Date Night

Hubby and I went to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in concert the other night in Nashville. We'd been to see him before years ago, and they put on a really good show. I'd forgotten how much fun a good concert could be! The instant the lights go down the crowd jumps to their feet and everyone is screaming and yelling and whooping and hollering as the band takes their places on stage. Then it's like a two hour frenzy of favorite songs, one right after the other, with the smell of pot in the air and thousands of voices singing the words to every song at the top of their lungs. Then before you know it, the band is taking their final bow and sadly it's all over and the crowd rushes out.

It was the most fun I've had in a long time and I don't think we sat down for more than a minute the whole time. We danced and sang and clapped and screamed along with everyone else around us, lighters held high in tribute in the air. All the way home I kept thinking how much fun it was and why don't we do this more often?

It made me think back to all the concerts we've been to over the years. I remember my very first concert (if you can call the Oregon State Fair a concert venue) was Andy Gibb. My Mom took my sister and I and we sat on some bleachers in front of an outdoor stage and watched Andy in those tight red leather pants wiggle his butt and shake that gorgeous head of long blonde hair, imagining he was singing those sappy love songs directly to us. We giggled and gasped and sighed with puppy love. I think I was about 12 years old or so at the time.

I guess Loverboy was my first official honest-to-goodness, full band on stage concert. It was held in Salem at The Armory and the whole place was filled to the rafters. They had colored smoke shooting up out of the stage and laser lights shooting all through the crowd and the music was so loud I thought my ears would ring forever.

All through high school it was one concert after another. Triumph, Ozzy, Van Halen, Bon Jovi, Sammy Hagar, Judas Priest, Def Leppard, Billy Squire, Scorpions, Tom Petty, John Cougar, etc. It's a wonder we weren't deaf by the time we reached our 20's. And where did we find the money for all those tickets?

Then later in life we mellowed out to Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson and Brad Paisley, but the scene was filled with just as much camaraderie and excitement, whether it was country or rock-n-roll.

There's something awesome about standing in a crowd of 30,000 strangers all swaying together to the music and singing each song word-for-word as one. It sends a thrill through you. I can see why some bands stay around as long as they do to ride this adrenaline rushed wave of fame even into their 60's. And thank goodness they do, so fans like us can keep coming to the shows, remembering back to good times past and making new memories along the way!