Air Jammin' with the old folks!

Back in the 70's while I was doing the hustle and trying to figure out what Donna Summer meant by "leaving a cake out in the rain", my wonderful husband was being totally absorbed by the pyschodelic sounds and sights of Pink Floyd.

This is Scott's favorite all-time band and many a nights I hear him with his Bose headphones on just lost in the songs as he plays his computer games.

Although I know a couple of songs, and I can't even say I know them, (I recognize them is a more accurate description), I had the opportunity to give Scott a gift that I knew he would love.

The real Pink Floyd no longer tours but as I was surfing the web a few weeks ago looking for PF laser shows, I came across a Floyd concert tour. I called Scott over and he immediately knew what I was talking about. He said that there's this great PF tribute band that had amazing reviews and their show was just like PF's show. The band, Aussie Floyd, received the highest honor possible by being the only band to ever be asked to play for a band member. They were hired to play for David Gilmour's 50th birthday bash!

So, we searched their tour locations and noticed that they would be coming to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, which is on the east coast. Although it was feasible, it would be tough because it would mean driving there and back (2 hours each way) and having to ask my sister or Mom to stay with the kids overnight, since we wouldn't be back till 2 am. We left it at, "Let's see what happens."

Well, a couple of weeks ago, somehow the conversation came up with Amanda and I about Pink Floyd. She asked if we were going to the concert, since Scott had mentioned to her that he'd like her to see their show. I said I didn't think so, mostly because of the distance and all that was involved. She then said, in her teenage way, "Mom! Why? Fifteen minutes is too far to drive?" I said, "Huh?" She then proceeded to tell me that Aussie Floyd is playing at the Barbara Mann Theater here in town!

Of course, being that we had checked the tour schedule and they weren't coming to SW Florida, I knew she was wrong. Well, that's what 13 year olds, I-know-it-all children are for. She promptly went to the computer, pulled up the BM Theater and lo and behold, there they were! I was so happy to see it that not only did I tell her I was sorry for saying she was wrong, but I got her a ticket, too! That was Scott's 10th anniversary gift from me.

Last night, we went to the show. Although it was not what I expected, it was a good show if you're a PF fan. Scott would become a groupie and follow their tour worldwide if he ever could.

I felt incredibly young when we arrived. I'm not sure if it's because we live in the retirement capital of the world, or because the demographics of the original PF band were an older crowd, but I swear that more than 80% of the people there were over 65. Scott was a bit bummed because of this. He knew that it would be a sit-down concert and he loves partaking in concerts as if he were up on stage, especially when he loves the band. In this case, he not only knew every song but sang every word of each song at the top of his lungs.

He's had me listening to PF cd's all week so that I could become familiar with the music. After a while, sorry to the PF fans out there, it was all sounding like the same white noise. But, I love making my husband happy so I showed much enthusiasm and told him I was so excited to go to the concert.

The band was great and if you closed your eyes, you really could not tell the difference between the real PK and the Aussie tribute band. The light and laser show was really good, too. But, I have to say that my favorite part of the concert was when they were playing the last song, Comfortably Numb, and my husband just could not contain himself anymore. Scott was sitting between Amanda and me. All of a sudden, he leaped up out of his seat and began air jamming (yes, with head bobbing included) along with the bass player. The group of 70 year olds sitting around us who had been lightly tapping their toes to the beat, stared in amazement. Even the usher/security guard, also in his 70's, by the stage (we had great seats!!) just watched in disbelief.

I was so proud of my husband for not allowing his surroundings to deter him from having a good time, but I must admit that I sheepishly slid lower and lower in my seat until I was almost in a horizontal position. I glanced over at Amanda who was just as surprised as her elderly neighbors at Scott's zest for Pink Floyd music. We both looked at each other and just giggled.

The whole moment was very cute because it certainly was very uncharacteristic of Scott to do. I'm sure had it been in another city, at another venue, the entire place would have been standing, but you gotta do what you gotta do, and air jammin' with the old folks was definitely the thing to do last night.