Rock and Roll
When I was growing up, rock and roll was THE MUSIC.
Led Zeppelin belting out Stairway to Heaven for that glorious eight minutes. Lynyrd Skynyrd singing Freebird for nine plus minutes and slow dancing at school dances brought out our teenage libidos front and center.
Peter Frampton, Blondie, Meatloaf, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Aerosmith, Bob Seger, Heart, The Pretenders. Music from my young life that still brings me immense joy from the first note to the last. The words come blasting out of my mouth as if I just learned them making me curious of my brain as an incredible storage container of history.
The Days of Concerts
Going to a concert was raw and exciting. I have seen a lot of concerts. I saw Ozzy Osborn at the Providence Performing Arts Center — can’t even imagine them using this space now for something like that. Before everything became so manufactured and orchestrated, we could go to a concert at the Providence Civic Center for less than twenty dollars and buy a t-shirt for less than ten.
I remember seeing John Cougar, before he put Mellencamp back at the end of his name, as the warm up to Heart. We didn’t have tickets, drove up that night, bought the tickets at the entrance and sat fifteen rows from the front. I think the chairs were folding chairs and you could still make your way to the front. If you were brave enough you could jump on the stage for a very brief moment because the front row was really the front row, not fifteen rows back from a security detail.
It was incredible.
Today's Concerts
Concerts of that magnitude aren’t what they used to be, even before Covid, they have lost that innocence and type of thrilling experience.
I don’t find myself going much to concerts like that anymore mainly because I can’t keep my eyes open. If concerts could start at three or four in the afternoon, I would probably go more often, but I just can’t start out my night at eight pm these days. This makes me laugh, but it also makes me peaceful with myself. I know who I am, what I enjoy and what I don’t feel like doing. These decisions get easier as I get older so sometimes just cranking up the tunes in my car and listening to them as I drive singing along is just good enough.
I do love live music though, outdoor, small bars, dancing. I will always love that and when I come upon those types of music venues, I am dancing the afternoon away.
What has given me a lot of excitement is finding Rock and Roll T shirts and Vintage sweatshirts to sell. Small boutique collections, limited editions, comfortable, fashionable and most importantly, FUN.
I can’t keep them in stock and I want everyone to have at least one.
And so many more...
If you want to get some of your rock back on, buy a tee or a sweatshirt and enjoy some dancing and singing wherever it takes you and please tell all of your friends. Every purchase keeps this little business rockin'.