So, my husband and I ditched our boys on Halloween night for fun. And it was totally worth the initial feeling of guilt.
[For the record, my kids had a ball trick-or-treating with our awesome neighbor. They came home with more candy than they would have had they gone out with us. And we did get to march in our town’s Halloween parade before leaving for the concert.]
When we arrived at the State Theatre, there was a line wrapped around the building. My initial observation was that we were clearly going to be the oldest people at this concert.
A few passersby asked who was playing and, upon hearing “fun.”, noted that they had never heard of the band. One woman, who was probably my age, said “I’m way too old to know them!”
To which I replied, “No you’re not!”
Earlier that day, a neighbor at the school bus stop (again, around my age) told me it had been years since she and her husband had gone to a concert.
Why do people stop going to concerts when they are out of their 20s and have kids?
I’m sorry. That’s no excuse to not go see a band play in concert. A good band is way better live than on an album. (And fun. did not disappoint on that end.)
As we got closer to the opened theatre doors, we passed by a hair salon where we could see three women getting ready to go out for Halloween. They had overalls on with condoms pinned on them. One had a condom over her left eye. My husband and I smiled because we immediately knew who they were supposed to be. The girls in front of us, who were also studying for a pharmacology exam as we stood in line, were completely perplexed.
I guess college students aren’t aware of TLC.
Once we got in the theatre, we felt a little better. There were some “older” people there. Most were supervising young teenager, but that counts for something, right?
We paid $13.50 for a beer and a drink (!) and hung out in the area for the 21 and older crowd. This was our view.
The Miniature Tigers started the evening off for us. The lead singer was dressed as a woman. Actually, every band member was dressed in costume.
Fun.? They were dressed as the cast of Friends. They even had a couch on stage with a Central Perk sign and opened with the theme song to Friends. At one point, “Phoebe” took center stage and sang “Smelly Cat.”
Fun. was so much better live than I could have ever imagined. Lead singer, Nate Ruess, sounded Freddie Mercury-esque. I couldn’t believe how good his voice sounded live. (If you’ve sung along to any of fun.’s songs, you know what I mean. He hits some notes.)
And while I don’t always like the cheesy sing-a-longs at concerts, Nate knew exactly how to get the audience going. At some point, there was a zombie sing-a-long and confetti.
Did I mention proceeds of the concert also went to charity because there was environmental and social consciousness element to it? Even better!
There’s nothing like screaming your head off to some really great tunes with hundreds (or thousands) of complete strangers, many of whom were dressed in costume.
So, the next time you think you are too old to attend a concert, think again.
We may now be closer to 40 than 30, but we make it a point to go out and attend at least a few concerts each year. And I’m sure we’ll be going to even more when G gets older.
What’s more fun. than that?
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