Armchair Pundits

Change Is Good

There are times when one is confronted with the great inevitability of life, namely that things change. This is particularly true when that change pertains to one’s very nature. After all, “no history is as relevant to a man as his own.”

I had just such an experience this past weekend. A friend of mine recently approached me with the opportunity to purchase two tickets to a Bon Jovi concert. Eighth row, club level seats, not too shabby. After all, it is hard to find a bad seat in The Excel Center. My wife and I having been teenagers during the 80’s, this concert seemed like a fun & nostalgic evening out. Sweetening the deal further was the fact that this same friend who had offered the tickets, had sold two adjoining seats to some good friends of ours whom we don’t see nearly enough. This seemed to be a fairly promising evening for fun, not to mention, revisiting our youthful days.

Upon presenting the idea to my lovely wife, I was reminded that we already had concert tickets for the weekend. I shot her a quizzical look, and then I remembered that we were taking the kids to see Go Fish. Regular readers may remember my review of their Superstar album.

Well, this local trio has a new album out, and as is customary, there is a companion tour, thus presenting us with an opportunity to take our kids to go and see them perform live. Now I briefly flirted with the idea of doing both, but seeing as we are now at an age where staying out too late comes at a hefty price, we decided against Bon Jovi. This proved to be a prudent move, considering the Go Fish show was at the toddler friendly time of 10am and we wanted to be fully present.

I have to say I was quite impressed. Aside from running into some friends from college that I haven’t seen in over a decade, which is always nice, the show was great. First off, the guys sound great live, showcasing their immense talent. I hate it when bands are so produced they only sound good inside of a studio. These guys sound great anywhere. Furthermore, they really know how to connect with their audience. On one number, they came out into the crowd, and my kids were able to high five them. This was definitely a highlight for my crew.

There were many moments where my wife and I would look at each other and laugh (and it wasn’t about leftover bagels in our teeth). To see the kids, standing on their chairs, singing their little hearts out, clapping ferociously, and getting their groove on, well it just brought a smile to our faces.

To be frank, the Mrs. and I probably had as good a time or better than the kids. I for one was glad my ears weren’t ringing from the night before, or my head foggy from the lack of sleep. Watching my kids enjoy themselves, I was glad we could share the experience as a family and felt even more blessed to be a parent.

posted by Grisby @ 11:38 PM