Collective So-OLD

For our wedding, friends got us tickets to Collective Soul.  CS was one of my favourite bands in high school.  Seriously, when I think of my Grade 12 year, it was all about their album.  I tend to be a bit beyond the depressing nineties music now, but I like to look back now and then.  Besides, 90s music is about all The Guy and I can agree on when it comes to our music tastes.  Mind you, I was more into Jann Arden and Portishead; he was more into Nine Inch Nails and Alice in Chains.

We planned to meet our friends at the concert.  We arrived there early as we often do, so we people watched.  It surprised me the difference in age and status groups that were present.  We had a few people our age, a couple of barely 19 "I've just discovered this great old band" skateboarders and a whole lotta old people.  (No offense to you all.)  Everyone else was over 40 -- but closer to over 50 -- and had not quite let go of the early 90s.  In fact, some had not let go of the early 80s.

I have never seen that many graying mullets in one place.  One man rivaled Dog the Bounty Hunter.  But only because his hair was shaved on the sides and a dirty gray instead of blond.  Then there was the couple with matching mullets and a few with matching biker jackets.  It was awesome.

The concert started and I wasn't sure what I thought.  The lead guy was well into his early 40s.  He had a bit of a pot-belly he had tried to hide by leaving his white dress shirt untucked and had shoulder length wavy hair as though he was pretty sure that would convince everyone he was still 27 and hip.  He danced about the stage, threw the microphone about a lot, and caused me great distraction and uncomfort.  "Dude... you're 100."  Then he started to sing.

I was instantly transported back.  The music was the same, the words the same, the feeling the same.  Suddenly it didn't matter that he was a middle aged dude whose band members were all 6 years old when his first album came out.  It was fantastic!  He played almost all my favourite songs and the crowd went wild.  (Or as wild as you can go when you're in a lounge at a table rather than an outdoor concert with a mosh pit like the first time I saw them.)

It was an excellent concert.