For as long as I can remember, I have been completely addicted to music. I mean, it’s bad. I really don’t do anything but read about and listen to music all day, and it’s been that way as long as I can remember. It’s a tough addiction to trace back to its’ roots. I remember my cousins passing me Bad Religion and Offspring cassettes when I was a kid. I remember when my friends and I got into Blink-182 in 1997 after “Dude Ranch” came out and we all heard “Dammit” for the first time. I remember my Mom playing Springsteen, Petty and Mellencamp albums around the house growing up. I even had my cool Aunt Cassie who used to play Green Day and Bush CD’s when she babysat me, but I really didn’t get obsessive until my Dad starting taking me to shows when I was 12.
My Dad is a weird dude. He’s a very successful judge, talented carpenter, and an avid runner and exerciser with extensive knowledge about sports cars. He’s a casual sports fan, not a big drinker and generally a pretty straight laced guy. He has a penchant for tucking in his shirt on the weekend and randomly bursting into song, only one or two lines at a time, around the house. So it’s pretty funny when I think back to all the bands I’ve seen with my Dad. We’ve seen New Found Glory, Jimmy Eat World, Green Day, My Chemical Romance; you name it. My Dad and I were Chris Carrabba groupies when I was in high school too. We didn’t miss a Dashboard Confessional show in New Hampshire or Massachusetts from the A Mark A Mission tour to the Shade of Poison Trees tour. It’s funny, I feel like when most people hear Dashboard songs they think about old girlfriends or boyfriends or some kind of traumatic experience with the opposite sex. I think about my Dad.
He’s not a big music guy, either. He likes what my Mom likes and he has a soft spot for Van Morrison and the Doors, but aside from the ill advised purchase of Cher’s “Believe” album on cassette a few years back (and way too many Phil Collins tapes), I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen him buy music for himself. I used to make him mixes to lift weights to, usually consisting of old Jimmy Eat World and Green Day songs. He once requested I put 2pac’s “Changes” on a CD for him for his weight room. It was always strange to get up for school and hear my Dad lifting weights in the basement to 2pac.
In the summer of 2004, I saw the best concert I’ve ever seen in my life. Blink-182 came to Mansfield Massachusetts on a week night during finals week, and my parents made sure my brother and I were in attendance, despite it being such an important week at school. My Dad just knew how important that band was to me and he drove four hours from our home in Northern New Hampshire to make sure I got to see them. We saw Green Day a few times on the American Idiot tour, and my Dad was just as stoked as I was to watch Billie Joe Armstrong strut his 5’8 frame across the stage and blast the President for his errors.
After I got my driver’s license, I was on my own for the most part as far as shows go. While most kids would be excited to be on their own at concerts, it really was never the same for me after that. I still go to shows sometimes and think how cool it would be if my Dad could have been there, or I’ll hear a band and file them as something I think he might like. I feel like a lot of people would be embarrassed to see a band with their Pops, but I always had just as much (if not more) fun with my Dad than I would have with any of my friends. So in summation, despite all the hell you’ve given me for spending all my money and time on CD’s and live shows for the last decade Dad, it’s actually kind of your fault. Thank you.