1988: 40 Thoughts in 40 Days
This year was all about music. Christian music. Christian music concerts. My big brother dearest had his driver's license and somehow convinced mom that he was responsible enough for us to head out on our own. With friends. (What was she thinking?) In all honesty, it was pretty innocent fun, and we were a group of good kids who weren't prone to getting into trouble. Or serious trouble anyway.
I remember early concerts seeing Kenny Marks with Whiteheart on their "Don't Wait For The Movie" tour. But it was at a local high school, and remained a nice, tame concert. There was also Petra's "This Means War" tour in Ft. Wayne. Again, fairly innocent other than I was meeting {gasp} a boy at this concert! (Funny side note - met up with A boy at this concert, but I found out years later that THE guy I would eventually marry was also at the same concert.)
In 1988, we went bigger...serious concerts. We got word in our little town that Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith were touring TOGETHER and would be in Detroit, Michigan. They hadn't toured together in a bit, this was monumental to be able to see them together, and it needed to be done. But Detroit? Really? Would mom really allow us to drive 3 hours away for this one? Yes. Really. She did. (It helped that her best friend lived in a Detroit suburb so we had a safe place to crash for the night.)
Finally, I went to my first REAL concert. I knew it was a "real" concert because my brother had warned me ahead of time that this was not going to be like the previous ones. His words to me at the time were something like, "We go in, you're on your own. I'm not babysitting you. Don't smoke anything, don't drink anything, we'll meet you here when it's over. Got it?" Wait a minute! How bad is it going to be? Don't leave me here...
He was off, and I decided to take advantage of my lifelong vertically challenged status, and weaseled my way up to about 6 rows from the stage...and stayed put for the next few hours. I did talk to one person. The tall guy standing in front of me. (Really...what is it with tall guys?) But this conversation was only to ask him if I could get on his shoulders to see better. He said "Sure!" but never did let me up.
It was big hair, lots of spandex, and lots of guitar. It was 80's hairband rock at it's best. White Lion followed by Stryper on their In God We Trust tour.
And yes, I walked away with the token Stryper Bible and Stryper guitar pick that had both been tossed out into the crowd. (See them lined up on the mic stand in the video shot above?) Seems Mr. Tall Guy in front of me couldn't get low enough to the ground to see what was between his feet! Too bad for him!
Unfortunately, I just spent an hour digging around in the attic for wherever I might have stashed my Stryper Bible, and I can't find it anywhere.
I didn't smoke or drink anything, I found my brother afterward, and we all survived the insanity of the night, once again allowing mom to breathe out another sigh of relief as she heard the car pull up to the house later that night. (Okay, there was this one little moment - with a train - on the way home...)
C.
In 1988, we went bigger...serious concerts. We got word in our little town that Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith were touring TOGETHER and would be in Detroit, Michigan. They hadn't toured together in a bit, this was monumental to be able to see them together, and it needed to be done. But Detroit? Really? Would mom really allow us to drive 3 hours away for this one? Yes. Really. She did. (It helped that her best friend lived in a Detroit suburb so we had a safe place to crash for the night.)
Finally, I went to my first REAL concert. I knew it was a "real" concert because my brother had warned me ahead of time that this was not going to be like the previous ones. His words to me at the time were something like, "We go in, you're on your own. I'm not babysitting you. Don't smoke anything, don't drink anything, we'll meet you here when it's over. Got it?" Wait a minute! How bad is it going to be? Don't leave me here...
He was off, and I decided to take advantage of my lifelong vertically challenged status, and weaseled my way up to about 6 rows from the stage...and stayed put for the next few hours. I did talk to one person. The tall guy standing in front of me. (Really...what is it with tall guys?) But this conversation was only to ask him if I could get on his shoulders to see better. He said "Sure!" but never did let me up.
It was big hair, lots of spandex, and lots of guitar. It was 80's hairband rock at it's best. White Lion followed by Stryper on their In God We Trust tour.
And yes, I walked away with the token Stryper Bible and Stryper guitar pick that had both been tossed out into the crowd. (See them lined up on the mic stand in the video shot above?) Seems Mr. Tall Guy in front of me couldn't get low enough to the ground to see what was between his feet! Too bad for him!
Unfortunately, I just spent an hour digging around in the attic for wherever I might have stashed my Stryper Bible, and I can't find it anywhere.
I didn't smoke or drink anything, I found my brother afterward, and we all survived the insanity of the night, once again allowing mom to breathe out another sigh of relief as she heard the car pull up to the house later that night. (Okay, there was this one little moment - with a train - on the way home...)
C.
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