My son and I had an unusual adventure this weekend. A friend of mine, Tony, is proprietor of a rock club in town called Murray Hill Theater. It is a drug and alcohol free venue which promotes various music acts and shows. It is extremely popular with local youth, including my fourteen year old son. He asked our permission to attend a particular show this weekend headlined by a local band, Second Thief. After talking to Tony, the owner I decided to let him go. However, having quite a history of rock concerts under my belt, I said I would go along.
Let me first tell you I was warned by Tony, who is my age (47) that hard rock by today's standard compared to the 70's brand of hard rock is like comparing the Scorpions to the Partridge Family. I will say that comparison turned out a little extreme but it was shocking none the less.
I ended up volunteering for the inside security detail. Frank the security chief, and looking the part I might add, set me up guarding the rear access door backstage. This turned out to be a great vantage point for a close up view of the acts and thankfully was situated behind the very loud forward facing speakers. Even though I had my earplugs I was still greatful to be where I was as opposed to the high security "pit" in front of the stage and the loudspeakers.
The pit, as you may know, is an area where kids "dance" a sort of free for all karate gone wild kind of flailing around. The security guys let them go at it though mainly protecting those around the perimeter. Most of the kids around the perimeter were seasoned at this and seemed to participate by deflecting the dancers back into the pit when they got too close.
I had a chance to briefly speak to many of the performers over the course of the evening and was quite impressed by their demeanor, their manners and respect for each other and their fans. This was in spite of the fact that other than a few nice guitar riffs and drum solos, I really had a difficult time relating to their style of music and I have no idea what they were singing about, assuming the sounds the vocalists were making actually represented words. I think they did because it appeared the kids in the audience were singing along.
I don't think my son's style was cramped too bad by having Dad on the security detail. We both had a good time doing something together. I was able to feel comfortable by being there, while I would not have felt comfortable letting my fourteen year old go to a rock concert alone (remember I've been to plenty). He had several friends there and my older daughter is friends with the lead singer from Second Thief and he had a chance to introduce himself to the vocalist, while mentioning his sister.
We had a really nice conversation on the way home critiquing the various acts and performers. We did find ourselves virtually screaming at each other to talk over the loud ringing in our ears though! All in all any time spent with the kids is priceless and rewarding, even on their terms.
Let me first tell you I was warned by Tony, who is my age (47) that hard rock by today's standard compared to the 70's brand of hard rock is like comparing the Scorpions to the Partridge Family. I will say that comparison turned out a little extreme but it was shocking none the less.
I ended up volunteering for the inside security detail. Frank the security chief, and looking the part I might add, set me up guarding the rear access door backstage. This turned out to be a great vantage point for a close up view of the acts and thankfully was situated behind the very loud forward facing speakers. Even though I had my earplugs I was still greatful to be where I was as opposed to the high security "pit" in front of the stage and the loudspeakers.
The pit, as you may know, is an area where kids "dance" a sort of free for all karate gone wild kind of flailing around. The security guys let them go at it though mainly protecting those around the perimeter. Most of the kids around the perimeter were seasoned at this and seemed to participate by deflecting the dancers back into the pit when they got too close.
I had a chance to briefly speak to many of the performers over the course of the evening and was quite impressed by their demeanor, their manners and respect for each other and their fans. This was in spite of the fact that other than a few nice guitar riffs and drum solos, I really had a difficult time relating to their style of music and I have no idea what they were singing about, assuming the sounds the vocalists were making actually represented words. I think they did because it appeared the kids in the audience were singing along.
I don't think my son's style was cramped too bad by having Dad on the security detail. We both had a good time doing something together. I was able to feel comfortable by being there, while I would not have felt comfortable letting my fourteen year old go to a rock concert alone (remember I've been to plenty). He had several friends there and my older daughter is friends with the lead singer from Second Thief and he had a chance to introduce himself to the vocalist, while mentioning his sister.
We had a really nice conversation on the way home critiquing the various acts and performers. We did find ourselves virtually screaming at each other to talk over the loud ringing in our ears though! All in all any time spent with the kids is priceless and rewarding, even on their terms.
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