Inspired by a writing challenge around hobbies: how you got them and any that have carried from childhood to adult-life.

After stepping away from many of my hobbies during the COVID-19 pandemic – mostly involuntarily due to shut-downs or family responsibilities, I have a heightened appreciation for their value and necessity.  One hobby that I’ve retained since childhood is a love and appreciation for live music.

My parents were very cool when it came to educating my sister, Melanie, and I on music.  Mostly they had an appreciation for classic rock: The Who, The Beatles, The Doors, The Rolling Stones, Paul Simon… these were the soundtrack of my youth.  And each summer there was a large music festival in Milwaukee, Wisconsin that we would attend.  This festival, Summerfest, often had a promotion where you could get into the grounds for free by bringing lids from a certain brand of ice cream or donating canned goods.  We would show up early, get in free and race to the end of the grounds where they would be issuing hand-stamps that allowed you to watch the headline show from the grass seats.  To manage capacity, there were limited hand-stamps available and it was always a rush and relief when you snagged one.

From that grassy hill at the Marcus Amphitheater, I saw dozens of artists through the years: Cher and Stevie Wonder, the Moody Blues and Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Ringo Starr (we actually saw Ringo Starr from “real” assigned seats near the stage, but I preferred the lawn seating vibes).  We would lay out a blanket and absorb the energy, relaxing (or dancing) under the stars with thousands of others, joined in a love and appreciation for live music.  I remember dancing with Mel during the Stevie Wonder show and some of the other lawn occupants were apparently annoyed or distracted by these two little girls dancing their hearts out.  My mom informed them that they were welcome to join us, but she wasn’t telling her girls they couldn’t dance at a concert.

When I was in high school, my best friend Kara and I were obsessed with Alanis Morissette and her Jagged Little Pill album.  She came to Summerfest that year and we got the “real” seats to ensure our access.  The problem was, this concert fell during the time Kara and I would be attending overnight band camp at UW-Madison (about an hour drive west of the festival).  My mom busted us out of camp, driving us to Summerfest for the show and back.

The summer before my final year of high school I joined my German sister, Annabell (who had lived with our family in Wisconsin the prior year) for some travel around Europe.  We arrived in Vienna, Austria when U2 happened to be playing a show from their PopMart Tour at an outdoor venue on the edge of town.  Annabell and I attempted to navigate the public transit system to get out to the venue, literally running to the public, grass seats near the back.  It was epic, albeit brief, as we could only stay for about four songs before we had to repeat the journey back to the city centre to catch our train to Italy.  But watching U2 perform for the first time, surrounded by this diverse audience was another reinforcement of the universal power of music.

My husband, Tim, also has a huge love for live music.  When we were early in our marriage, a friend of ours would curate a “Best of” compilation each year, helping to surface artists that were still emerging and expanding our tastes and exposure.  He introduced us to Jason Isbell and The Avett Brothers, who became life-long loves.  The Avett Brothers hold two of the top spots in my line-up of favourite concerts: one was right after their Emotionalism album and they were playing a small venue, The High Noon Saloon, in Madison, WI.  I was pregnant at the time (and very sober) but the intense energy and passion from this band was irresistible and I was hooked.  Another memorable show from the Avett Brothers was the summer of 2022, Red Rocks, Colorado.  Melanie had suggested going for her birthday weekend and nobody had to convince me.  We planned a sister trip to make the pilgrimage to one of the most iconic settings to experience music.  And it was everything we hoped for, and more.  Gorgeous setting, giggly buzz, immense sense of community, delicious Chick-fil-A in the parking lot before we boarded the shuttle back to our hotel in downtown Denver.  It was an amazing experience and one I will be chasing for years to come.

Shortly after giving birth to our third child, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit were playing at a theatre in Green Bay.  My parents were in town for the weekend and I informed them that either they could babysit their 4-week-old grand-baby (along with his two older siblings: ages 3 and 7) or I would find someone who wanted to… but Tim and I were going to that concert.  It was the first time I saw Jason perform Cover Me Up, and it shook my soul.  It was worth the hassle of leaving the one-month-old and pumping breast milk from the car, no question.

The pandemic was hard on everyone, but especially artists.  Tim and I paid for (and enjoyed) many virtual concerts, ringing in the new year of 2021 with The Avett Brothers and watching Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires perform their new album, Reunions, to an empty theatre in Nashville.  Each was worth it, but not the same.  The first show we attended during a brief, mid-pandemic window, was The New Pornographers, performing at The Danforth Music Hall in Toronto.  Tim was so starved for live music (and a much bigger fan of the band) that he actually bought tickets for both nights in the 2-night series.  I joined him for the second night and actually wept, feeling so relieved and complete to be back, experiencing live music again.

I feel guilty not mentioning more of the shows and artists we’ve loved across the years.  I hold them all as such special, core memories: The National at Roy Thomson Hall or Fort York, The Ballroom Thieves from the basement of The Drake Hotel, the Roots N Blues N BBQ festival in Kansas City, or even Corin Raymond at The Cameron House so many Thursday nights… Each touching me in a special way, helping me to feel connected to humanity and alive in amplified ways.