My First Concert

My First Concert
by Ben

Last night I went to my very first concert. My sisters' first concert was Hanson. My mom's first concert was Billy Squier. My dad's first concert was The Beach Boys, Starship & Whitney Houston. I think I'm definitely the luckiest of the Beth Blog's Bunch. My first concert was U2!

Even though they told me they wouldn't, Mom & Dad signed me out a little early so we could grab a bite to eat & beat traffic. I quickly changed out of my school uniform & grabbed my book.


Mom knew our seats were kinda high up so she brought some binoculars.



We got to the parking lot about 4 hours before the show (traffic wasn't so bad after all) so we took a quick little car nap. Mom & Dad love a good car nap. They're old like that.



We met up with Mom's BFF, Tia.



And her husband, Shaun. He's from England. Another English couple (friends of Tia & Shaun) stopped by. They drank a beer or two. And talked about soccer. Or futball. Because that's what people from England do. And that's what my dad does. English people + my dad = Lots of soccer talk.



I stayed in the car with my book.



But it was pretty hot in there.


So I got out to cool off.



And my mom took pictures. Cause that's what my mom does.

One hour til showtime. Time to head over to the stadium. I've never been here with a crowd. I've only been here for soccer. Soccer doesn't draw a big crowd around these parts. I don't know why. I LOVE IT! (that was sarcasm folks)


We're in! Putting my ticket away for safe keeping.

Up we go on the escalator.

Up, Up, Up. Did I mention that our seats are kinda high?
Here's our little corner of the stadium. We're up pretty high, but the stage looks really cool.




Hot dogs! Woohoo!



Mom wanted me to let you know there was a mullet sighting (or two) but she only got one picture.


My mom thought this was a pretty picture, so I thought I'd share.



Hanging out with dad.

Muse is starting. Because Mom & Dad are old, they have never heard of them before, but of course being the cool kid I am, I have. They were pretty good. Even Mom & Dad thought so.



It's getting dark. In between acts, Mom breaks out her camera again. Because that's what she does.






Smoke coming from the Spaceship. Show must be starting soon.


Counting down!



I'm excited!



Once the lights go down, Mom can't get any good shots of the band. So here's my dad singing along. He knows every word to every U2 song ever! He's cool.


About 4 songs in, I'm getting tired.


Mom's arm looks comfy.

It is.


...and I'm OUT!


Here I am during one of the greatest rock anthems of all times, Sunday Bloody Sunday.




I woke up for the encore. And even sang along.




Inappropriate couple in front of us. Ewww!


I wish I hadn't seen that. Why did I wake up?!



Shows over. Daddy is good at maneuvering through the crowd to get to the car FAST!!! Good thing Mom's camera battery died when she took this picture, so she didn't slow us down.


Even though I slept through over half of it, I know it was a great show! My mom & dad are the greatest parents EVER for taking me! :)


Now, I'm excited to go to my sister's soccer game. NOT!


But at least I have a cool shirt to wear.


~Ben

We are at the concert 4 hrs early. Time for a car nap. :) We are officially old.

7,979 Days

December 5.

Every year on December 5, Michael asks me if I know what day it is.

As if.

As if I could ever forget December 5, 1987.

We looked something like this back then.

Please disregard the acid wash (me) & the mullet (Michael), although in his defense that hairstyle was called a bi-level back then. Wait. That doesn't sound any better, does it?! Anyway...

It was our senior year in high school & we each took the SATs at 2 different universities that morning. We were supposed to take them together, but Michael forgot to put his check in the envelope back in October when we drove to the airport post office JUST to mail in our applications & have them postmarked before the deadline. (Wow! Just the fact that we MAILED our SAT applications dates us, doesn't it?!)

That's not really the point.

The point is that it was "a crisp and cold December day" (for Florida, probably in the 40s or 50s, I'm thinking) & seeing as I didn't have any wheels of my own, after the test, I sat outside & enjoyed a hot cocoa out of a vending machine while I waited for Michael to pick me up. In this.

(This wasn't in December, judging from what he was wearing & his hairstyle, I would say this was probably taken the following spring. I just wanted you to see a picture of my boyfriend & his 1980 Fiat Spider.)
Oh! How I loved that car! It was a perfect 80's car, was it not?!

With the top down & the heater on (OHHHH YEAAAAH!!! There is NO better way to ride on a cold December day... in Florida. You might not want to try this in New England or Colorado, just sayin'. Although it might be nice to do right now. In October. Just not December.) we headed to the old Tampa Stadium to see this guy.

Remember him?! Me neither.

And these guys.

Para bailar La Bamba Para bailar La Bamba Se necessita una poca de gracia Una poca de gracia Para mi, para ti, ay arriba, ay arriba Ay, arriba arriba Por ti sere, por ti sere, por ti sere

Oh yeah. And these guys.

OH!!! THOOOOOSE GUYS! THOSE GUYS! THOSE GUYS! You know, Bono & the boys. (Note: There may be a mullet bi-level questionable 80s hairstyle in this photo)

The Joshua Tree Tour with General Admission tickets!!! Quite by accident (we got caught up in a mad rush of people when they opened the gates) we ended up with a great spot about 3 "rows" of people from this guy.


While I would have preferred to be in front of this guy...

Damn, I love The Edge! But, I'm not complaining. It was still an awesome spot to see the show!

It was a magical night. You can read a review about that particular show here. Since then, we've seen U2 several times, but that show was definitely the best! Truly, this was the concert that we measure all other concerts against. And none have ever come close...

Tomorrow night, 7,979 days later...

we look like this.

we will be driving this.


we will be bringing this guy.

we will be hot.

we will be sitting in these seats.



But... we will still be seeing hearing these guys.


THOOOOOOSE GUYS! THOSE GUYS! THOSE GUYS!

And no mullets will be involved! (at least I hope not)

WOOHOO!!!!

Today's the Day

Happy Birthday Chris, or, as she's known around these parts, Happy Birthday Gramma Tiss!!! Hope you have a great one!

Seven months...

...til my birthday. Have you started shopping yet?! :) jk

One day until my lovely mother-in-law's birthday! Have I started shopping yet?! hmmm????

Happy Birthday Chris!!! Looking forward to dinner Sunday night.