Feeling This

The Blink-182 concert was tonight, and while it may not be your cup of tea, it was my own little punk dream come true. It was a great show, and hopefully Tom will get substance abuse help at some point. He spent the whole time insulting the audience, and probably the cleanest thing he said the entire concert was when he introduced the band: "Mark is a Pisces. He likes long walks on the beach and a tiny bit of Vicks Vapor Rub under his balls."

I started listening to Blink kind of late, in about 2000 during my MBA program. I was going through a lot of changes - going back to school, ending a major relationship, buying my first house - and Blink music expressed things that I was unable to. When I moved to Japan I had three Blink albums on constant rotation. Their last CD was probably the last CD I ever purchased, as I was finally getting set up on iTunes then. I listened to it incessantly on the 4 1/2 hour drive between my two offices.

Music can transport you, of course, and tonight I had such strong Japan memories that I'm surprised I drove on the correct side of the road on the way home. I was carried away to Fukuoka, the half-way point on my drive where I would stop and get CoCo's curry and other treats. I can smell Fukuoka - the canals and the hot chocolate I used to sip while sitting on the river bank. I can instantly feel my confused, tangled heart loving Japan, loving Fukuoka, and at the same time feeling isolated and lonely. Lonely for friends and family who spoke my language, lonely for a regular-sized washing machine, lonely for Mexican food. For me, Blink's music is all about the intense pleasure/pain and confusion of growing up. It fit perfectly with my Japan experience.

Tonight the show could have been called The Travis Barker Show - I don't know anything about drums, but he was great. I could have watched him all day. I love Mark's sold, rich voice - there's something about it that makes me feel grounded and understood. And I appreciated Tom's non sequiturs, even when he screamed "I'm gonna go down on Oprah!" in the middle of a song. Great, great night.

Aaaaaand . . . confetti.