Did I See Your Father At The Concert

 

Have you ever paused and tried to imagine what your parents were doing at the same age?  

Last Friday night I tried to imagine them at the Brian Wilson / Chicago concert we were sweating through at the Dos Equis Pavilion in Dallas. It was an enjoyable outdoor show held in intolerable heat. The audience was full of 50 and 60 somethings with a sprinkling of 70 somethings to see Brian Wilson – who turned 80 this week.

The whole affair reminded me of an old Mad Magazine cartoon that showed the 50^th Woodstock Festival reunion attendees with canes and walkers.  It was a joke to the teenage readers in 1970 but it hit home Friday night as fans sang along with Beach Boys tunes that were blaring out of their transistor radios in 1963. Maybe the concert should have been billed as the Medicare Advantage Tour. 

I can’t poke too much at the crowd since I am a card-carrying member of the Medicare generation myself.   I like all sorts of live music but especially enjoy classic rock shows. I checked off a big one last November with the Rolling Stones show in Las Vegas. There was a predictable number of grey-haired ponytails but the surprise to me was the large number of kids/teens in the audience. Many were accompanied by their parents – or grandparents, who were anxious to show them what a big rock show was all about. The Rolling Stones did not disappoint and put on a great performance. Did I mention Mick Jagger turns 79 next month?

So, getting back to my parents…I could not imagine them attending any concert, even Frank Sinatra, at this age.  Instead, I could imagine my father driving us to Roosevelt Stadium (NJ) for a concert and patiently waiting in the car to drive us home. “Come on inside dad, Pink Floyd is a really cool band – you should check them out!”  That wasn’t going to happen.

My parents weren’t prudes and accepted the fact that our music wasn’t their music. They also appreciated the comfort of a recliner and a television over big noise and big crowds. Concerts were not common in the 1930’s when my parent’s taste’s for music were being formed. It was the depression and large venues didn’t exist outside of the major cities. Big bands like Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller dominated the radio but they usually performed in ballroom settings, not major concert halls.  The big guys like Frank and Elvis and the Beatles took it to a new level.  Tens of thousands of people wanted to see them perform and concert mania was born.

 I’ve taken my kids and kids in-law to classic rock concerts.  In turn they have invited me to their shows and still do.  Some are hits and some are misses.  I imagine the kids would say the same thing but at least we all have a better understanding of what’s going through those earbuds.  Rock on dad.

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