Foo Fighters Friday

Tonight, at long last, my beloved Foo Fighters roar into Nashville like a riptide!

I go to great pains to expose my kiddos to a wide variety of popular music.  The Foos have been my #1 favorite rock band since shortly after the release of their second album, The Colour and the Shape, in May 1997, supplanting Rush, which had been my #1 favorite rock band (only slightly ahead of Queen & Styx) throughout the 80s and 90s.

Owing chiefly to their awesome music but also to their quirky, hilarious videos, the Foos are my kiddos’ #1 favorite rock band as well.  The Girl, who’s twelve & a half, and I have been waiting since Christmas for this night to arrive.  Actually, I’ve been waiting since October, when I bought the tickets.

Rarely has a father been more excited than I was.  I have long wanted to take The Girl to her first rock concert, and we’ve always known it would have to be the Foo Fighters.  So when I first learned last spring that they were coming to Bridgestone Arena in October, I was freakin’ stoked!

I called The Boss (my wife & best friend) to ask if I could purchase tickets, and she gave me her blessing.  I was disheartened to learn they would be performing on a school night but undeterred.  I looked at all their dates within a 250-mile radius.  I was that determined to take my Girl to see them, not knowing if or when we’d get another chance.  Alas, none of those dates would work out either.  I had to cry on The Boss’s shoulder that night.

Then news came that the Foos had to postpone their Nashville concert due to unspecified personal reasons, and a tiny flame of hope sparked to life.  When they announced their rescheduled performance would be on May 4th, a Friday, I almost fainted.  I called The Boss again to make sure we still had enough money to purchase tickets.  She said yes.  I whipped out the card, got online, and started browsing available seats.

While I was looking, I got an email from The Girl’s school theater teacher.  I always open teacher emails immediately.  This one didn’t just break my heart, it shattered it and smothered my joy.  It was the performance schedule for the spring musical, in which The Girl has several roles.  And guess when the final performance was scheduled?  Yep, that’s right.  Friday, May 4th.

Y’all, I cried.  Not silent, manly tears.  No, these were giant, copious, snot-flowing-out-the-nose, choking sobs of utter despair.  Defeated, depressed, and wholly destroyed, I put the card back in the wallet and logged out of Ticketmaster.  It took The Boss’s tender ministrations as well as several generous glasses of Evan Williams on the rocks to console me that night.

Miracle of miracles, several weeks later, the theater teacher emailed again: the school band was already scheduled to perform on Friday, May 4th, so the play was rescheduled to the following week!  There’s no describing my elation.

I called The Boss again.  She said yes again.  I logged on.  There were still some tickets left.  They were in the nosebleeds, but I didn’t care.  Never in my life had I been or will I be so excited about a rock concert.  I got the tickets.  I announced my glee on Facebook and included an admonition not to tell The Girl, for the tickets were going to be a Christmas stocking stuffer.

On Christmas day, I recorded The Girl opening the envelope with the receipt for the ticket purchase.  It is a priceless, precious moment, and you can hear my voice crack when The Girl realizes what she’s holding.  Unfortunately, I’m on the Poor Blogger’s plan, so I can’t post the video clip here.  But for those of you who are interested in watching it, (and it’s truly worth watching, I still get choked up when I view it) here’s the URL you can copy & paste into your address bar:  https://www.facebook.com/100012567134827/videos/392258497869718/?l=7371300895873949783

The video is posted on Facebook.  I take a strong “separate spheres” approach to my few social media accounts.  I do not mix Facebook and WordPress, so if you send me a friend request when you view the video, please don’t be offended when I decline it.

Tonight’s the night, y’all, and I’m the giddiest Dad in Tennessee!  Happy Friday, and May the fourth be with you!

via Daily Prompt: Tide