A Shot in the Arm

WOW! I took the ultimate nite off from SL to indulge in RL live music. Bigd and I went to see Matchbox 20. Alanis Morisette warmed up (if she counts as a warm up - shouldn't it be like a 2 headliner concert??) and another band warmed up for them all - from New Orleans. We never caught their name and once I find it I will edit this post to credit them - they were good too.

I felt like the scream/sing/dance therapy was worth EVERY penny. Yes, I may be too damn old to act like a silly teenage girl at a concert - but, damn, it was FUN! Hoo! We had seats. ROFL. We didn't realize we had seats. We thought we were in the grassy area of the concert pavillion that was open seating - for the common man/cattle. However, when we got there and actually READ our computer home printed tickets we realized - WHOOO HOOO - we had seats! Kinda NOT that far away. Far enough away unforunately I don't think Rob Thomas will remember my face but he'll remember my Hoo - I'm sure of it! (kidding)

There is nothing like seeing music live. You feel the music all the way through your entire being. The bass, the drum reverberate through your body. The guitars and vocals fill your ears until you aren't sure you can take any more. The lights and the crowd surround you. You become a part of something bigger than yourself. For just a few hours, you are void of all other cares in the world. You soak up every note, every ounce of atmosphere. (ok you people - I'm not talking about the funny smelling smoke in the air either)

Something about this concert was different though. Ok, maybe it is because I am old and married. I wasn't yearning really to go home with Rob Thomas (hee hee) or because I wasn't drunk or high like parts of the audience. Or, because at one point the friend who had come with us joked between the Matchbox 20 main show and encore to "just come on out already, I'm too old for this silliness, you know we want you to do a few more songs and we know you are coming back anyway" when we had screamed our faces and clapped our hands off. You know, what made it the MOST different, the MOST ever of any show I have ever attended was that the musicians were all so incredibly GRACIOUS.

They thanked each other and they thanked us. Not just the typical... and now here is so and so on drums but they thanked Matchbox 20 for the opportunity to play with them and tour with them - Alanis and the other band I can't remember the name of. Matchbox 20 thanked us. Matchbox 20 thanked the newest members of their band - 3 new additional members - new drummer, new keyboards and guitar, and new rhythm guitar for touring with them for the first time. Rob Thomas said something along the lines of - we know there are a lot of ways you could have spent your time tonite and we know how valuable time is and this is time you can never get back, we thank you so much for spending it with us. How cool is that?? Both D and I were blown away by the attitude of gratitude. And yet, we had felt totally gracious we had a chance to be there in the first place (yea grandma for babysitting!!).

So... the concert high lingers into today. No... not a concert hangover... although I AM tired. God... I stayed up WAY past my SL bedtime. :) But driving in, blasting my car stereo (which does sound excellent btw) to Matchbox 20's Exile CD I relived the concert in the HOV lane and could have cared less about the traffic. I plan to do the same on the way home.

Tonite I look forward to logging into SL and enjoying music there. I thought about that too as I drove in today. Music is a compelling reason to log me into SL. Laugh, listen to good tunes, hang out with friends and forget RL worries for a little while. Kinda like a concert, but not as hard on your ears, not requiring a babysitter, and in the comfy clothes. Maybe Rob Thomas has a SL avitar.... LOL ;)

Final note: Pictures online - you can never see too many pictures of that cutie, right? Matchbox 20 and Alanis Morissette