Rock and Old

Last night Tom and I went to a Duran Duran concert. I found myself feeling sort of sorry for a 16 year old me who would have KILLED to see Duran Duran but could not afford it, whereas now I paid three times what tickets cost then, and I spent the entire time wishing I were in bed.

I could make a few excuses as to why I am so tired these days. This week at work has been particularly grueling, for example. But really, I'm just lame. Old and lame.

The second we entered the hall - about half the size of the stadiums Duran Duran used to fill which made me want to run backstage and apologize to the band - my ears started ringing. How is it that there are high-pitched frequencies only teenagers can hear, yet teenagers aren't at all bothered by the squealing of bad speakers turned up in volume to make up for quality? I don't remember ever thinking it was too loud when I was younger. But old people are notorious for the old "your music is too loud" complaint and now I'm a freaking cliche.

Luckily Tom, who is even older than me - FORTY if you must know, which is mind-blowingly old - foresaw this problem and brought... can I admit this? Oh all right. He brought earplugs. Yes, he brought earplugs to a rock concert and god bless 'im for it or my head would have exploded.

But we weren't the only ones suffering. Simon, the lead singer, was apparently feeling his age, too, or at least that's what I'm assuming based on the fact that he asked the audience to sing half his songs for him. I guess he was out of breath. It does seem the older the band, the more often they hold that microphone toward the audience with a limp arm, letting the audience do the work for them while they take a bit of a rest on stage. I sang more Duran Duran at the Duran Duran concert than Duran Duran did.

That all being said, it was still a great concert - the parts I was awake for, anyway. Despite the noise I was still able to sneak in a few cat naps here and there, which provided me with the temporary energy to stand for the particularly good songs. And of course standing helped with the whole singing from your diaphram thing too.

I think I'm going to write Duran Duran my first fan letter.

Dear Duran Duran,

You guys rock. You are so awesome. But next time could you keep it down a bit, and maybe start at 5pm so I can get home by my bedtime at 9? Also, please don't come on a school night. It throws off my whole week.

Thank you,

Karen

P.S. I enjoyed singing your songs for you. Please send my share of last night's ticket sales to the address below.