Peter's First Concert: Meat Loaf

Back in January (I believe) my family and I became aware of the fact that Meat Loaf was scheduled to come to Eagle, Idaho on July 2, 2012. Meat Loaf is no ordinary performer in my family. We have been raised to listen to and love Meat Loaf from an early age. My grandma Barbara has always been a fan of Meat Loaf, and thus raised her family on his music. As a result, most of the members of my family can sing, word for word, many of Meat Loaf's songs. This is quite a feat if you know anything about Meat Loaf because his songs are not short! The family favorite is "Paradise by the Dashboard Lights." It is the first song to be selected when singing karaoke and is a must at a family wedding. It is actually quite entertaining because the entire family will gather on the dance floor, steal the microphone from the DJ, and sing the entire song. As you can tell, we have quite a long history with Meat Loaf which all began with my 80 year old grandmother. When my family heard that Meat Loaf was actually going to perform in a nearby town, emails were sent, phone calls were made, and tickets were purchased. At the time, I was pregnant with Joseph and did not know if I would be interested in attending the concert with a newborn at home; however, I did not want to miss out on the opportunity given the off chance that I felt like going, and I bought a ticket.

Fast forward to July 2, 2012 (the day of the concert). Joseph has been born, but I am basically a wimp and do not want to leave him (I know, I know, he would have been fine). So, I let my family know this morning that my ticket is available if they know someone who is interested in attending the concert. In the meantime, two more tickets become available as well. As I am discussing the concert with Toby this afternoon, Matthew and Peter ask why they can't go. I am ashamed to admit that the thought had never crossed my mind that they would want to attend the concert, but it sounds like an excellent idea. I decide to call my Aunt Bev to see if any of the tickets are still available and whether she and Uncle Dick will consider taking Matthew and Peter to the concert. Dick and Bev are more than happy to take the boys, but by the time we think of the idea this afternoon there is only one ticket remaining. Matthew and Peter both want to attend the concert, so we flip a coin and Peter wins! Within a few hours of thinking of the idea, we drop Peter off with Dick and Bev and he is off to his first concert with 11 other family members.

Ron, Lori, Jacob, Jonah, Karen, Jordan, Vickie, Greg, Peter, Bev, Dick, and Darrell
Photo by Vickie

As I was dropping Peter off, it brought back fond memories of some of the concerts I have attended. My grandma Barbara has always been a fan of excellent music. As a result, when my cousins and I were young my grandma would buy an extra ticket when she was purchasing tickets to a concert and one of us would get to be grandma's "date" for the concert. I had the opportunity to see Rod Stewart in concert with grandma, and it is a concert I will never forget. After Peter was off to the concert, I thought about how lucky we are to have been exposed to such a diverse collection of artists by my grandma. We listened to many artists at a young age such as Elton John, Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, The Eagles, and Meat Loaf just to name a few.

The entire night, I was anxious to talk to Peter about the concert and hear what he thought of Meat Loaf. I also periodically checked Facebook to get updates from various family members about the concert and look at pictures from the evening (such as the two I have in this post taken by Vickie). From what I could see, it looked like everyone had an amazing time. As you can see from the picture below, they also had spectacular seats!

Photo by Vickie

The best part of the evening for me was the ride home after picking Peter up from Dick and Bev. Below are a few of my favorite quotes from the trip:

Me: So, tell me about the concert.

Peter: Wow, for an old guy, Meat Loaf can really sing!

Me: What was your favorite part of the concert?

Peter: That is a tough one.

Me: Why?

Peter: Because it was all so good!

Me: Are you glad you went?

Peter: Yes! I never win the coin tosses, but I am so glad that I won this time!

Despite the fact that I would have had a wonderful time at the concert tonight with my family, I am so glad that Peter went instead. The memories that he made tonight will stay with him forever, and hopefully he will look back someday and be as grateful as I am that grandma Barbara has such great taste in music!