I don’t know if I would go as far as to say that I’m too old for that shit, but I think I have definitely outgrown certain things.
Yesterday afternoon, after a spur of the moment decision, I purchased a ticket to the Canadian Carnage show at the coliseum. The show featured three well known heavy metal acts: Testament, Megadeth, and Slayer. All three of the acts are huge metal acts and I have been fans of theirs for a very long time. I had originally passed on the idea of going to see them but then yesterday I figured that I may not get the chance to go see them again so why not go. I bought my ticket, and headed out.
Having purchased a ticket this late, I had an actual seat, which was fine by me. The idea of standing on my feet on that cement floor for 4 hours was not very appealing to me. I waited for the show to start, ate my popcorn, drank my Coke, and waited.
Testament came on and did a hell of a job. Although I didn’t recognize most of their tunes (as I was more of a passive fan of theirs) I still really liked the show. Megadeth came on and I gotta tell you, Mustaine did not do much for me at first but about halfway through the set, it really picked up. Slayer finished it all off with some awesome renditions of great tunes like Angel of Death, Dead Skin Mask, and Seasons in the Abyss. All in all, they all played pretty damn good.
But part way through Megadeth’s set I began to find myself sort of feeling a bit odd. The truth is, I continue to listen to bands like Slayer and still enjoy them immensely. There are days where heavy music really helps me get through the day. Slayer, Korn, Sepultura, and plenty others have graced my MP3 playlist and car. But when it came down to going to see them live, it really didn’t “do it” for me.
I think the biggest reason is that my banger days are from a time long gone now. 15 years ago I would have been in the middle of the mosh pit as I was a huge metal fan. But as time has progressed, I’ve mellowed out considerably, and I found that sitting in those stands, watching great bands do really well, just wasn’t as satisfying as it would have been many years ago.
I said to Tamara last night that I think that show will likely be one of my last metal shows to go to. If Faith No More play together again somewhere close, I’ll be off to see them, but beyond that, I really think I’d rather hear that music in the comfort of my own home/car/office than at the coliseum.
Does that mean I am getting old? Maybe. Or maybe it just means that my tastes of changed, my priorities have changed, and that my life has changed. I can still enjoy the music, and I can still be reminded of my oddball youth, and hell, I could go see bands like this again if I wanted to, I just don’t see it happening again sometime soon. I can however at least have the satisfaction of knowing I have seen these three metal gods play live. After playing music for as long as they have, they all still put on one hell of a show.
