Older and Younger

Sometimes I feel older and sometimes I feel younger. The other day I took my daughter to see Evanescence here at WaMu Theater which is at Qwest Field. Larisa was very excited. We had been listening to "Fallen" for the last three years or so and still liked it. She had been saving up her money and working odd jobs for a while so she could go. She took every opportunity she had to talk with me about the concert and about how excited she was that they were coming. I am a softie so we took what she had saved and went to the concert.

I had not been to a General Admission concert for a while and was a bit concerned. I remember a few vicious mosh pits from my more adventurous days and was working out a strategy to make sure Larisa could get close but I could keep her safe. It was a bit nerve racking to say the least. We were waiting in line to get in with a several drunk parents "escorting" their kids to the concert. This did provide some entertainment as I listened to Jane who was 44 years old introduce herself to us at least four times and tell us about all the issues she was having with her 15 year old daughter. I was glad I did not need any liquid courage to come and wondered if Jane would have any memories of this night at all.

We also saw Tanner, a friend of our cousins there. He had outlined his eyes in black and drawn some black tears streaming down from both eyes. I thought it was interesting to share something of our feelings through eye liner tears. I suppose we each find our own ways to express what is going on inside of us.

Once we got into the concert we found a spot close to the stage and started to talk about the concert. We did not know much about the bands opening up but they were probably loud and hopefully interesting. I was scouting out the different people to see who was going to be trouble once the music started. I was surprised to see so many groups of people like my daughter and myself there, a parent and a child trying to bond a bit as they enjoyed the concert. As the concert got closer Larisa went out to spend her money on t-shirts and trinkets so I was sitting down trying to take up enough room to "save our space". I did not think this would be too hard until a forty something year old women and her daughter came up and walked over me and started to try and get in front of me. I touched the lady's leg to remind her that I was there and that she should not take the space I was saving. She started to yell at me saying she would sue me and threatening to call security. So ignored her and let her realize how stupid she sounded. This was not what I was originally worried about in the mosh pit. Things do change I suppose. No big drunk guys slamming into everything in their path, it was drunk old mothers scared of being taken advantage of, not really wanting to be there but wanting to do something special for their kids. I was not prepared for this. Fortunately she wound down and moved away.

Then the first act, Julien-K, came out and started to jump around and make some noise. Larisa really enjoyed them. It was a bunch of young guys taking off their shirts and singing songs about their rock and roll life style. I was wishing they would put some more clothes back on but Larisa was really liking it. I was not ready for that either.

The next act was the Sick Puppies. I was not sure what to expect when this skinny kid with a cute girl wearing a school uniform type of a skirt started pounding out the music. I thought they sounded good but that they were trying too hard to sound tough. They had pictures flashing from human anatomy textbooks with skeletons and muscles and stuff. Maybe they will grow up to be rock star doctors or something. We can hope. I did like their music. When the bass would pump I could feel it in my chest. When I was younger it was really cool to feel it punding into my chest. Now I was hoping my asthma was not kicking in or that I was not having a heart attack. I did survive though.

Through it all the mosh pit never really got going. It felt more like a school field trip with funny clothes and really loud music than a big nasty concert with lots of drunk people smashing each other and everything else up. I looked over at a "Dad" standing next to me looking a bit bored while his "Daughter" seemed to be getting into it. I mentioned something to him about "doing the Dad thing" and he laughed back at me. The next time I looked back they were hugging and snuggling. Oops. I guess he was doing the dutiful husband thing, not the dad thing.

We had a lot of time before Evanescence came out so we just hung out. There were lots of little girls around me who were having a hard time seeing what was going on through all the tall people so I opened up a channel for them to see the stage. We had a lady in wheel chair up in the front who was not going to move out for security or anyone else. Did I mention that this was the strangest mosh pit I have ever been in? I even had a little tiny Japanese girl pull on the back of my shirt and ask very nicely if I could move over a little bit so she could see. I did not see any of the fearsome drunk hooligans I was worried about. There was another little girl about Larisa's age who wrote letters to Amy Lee and Amy Lee wrote back. She took out her inhaler and took a puff to make sure she would not pass out from the excitement. She chatted with Larisa for a little while before continuing her quest to get to the front of crowd to see her pen pal/idol.

Once Amy Lee took the stage with Evanescence everyone paid rapt attention. It was a good show but I do not think that Amy Lee will ever again have the voice she had when she recorded Fallen. Larisa was very happy though. They played a bunch of songs we knew and we sung along with the whole crowd. I thought Amy was surprised at the number of folks there to see her and the band perform. She said she was glad we were still with her. Yet again I was taken by surprise. Heavy Metal just does not seem like the same thing it did when I was younger. Larisa was pleased that Amy was wearing a pair of boots just like the pair she had picked up from Value Village a year or so ago.

As we were leaving Larisa asked me if I liked the concert. I responded by asking her if she liked it. She told me that she loved it and that it was one of the best things she had ever experienced in her life. Then I told her that I had fun because she had fun. I felt older and younger at the same time. I enjoyed Larisa being so excited and having so much fun even though I did not really find it so fabulous myself. It is good to have kids. They can extend our understanding and help us to see things we had forgotten or are too old to enjoy. Life is certainly an adventure.