A Concert With My Kiddo

Gabe went with me tonight (I guess it was last night now) to the Jack Johnson concert. Originally this was supposed to be mine and Scott’s big anniversary date (a couple of months after our anniversary), but it didn’t quite work out that way. Things were just too busy and crazy. He had scouts tonight that he could have gotten out of, but Josh had football practice and we weren’t sure how to work out babysitting, etc. Finally I decided that since Gabe actually knows and enjoys Jack Johnson and Scott hadn’t heard of him until I brought up the concert, maybe I should take Gabe and Scott and I will do something else later. That solved our difficulties in one fell swoop.

Before I talk about the concert, I’ll just say that today was crazy! I had lots of errands and things that had to be done. I have a pile of work that still has barely been started, with no clear plan on when it will be finished because tomorrow is packed as well. One interesting note from the day was that Gabe had a doctor checkup and he was exactly 100 pounds. He is now 5 feet 4 inches. Crazy! I remember so well when he was 8 lbs 11 oz and 21 inches long. How does that happen?! He has been a teenager for almost a year now, but just this summer I have started seeing the real signs of adolescence and it’s so weird for me. I’m not old enough to have a teenager am I?

So, moving on. As I said, the day was a little harried. I got the directions for the concert on Google maps, which told me that it would take us about 1 hour and 10 minutes to get there. I had to wait for Scott to get home because he needed to take Noah and give me some money. By the time I pulled out of our fair city I had 1 hour and 20 minutes to get to the concert. That would give me 10 minutes to park. Cool. (Can you sense what’s coming yet?) What Google maps was not aware of, though, was how popular and loved Jack Johnson is and that due to bumper to bumper traffic for much of the way, it would actually take me about 3 hours and 10 minutes to get there. That’s right. We were 2 hours late. Funny thing is, we were far from alone. Hoards of people were walking in with us. I was trying not to be majorly stressed out and a basket case. Gabe was taking it all in stride, though. We got to the gate and the lovely people made me take my camera back to the car, but hey, what’s another 10 minutes? A funny thing, in that stop and go traffic I had time to study the tickets and noticed it said “rain or shine.” Hmm, did that mean this event was outside? Yes, as a matter of fact it was. Did we bring an umbrella? No.

Into the concert we finally went. We happened to arrive during an intermission and worked our way to the standing area to the front left of the stage. Luckily it wasn’t raining and it wasn’t too cold, although Gabe ended up being cold and used my jacket, but I was fine. Despite the stress of being late, it really was a gorgeous drive through hills and forests with the dropping sun. The setting of the amphitheater, called Columbia Meadows, was really beautiful and it was kind of fun to be outside. A drawback of being outside, though, was all the smoking. Between the smells of alcohol, tobacco, and another strong and unpleasant odor I could not identify (but I had my guesses), I was feeling a little sick to my stomach. Add that to the stress of the drive and I was starting to wonder if I hadn’t made a huge mistake spending all the money for the tickets and gas and using all that time when I should have been working.

Then Jack came out. He started singing and his magic started working. It didn’t take very long until I was smiling and relaxed and dancing to the music. I just don’t think you can listen to Jack Johnson and be stressed out. Since almost everyone I mentioned this concert to didn’t know who Jack Johnson was (and country seemed to be the first guess as to style of music) I’ll just say that he sings really laid back music with lots of guitar and great rhythms. It’s not country at all! I love his lyrics too. He has great stories and images in his writing. Some of his songs have very political messages and world views in them. Others are sweet and original love songs. He is really a great songwriter. The music just gets into me somehow. On the way to the concert I was trying to think of which song is my favorite and I couldn’t do it, but I guess my top five, in no particular order, are Broken, No Other Way, Flake, Better Together, and Constellations, but I’m still leaving out songs I love so maybe I just shouldn’t pick favorites.

The concert went until 11 so we did get 2 full hours of music and it was definitely worth it. In fact I was so loving it that I was thinking to myself that I need to go to Jack Johnson concerts whenever I get the opportunity and I need to download the rest of his songs that I don’t have yet, and I need to buy the Curious George DVD and I need to move to Hawaii so that I can maybe run into him sometimes. Well not really the last one, but being there was definitely increasing my fan devotion. By the end of the concert there was some misty rain, but it wasn’t bothering me at all. I was mellow. No worries. Gabe at times thought the music was too loud and had his fingers in his ears. It looked like he was unhappy but he actually said it sounded perfect that way and I think he really did enjoy it. I also really liked the pianist, Zach Gill. He had a fun personality and was amazing on the keyboard. He also sang a bit and has a great voice. He played a little accordion and sang a couple of songs that he wrote. He was very entertaining. It was a great night. I wish Scott could have been there with me, but I’m glad I got to have a fun night with my very sweet Gabe.

Hmm, this was supposed to be short, but once I started writing I couldn’t stop! It’s a good thing I’ve been staying up late this summer so I wasn’t tired tonight. But now it’s really time to go to bed!

~ by Kathy on August 21, 2008.