Thursday, March 29, 2007

And Even I'm Getting Tired...


I was talking to my friend Will Briarwood today. I thought he would tell me about last night’s Patty Griffin show, but…

“We didn’t go.”

Bummer. What happened?

“What happened? What happened is that I forgot that going to shows in the city on weeknights is pretty tough on a tired old guy, who is still adjusting to new medication, and is sick of fighting traffic. I just wasn’t up for it.”

Sorry to hear that, Will. I know you’re a big fan of Patty’s.

“Yeah. I was bummed about missing her shows at Schubas earlier this year, so I was hoping to catch last night’s show, but it didn’t happen. If I had planned things better, I could have at least sold the tickets on ebay or something…”

You ok? You sound tired again.

“I probably shouldn’t have had a beer with lunch, when I’m on medication.”

Did you watch Lost last night, as long as you were home?

“Yeah. So not only did I miss my concert, but I wasted an hour watching another weak episode of Lost.”

It was not one of their better shows. I’m not sure what the point was in telling the backstory of a couple of minor characters.

“I wanted to watch Jericho last night, but didn’t have time.”

Me neither. I burned more of covivant’s cooking shows to dvd, watched Lost, and went to bed just past ten.

“I was talking to someone about that big Clapton concert, the big festival that’s in Chicago this year.”

The Crossroads concert.

“Yeah, that one. When I expressed my opinion that big all day festivals were fine for young people, that I wouldn’t go unless I had a skybox ticket, in the shade, with a private bathroom – well, the person I was talking with called me a ‘weenie.’”

Yawn. Whatever.

“I mean, I saw some festivals when I was younger, but when I make a list of the best shows I’ve seen, I don’t think my list includes anything that was at Soldier Field, or Navy Pier, or that Guinness Fleadh clusterfuck.”

The person you were talking to about the Clapton thing – is this one of those guys who thinks that the more money he pays for a show, the better the show is?

“I don’t think so. I think he’s genuinely enthusiastic about music, even though he’s older than we are. He’s mostly a classic rock fan, and those are the shows that you find at big stadiums in the summer.”

I don’t plan on finding any of those shows.

“I thought about going to that festival last year in Chicago, the one that Roky Erickson played at. But I just have no interest in spending many hours sitting – or standing, more likely – in the summer weather, with twenty thousand drunk morons around me.”

I hate to say it, Will, but I think we are both having trouble adjusting here.

“Adjusting to what? Getting older?”

More specifically, I meant giving up a lot of the concert-going experience.

“Yeah. It’s something that I’ve really enjoyed for many years – giving it up, or just cutting back, it feels like some kind of admission that I’ve gotten old.”

Got any meaningful song lyrics I could quote at the end of my post?

“How about that old Jethro Tull song, about being too old to rock and roll, too young to die?”

Yawn.

“I was kidding. ’Hope I die before I get old’?’”

Cliché.

“Maybe a Patty Griffin lyric. How about this one…”

Ouch. You sure you’re ok?

“Yeah, I’m fine, really. Just hanging on to that capacity for sadness.”



“Everyday I take a bitter pill
It gets me on my way
For the little aches and pains
The ones I have from day to day
To help me think a little less about the things I miss
To help me not to wonder how I ended up like this”

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