So, my girlfriend got very sick over the weekend. Sick enough to call out from work when Monday came around, and that is saying something, because she never calls out unless she really, really has to.
For my own selfish reasons, I was starting to get a bit nervous by that point, because we were supposed to go to the Pearl Jam concert in Philly on Tuesday night. She was already telling me that maybe I should try to get somebody else to go with. But I held out for a while.
"Let's see how you feel."
Really, I should have known. Despite my best efforts to hang onto hope, there came a point when her suggestion turned outright into a request to just get somebody else to go.
So, early on Tuesday morning, I put up the following message:
Any Pearl Jam fans out there? My gf was supposed to go with me for tonight's show in Philly, but she is very sick, and cannot make it. So, if you are interested in attending, shoot me a message or IM me. Ticket would be free, and we can make arrangements as we go along. Let me know.
Now, I grew up in northern New Jersey, maybe a couple of hours or so from Philadelphia. It's not exactly an enormous drive that takes all day, but it is a decent trip nonetheless, and not something that most people would necessarily do on the spur of the moment, for a concert that would go on until late at night, with another two hour drive back home to face afterward. I figured someone would be interested, but would they even be able to go?
Still, this was a free ticket to see Pearl Jam! On their anniversary, no less! Somebody was bound to be interested, right?
Yet, some of the early responses were more or less predictable. They went something like this, "Dude, that sounds really awesome, and I wish that I could go. But my responsibilities. Sorry."
There was one guy who was kind of on the fence, wanted to see if he could arrange it with work to arrive late the next day. But that did not pan out.
And there was one response from a high school classmate of mine now living in southern New Jersey. But the way that he responded sounded, at first, like he expected me to give up both tickets, like he assumed I did not want to go. In fact, this was the concert I was especially excited about, and really wanted to go to.
So, in responding, I made it clear that it was to go with me. He seemed interested, and so we made the arrangements at that point. It was decided that I would meet him in his hometown, and that we would go from there. No problem for me. I had a rental, since my car has been giving me some problems when in heavy traffic, and such conditions seemed likely for a concert. Plus, I had the rest of Tuesday, and all of Wednesday, off. Yes, my schedule is weird, but that was the way that it was. A very late night was not that scary of a thought for me, even in midweek.
Now, we were not terribly close friends back in high school. Not enemies or anything, and we were on friendly terms. But not exactly best of friends, or hanging out all the time. So, there was the question about what we would talk about for the long drive to and from the concert.
As it turns out, I need not have worried. He showed me a bit around his house. Or, more specifically, he showed me his man cave. Once we were on the way, we got to talking, and the conversation just kind of took a life of it's own. We talked about our lives. He had gone through a painful split with his ex-wife, and I told him my story, which was similar in some ways, yet very different in others.
Of course, we talked about high school. Who did we keep in contact with?
The thing is, the last time that I saw him was during the high school graduation. And you have to understand that these were not ordinary circumstances that I saw him in, either. He had been in a fatal car accident, and had been one of the seriously injured. In fact, he was only then beginning to be able to walk again. I remember no one really recognizing him at first, but then, when they announced his name, and he walked unsteadily forward to face the class that he was a part of, everyone erupted in joy. Our class had seen some serious tragedies, but this was a symbol of resilience, of defiance on some level. Mostly, of hope.
Naturally, I asked him about that. He told me he knew that I would ask.
He talked about his recovery after the accident, and how he had just been able to walk after intensive PT right around the time of our graduation, more than two months after the accident. As it turns out, he was doing some work now helping people recover from similar physical traumas, and wasn't it a wonder how things kind of went in a circle like that?
Being a Stephen King fan, I asked if he had read some of those later books, after King had been hit by the van in 1999. Most of them had some kind of horrific accident that left one of the characters in physical agony, and in need of therapy, physical and otherwise, to try and find some semblance of normality again in their lives. But he had not read them, and had read some of King's earlier works, like "It".
We talked about technology, and how different the world was back when we were growing up, as compared to now. How could we not, really? After all, we had not seen each other in over twenty years, and a lot had changed in the world, as well as our personal lives. He told me that he had a bit of a suspicion of technology, and that he was not exactly "up" on the latest technology. I told him that I shared the same sentiments.
Yes, I had been worried that we would have little to talk about. But, in fact, we had more in common then probably either of us had guessed, and we talked so much, particularly on the way to the concert, that we talked over the low volume GPS, and began to miss some of the directions. That was a relatively minor nuisance, though.
This was his first time seeing Pearl Jam, and he was very excited. Pearl Jam was one of the bands that he had on his list of bands to see, and I could believe it, as excited as he had sounded in responding to my Facebook post. In fact, I was kind of surprised that more people did not enthusiastically jump on the opportunity to see such a great band for free, even if they would pay for it the next day by being tired. But I was glad that he was going, and so excited about it.
