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My wife and I never usually get the chance to get out of the house anymore. While we are anxiously awaiting our oldest daughter to reach the age where she can watch the others responsibly, we have to fight for our date nights. And to be honest, when we do get the chance, it sometimes doesn’t end up as great as we hope. From waiting for a table for 2 hours, or walking around Wal-Mart, we have definitely had some less than desirable outings. Of course, we have some pretty great ones from now and then, too. The best one to date has probably been the concert we went to last summer. Although the conditions called for a miserable night, we were rewarded for sticking it out and making the most of it.
It was hot, sticky, and the weatherman called for rain, but we still had tickets to one of the best concerts in to town. Toby Keith was playing at a performing arts center about an hour north of our house, and we were going. We dropped our kids off at my mother-in-laws, and headed up north. The dark sky was looming, but it was the farthest thing from our mind. We arrived in the parking lot after an hour of drive time and another forty-five minute wait in traffic. The first act was a nobody, which gave us perfect time to throw a few beers back at the car before entering the gates. While standing in line to be let in, the crackling thunder and bolts of lightning shot around overhead, and we started to get a bit nervous.
See, the arts center has an indoor area where the stage is, but the back of the arena is open, allowing for thousands of people to stand on the grassy hill and still enjoy the concert. We stood in a packed crowd full of people, and made our way up to the edge of the lawn where the indoor entrance was. The crowd around us was going nuts, enjoying the music, the smell of some funny smoke filled the outdoor air, and we were having a good time. As the middle act was halfway through her set, the skies opened and it started to pour. We seemed to have skipped the sprinkling stage, and within seconds, we were soaked. As much as that could put a downer on date night, we stuck it through as everyone else around us ran for cover, figuring this was our once in forever night out and we were going to enjoy it.
We were surrounded by a few other die hard fans, all sticking it out against the gate at the edge of the lawn when the middle act finished. The rain continued to pound on us, it was hot and sticky, and we looked at each other debating whether we should continue to stick it out. Just then, in the sea of fans pouring out of the arena stood an elderly couple. They approach my wife out of the dozen drenched fans standing there and reach their hand out to give her something. They lean in, and said “Here, take our seats…it’s just too loud in there!” My wife grabs the tickets, and we immediately run to the gate and get inside. We were in-between acts, so we had a chance to scope out where our seats were. We were in such disbelief we didn’t even notice the harsh comments coming from the group of soaking wet girls we were battling the storm with. Apparently, they were not as happy for us as we were, but screw them. When we finally realize where the seats were we both nearly dropped to the floor. The old man and his wife must have won the tickets from a radio contest because there was no way they would buy seats in the fourth row from the stage and not expect it to be loud.
The concert resumed, and we went nuts. The people in the seats next to us inquired about the old man, and probably thought we hijacked him and stole his tickets, being we were soaking wet and the steam pouring off our heads as it does in the humid rainy nights. We ignored everyone around us, acted like we were the only two people there, and enjoyed that we were within spitting range from one of our favorite acts around.
That was without a doubt the best concert I have been to. To be able to share it with my wife was amazing. We left the arena, still on a high, and drove all the way home in our soaking wet clothes. My cell phone stopped working as it does not like being wet, and the money in my pocket tried hard to hold it together, but it was all worth it.
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are you from jersey?
and if so are you talking about the PNC arts center in holmdel?