Surf's Up

Ya' know that little filter that's supposed to make you stop and ask, "Am I getting too old to do this?" I think mine's broken. I had a moment today where it probably should have kicked in, but it didn't, and now I'm wondering what I may have gotten myself into.

Over the years, I've taken Teen Angel to a few concerts. We've seen Matchbox Twenty and Ricky Martin together. And may I say that is one hot Puerto Rican. It was fun because we both enjoyed their music. In the last year or so, our musical tastes have started to split somewhat. Right now, Teen Angel's favorite musical group in the whole wide world is the alternative group Blue October. For months, she's been following their tour dates, hoping they would come near our corner of Kentucky. And for months she's had no luck. They tour only small venues and stick to a few big cities, mostly in California, New York and Texas. Then, out of the blue I got an email today from Ticketmaster, alerting me to the latest shows in St. Louis, and right there in the middle of the page was Blue October. Only the show was Sunday, April 5th at 8pm. A school night. And I'm not a cool enough mom to take her out of school the next day just to go to a concert. I need that kid to earn some scholarships for Pete's sake. But then it occurred to me to check their spring break schedule, and sure enough, the show is right on the front end of spring break. I said to myself, "Self, you can do some alternative music. You're not THAT old." So after much scrutiny, because the concert hall is kind of a large bar where minors are allowed only in certain sections, I excitedly bought three tickets, enough for me, Teen Angel and one of her buddies. She was over the moon when I told her about it.

Only now that my excitement has worn off a little, I'm starting to think about the reality of this event. It's standing room only-on and next to the dance floor, which is right in front of the stage. That means no sitting, which I can deal with. We've done that several times at Buffett. The thing that made me pause when I read the rules for the venue was this:

STAGE DIVING / CROWD SURFING Stage diving and/or crowd surfing will result in immediate ejection from a concert.

Okay, if you have to tell people not to stage dive, that's means there's a real possibility it could happen. I don't know what the cut-off age is for that kind of thing, but I know I'm waaay too old to be crowd surfing. I figure there are a handful of ways to know you're a mature adult. 1. You like to take naps again. 2. You eat your vegetables. 3. You wear ear protection around loud noises and hats in cold weather without being asked to and 4. You don't want strange people touching you concerts.

This should be an interesting experience. Here's hoping I don't end up on YouTube in a few weeks, passing over the heads of a bunch of alternative rockers. Teen Angel would be mortified, much more than when I danced a little rumba at the Ricky Martin concert. And I'm not sure I'm flexible enough anymore to do it without breaking something. Speaking of broken, I've got to fix that filter.