The Show

The kids' favorite band, The War On Drugs, was in town this weekend, and the lead singer was kind enough to comp everybody tickets and backstage passes. So that was cool.

Natalia and I kept the show a secret until earlier this week. We figured Andres and Celia would want to go (and would be able to tolerate the noise and crowd), but we weren't so sure about Lucia, who still puts her hands to her ears during goal celebrations at Revolution games. In the end we decided that we would chance it and bring her, too. She would have felt left out otherwise--and that would not have been fun for a kid who already feels left out of a lot.

Needless to say, they were all thrilled when we told them the plan. They all knew that Adam was playing a show in town, but I think Celia and Andres were mentally preparing for us to disappoint them by saying that the show was too late and that we wouldn't be going. It felt good to surprise them with some good news for once.

The concert capped a busy day. I was out shooting Northeast Regionals at Devens, which meant Natalia spent most of the day driving kids from activity to activity. But everybody found their second wind when we met up at Harborlights/Blue Hills Bank Pavilion. Celia and Lucia were excited to be in the city again, and Andres couldn't get over the number of sports cars that he saw--Teslas, Porsches, even a Lamborghini or two. He was in his element.

We got our passes and visited Adam backstage. It was great--he had gifts for the kids, including signed CDs for Andres and Celia and buttons for Lucia. They were very appreciative. Then he gave us a personal tour of his bus, which has multiple sleeping bunks and a large room for him at the very back. The kids thought that was cool, but they were mostly interested in what food they had on board, and whether the band could watch TV when the bus was driving. Next we visited the stage itself. Adam showed the kids all of his guitars and explained how they unloaded and packed up the gear every night. I think they all got a kick out of being there, but I kept waiting for one of them to trip over a cable and send a light crashing down. (It didn't happen.)

We hung out for a bit longer but then we needed to find something to eat, and Adam had to get ready to actually play, so we said our goodbyes and goodlucks and wandered back out to the concourse, where we ate chicken nuggets and pizza and waited for the show to start.

After the opening act finished, we made our way to the seats. Sixth row! I was not expecting to be so close--and again, worried about how Lucia would fare once the show and the noise started. But she was fine. She wore noise-cancelling headphones, and for the first few songs, I held her up so she could see. Eventually Natalia took her, and after a few more songs, she actually fell asleep in her seat. Too much excitement, I guess.

Andres and Celia did not fall asleep though and were actively enjoying the show. Andres used Natalia's phone to record some of the song intros, waiting for a personal shoutout that, unfortunately, never came. (This was the only disappointment of the night.) For her part, Celia seemed awestruck. She stood on her seat, eyes wide, mouth agape, taking in the whole scene--the show in front of her, the live video feed being shown on either side of the stage, and the lights behind the set. I felt like this was a seminal moment for her--seeing her uncle in front of a crowd, and thinking that she, too, could do this someday. I spent a good part of the concert just watching her watch everything around her. What was she thinking about? How would this show inform her desired life path? And years from now, how would she remember this show?

Eventually Andres grew tired of standing on the chair, so Natalia took him and Lucia to some open seats further back for the final few songs. But Celia was still going strong--nothing was going to make her leave. I picked her up so she could see the stage a bit better, and we danced together. It was an oddly emotional experience for me. There I was, enjoying my brother's musical success while holding my own daughter, who was similarly on cloud nine...I never could have imagined this. Then the song ended, and I was shaken back to reality by Celia releasing a superlatively high-pitched "YAAAAAAAAAAAY!" directly into my ear.

After the show, we went backstage one more time to congratulate Adam and say goodbye until...well, who knows when we will see him next. Then it was a chilly walk back to the car and a 25 minute drive back to reality and, ultimately, to sleep, way past everyone's bedtime. It will be a while before the three kids all see another concert like that. But what a cool experience to have and to cherish until the next time his tour bus pulls in.