Ben: So, do you want to go see Air or not?
(note: Ben really is nowhere near as confrontational as I make him out to be)
Mena: Yes. I told you I did.
Ben: Are you sure? You can't change your mind.
Mena: Why would I?
Why would I?
Maybe because I'm trying to preserve my image as a can't-handle-crowds-like-a-normal-person kind of person.
I'll try desperately to get out of going to a concert as soon as I start picturing the crowds. The lines. The Neanderthals who just don't get it. The people who spill beer on me as I try to squeeze my way through the lobby and find the restroom.
And of course, I do all this thinking the night of the concert.
I always go, though.
And, once the music starts, I usually forget all my hang-ups and realize:
Wow, I really love concerts.
Unfortunately, this epiphany usually is a bit of "too little, too late" for Ben. After spending half the night listening me to complain about the crowds, the lines and the beer, he's ready to swear off concerts for good.
That's the background behind the Air question. And even though I answered affirmatively, he didn't buy the tickets.
But I did.
We haven't been to a concert in ages. We attended our last one -- Mercury Rev -- while in college. I figured, it's time to turn off HGTV and start acting our ages.
And now, a random list.
My top five concert-going experiences (in chronological order):
1. BFD, 06.10.94, B.B. (Before Ben). Shoreline Amphitheater, Mountain View.
My first concert, BFD was a radio-sponsored all-day festival. Musically, not very memorable. But what freedom! Because my friend Beth and I had to lie and say we were sleeping-over at each other's houses, and because we never considered where we would actually stay after the show was over, we ended up sleeping in my car in a library parking lot.
2. Possum Dixon/Violent Femmes. 02.10.95, Luther Burbank Center, Santa Rosa.
The most exhilarating concert I ever attended. It was local, I was three feet away from the stage, and, for one night, I got over my "I hate people" blues.
3. The Longpigs / Suede, 05.23.97. The Fillmore, San Francisco.
In 1995, on Ben and my first date, one of our conversations was about how Suede was playing the next weekend. We couldn't get our acts together and missed that show. Suede in 1997 was about anticipation and pure animal lust. There's nothing like a sexy British man slapping his arse with a microphone.
4. Spiritualized / Radiohead, 04.02.98. Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, San Francisco.
Ben says Spiritualized was better. I say Radiohead. Regardless, it was the first concert where we learned that we sure like sitting in assigned seats. (Middle-age is quickly creeping up on us at this point.)
5. Kids in the Hall, 01.15.00. The Warfield, San Francisco.
Like Suede in 1995, I missed seeing the Kids in the Hall play the Palace of Fine Arts in 1994 by a matter of days. It didn't really matter, though. I wouldn't have been able to find anyone to go with me. All my friends hated the show and one even went so far as ripping down and throwing away the picture of Dave Foley I kept in my locker. A little while later they broke up and I cursed my horrid luck. I never thought I'd get to see them live.
