In Concert Bitterness

It was so easy to see.

I’m just like everyone else that exists in this world. I listen to music. Growing up, I still remember the moment I got my first album (Micheal Jackson’s Thriller), I remember the first time Friday Night Video’s came on and the first video I ever saw (Micheal Jackson’s Beat It) and remember when I first started listening to my first rap song on the radio (Run DMC It’s Tricky). I think all of us at some time were affected by music and how certain moments in our lives are connected with music.

Some of us were affected by music so much that we went to the next level and purchased, won, or conned someone into giving us a ticket to a certain band’s concert. You all can probably remember your first concert or one that affected you deeply. I cannot. I can count on my bitter hands how many concerts I’ve been to in my life. It’s not that I didn’t want to go. I think if people offered to pay for me to go, I would have gone to more. Or if I grew up in a place that had a multitude of bands that came to visit our town, I would have gone. I just didn’t go out of my way to go. In order to go to a concert, I always associated it with waiting in a long line to get tickets on the day they become available, or later on, on the phone, or internet clicking at midnight or something.

Then if you were lucky enough to get tickets, you had to actually move outside your house, drive somewhere crowded, park your car a country mile from the venue, then allow some security guard metal detect you. I appreciate that you need to be careful with all the bitterness surrounding a concert, but that just seemed like so much effort. So, I haven’t been to a whole lot of concerts.

My long string of not going to concerts finally broke and I got VIP seats with my company to go to one on Friday. I figured since they had a box seat for me and they were going to provide free dinner (which was a stretch. Bad hot dogs doesn’t equal dinner to me), I would make an effort. So I convinced by best friend from college, who was a fan of the band playing, to go with me.

The thing is, I think my time for concerts has passed. I honestly didn’t know what to do. Do I stand and sway? Do I move my head up and down really fast? Do I sit casually and just watch? I only stand these days when I absolutely have to.

Do I do this?

Stand and swaying? Way too much work. But there is this peer pressure the whole time to stand. If it isn’t people in your box, then it is the whole entire rest of the crowd telling you to stand up if you want to be able to see or hear things.

I just don’t have the patience for it.  On the other hand, if you have basketball tickets, send them my way. I’ll stand for someone that makes a basket.

ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH

Bitter Concerted Ben