The Ballad of the Music Fan and the Stolen Mix Tape (Part 2): The Road Goes on Forever...

Note: there are many links in this post. A few are links back to previous posts that I have written that relate to what you will read here. The other links are a special treat for you..a hidden playlist of select Allman Brothers tunes. Have a read of the post and go back and listen. Enjoy.

Back in April I wrote a post titled, "The Ballad of the Music Fan and the Stolen Mix Tape", about the origins of my need passion for consuming music and searching for the stories that are being told within the music and by those who listen to it. In that post I talked about a lot about "stories". Here is a bit of what I said:

"...What really struck me though was the

story they were telling/playing for me. This is where I really got hooked and this is what still hooks me to this day. The stories that are being told through the music, the back-stories of those who made the music and my own stories that are created from these musical experiences is what turns me on. That is what makes the music come alive for me. It is why I listen and why the songs, lyrics and people are inextricably linked to who I am."

So true.

This particular story..of the "Music Fan and the Mix Tape"... is not finished. In fact it never was nor will it be. As with any good story, it is told over and over and over again. As with any good story, people allow it to live on by retelling it. And, as with any good story...there is always a next chapter.

In Part 1, I was talking about how a single incident with a stolen mix tape turned me into the passionate and dedicated music fan that I am today (you may want to have a read of that

first post before going any further). The other character (and I do mean character) in the story was the owner and creator of that stolen mix tape ("Mix Tape Guy"). He and I have not been in touch much in the last decade...especially not since I moved to Australia. When we do bump into each other, it is a good catch up over a beer and always a mention, comment or story about music. He may be the biggest music-head I know and I know me very well.

Lately I have been running into him a lot...on Facebook. Facebook...ah, the great communicator and connector of people. Since we friended eachother, we have been talking up music and sharing some great links. Not surprisingly, we both keep an online list of our music collection. I sent him

my list (which is 1,300+) strong and he sent me his. Between the two of us we have three-quarters of Rock and Roll, two-thirds of the blues and heaping handfuls of Soul, Country and R&B...covered.
_____

I have lived in Australia for four and a half years and I have not yet once traveled back to the States for a visit. My wife and I have traveled to many other places since then, but I have not been home (my wife has been four times). There is no specific reason why. When I commit to something, I get locked in. There is so much to experience, that in my head that going home...even for a short visit...felt like a step back. That being said, this past May I booked my first ticket back to the States. Home Turf. Back where it all began. Time to go home and go check up on how all of my skeletons are doing.

My plane was to fly in on the 23rd August and stay until half way through September. Aside from seeing my family, there were a couple other happenings I wanted to check out: a Sox game at Fenway and any concerts by (my) bands that just don't make it to Australia. The Sox tickets were easy. I purchased three tickets in row AA in the right field grandstands, smack dab in front of the Pesky Pole. The next thing I did was hit the mojo wire looking for cool gigs at old haunts...the Casino Ballroom in Hampton, NH, the Oprpheum Theatre in Boston, the Boston Garden and that beacon of summer and youth...Great Woods in Mansfield, Massachusetts (today people call it the Comcast Center).

I went on the Ticketmaster site and it was slim pickings for bands I was interested in...until I scrolled down and saw just what I needed to see. The Allman Brothers were playing at Great Woods on Saturday the 30th August. Did I read that right? The Allmans. At Great Woods. On a

Saturday. In the summer. During the time I would be home. Hot Damn! The Allmans have never come to Australia, but I sure have gone to the Allmans...28 times to be exact (how many of those shows I actually remember is another thing entirely).

You don't miss your water until your well runs dry. My well was bone dry for an outdoor summer time Allman's gig at Great Woods. I cut my concert teeth on those early '90's Allman shows. They used to stop into Great Woods for three shows every summer tour back then. I usually made it to all of them. A group of us would caravan down there and get mental in the parking lot. Tailgating for the Allmans was one big giant (outdoor) house party.

If there was any cure-all for my homesick blues, it was the Allmans laying the groove on a cool summer night.

Straight away I bought two tickets. I figured I could find someone who wanted to stir up some old time vibes with me. My treat. I'll buy the tickets and get our ride. Maybe I could get a huge crew and I would rent a limo and we'd go in style and tear up the parking lot scene. Get the tickets first and then sort out the rest later. This was a done deal.

Done deals are never as clean cut as they should be. Fast forward two months after buying the tickets. My wife gets a promotion, it requires a move to London and we start saying our Sydney goodbyes (the London move is another post all itself) Leaving Sydney is bittersweet. We have good friends here and we love the city and the quality of life it offers us. But there it is again...The Lure of Going Around. Traveling minstrel shows have nothing on us. In one month we move to London...smack dab in the middle of my planned trip home and almost to the day of the Allman's show. Now I have the keys, but they won't fit the lock.

So, I had to cancel my trip back to the States. I made some phone calls home to deliver the exciting, but disappointing news to family and friends. After that dust settled...what about those Allman tickets. The money wasn't the important thing here. The essence of the experience was at stake. That meant a lot to me. I couldn't just sell the tickets on ebay?! That would suck the soul right out of the whole thing. Who could I give these to? Who would appreciate it as much as I would. Who could I count on to turn pro when it mattered and sing this old boy back home? Mix Tape Guy...that's who!

_____

I was on Facebook a day or so later. I saw that Mix Tape Guy had posted a comment. His kid wanted to see the Jonas Brothers. Being the good man and even better dad that he is, he took his kid to the show. But still...The Fing Jonas Brothers?! This, this was musical blasphemy to him. Then, once he got here it went pear-shaped fast. He got carded going for a beer and got denied! Can't even get a beer to ease the pain. Aside from the unconditional love gesture and response of taking his kid to the show...I'm sure it was a new low for this four star general of concert going.

I had read enough. I had to respond quickly before this smell started to settle into the fabric of his music-head being. I sent him a message and offered up my Allman tickets free of charge. Why not. He deserved them and I knew I could count on him to roust the scene as I would have. Needless to say he was pleased. And I was too. It made me feel good to share the tickets and share the music with someone I knew would appreciate it...and, I found another story to tell.

We traded a few emails regarding the tickets and some names of mutual friends popped up. I was a bit jolted when he mentioned one Mutual Friend in particular. Every time I listen to the Allmans I think of Mutual Friend. Every time. Mutual Friend was stationed overseas in the first Gulf War. Mutual Friend once told me that while over there, where ever he was and what ever post he was at, he would carve into the walls or write all of the lyrics to the classic Allmans tune, "Whippin' Post". My Mix Tape Guy said he used to get letters from Mutual Friend with Whippin' Post lyrics in them all of the time. Our emails continued back and forth and more coincidental connections were made and more stories told.

Mix Tape Guy is taking another mutual friend to the Allmans show. Two friends sharing a classic show with tickets shared by a friend who they have not seen in close to ten years and that lives over 10,000 miles away. What a great story. I always say: the one thing I love more than listening to music is sharing it. Enjoy the show, Mix Tape Guy (I know you will).
_____

I am dissapointed about not being able to go home and see friends and family...and to have to miss out on the Allmans show and the Sox game (I have plans for the Sox tickets, too. Some lucky friend is going to get a call in the next day or two). When I think about the opportunity my wife and I have with London, I forget about missing these gigs. At least I can share them with freinds.

For us, we on the road again and the way things are looking, it will go on forever. We're seduced (again) by The Lure of Going Around...and we wouldn't have it any other way. Now all I need to do is make a playlist for our road trip...