There are times when I feel I was born in the wrong generation. Friday night was one of those times. We went to the Croatian Cultural Center to check out Relient K and Rocket Summer. I had seen both bands before. We had stumbled upon Rocket Summer last year in Seattle when they were touring with Jamison Parker, Huston Calls & Hellogoodbye. With his passion, energy & upbeat music, Bryce captured my attention immediately. I had seen Relient K at last years Warped Tour. At the time I had already put some of their songs on my ipod, but no one else had heard of them before, so I ended up watching them on my own.

This is the problem with my generation. When we were younger, we found out about good music because we would hear it on the radio. Today's youth find their favorite music in different ways. They find it through music websites like myspace and purevolume, they download it, and they send it to each other over instant messaging. People my age have the mindset that if it's not on the radio, it's not good music. I can't tell you how many times I've played non-mainstream music for my friends and they totally disregard it... until they hear it on the radio, and then the next thing you know it's their favorite new band. For instance, now my friends are all talking about this new band called Fall Out Boy, and I'm like "dude, I told you about that band a year ago!" Before, they had just classified it as my "emo shit" & ignored it.

Anyways, to get back to the point, since the friends I went with were not interested in getting up close for the show, I ran off with Bella (a myspace chick/ RA fan) & Bella, her friends & I pushed our way through a crowd of already sweaty youth till we got close to the stage. The crowd was pushing before the band was even up on stage & I there I am squashed amongst hundreds of sweaty teens, and I'm thinking "am I too old to be here?" And just then, the band starts and it doesn't matter because we are all there for the same reason. We are all there for good times & good tunes. We are all moving as one, we are all jumping, we all have our arms in the air, we are all singing the lyrics as if they are our own and we are loving it. Poor Bella loses her contact and we all fall down but there are hands to pick us back up, and we are back up & dancing, jumping, screaming, singing! Bryce is apparently enjoying the crowd's enthusiasm as he jumps into the crowd and surfs over us... hands everywhere, reaching out. The actions of the crowd is echoing his lyrics and we "dance until we just can't, clappin our hands to the songs & keep dancin around to the joyful sound that the band plays..." It is a possibility that I am one of the oldest people in the crowd, but it doesn't matter, this is for me too.

After the show Bryce is at the merch booth, and like the groupie I am I line up with a bunch of 15 year olds, I go say hi, good show & we have our picture taken.

I decide to get a different concert view for Relient K. This time I hang out at the back of the crowd near all the parents leaning against the wall. Perhaps this is more my age group? The band opens up with Happy Birthday for Matt. Then they break into their song about the 80's and the kids go nuts, and I turn to Sparky and we wonder if half these kids were even around in the 80's. Their performance was surprisingly entertaining, including their salute to Top Gun playing songs like "Highway to the Danger Zone" and "Take my Breath Away." Near the end as they played one of their slower, more religious songs, lights were held high and began to sway in the audience. I look around me and cannot help but laugh. The kids in the audience are not holding up lighters. I am surrounded by kids who are holding up their cell phones! Held high and open, with the light it produces swaying from side to side. I step back and I smile. Times have changed so much. These kids are growing up in such a technical age. Today they discover music in ways we could not even fathom twenty years ago. Music may change in genre, in style, and form, but one thing is for certain. Music will always continue to bring people together no matter what your age is. To dance. To sing. To live in the moment. & to leave us breathless and satisfied... and usually with a slight ringing in the ears.