Sunday, January 18, 2015

A Date to the Rock Show


My last year of college, I got my first PR job. I worked at Salt Lake Community College for a great guy named Joy, who plays music with a guy named Eric, in a band (cleverly) named joy&eric

The other night, Joy invited me to his next show. I gladly accepted and let him know I'd be bringing Paige. 


They played at the Grand Theater. The risers were pushed right up against the stage. Because there were only about 100 seats, we got to be really close to the band, which I could tell Paige thought was pretty cool.

Joy is a great singer and is even better at between-song banter. About 15 minutes into the set he said to the crowd in the darkened theater, "We don't have a playlist so we don't really know what we're going to play next." This seemed like the perfect time to voice my opinion. 

"SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT!" I shouted. 

Before Paige even had the chance to be embarrassed by my outburst, Joy responded slyly into the microphone, "That's Paige Bailey's dad." 

I could feel Paige's entire body light up next to me. 

A shout-out from the lead singer. What could be cooler for a nine-year-old? 

It more than caught her attention. From that point on, she listened to every note, clapped at the end of every song, and laughed at every joke. 

After the show, I told her I wanted to stick around and say hi to Joy. As we lingered in front of the stage Paige said,"Dad, it's not like famous performers just come back out and talk to the audience." 

"Oh," I said, "I bet if we stay here long enough, will seem them." 

And we did. Not only did we get to congratulate Joy, but Eric and Tony (the one unnamed member of the band) as well. They all chatted with Paige and encouraged her to stick with her piano lessons and her acting classes. Paige was beaming. 

Not a bad date for a dad and his favorite lady. 

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