They Lifted Up the Sun

They say beware of meeting your heroes and i tend to agree with that statement. Of course at my age i don't really have heroes though i have people/artists i greatly admire, if i was asked to pick a hero i'd say that he passed away on May 16th and leave it at that, that said i do my best to try and avoid meeting the people i see up on stage or screen or galleries and what not. As i often tell the boyos the famous shit just like you do and really aren't much different other than many live a world that is both unreal and unsustainable.  Not all but many. So when an old and good friend of mine bought me a VIP ticket to meet the Flaming Lips and hear their sound check what was i to do? He really wanted me there and stated that if anyone should meet these guys it should be me and so he shelled out $160 to give me that opportunity. It's something i'd have never done for myself and as we get older the times someone does something for you out of love is not something to be scoffed at. My friend was just a wide-eyed kid not yet 21 when he moved in with a mass of dreadlocks and stink and weed that was a force of nature unto the world. I know i'm like the big brother he wished he had and he is one of the kindest people you'll ever meet.

And so it was that i caught the 2:37 T into town again and then sprinted halfway to Stage AE to meet my friend by 3:30 for the VIP experience kids. It was my friend, his ex-lady (who he also bought a ticket for) and myself. While we waited outside we could hear the Lips begin sound check through an open door, then a brief check of tickets, our fancy VIP passes hung around our necks, we walked in and were greeted to the Lips mid-song. After the song Wayne Coyne stopped and explained in the most Wayne-ish of ways how the afternoon would go. We'd listen to the sound check and then afterward go upstairs where there would be a meet and greet and you'd get some exclusive swag included with the ticket price. Sounds cool i thought. And so as i usually do i stood by the sound board and watched the light show and listened to the Lips run through some of their set. Needless to say the light show had me grinning for what was to come later in the evening but it was interesting to watch the band work through things and Wayne wander around the venue and listen from different spots when he wasn't singing. He told a great story about when  Nirvana opened for them long before Nevermind ever came out and how they played every song, even in sound check, as if it was the last one they'd ever play. Then he hopped down from the stage and announced it was time to meet the band and that we'd be shepherded upstairs where we'd get our time.

As we lined up by the stage doors i noticed my friend and his ex-lady were first in line, there were roughly thirty-some people who bought the package and while i figured i didn't want to be last i also didn't want to be first. It hit me that i was a bit nervous, not really star struck but what does one say given five minutes or whatever it may be to the members of a band you've been listening to for close to 30 years? Of course blasting the indica in the vape pen since i got on the train probably didn't help my mental state but still i realized i was a bit in awe. And so i slid back so that there were a few groups ahead of me, my boy and his ex-lady first, then a couple, and then what appeared to be a mother, father, and twenty-ish adult son. Then there was me, on the Jack Jones. But not having much to say? that was a lie, i had a lot to say, i just didn't know if i'd actually say it... most of it about the last 8 months and involving the Soft Bulletin...

Next thing i knew i was standing at the doorway, a minute later there was Wayne Coyne, wild hair and a blue suit shaking my hand and asking my name, inside the room was Steven Drozd and Michael Ivins, basically the permanent members of the Lips. Steven said he liked my shirt and we did the picture thing and made small talk. There was a moment when i figured i'd collect my photos and be on my way, then i stopped and began to speak... I said, "i know there's a lot of people waiting but i just wanted to tell you guys something, i found out my father had cancer in December and the first thing i did when i got off the phone with him was put on the Soft Bulletin, i wanted you to know how much it helped, i listened to it through his illness, he died May 16th, and on May 17th as i drove up to Cleveland where i grew up i listened to it in the car. I laughed, i cried, i smiled through tears. But it helps and i just wanted to say thanks." Wayne and Steve both stood there looking at me when Wayne stepped towards me and said, "damn man, can i give you a hug?" I laughed and said sure and got my hug, Steve then asked if he could give me one as well and then for the next ten minutes they both asked me questions about my father, about his illness, about him, we talked about the record, we talked about the fact that i had seen David Bowie live in 1989 (Wayne guessing the wrong tour and me telling him it was the Sound and Vision Tour, and how my sister had bought me the ticket because i had blown my dough on UB40 and the Smithereens two nights before, which brought a good laugh, had seen him on the Modern Love tour) and they had not, i actually felt a bit guilty because i didn't intend to occupy this much of their time but they kept talking to me about things. Both of them then in turn thanked me, talked about how as much as you think they hear stuff like this all the time they actually don't and how they were a bit floored by it, i smiled and told them thanks again while Wayne walked me to the door, arm draped over my shoulder, shook my hand again and said thank you, thank you for sharing that cuz it means a lot... and then off i went...

I walked down the hall and took the elevator down and found my boy and his ex, i told them the story and hugged my friend and thanked him again for giving me the opportunity. It was quarter after five and we walked down the street looking for a bar. The opening band wouldn't start for a couple hours and the Flaming Lips not until 9:15 or so? i knew the venue and their schedules well. I was still trying to process how fucking surreal the whole thing was, those guys were the fucking most down to earth guys you'd ever want to meet. Good people as we used to say in the hood. We strolled down the North Shore sidewalk staring at the over-priced chain bars and deciding on one with a mechanical bull and a country theme, mainly chosen for the ease of smoking, the Ex's cigarettes and myself the pen of Punxy Punch. I fumbled with the fungus in my pocket, soon it would be lift-off time, it was clear and warm with a blue sky dotted by white clouds, it had been a stellar day, the kicker being the show hadn't even started yet...