My Concert-Going Age

"So are we pushing our way up to the front?!?" Lee asked the group of us enthusiastically. 

Lee and I went to The Killers concert recently down in Utah County. We had purchased tickets the day they went on sale because we knew it would sell out quickly. When I asked Lee if we should purchase seat tickets or general admission tickets, he voted for general admission, so I bought them.

Lee in the throng of people at The Killers concert

"Oh, I don't know if my ribs can handle being smashed into the metal barriers like they used to," said one of our married friends, Mrs. 404, "We'll probably hang out back here."

You see, Mr. and Mrs. 404 are hip and cool. When they were teens and early 20's, they probably went to tons of concerts and had tons of fun. I am sure they were in the thick of things--like getting your ribs smashed--that sounds hardcore!

The group of us concert goers. Mr. and Mrs. 404 are on the right.

But, general admission makes me nervous.

I, on the other hand, grew up as a super nerdy, band-geeky type. Lee makes fun of me that I don't know the music of my own generation. So what if I know Beethoven better than I know Nirvana?!?

The two "craziest" concerts I attended while in high school were Dan Fogelberg at BYU and Neal Diamond's Christmas concert.

I know--totally crazy, right? As you can see, my musical tastes (besides classical) aligned pretty closely to my dad's.

Oh Neil!

Then, when I moved out, I got a little crazier. I saw both Peter, Paul and Mary and Ray Charles at Abravanel Hall. Both groups were amazing.  I also went with my roommates to a Michael Buble concert right when he was getting big, and that was crazy. Okay, so maybe it was thousands of crazy women screaming the entire time that made it crazy...

So when Lee and I met, I hadn't really been to a rock concert or anything before.

With Lee, I've been to Death Cab for Cutie twice, Sunny Day Real Estate, The Flight of the Conchords, The Fray, U2, Carrie Scott with the Soulistics, The Decemberists, Ben Folds, Foo Fighters, Kimbra, Muse, and now, The Killers.

En route to San Francisco to see Sunny Day Real Estate, Lee's fave band

Almost at every concert, we've gotten general admission tickets. It makes my younger, more conservative nature a little nervous. My past self would happily stand in the back of the general admission area, far away from the press of sweaty people and bob her head a little.

Close to the front

But at this concert, as they struck their first chord and the throng of people in front of us rushed to the stage, Lee and I naturally rushed forward too, leaving behind our friends.

Brandon Flowers...a few feet away is all!

It was intense, fun, crazy, sweaty, and fun. There was a lot of jumping. There was a lot of pushing. There was a lot of dancing. We were so close to touching Brandon Flowers! It was crazy and probably my most favorite concert so far.

After the concert--you can't tell, but both of us are SO sweaty!

I feel like my concert-going age doesn't reflect my real age, since I never really went to these types of concerts when I was a teenager. I'm trying to catch up on all the concerts of my youth!

Does anyone else feel this way? Or am I the only one who found my concert-going groove a little later in life?