Featured Attraction

 Took the family out to the rock show last Friday night. I could say that it felt like a long time since we were all together, sitting and standing alternately in seats that we tried not to think about the price or relative comfort. We enjoyed ourselves: mom, dad, and son. And a friend of our son's who came along for the experience.

In between the opening act and the featured attraction, we caught up a little. We did a little reminiscing, reviewing the concerts we had attended as a family over the years. As we were regaling one another with memories of this Springsteen show and that DEVO concert, we tried to loop in our son's friend. "This is only my third concert."

Full stop. 

This guy was twenty-six years old. He spoke briefly about the Olive Tree show he had been to recently. Then he related his experience of attending a Kelly Clarkson show when he was fifteen with his sister and his parents. The MUSE show we were anxiously awaiting was the third one. It had been less than two years between rock shows for our little family. And that seemed like a long time. 

Taking our son along with us to see and hear our favorite artists is a family value for us every bit as much as Disneyland and Meatless Mondays. My wife remembered the time she went with me and our high school crew to see Cheap Trick back in 1981. 

And all the shows and venues in between.

When our little boy turned eight, we took him out to the local theater to see my New Wave heroes, DEVO. We fitted him with extra ear protection, and bought him an energy dome as a souvenir. The die was cast. 

We shared the apocryphal tale about the Bruce Springsteen concert we all attended on a school night when he was in middle school. The night before state standardized testing began for our boy. I figured someone would probably show up and take my teaching credential, but he did just fine on the assessment, thank you very much. 

As I was beginning to wax rhapsodic about all the day long festivals I had attended myself as a kid, and seeing John Belushi perform with the Blues Brothers band, the lights began to dim. It was time to add another to a very long list.