In a futile attempt to try to hang on to any vestiges of youth, I decided to go to a rock concert yesterday. I was lucky enough to be able to go with my brother and a friend, who, both being older than me, helped me not be the oldest one in attendance. It has been a long time since I've been to a concert of any kind and it will probably be quite sometime before I go to another. It's not because I didn't enjoy the show. The show was awesome, better than I expected on several counts. It's because I would have a hard time trying to find a band I would want to see enough to make the effort to see.
Green Day, however, has been my most recent favorite band. It all started with an album entitled "Dookie" which got a lot of play time in my CD player about 10 years ago. "Dookie" was one of those albums that, in my opinion, didn't have a bad track on it. I listened to that CD all the time and soon found myself buying all their previous albums. I never got to see them in concert back then and have regretted it ever since.
But not anymore. When I heard their new CD, "American Idiot", I was impressed by not only the title (which seems very fitting these days) but also by the quality of the music. Green Day still has that energy and guitar sound I loved back in '94, but the subject matter of the songs are a little more meaningful. The "American Idiot" album is an indictment of American culture and the governments that have allowed it to become what it is. There are some very poignant lyrics that really hit home with me. After reading a review of their show in Toronto, I decided to see if and when they would be coming to my part of the country. The answer was November 17, 2004, a Wednesday for most, but a Friday for me. After a few emails I had gathered a couple of people to share this experience with and was all set to go. All I had to do was wait.
November 17th arrived and I was off to the show. We got there a little bit late, missing the first opening act. Probably not a big loss considering I'd never heard of them, however, I may be kicking myself a few years from now when my son asks to go see "SugarCult" headlining at Foxfest 2014 and I'll have to tell the story about how I was late to see them play because I took to long to eat an amazing $9.75 cheeseburger at the Cactus Club Cafe.
They served beer at the PNE Colloseum which is the first time I've been to a big rock show where they've served alcohol. It was pretty pricey, at $5.75 for a plasic cup, but beer is beer and it helped pass the time until the main show.
Anyway, to make a long story short, Green Day came on, did an awesome show and although I felt a little old, I must admit I don't care. I quite enjoyed watching the kids do their thing from way up in the cheap seats, in fact, I wouldn't have it any other way. I was never one for the "mosh pit". I always preferred hanging back and letting the crazy people put on the show. It also helps in not getting arrested.