Cathy's Creative Corner: Concert Daze
Lill is awakened by the beeping of the sanitation truck picking up her trash. As she peers at the clock, she thinks to herself, Why couldn’t I be on a later route? It’s only 6:15! Still adjusting to being a new retiree, Lill’s daily routine usually doesn’t start for another three hours. It appears today is going to be different. Getting started a little earlier will allow her to tackle some of those storage boxes and drawers that are crammed full of trinkets she no longer needs or wants. She calls it memorabilia. Rolling over, Lill gets out of bed, hits the bathroom and goes in the kitchen to make her morning coffee. From the den closet, she retrieves a few storage boxes.
The first small box she picks up makes her pump the brakes. Hold up, wait a minute! To Lill’s musical delight is an array of ticket stubs. She has always loved music! She would spend all day on Saturdays as a child listening to the radio and writing down the songs and comments the DJs made about the entertainers. Back then, the stations signed off around dusk and Lill was there to sign off with them. Although she didn’t ask, Lill’s mother surprised her with a new radio when the old one stopped working. But the biggest surprise was the piano her grandfather gifted her. He even paid for her lessons. Lill would practice and play until her hands cramped. Unfortunately, when the family moved, there was no room for the big old piano and it was left behind. When listening to songs on the radio, Lill envisioned herself as the piano or organ player. These daydreams led her on many a journey! Let’s see what stubs do I still have? Oh my goodness, here it is. My first concert and their first national tour: The Jackson 5, December 28, 1970. Lill remembers writing down what the DJ said about being on the lookout for this up-and-coming band of brothers led by a 12-year-old. Lill was 14, at the time, so there was an immediate connection to their music. The $6 ticket price is refreshing to see in today’s world of overpriced entertainment. Amazingly, that price covered two other groups. The least known of those groups sang cover songs of other bands, although they did have one soon-to-be-released instrumental of their own. Lill liked the song and remembered the group. It wasn’t until 1974 when she heard the instrumental again. It was on an album of the same title, MACHINE GUN, and the group was the Commodores (Lionel Ritchie). It took them four years to do it but they were about to take flight on an outstanding career of their own.
Lill knew which group would have the most stubs in the box. Hands down the honor goes to the mighty elements of the universe, Earth, Wind & Fire! They came into Lill’s life in 1973 and never left. I should have a dozen or so stubs from all the Earth, Wind & Fire concerts I’ve attended. Saw them everywhere from college gymnasiums to big town arenas. Suddenly, a shiver ran up Lill’s spine! She recalls how one concert was stopped because people closest to the stage were getting packed and crowded. Back then, the floor area was for standing and dancing. Seating was on the upper levels. She and a friend were upfront in the crowd where it was getting hard to move. The thought never crossed Lill’s mind that they may have beenin danger. Not until today, and only because of news coverage of 10 deaths resulting from fans being crushed to death at a recent concert. Wow….. Lill offers a silent prayer and begins to pack away the box. She can’t spend any more time reminiscing or she’ll never get through the rest of the boxes and drawers of junk. What she can do, however, is pull up her playlist on the computer as background music. Take a guess as to what groups dominate the songs. It’s gonna be a great morning!
