Day 73 – August 18, 2011 – Thoughts on Pukkelpop…

Number of days in Amsterdam – 73

Number of days without a bike theft – 69

Days since it last rained – 3 0

OK, so we had rain again. It was quite heavy, and I ran to the grocery store anyway, etc., but events of today have me feeling like that sort of thing isn’t really all that important.

My thoughts right now are for the people attending the Pukkelpop festival in nearby Belgium. The storms were much more severe there, and winds and rain caused a stage to collapse. Five people were killed, and dozens were injured. It’s sad and it’s tragic.

Just a few days ago, a similar thing happened in Indiana, where a gust of wind hit the stage at the State Fair, collapsing it into the crowd. Five were killed there as well.

Anyone who’s read much of this blog knows that music is a big deal to me. I do a music site, and Nicole does the photography for it. Since we’ve moved to the ‘Dam, we’ve been to see Valient Thorr, the Roots Festival, the Pogues and a hardcore show, and there are a ton more concerts that we want to see. We really want to go see Shonen Knife next week, but it’s the same night as baby school (stupid baby school!),

When we first agreed to move to Amsterdam, it was before we knew that the Kitten was on the way, and we’d planned to hit some of these festivals, Pukkelpop included. A pregnancy prevented many of those plans (and that’s not an “oh me, poor me” statement. It’s fact, and It’s also fact that I am much more happy and feel more blessed to have a baby on the way than to go to a few festivals). A pregnant woman can’t spend three days standing at a festival. Hell, I can’t really do it anymore.

When I first started going to shows, I could be counted on being down in front, mixing it up with the best of them. OK, it was more like I’d be mixing it up with the second-best of them, but you get the idea. Other than some bruises, a broken thumb, and a sprained hip (and this was from hundreds of concerts and a lot of time down in front), I was fortunate from my concertgoing experiences.

As the years went by, I no longer felt the need to be down in front of a packed house. If the crowd was unpredictable or if it was just even too packed and uncomfortable, I was content to be in the back, or anywhere I could see or hear the band. I even discovered that the bands often sounded better back by the sound booth anyway, and that sometimes I just want to sit.

A few years back, 100 people were killed at a Great White concert in Rhode Island. That was a sobering moment for myself and a lot of my showgoing friends as well. While we never would have gone to a Great White show, the fact remained that we had all been to a lot of oversold concerts in venues with inadequate escapes, where bands played with pyrotechnics. It could have just as easily been one of those shows. It could have been the Wildbunch at the Magic Bag or the Ruiners at any club in Hamtramck. It just wasn’t.

Where am I going with this? It’s that I’ve been extremely lucky. With the number of shows I’ve been to, I’ve had some close calls. At SXSW this year, our choices kept us from some events that really turned out poorly. A boom fell on the crowd during the OMD performance, Ben Weasel punched some girls in the front of the stage, and the Death From Above reunion turned into a riot. All three of those shows were on our “maybe list” for the evening, but we were watching our friends in the Mighty Stef play, and meeting Bob Geldof. It was an amazing night that could have turned out badly had we made some different choices.

I’m not going to stop going to concerts. Ever. And I’m going to take the Kitten to concerts immediately (after I get her a pair of these). But there’s a part of me that’s a little overwhelmed by the fact that tragic occurrences happen and nobody can prepare for them.

That doesn’t mean that I’ll change what I do. It just means that I’ll feel the need to be even more vigilant from now on. To take care when I can.

My brother used to be a lumberjack. One day he had a very close call with a chainsaw. He was fine, but it could have very easily gone otherwise. I remember he told me afterward that as it happened, all he thought about was his son, and that this couldn’t be happening. That’s the sort of thing that runs through my head.

The world is a dangerous place, and random things happen. You can’t live in fear because of that. But you can pay attention to when a situation doesn’t feel right, and act accordingly.

So, it’s a somber post today, but it’s a somber day. I’d like to extend my condolences to the friends and families affected by both recent events.