I don’t know about you, but I LOVE attending concerts; listening to music live is one of my favorite things. Over the course of my life, I have attended myriads of concerts, but a few are particularly memorable. One such memory involves seeing Tom Petty on his Hard Promises Tour at the Los Angeles Forum in 1981 (no judgement about the year!). My friends and I were right in front of the stage, standing on the floor. I am not very tall, so I couldn’t see much. One of my friends let me climb up on his shoulders to watch the show. Due to my position, my feet dangled above the stage. Don’t ask me why, because to this day I can’t explain it, but I decided to jump on stage and run toward Tom between songs. As I rushed Tom, his bouncers came running toward me, but Tom waved them off and let me get to him. I stopped right in front of him. Now that I was there, I did not know what to do. He gave me a quick hug (his guitar was between us) and then moved me toward the side while he played the opening riff of “Breakdown” with one hand and his other arm  around me. The audience, as they do at all Petty concerts, started singing the song acapella, and he and I just swayed. After the opening chorus from the audience, he said, “I’ve got to play guitar and join in.” I just nodded. His bouncers escorted me to the side stage, and I figured I was going to get arrested for sure. Nope. I hung out the rest of that concert on the side stage with Tom’s crew. Stevie Nicks, Fleetwood Mac, also walked past me and said “Hello.” Insane, right? After the concert, he gave me a signed cassette (yes, I am old) and t-shirt. When it was all said and done, I discovered my friends had driven back to San Diego because they assumed I had been arrested. I had to call my dad at 12:30 in the morning to come pick me up. I was grounded for two weeks, and it was totally worth it!

What about you? What is your favorite concert, live sporting event, theatrical production, musical production, or live experience?

If you have not attended any of these experiences, then how about detailing your favorite event that occurred in a group–a wedding, a birthday celebration, a holiday gathering.