Sunday started out in brilliant fashion with bright sunshine and fifty-degree temps and just blessedly went up from there. We took full advantage as we have our next 5k coming up soon, so after a two-mile run 'round the 'hood yesterday, we ran the full 3 miles at the downtown airport today; watching private jets take off and land while we ran. Quick trip home, picked up Kiko at the airport and back to downtown KC for theater and tacos....in that order.
Entering the
Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts (pictured above) once again, I wonder to myself if the shock and awe I get from seeing this architectural marvel from every angle will ever escape me. I still get a burst of pride for KC every time I walk through. We were there to see the Green Day musical American Idiot. I am a minor Green Day fan and was very excited, especially since Kiko had scored front row seats.
It was startling to be practically on the stage and a bit intimidating wondering if we would get our ears blown off by the post-punk jams Green Day music would bring. When the curtain rose, my heart was tripping with the beat and it was almost overwhelming to feel like we were in the middle of it all. In the end, I thought it was an absolutely amazing experience. My head was banging to "Give Me Novocaine", my heart was swelling with "Wake Me Up When September Ends", and at the end when the entire cast was strumming guitars and singing "I Hope You Had The Time Of Your Life", I was singing with them.
I even got to experience a bit of front row awesomeness, even when one of the cast members handed me their guitar pick from the stage at the end. Stellar!
As we crossed the street toward our eats while looking back one last time at that magnificent performing arts center, one of my cohorts commented on how she was never a "headbanger". I replied, "well, I was for a time".
We ate at
Los Tules, a bastion of fine Mexican grub.
As we ravished our excellent fish tacos with grilled tilapia, cabbage slaw, chipotle sauce, fresh lime and black beans, I talked a bit more about Green Day, but my mind was flashing back to those headbanger days. My headbanging was less punk and more "hair metal".....my college roommates one year were heavily into the heavy metal 80's bands. One of my roommates was the bass player in a band and we would go hit up every venue from club to dive to "bang our heads" in support of them. We went to a lot of those type of concerts: Poison, Ratt, Winger, Slaughter and their ilk. I would've give anything to be on the front row back then and never was. Now, when I'm fending off an AARP membership, I finally got there. My only thoughts before the curtain went up were "will it be too loud? Is Keith gonna hate this? What, NO INTERMISSION?!!". It was all for naught, though, because I had an absolute blast....while hopefully not resembling a hapless middle-aged guy trying to recapture his lost youth.
Ah, who am I kidding? My "lost youth" can stay lost as far as I'm concerned. I took my sweet damn time growing up, was frankly lucky to have survived my wilder days and am good with a tiny dollop of long-overdue maturity. Still it was good to briefly revisit those wanton days of youthful hoo-rah.....as long as it was only briefly.
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