You’ve probably already guessed I’m on an unofficial hiatus from blogging. Lately I have working seven-day weeks, which leaves me with no time or motivation to write anything here. But I am breaking my silence to share an experience we as a family had last night. Those of you who are parents and still like music: perhaps you can relate.
Last night, Sonic Youth played under the Gateway Arch. We in St. Louis have been excited about this for months. And the weather couldn’t have been better, especially by St. Louis standards: sunny, high 70s, not too humid. Clearly this was going to be an event.
At first I was going to go by myself, but at the last minute Callie decided to join me. She’s a bigger Sonic Youth fan than I am, and she’d never seen them before. When we realized that they would be going on at 7:30 pm – not too long after the kids’ bedtimes – it seemed like a great idea to bring them, too. They are already fascinated by the Arch, and they’ve never been to a proper rock show before. What could possibly be hipper for a first band?
Opening band Awesome Color was just going on as we arrived, so we took E&A over to the kids’ area. They had a lot of fun ping-ponging around in the bounce house and drawing at the Magic House booth. After awhile doing that, we took our seats on the Arch steps. Awesome Color ended their set, and the place slowly started filling.
It was perhaps an hour until SY took the stage. The kids had fun rolling around on the Arch steps (literally) and playing with another little girl nearby, but eventually started getting bored. They started asking if they could go back to the kids’ area. “I don’t want to just sit here!” Esther complained. But the Arch steps were getting quite crowded, and we didn’t want to lose our place.
Finally Sonic Youth came on and were absolutely marvelous. The new songs sounded great, and they’re still every bit as animated onstage as they were decades ago. The setting couldn’t have been better – a beautiful twilight, with the Mississippi River providing a striking backdrop.
It was sometime during the third song (which I am pleased to report was “Stereo Sanctity”) that Abby realized she’d lost her lei. She and Esther had been to the Magic House earlier that day, where they’d both been given colored leis. They both wore them to the show, but sometime in between the bounce house and showtime, Abby dropped hers. She started crying and insisting that Callie help her find it. So off they went.
Meanwhile, Esther was dancing up a storm, clearly enjoying every minute of Sonic Youth and not being too bothered about the feedback. A couple songs later, Callie and Abby came back. One song later, Abby started crying even harder, entering the first stages of toddler meltdown. I tried to bring her back to look some more, figuring I’d give Callie some time to enjoy the band, but Abby went limp and insisted that Mommy do it.
One or two more songs. Esther tripped on a step while dancing, incurring a minor scrape. Now it was her turn to enter meltdown territory, insisting on a bandage and tearfully demanding to be taken home now. A few minutes later, Callie and Abby came back. They hadn’t found the lei. Both kids were exhausted and cranky. We realized that it was probably time to put them to bed. Well, we knew parenthood came with sacrifices.
There was a brief moment of levity as Esther took pictures under the Arch and Abby played with a Frisbee, but soon she kicked into full Code Red meltdown mode. She did not stop screaming all the way to the car: “YOU FORGOT MY NECKLACE! MOMMY, YOU FORGOT MY NECKLACE! MOMMY, GO BACK!!!!” Later I learned that Sonic Youth encored with, sob, “Death Valley 69,” my favorite SY song and one I figured they’d retired years ago. I’m glad I didn’t know this as we were driving home.
Having said that, I’m still glad the girls came with us. Esther was enthralled by the whole experience; I hope she remembers it when she’s older. Before putting her to bed, I asked her what she liked best about the show, and she answered, “I liked the guy who played guitar. The guy who went like this with his hair: (imitating a Thurston Moore swishing motion).” What can I say? The smart girls all like Thurston.
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