Good morning. And what a beautiful Monday morning it is. I appreciate
having weekdays off because there is less hassle everywhere I go. I am sitting
in a nearly empty coffee shop where I can concentrate on writing, and then I
plan to go out and enjoy the sunshine and warmth.
This past Saturday I got to see a concert for the first time
in sobriety, and it was definitely the best I have ever seen. Joe Walsh and Tom
Petty came to the Xcel Center and played their hearts out. I will say first
that I could tell that these guys really love what they do: thanking us between
each song for our applause, and interacting with the crowd with stories and
antics. Joe Walsh was on my bucket list, and not only was I not disappointed,
he is the best guitarist I have ever seen live. I wish my camera on my phone
worked better so it would be worth sharing the pictures with you, but it is
garbage. I don’t know why I didn’t bring my real camera with me. I will
definitely bring it with for Roger Waters.
Tom Petty I had seen before. He was even better than last
time. I went about a decade ago with a few friends from the Fillmore County
area and from the cities, and one of the guys I was with blacked out and threw
up everywhere before the show even started. He was slumped over in his chair
and sleeping until the end as far as I remember. I was also drunk, but my
tolerance has always been higher than most.
Just before the concert started (10 years ago), my friend
and I went into an empty bathroom and passed a joint back and forth under the
stalls and made vulgar pooping noises because that was funny back then. When we
finished up, we opened up the doors to find long lines in front of both of our
stalls, some of them children. We couldn’t help but laugh hysterically as we
stumbled out.
This time I went with a friend in recovery, and we had
conversations with adults, like adults. During Joe Walsh, I was seated next to
a woman who was the equivalent of a clothed stripper and kept smashing her butt
into my face and apologizing. I could smell the beer on her, and she was gross.
Now, grandma, don’t read this next part… At one point she bumped me really hard
and exclaimed, “Sorry for shoving my pussy into your mouth!” And she laughed.
Ha ha ha ha ha.. Well, you know what laughter sounds like. Fortunately for us,
we made jokes about her to the couple sitting next to us who had friends one
section over, and we were given the opportunity to switch seats, which we did
without hesitation.
Aside from that, the experience was legit, vivid, and
memorable. I will never forget every moment, and I will cherish the times when
16,000 fans sang together some of rock’n’roll’s greatest songs.
And that’s all for now. For the rest of the summer I will be
working 50 hours or more per week, and I will likely curtail my posts to one or
two per week for the duration. I love what I do, and I am having fun and
learning along the way. I hope you are all able to get out into the bright sunlight
more often than not this summer.
