Life Episodes: The Fleetwood Mac concert

In the continuing series of "Life Episodes", we're entering into the way back machine and turning the dial all the way back to November 7th, 1979. Your hero, Dolberry, has recently turned 13 and is in 7th grade at Myers Middle School.

(Aside here: my favorite memory of Myers Middle ... and admittedly it's the best from a small sample of happy memories ... is the week I got to walk home from school to Gma & Gpa Fitz house because I was staying there while my Mom & Dad were in ... Las Vegas. This (ahem) "hands-off" nature to parenting actually sets up the rest of the Life Episode pretty well. Second favorite memory was when Mrs Coffey gave me 5 demerits ... but you've all heard THAT story.)

Anyway, my best friend in those days was David DuBard (David, if you google search your name ... hey we all do it ... and get this link ... e-mail me ... hope all is well.) One of the radio stations in Louisville was running a "Magic Bus" contest. Winners got to invite a friend to accompany them on a bus ride to the Fleetwood Mac concert at the Riverfront Coliseum. Well, David was the 43rd caller (or whatever) and won two seats on the bus and he invited Dolberry to go as well.

Dolberry agreed to go, fully expecting his parents to sensibly veto this decision, thus allowing our hero to save face w/ his peers and at the same time not risk his barely-just-having-gotten-started life w/ 10,000 addled devotees of a mediocre group of 70's hippie rock. For whatever reason they did not. I have a vague recollection they were in Reno over that period ... but I could be wrong on that.

Now keep in mind, at age 13 Dolberry had been to exactly two concerts:

1) Joe Wise in a church gym w/ my entire fam (except El Cueto who was at the riverboat if I remember right), where we rocked out to numbers like "The Epic of Peanut Butter and Jelly" and "The Grizzleback Snookerhog", and

2) John Denver and the Starland Vocal Band w/ my Mom. (I think we got the tix from her bookie.)

Bottom line: I may not have been ready for the Fleetwood Mac Tusk tour. I know a fair number of 7th graders ... some of them read this blog. Frankly, I wouldn't trust one of them to point out Cincinnati on a map ... let alone travel two hours back and forth there on their own for a rock concert.

Anyway, I recall heading out from home on that Wednesday night ... a school night no less (!) ... telling Kathy & Kris that there was Mac & Cheese in the cupboard, to keep a good eye on Carrie, and that I'd be back sometime around 1 am. I walked up to that old Sub Shop near that rundown hotel near the intersection of I-64 and Hurstbourne. We met some of our compatriots on the magic bus and it was at best a "wayward" contingent. On the bus, our chaperone told us "that only cigarettes were allowed on the bus ... save the good stuff for the concert". Dolberry stood up in his bus seat and said "I'm OUT." I called my Mom and Dad (crying like a little girl) at the Bingo Hall and asked to be picked up.

There was a lot of fallout from that decision. 1. Dolberry grew a little bit by making a wise decision on his own and truth-be-told (unlike the rest of this post) those are the only experiences we really learn from ... when we're accountable for our own actions. 2. Dolberry was mocked by most of his 7th grade peers for a considerable period. 3. Dolberry's parents "re-engaged" w/ their parental responsibilities ... all is great now and I can't wait to see them at Churchill Downs this weekend.

(There was a tragic epilogue to the story. A little less than 4 weeks later, 11 people were killed at Riverfront Coliseum at a Who concert when the crowd attempted to storm the entry doors before the arena opened. Very sad.)


Anyway, let's end this blog bit on a happier and more traditional note ... w/ Dolberry's Top 10 Attended Concerts ever:

10. Big Country's New Year's Eve show at the Barrowlands (didn't actually attend ... but have the CD)
9. The Rainmakers @ Park West w/ Stephen in 1989?
8. Newsboys/Toby Mac/Relient K at Kings Dominion in 2005 w/ tbKMD and APD
7. Warren Zevon at the Park West in Chicago w/ Stephen and friends from EPA R5
6. Switchfoot in big old open field at Campbell Univ w/ the TCC YG
5. The Rainmakers in a "private concert" at WXRT studios w/ Stephen
4. John Mellencamp w/ the Super Sisters and Stephen in Indianapolis
3. John Denver w/ my Mom in Louisville a long long time ago
2. Switchfoot, Relient K, & Ruth w/ the beautiful KMD and APD last fall in Winston-Salem
1. U2 in St. Louis w/ Matt Jung