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My date last night with my husband, was a rare spontaneous evening wrapped in a magic that could never be planned. All in one day an opportunity came up for my husband to get 2 tickets to the John Mayer concert, he snapped them up, I had 2 hours notice and on the road we were.
Traffic was jammed in Seattle so we were a little bit late for the opening band, as we walked across the grounds of the Seattle Center to the Key Arena with a clearing sky after a hard rain. It didn't matter we were a little bit late, we were hand in hand and ready to rock.
People everywhere, the air was charged with excitement.
As soon as we walked in I couldn't wait to get to my seat. The opening act was taking the place down, they were fantastic!
Michael Franti and the Spearheads are a very popular band with the younger set. Franti is an outspoken supporter for a wide spectrum of peace and social justice issues, the band blends hip hop with a variety of other styles including funk, reggae, jazz, folk, and rock. It was pure delight to experience this new sound and holy shit the place was rockin, I tell ya, with the best energy I had felt collectively in a long long time, I felt like a teenager again. We floated to our seats to this sound........
Seattle has a reputation for being laid back and most concerts I have been to people enjoy but pretty quietly, it takes a lot to get Seattle on their feet and as we made it to our seats Seattle was on their feet! We didn't even bother to sit down, there was no choice but to dance and high five with the young people dancing behind us!!!
About 10 minutes in I felt a hat being put on my head I turned around and felt the biggest hug from a young girl behind me. We were jumping and rocking with no walls between anyone, everyone felt it.
Michael Franti and the Spearheads invited all the children in the arena to get up on stage with them and help them sing their closing song, Hey I Love You. Talk about a sing along the whole place sang this........
We agreed this was going to be a hard act to follow for John Mayer. Lights came on and we turned around to meet 6 friends all 19 years old who had come down to Seattle from Canada for the night. In spite of our difference in age we felt a clear connection and the conversation was interesting. They seemed surprised that my husband liked John Mayer as if Mayer is just a chick artist but my husband is an old rocker and he likes Mayer's talented guitar playing and his lyrics are from a guys point of view, so what is not to like? They were surprised that we had been married 20 years and still love each other, still enjoyed each others company. We laughed and said well marriage gets a bad rap sometimes.
The anticipation was palatable as we waited. I kept hearing Mayer singing Waiting on the World to Change in my head. He did not disappoint and honestly how performers go on night after night and give it their all is a mystery. To see him play live songs that have touched my heart was pure magic!!!!
I am not going to post songs by John Mayer, I have done enough of that.
Here is a slide show of the evening.......
http://www.kirotv.com/slidesho...
What is hard to get away from are the stupid damaging remarks that John Mayer made in his Rolling Stone interview which continues to be brought up when Mayer's name comes up. He apologized but it will take a long time for him to live it down. I don't believe there is a racist bone in John Mayer's body and his apology which he made at a concert at the beginning of this tour was heartfelt and full of tears. This lesson was hard, slam against the wall type of learning for him.
The drive home after midnight was surreal as the moon weaved in and out of the clouds all the way home. I remembered we chose to get married on a full moon and here on this night of magic that same full moon was riding along with us as we drove home.
