that they were probably my favorite going in there.  Loverboy also rocked, even though time had caught up with Mike Reno. And finally,

Loverboy now.

REO Speedwagon was unbridled intensity.   The lead singer is 70 years old and unstoppable!  There was no pause between songs, just one rift after another! Too bad I was not a bigger fan, because I think they definitely delivered the goods to all those who love their songs. 

So that was my first time.   Was it gentle?   Maybe, kinda.   At least I was surrounded by people who were my age so I did not feel too out of place or awkward.  And I knew some of the songs. I think that helps when you actually love the bands who are playing.  In the end, I enjoyed it very much and was happy Dave haphazardly  twisted my arm to get me to go.   Like one of the guys who sat next to us said:  "It is not every day you get to travel back in time."  And that is probably the best way to describe it.    We traveled back in time to high school.    When these guys were on top of the charts and we sang their songs whenever they would come up on the radio.  The '80's music Rocked!   And we were the most fortunate generation to have been able to grow up while being surrounded by it.   Leave it to Rock and Roll to  treat depression and help keep you young.