Seaward

Tonight, I went with a couple of friends to see the Foo Fighters in concert. I had seen them once before, back in 96 when they co-headlined with Rage Against The Machine at Mesa Amphitheater. I think it was a good show, but I don't really remember much from it, so I figured it would be best to go see them again.

I got tickets seated left-center of the stage on the other side of the floor. In Key Arena, these are good seats, really not too far away. Although I had seat 12, I sat in seat 10 since we had all three seats together. Man, I really wish I would have sat in my assigned seat.

I ended up sitting next to a couple of girls, probably not any older than 15. It's really hard to tell these days physically, but their behavior gave themselves away. Constantly giggling, non-stop text messaging, and just general goofing around. I really didn't mind at first, thinking that it couldn't last all show.

After Minus The Bear played a short set, the girls went back at it, nearly wrestling each other in the seats. The girl next to me came close to elbowing me in the face. I let it go at first, and they calmed down a bit until Supergrass came on.

Near the end of the extremely boring Supergrass set, they started throwing something around, and it ended up flying over my outstretched legs, under the seat just below me. Of course, the girls couldn't wait until the set to end to get whatever the hell it was, and squeezed past me to reach down and get it. To their credit, they did at least ask first, but never apologized.

I was really close to snapping at this point, but I really didn't feel like having to talk down to a couple of teenage girls, so I tried to shrug it off. They went off during the break before Foo Fighters, giving me some time to cool off. It wasn't enough. As soon as they got back, they started pushing each other around, again very nearly falling into me again. It was time to regulate.

"Excuse me, can I ask you a question?"
"Yeah, sure?"
"When the Foo Fighters come on, can you try to be just a little bit less annoying?"
"What?"
"You nearly elbowed me in the face a couple times already."
"I almost elbowed you?"
"Yeah, and I don't want to have to worry about that during the show."
"Well, I guess I'll try to work on that."
"Thanks."

That really doesn't capture the condescending tone I had, nor the sarcastic tone they had. At least it shut them up.

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Foo Fighters came on and just killed it, starting off with 6 songs straight without hardly breathing. Dave Grohl addressed the crowd and said "we're not here to play some bullshit one & a half hour show. We're talking all night, like 3, maybe 4 hours." The stage was set up with a long walkway leading down the middle of the floor, into some kind of circle platform with a tarp over it. No one really knew what was under there.

Shortly after those first 6 songs, the girls were back at it. Luckily, the Foos were loud enough that I was able to ignore them for the most part. During some more stage banter, the Foos asked the crowd who was here for their first time, and the girls screamed. I actually felt a bit sorry; this might have been their first show, and I probably could have been a bit more congenial. I almost apologized to the girls, but when I noticed their behavior was back to the same, it was hard not to be annoyed again.

After some 20-minute extended version of one song, I can't remember which, Dave Grohl walked out to the circular platform, which had been uncovered, and a small stage began descending from the ceiling. The rest of the band followed, plus four other musicians, for an acoustic set! I've been to a lot of shows, and I'd never seen anything like this. They played about 5 songs before the rest of the band headed back, while Dave just stayed there with his guitar, strumming a quiet riff. It didn't take more than 3 notes to recognize the song.

Everlong.

Talk about instant goosebumps! Just Dave & a guitar, singing a soft, acoustic version of one of my all time favorite songs. It was just absolutely beautiful, until...

Those fucking girls.

I didn't hear what they said, it didn't matter. They were talking, and they weren't screaming out at Dave. They were just talking to themselves about something, during the middle of arguably the best song from the 1990s. This was THE moment of the concert - what could be so important? I couldn't hold it any longer.

"Seriously, can you guys just shut up for one song?"
(incredulous looks on their face)
"One song, that's all I ask."

I was actually surprised that what came out was that polite. I was so fucking pissed at that point, I wouldn't have been surprised if I ended up dropping the "C" word on those 15 year old girls. Trust me, I know how strong that word is, I honestly don't think I've personally used it in a vindictive way. But I was ready too.

The song ended with the rest of the band kicking in after the breakdown, turning the song from a sweet acoustic version to a raucous sound of noise. Sadly, my memory of the moment will probably center around the fact that I had to play parent to a pair of disrespectful little bit....girls.

And to think, there was once a time when I used to really want kids.