Baseball and Earplugs

Last Saturday was a busy one for our household. For starters, Sweet Pea's girl scout troop, along with many other troops in the area, was invited to the Metrodome to see a Twins game. Before the game, the scouts got to parade across the field in their tunics and wave to the crowd. Luckily, SP allowed her brother to attend the game with her since he is such a Twins fan.

Unfortunately, Lady Di and I had other, unbreakable plans for that evening. We are fortunate, however, to have a great babysitter who was willing to take the kids and enjoy the game with them. LD went with them to settle them into the Dome and get Number One Son his BIG PRETZEL and SP her bag-o-cotton-candy. Once the snacks were arranged, LD met me at the Target Center for our night out.

We attended our first rock concert in fourteen years. Green Day is one of my favorite bands so LD got tickets for my Father's Day gift. At the arena, I was surprised to see that we weren't the oldest couple there. In fact, Green Day fans are pretty much represented by all age groups. We were also shocked to find out how many parents brought their young children, seven years old and up, to the concert. N1S is a big Green Day fan, but not all of their songs are appropriate for kids. Plus, I'm not sure if his ears could have handled the volume of the music and special effects. There were more times than once that LD and I got the phlegm in our chest pounded loose by the drums and various explosions throughout the concert.

Sitting next to us was a boy that was no older than seven with his father. Half way through the show, the seven year old sat back in his seat bored while his Dad air-guitared the rest of the set. The lead singer Billie Joe even pulled two eleven year old boys on the stage to help with the show. To some of the parents' credit many of the young kids we saw had ear plugs but not all of them. The youngest we saw in attendance, was a pregnant woman's yet unborn child. I wonder how rock music sounds in the womb.

Even with all of the pyrotechnics and light show, we were both continually distracted by people watching. Just to our right were a pair of seventies-friz-haired twins who seemed to think they were the backup dancers for the band. From the first song, they were completely in sync with each other doing a dance that looked like they were trying to row a boat with very tiny quick strokes. About half way through the concert though, their choreography started to fall apart as one of the team started running out of gas.

We sat at the top of the lower section on the opposite side of the arena from the stage. Even though we were at the top of our section, we had steps and a walkway just two rows in front of us. I thought, "these are going to be great seats". At my advanced age I don't need to be 'moshing' in front of the stage. I also felt that my ears were a semi-comfortable distance from the speakers. And the best part was, since we were away from the stage with only two people in front of us, I was going to be able to enjoy the music from my seat and not feel the need to stand throughout the concert. However, when Green Day came out on stage and played that first note, the Mom and her teenage son sitting in front of us immediately stood up and stayed that way until the encore. I thought, "Come on, Mom! There is absolutely no one in front of you! You don't have to stand!".

So I shook my cane at her, put my teeth back in and shouted something about 'whippersnappers' and grumbled myself to my feet. She must not have heard me over the music because she just kept clapping and shaking her booty. I guess she did sit down once during the show to pay the drink vendor for her strawberry margarita in a plastic hurricane glass, while her teenage son held it for her and kept trying to sneak a taste while pretending to only smell it.

The evening ended with a five song encore and our legs and ears were still working. We went home right afterwards to give our babysitter her bag of money and pretty much went straight to bed. We are old after all.

It was difficult to get a good picture of the stage from where we were and LD wouldn't let me post the picture I got of her trying to jimmie the lock on Billie Joe's dressing room back stage.

It was a great show and a memorable night. Thank you again, Lady Di. I'd say we are probably good on concerts for another fourteen years now. Unless, Green Day comes back sooner.