Still rockin' after all these years
Posted 7/31/03

Tomorrow night's the big night. We're reverting back to our youth, taking a road trip to the HHH Metrodome where we'll be banging our heads to Metallica, along with a host of other bands.

Thanks to my dear friend Angie in Connecticut and her brother Mike, who's the tour manager for Linkin Park, they've arranged a night out for us to see several heavy metal bands that are on this tour.

In the past we've been able to see some pretty awesome bands, like Mûtley CrÄe, Cinderella and my favorite rocker of all time - Ted Nugent with the Damn Yankees.

Like millions of other people, I love music. Mostly rock, blues and reggae, but I find myself switching the station at least a couple times a week to heavy metal. It's a good release.

Having been to my share of concerts, I did what any smart thirty-something would do. I went to the store today to purchase ear plugs for me and my heavy metal hubby.

Don't get me wrong. I love to crank up the tunes, but I'm no longer 19 and I'm no longer stupid (well, most of the time).

Yeah, I know. I can already see myself at 80 years of age, breaking a hip as I dance around the nursing home to George Thorogood - thinking I'm "Bad to the Bone."

*****

I'm currently working on a mere few hours of sleep following Metallica's Summer Sanitarium Tour, which was pretty awesome.

Unfortunately, we missed Linkin Park (the concert started at 3 p.m. and lasted until sometime after 11 p.m.), which was one band I wanted to hear. But the Deftones couldn't perform so the bands got jockeyed around a bit.

Limp Biskit was on stage when we arrived at the floor of the Dome, but since neither of us are really big fans, we headed backstage to find Mike and the "Rubber Room."

Now, I realize you wouldn't normally want to go to someplace called the Rubber Room, but trust me it was a good reprieve.

Our friends hooked us up with VIP passes which entitled us to free food and drinks (and a much-needed clean bathroom).

But first we wanted to locate Mike to say thanks and visit with him for a bit. So I flagged down some dudes on a golf cart, leaned over the kid in the front seat to talk with the driver who looked much older and wiser (20-something-year-old) and yelled (it's very loud, remember) that I was looking for Mike.

Little did I know my husband was laughing hysterically at me because he realized the "kid" I was leaning over was one of the band members of Linkin Park. People were trying to get photos of him and instead they got a shot of my backside. Nice!

We eventually hooked up with Mike, but as usual he was quite busy and was already getting ready to leave for the band's next gig in Omaha.

We headed to the Rubber Room with the much younger, much hipper 20 year-olds that were in the VIP room and feasted on the catered hors d' oeuvres that were available.

Finally, we were ready for Metallica and the literally thousands of screaming fans that go with them.

If you're not familiar with Metallica, its one of the original heavy metal bands that emerged on the music scene in the 1980s. This is the band's eighth studio album (St. Anger) and 10th album overall.

Standing on the floor within good shot of the stage (but not too close since I'm not 19 anymore), I couldn't help but gaze in awe at those screaming fans surrounding us.

The four-man band was on stage and suddenly it was a mass of synchronized bobble heads!

Body-pierced, tattooed teens to clean cut accountants became like one massive body banging its head to the thunderous beat.

It was loud and explosive (thanks to pyrotechnics). When my favorite Metallica song was finally played, I couldn't take it any longer - I had to remove the ear plugs.

It was a beautiful ending to my heavy metal night as my entire body resonated when lead singer James Hetfield sang out "Nothing Else Matters."

And for a few minutes, I was suddenly 19 again.