Tonight Everything Seems Less Arbitrary

I witnessed something I thought I never would. My buddy Chris invited me to check out one of his favorite bands, Tesla. He had prepared me for the show by burning a couple of CDs with the music and giving them to me several days ago. Very thoughtful and much appreciated.

I never knew much about Tesla. Had heard their music, but was never into 80's Heavy Metal. When I was 14 I used to listen to bands such as Depeche Mode, the Cure, the Smiths, Sisters of Mercy, New Order, Alphaville, Yello and Ultravox. I had friends who were into heavy metal and I could see why they would love it, but I could never get into it. So metal was around me, but it never did much for me, except for maybe "...And Justice For All" by Metallica.

So, tonight I stepped into the time machine called 4th & B and was part of an experience like no other for me. Truth be it told, Tesla were actually really good. The music is still not my cup o'tea, but I could appreciate how tight and how into their music these 5 guys actually were. I can appreciate live music in any genre if it's done right. Tesla are great at what they do. What's also great is that they are aware that it's 2004 and spandex, knee-ripped jeans and pink headbands aren't cool anymore, but rather laughable. I have to admit that I was prejudiced in expecting to witness more cheese, but instead, I was served a generous portion of straight up rock'n'roll. I loved seeing Chris and his brother Kevin (also a long-time Tesla fan) enjoy the live performance of one of their all-time favorite bands. I know the feeling and could totally relate. I love seeing people being passionate about something. Being into it. Loving it. Living it. It really put a smile on my face every time I saw Chris and Kevin's faces looking up at the rock action on stage. They seemed like 8-year old kids watching a magician do some tricks. Was pleasantly surprised by Kevin's tribute to me by wearing a t-shirt I got for him a year ago as part of an inside joke. Classic! Loved JC's company too; he was the only one with whom I could crack jokes about the band. But we quickly ran out of jokes because there wasn't that much to joke about; by the end of the show we were enjoying the rockin' and rollin' and discussing the possibility of Heavy Metal returning and taking over. As Mark Twain put it, "history does not repeat itself; it rhymes." You best be ready to handle it once it happens.

Anybody know when Aerosmith, Motley Crue or Iron Maiden are coming to town?

To read more about the show, check out Chris' review here.

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