The concert was great, and he was very happy, of course. Having already written a review on it, I will now move on to the trip back home.
We talked some more on the way back from the concert. But this time, we spoke about other things.
I asked what had brought him to southern Jersey, and he said cost of living, mentioning that he had gotten his present home for a cheap price, compared with what it would have been up north. I asked how he had been affected by Hurricane Sandy, and he said that they had lost power for three days, and that they had been forced to settle for Spam to eat afterwards, because there was nothing else on the shelves.
After a while, we stopped at a Wawa to get some coffee. I had never had Wawa coffee before, and he sounded really surprised. But it was good, and I needed it, because I had quite a bi of driving left to do. But i don't mind long drives when I rent a car, if it is under peaceful, and I can blast some music. In fact, I rather look forward to it.
In any case, we got the coffee, and then started back on the road again. We began to talk about the different concert experiences that we had. He asked me what my first concert was. I had been to a few concerts that my father had taken us to, but the first one that I chose to go to was in the summer of 1992, when we had graduated from high school. It was Metallica, touring with Guns 'N Roses, and with Faith No More as the opener. His first concert was ZZ Top.
He asked what bands I really would have liked to see, that I had never seen before.
Hmmm...interesting question. I thought about it, and then said Led Zeppelin, and began talking about how I really regretted not having seen Plant & Page on their 1994 tour when I got the chance. But there were actually quite a few groups that I wish I had seen. At the very least, there were a few groups that I would like to not be completely shut out of having seen any members. There was Nine Inch Nails, and the Clash. I had seen "Sirvana" at the 12/12/12 concert, but wished I had seen Nirvana with Kurt Cobain. I also mentioned the band that had been his first concert - ZZ Top. Never saw them, although I would sure like to.
We were fast approaching his home, and I dropped him off. But that thought of bands that I wished I had seen continued as I drove back.
As mentioned earlier, I was blasting music, and did not hear a phone call that I got at just before two in the morning. My girlfriend calling, checking up. She had woken up to find me not there yet. She called back a few minutes later and this time, I heard something dimly. I took the phone out of my pocket, and saw some missed calls from her
So, I called her back, and told her that I would be home. His home was further south than I expected, and i was still maybe an hour away.
A little less than that, and I was back home, but feeling restless. I wanted to do a thousand things, and my mind was racing. Mostly, it was the concert, which really had been great. I wanted to write the blog and download the pictures. Do it before I went to sleep, so then, I could be free to sleep in. But the computer is in the bedroom, and she was sleeping. She never likes the computer when it's on, because it keeps her up. But to my surprise, she let me do my work, and even helped me download the pictures when there were problems. It was her camera, after all, that I had borrowed for the concert.
Luckily, again, I had the day off on Wednesday, and was able to slowly adjust from the high of the Pearl Jam concerts. She was home, having called in sick, and so we were able to have a relaxing day at home together. She is sick, but beginning to feel a bit better, while I have been under the weather as well - just not as severely as her.
At some point yesterday, I looked for some other reviews of the two Pearl Jam shows in Philly that I had attended, and I thought I would share these links now, so you can see them for yourself. I ran into a few, as well as some other related articles to Pearl Jam in the news recently. Here they are:
"Pearl Jam at the Wells Fargo Center, Night One" by Dan DeLuca, Inquirer Music Critic writing for Philly.com, October 23, 2013:
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inthemix/Setlist-Pearl-Jam-at-the-Wells-Fargo-Center-Night-One.html
"Pearl Jam, very much alive" by Dan DeLuca, Inquirer Music Critic writing for Philly.com, October 23, 2013:
http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/music/20131023_Pearl_Jam__very_much_alive.html
"REVIEW: Older Pearl Jam at Wells Fargo Center is more than just 'Alive,' it's vital" by John J Moser of Lehigh Valley Music, October 23, 2013:
http://blogs.mcall.com/lehighvalleymusic/2013/10/pearl-jam-at-wells-fargo-center-is-more-than-just-alive-its-still-vital-.html
"Chris Cornell Salutes Pearl Jam's 'Footsteps' With the Avett Brothers on 'Fallon' Soundgarden singer also returns to Temple of the Dog in exclusive interview" published by Spin.com on October 22, 2013:
http://www.spin.com/articles/chris-cornell-pearl-jam-footsteps-avett-brothers-fallon-video/
"Pearl Jam Earns Fifth No. 1 Album On Billboard 200" by Keith Caulfield of Billboard L.A. | October 23, 2013:
http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/5763242/pearl-jam-earns-fifth-no-1-album-on-billboard-200
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