It is nearly the end of the school day, the bell is about to ring. I am a freshman in high school; reading Hemingway by day and practicing guitar by night. An (older!) friend approaches me to see if I can go to a concert the following day (a school night!) and I ecstatically accept.


Or I might be a mere 13 year old, planning for months in advance to go to Lilith Fair with my friends, saving our money to buy t-shirts and temporary tattoos.


Imagine my glee when I get to see one of my favorite bands at the time, Weezer. I have stayed up nights for a week teaching myself the solos to “The Good Life” and “Island in the Sun.” My mom has learned the 4 chords in “The Sweater song” due to my heavy rotation of the Blue Album in recent months. 


Concerts became even more exciting when I got a bit older, and got to play grown up for a night by attending an all-ages show (Maybe at First Ave or the Quest Club– remember that place?) featuring Reel Big Fish or Less than Jake. One of my all-time favorite concerts in high school was a Dashboard Confessional show; this memory itself is an indication of how much I have changed since then.


I recently picked up these guys from the library:

The bird and the bee; Weezer, Animal Collective, J5

As I saw the Weezer CD earlier today my mind jumped back in time to high school. It was a time when going to a concert felt magical. There was no two-drink minimum, no BS.


Don’t get me wrong- I’ve seen some incredible shows as an adult, too- but nothing can really compare to the star-stricken concert going days of my youth.


Holy nostalgia and melodrama, Batman! What has happened to Meri?
Don’t worry, I’m still in here, just having a trip down memory lane.


Did you get super excited to go to concerts when you were younger? What was the first real concert you ever went to? 


Cheers!
Meri