a Blast from Russ' Past

Tonight, Russ was supposed to go on an over-night campout with the Boy Scouts. It had rained all day, was supposed to rain all night, and the temperatures were supposed to drop into the 30's. Russ, being the avid camper that he is, cancelled the campout. I didn't hear anyone complain and actually heard a few cheers from the other leaders. Well, that left us without a plan for the evening.

At 4:30 PM Russ called and said, "Hey, let's go to the Station Wagon concert". (Yes, it is really REO Speed Wagon... but Russ has always called them the Station Wagon). "Really?", was my reply. They were one of Russ' favorite groups when he was growing up. Being married to Russ for almost 15 years now, I know most of the Station Wagon's music. The concert was supposed to be at Tuacahn (our outdoor theater). But due to the nasty weather we are having, it was moved to the Dixie Center. After dinner, Russ and I drove over to the Dixie Center to just "check things out". Next thing I know, Russ has tickets in hand and I am on my way into a concert.

Russ is a little bit older than me, not much, but that age difference really manifests itself when it comes to music. He loves all of the music that was popular about the time I was being brought into this world. Tonight it was obvious... I was way out of my music generation (and Russ too, for that matter). I had two of my senior citizen patients from the hospital there. There were more wrinkles at that concert than music notes, and more hearing aids than ear plugs. Instead of waving lighters during the slow songs, this crowd was waving canes.

Needless to say, it was very fun. The music was great and I knew ALL but three songs. The Station Wagon has aged quite a bit as well, but could still "bring it". I was laughing at all of the older women that were working their way up to the stage. Then next thing I know- my husband has worked his way right up next to the stage and was rocking out with the groupies, taking pictures of the band with my cell phone. It was pretty funny. Russ was having the time of his life and I was glad we were there.

So here is my re-cap of the band. Rod Stewart is now the lead singer, Meatloaf plays lead guitar, Rob Schneider (from Saturday Night Live) plays drums, and Lucious Malfoy (from the Harry Potter movies) plays bass, and they grabbed some bum off the street before they went on stage to play keyboard.

Meatloaf was inviting the women standing by Russ backstage. Russ kept thinking he was pointing to him. At first I was laughing, but then I saw that Russ was given a collection of Meatloaf's guitar picks, and now I am wondering if he really did want Russ backstage.

Rod Stewart changed his shirt and his guitar after every song. I am not really sure why, but he did. It was kind of fun to see what he would be wearing next, or what color his next guitar would be. He also claimed to have gotten Bronchitis from his twin 11 year old boys, and said that was why he couldn't hit any of the high notes. Hmmm. Not sue about that one. He is like 70 years old.

Lucious Malfoy was just there, playing his same little bass guitar. He sang two of the songs, but his long white hair was always over his face so you couldn't really tell if he was into the concert or not. You could tell he was proud that he still had hair.

Rob Schneider was wearing a tank top and was really dramatic. After the concert he gave Russ a high five and shook my hand. Ew! He had on sweaty, germy gloves, plus he was wearing a tank top. Old man in a tank top... not pretty.

There was a keyboard guy too, but everyone knows the keyboardist is not very cool... He is kinda like the kicker on a football team.

Anyway, it was a really fun night. Russ and I are both deaf now and the kids are wondering why we keep yelling everything we have to say. Hopefully, I will be able to hear again tomorrow. Then again, I might be able to use this temporary hearing loss to my advantage. Say what?