Sunday, April 18, 2010

You wanted the best...

My first concert

This entry is inspired by the fact I'm going to a She and Him concert tonight, an event to which I'm so excited about, I'm peeing my pants just thinking about it and am close to making my ear drums jump ship with the amount of times I've played their second album as loud as possible on my ipod. 
So with this in mind I thought I'd tell you about the first concert I ever went to - I don't remember my exact age (maybe 8 or 9) but I was young enough to think having my face painted was extremely cool. First however, I must digress. To say my Dad is a major Kiss fan would be similar to saying most Australians are sort of into sports or Nigella Lawson kind of likes Chocolate - bottom line, its an understatement - The man started the Kiss Army in Australia when he was just a young teen, a fact that becomes extremely apparent when watching him listen to one of their songs (basically he reverts into that same 10 year old boy discovering rock music for the first time). So you can imagine that NOT being a kiss fan was simply not an option, you could say I was preparing to see them in concert since I became old enough to stick my tongue out far enough to be congratulated on my impression of Gene (4 years old). 

Cut to a fews years later - sitting still in afterschool care feeling the cold hard bristles of a paint brush slide up and down my cheek, lathering it in thick white paint. I had been psyching myself up all day and had managed to get everyone around me just as enthused. The night was cold, a briskness that complimented my excessive fidgeting. One of the caretakers had agreed to paint my face to look like Paul, the star child. We met with my dads brother and his family (the same ones from the last story) at a restaurant in the city and already the excitement was palpable. I could barely stay in my seat as I looked through the windows at other Kiss fans making their way to the stadium. I looked down at the kiss shirt I was swimming in and knew even though my face was now smeared from eating spaghetti I was a part of something big.

I, was a diehard fan. 

less than an hour later we were down the front of the stage looking up at the enormous kiss banner hiding it from view, earplugs had been wedged in my ears and I was already standing on my seat ready. We heard the the sound of amps buzzing, guitars being plucked and primed... then.....a slow chant began rising from the depths of the auditorium.. 

kiss 
kiss 
kiss
kiss... we joined in, it grew louder, people started screaming, banging on chairs, clapping, stripping (yep you read right) then without warning 


ALLLLLLRIIIIGGGGGHHHHT SYDNEEEEEY 




YOUUU WANTED THE BEST




YOUUU GOT THE BEST



THE HOTTEST      BAND IN THE WORLD





KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSS



Sparks flew from the stage, lights exploded into full beam, and as the banner dropped dramatically to the ground standing in all their glory was KISS already into the brilliant guitar riffs that start Shout it out loud! My Dad went crazy - we all had air guitars as we stood their screaming the words. The rest was a blurr as I was swept up in the spectacle that is a kiss concert - at one point paul, seeing my makeup, pointed down at me and swung his pelvis around in my direction, (I've never seen my dad more proud of me than at this moment) and if I was old enough to understand the connotations of that movement I may have fainted - the blood, the tears, the music - it was unbelievable!! I walked closely behind dad at the end of the concert, clutching his hand to avoid the bustle of the crowd. I was in awe. I had lost feeling in my feet from jumping, had no hearing and my eyes were still bleary from staring at the lights and fire, but the grin on my face showed just how happy I was in that moment. I was coming of the high that was my first concert, and I was hooked.



Thanks Dad


I'd love to hear any concert stories you have! Hope your all having an awesome weekend ^_^

12 comments:

  1. That drawing is so cute Lesley! :) Also you have quite the knack for storytelling!

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  2. Thanks Sluu!! I'm actually writing a few books at the moment, so to hear that is very motivating ^_^

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  3. are you going to the UCLA los angeles festival of books?
    http://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks/

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  4. No I have to work :( I really really wanted to though!!

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  5. You have a very pretty blog. Makes me smile :)

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  6. nice blog and very cool appeal to your characters Lesley! One memory of a concert was my brother, friend and I went to an A.F.I concert down in San Diego. Both of my companions picked me up from school and we drove down the coast to S.D. Anywhoo, the whole thing was called street scene, and it had a whole slew of cool bands playing at different parts of the place it was held. All day long we were waiting for a.f.i to come on.

    The time was near...all of us bought alot of merch from the merch table, so we had two plastic bags full. I somehow got to hold both of them cuz my brother and my friend decided to drink. I don't drink much so i held the bags grrr. A.F.I went on and the place went nuts. I held the bags tight in my hand. Songs got louder and I got into it. I jumped in the mosh pit with my hair all long infront of my face moshing away...mind you with two full bags of merch....lol quite a site let me tell you. I got knocked down, held on but had my knees cut and scraped. people in the mosh said help him up!!! and i continued to do my thing...having fun :) ahhhh memories.

    hope that wasn't too long.

    great story and great blog

    keep it up

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  7. coNstanza : Thanks so much! - I'm so glad I could make you smile ^_^

    Wayne: Hahahah what a great idea for a drawing! I'm glad you weren't too hurt when you fell down - those mosh pits can be pretty scary! Thanks so much for telling me your story, I really hope I hear more with my next entries ^_^

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  8. Awww, Lel!!! I laughed, I cried, I smiled... you, missy, just made my day!!!

    Just finished all the entries and as I suspected, I can't wait for the next one. No, really, I can't. I'm probably going to rack your brain to hear a sneak peek next time I see you.

    And let me say the drawings really compliment the AMAZING writing (you really do have a knack for storytelling). More from me later, but good show! Good show!

    P.S.In answer to your first entry, the blog is a success (and definitely worth following)!!!

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  9. GREAT Blog Lesley!! Ditto everything Tony said.

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  10. Thanks Jac! ^_^

    And thanks to you too of couse Tone! you know how much your comments make my day :D

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