Parents Gone Wild...

I'm seriously breaking a major pack I had with my husband not to mention a word to anyone what we did last night by putting this information on my blog (it was going to be our little secret)... but I decided I would only be cheating myself in the long run not to have a post of this momentous event in our lives.

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My husband is a big Ted Nugent music fan and when he heard he was in town on the radio yesterday, he immediately called to see if I would go to the concert with him.

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I have been so sick and trying to get my rest so I could feel better and recover, so I was convinced this activity should not be on the agenda, plus I was not a big fan of "Uncle Ted" in general.

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So I tried to convince him to find a buddy or someone from work to go with him. But he just dropped his head and said "we don't have to go if you don't want". I could hear it in his voice he really wanted me to experience this with him.

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It would be held at a very small venue with only 500 fans in the city. Which meant Ted very up close and personal... not sure I was ready for that either!

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So I went online... who knows, maybe it would be all sold out, and the point would be mute.

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All I really knew about "Uncle Ted" for myself was he seemed like a wild man to me, and had endless controversy that followed him, and I had watched hours of videos of him "killin' and grillin" at the Archery Shop when I did their bookkeeping. So I knew he was a big archery bow hunter... so he couldn't be too bad of a guy, Right? At least I had something I could relate to him, kind of. I pulled up some of his music, and realized that my man played lots of his tunes on the guitar all the time, so I knew more of his music than I realized. Then I read this write up on him for the concert.

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Throughout his lengthy career, guitar wildman Ted Nugent has revelled in the controversy and criticism that always seems to follow in his path. While there's no denying his exceptional talent on the six-string, his knack for penning arena rock anthems, or his standing as one of rock's top live acts, it's his non-musical endeavors that have caused the most condemnation from his detractors (his pro-right wing beliefs, pro-gun advocacy, appreciation of hunting animals, etc.). But by the same token, Nugent is a family man and one of the few hard rockers who has admirably stuck by his lifelong anti-drugs and -drink stance throughout his career.

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Not into drinking or drugs... he's got to be pretty old by now, maybe he has mellowed in his old age too!!

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I decided I could do this for and with my husband. And would suffer the consequences of the recovery and lectures later... because I knew going into it... this was NOT what the Doctor ordered!

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I have to say... I was nervous and worried, for many reasons.

My health recovery plan 1st and foremost... but also, a live Ted Nugent concert... eeekkk, the music, the words to the music, the crowd... just basically the entire environment!!!

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It was an awesome night! We arrived early and ordered food in the tiny bar next to the concert house, so they gave us 2 of 15 tickets that would be let into the concert house 1st. My husband was thrilled with that, he wanted to be on the front row to get a birds eye view of the phenomenal guitar playing.

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The small venue tended to weed out some of the rif raff you would normally find at a live concert of this caliber. Lots of 40ish couples just like us, and several of them brought their teenagers, so we almost felt like we were being examples to the young ones at their 1st concerts.

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My husband got his birds eye view, I even think we got hit with some of Ted's sweat we were so close we could have touched him.

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The music was good, he plays with a drummer and a bass player... and we were so close they would flirt and smile and look right at us and really appreciated that we were enjoying their performance so much.

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He gave a really personal touch out to the crowd knowing it was filled with bow hunters from Idaho (they weren't hard to spot all dressed in their camo hats and shirts).

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He tossed us a guitar pick, I had seen him fling a few and I really really wanted one... so that was too cool! He was so entertaining, and even though I had to really turn on some of the filters I have acquired in my old age to the world outside of my own. I surprisingly had such a blast... my husband is the best person to go to these things with, he is pretty mello, has a good time, but doesn't embarrass himself, and totally knows how to show me the ropes so I feel like I was meant to be there, and I get a very different view of the music business than I ever would on my own.

Another really cool souvenir was when the sound guys were clearing the equipment after the show, we were still standing against the stage waiting for the crowd to clear a bit, and I had asked him for a pick I saw laying on the ground by his foot (I thought I needed two, of course). He couldn't hear me, and pulled up the set list taped to the floor and handed it to me!

I didn't think anything of it, but My Strong Silent Mysterious Man said this was WAAAYYYY cooler than a signed pick! So apparently I did good! It totally made his night!!! He is really proud of this item.

Posting today, the aftermath isn't so bad, I am continuing to get better slowly each day... and it didn't seem to set me back with my health. But sure added to my list of great memories this summer, especially with my husband. We have had some really fun moments alone without the teenager at home. And I love doing things he loves, that I might not have done on my own. He is really fun to be with, and we enjoy and have a really good time together.

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I was teasing him last night, that if this was a taste of life when our nest is empty, we are kind of "parents gone wild" out partying with Ted Nugent and Boston! We both laughed, it was just a really strange thing to be saying about our boring selves that are normally home bound and quiet!

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It will be fun to read about our Summer of '08 one day in this journal, and fun to tell our grand kids one day!