Missing Concerts

This past week was a difficult week in many respects. There is a lot of personal stuff taking place, but the real issue for the difficulty is regarding missing a couple of concerts. Last week in Pittsburgh Tom Petty and Sheryl Crow both had concerts here. I would have loved to attend both. Actually this summer there were six separate concerts I wanted to attend. Heck, I would have even taken my grandson to see the Wiggles! How bad is that?! Financial realities prevented it, but it did not prevent my desire to attend.

My wife has always sort of laughed at my love for attending concerts. Her philosophy is that you can buy a CD cheaper and listen to it over and over. My response is always the same, "A concert is not simply about the music.” It is an experience! A complete and total experience.

My friend Terry Timm said in a recent post of his that he is an “emo” kind of guy. Well, anyone who knows me knows that to be the absolute truth for me as well. (I will talk about that in my next post too.) But the “emo” thing is why I love concerts. I don’t just attend concerts . . . I “emote” concerts. Even in my younger days I NEVER attended a concert bombed out of my mind or incapacitated with substance abuse. I have never done that anyway, but even if I did I would never have done that at a concert. One beer, maybe two, is it! The concert is to be experienced and I want nothing to reduce my ability to experience it.

So, I am doing a very shallow thing. I am grieving missing concerts this year. I love Tom Petty’s stuff, I wear the shirt shown here with pride. I will not miss the next one!