On Getting Older

I understand that in perspective, I am still very young.  I'm only 29 years old and have plenty more living to do.  But, recently I had to once again face the sad fact that I no longer have the energy or body of a 19 year old.

New Found Glory and Alkaline Trio played at the Warfield in San Francisco and I went with Christine, Siobhan, and Siobhan's friend Wallace.  I've listened to NFG since high school.  So, about half my life, and they're my favorite band.  I've seen them 7 or 8 times and they never disappoint.  This was my second time seeing AK3 and they're awesome as well.

Christine and I had GA floor tickets, but Siobhan didn't buy her tickets until way later, so she and Wallace were upstairs in the balcony.  Christine and I  found ourselves in the crowd close to the front, but off to the side so we weren't in danger of a circle pit forming around us.  This was red flag number one.  Ten years ago, I wouldn't have cared.

NFG was amazing and they still have so much energy, but being so close allowed me to notice how much they had aged.  They're all in their 30's now.  Some are married, some have kids.  Some of their hairlines are are not where they once were. Of course they're older, but it seemed to be obvious.

Being in the crowd on the floor was enjoyable through NFG's set, but my back started to hurt toward the end.  We all met up in the hallway between acts and when it was time for us to go back out to the crowd for Alkaline Trio, the idea of standing in a crowd for another 60-90 minutes seemed daunting.  I texted Siobhan to ask if there were any empty seats by them and the two next to them happened to be empty.  So, Christine and I went up and sat with them and truly enjoyed watching AK3 from the comfort of a chair.  Realizing that even though you feel young mentally, your body is not what it once was, is a harsh reality everyone faces.  There were many people younger than us at the show.  I realized I'd been seeing shows at the Warfield since 2003.  That's 10 years.  I can't even remember all of the bands I've seen there.  Yellowcard, The Starting Line, Taking Back Sunday, Fall Out Boy (before they were popular), Matchbook Romance, etc.  I hope I am still seeing shows there 10 years from now.