BalekFekete
Shared on Fri, 08/03/2007 - 07:52Given the demographic of the site, I would imagine that finding out a way to feel young again is a pretty good thing. Well, last night I was introduced to such a way. I found a way to sit back, look around and grin, and say to yourself “I might be 2 old 2 play, but damnit I’m not *that* old yet”. I thought I would dedicate this blog to sharing that information. The secret is…
…to go see George Thorogood and Bryan Adams in concert.
I didn’t give it a lot of thought before we showed up at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, but upon arriving last night it was immediately apparent that my wife and I were going to be some of the younger attendees…and not by a narrow margin. That surprised each of us, because I remember driving the ‘ol family station wagon while blaring “Bad To The Bone” from the Bose head unit my father installed himself in his regular hack fashion, and my wife certainly knew more than her share of Bryan Adams ballads. Yet when we did the walk through the parking lot to the amphitheater, I’d estimate average age of the tailgaters to be in their mid- to late-forties. That will make a 35 and 32 year old feel pretty damn young.
A quick note – even though the performances were pretty damn solid all around, I can’t pretend I bought the tickets. Nope, I won them on the radio. About a month or so ago, I was driving home at noon on Friday (taking glorious advantage of my company’s “summer hours”) when the local radio station went into a bit they call “Spill Your Guts”. The idea is that people call in with stories that nobody has heard, secrets that have been festering within the person for eons, and they just need to get it out. On this particular day, the best story would win a pair of tickets to see three concerts – Chris Cornell from Soundgarden fame, the above mentioned show, and then Blue October next month. I was bored on the drive home, so said WTF and dialed the number. Little did I know I’d get through, and started *ahem* improvising on the spot. It went something like this…
“Hello…WSP...”
“Yeah, um, I have a story for ‘Spill Your Guts’.”
“Ok, quick…what is it?”
“I…well, killed my wife’s dog.”
“You killed your wife’s dog?!? Hold on.”
*hold for a few minutes…then*
“Let’s go to Matt…hey Matt, you’re on the Barski show. Am I reading this right…you killed your wife’s dog?”
“Yeah, I did. She wasn’t my wife at the time. This whole thing dates back to ’93 when I was dating what would become my wife, now of 12 years and going. I was going over to her house, and as I was pulling into the driveway, the family poodle must have been let out, and I hit it with my car.”
“Oh crap…!”
“That’s not it though. When I felt the car hit something, I got out, and the dog was dead. No question about it. So…well I panicked. I thought for half a second, then picked the thing up, and ran it out to the curb near their house. They lived on a pretty main road. And, well I dumped the dog there and went inside and played stupid. After about a half an hour, someone was looking for the dog outside, and came in and asked. We all went out looking for it, and … well, I kinda led the search party to the dog.”
They went on to immediately beg me to call my wife and fess up on the radio. Obviously, given that my wife didn’t have a clue what I was doing (and that she was out to lunch with a few of her girlfriends), I balked hardcore at the idea. To the tune of “I just can’t. Getting this off my chest here was really good for me, but I can’t tell her I killed her childhood dog…no friggin’ way.” They translated that to “Holy shit…this guy is petrified his wife will divorce him! This is GOLD!” All the while I’m choking back laughs from within my car.
Long story…well, long I guess…I won the tickets. We couldn’t make the Chris Cornell concert due to the birth of my sister’s twins, but had a blast last night and are looking forward to the Blue October concert. It’s a different venue, so should be really, ahem, interesting. Somehow I think we *might* be on the older side of the crowd at the last show…but only time will tell.
…to go see George Thorogood and Bryan Adams in concert.
I didn’t give it a lot of thought before we showed up at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, but upon arriving last night it was immediately apparent that my wife and I were going to be some of the younger attendees…and not by a narrow margin. That surprised each of us, because I remember driving the ‘ol family station wagon while blaring “Bad To The Bone” from the Bose head unit my father installed himself in his regular hack fashion, and my wife certainly knew more than her share of Bryan Adams ballads. Yet when we did the walk through the parking lot to the amphitheater, I’d estimate average age of the tailgaters to be in their mid- to late-forties. That will make a 35 and 32 year old feel pretty damn young.
A quick note – even though the performances were pretty damn solid all around, I can’t pretend I bought the tickets. Nope, I won them on the radio. About a month or so ago, I was driving home at noon on Friday (taking glorious advantage of my company’s “summer hours”) when the local radio station went into a bit they call “Spill Your Guts”. The idea is that people call in with stories that nobody has heard, secrets that have been festering within the person for eons, and they just need to get it out. On this particular day, the best story would win a pair of tickets to see three concerts – Chris Cornell from Soundgarden fame, the above mentioned show, and then Blue October next month. I was bored on the drive home, so said WTF and dialed the number. Little did I know I’d get through, and started *ahem* improvising on the spot. It went something like this…
“Hello…WSP...”
“Yeah, um, I have a story for ‘Spill Your Guts’.”
“Ok, quick…what is it?”
“I…well, killed my wife’s dog.”
“You killed your wife’s dog?!? Hold on.”
*hold for a few minutes…then*
“Let’s go to Matt…hey Matt, you’re on the Barski show. Am I reading this right…you killed your wife’s dog?”
“Yeah, I did. She wasn’t my wife at the time. This whole thing dates back to ’93 when I was dating what would become my wife, now of 12 years and going. I was going over to her house, and as I was pulling into the driveway, the family poodle must have been let out, and I hit it with my car.”
“Oh crap…!”
“That’s not it though. When I felt the car hit something, I got out, and the dog was dead. No question about it. So…well I panicked. I thought for half a second, then picked the thing up, and ran it out to the curb near their house. They lived on a pretty main road. And, well I dumped the dog there and went inside and played stupid. After about a half an hour, someone was looking for the dog outside, and came in and asked. We all went out looking for it, and … well, I kinda led the search party to the dog.”
They went on to immediately beg me to call my wife and fess up on the radio. Obviously, given that my wife didn’t have a clue what I was doing (and that she was out to lunch with a few of her girlfriends), I balked hardcore at the idea. To the tune of “I just can’t. Getting this off my chest here was really good for me, but I can’t tell her I killed her childhood dog…no friggin’ way.” They translated that to “Holy shit…this guy is petrified his wife will divorce him! This is GOLD!” All the while I’m choking back laughs from within my car.
Long story…well, long I guess…I won the tickets. We couldn’t make the Chris Cornell concert due to the birth of my sister’s twins, but had a blast last night and are looking forward to the Blue October concert. It’s a different venue, so should be really, ahem, interesting. Somehow I think we *might* be on the older side of the crowd at the last show…but only time will tell.
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Submitted by Deman267 on Mon, 08/06/2007 - 09:33
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