Sorry for the long post.

On Saturday I took my 16 year old son to the show. He has been into the band for a long time. He is a very quiet, sweet, and smart kid. He gets some anxiety in places with crowds, like church, restaurants, etc….

He loves music and so do I. I have been to about 60 shows over the years. We have gone to couple of concerts together that he has enjoyed. We went to AJR which he likes and The Flaming Lips, which I like. At AJR I could see he was starting to feel a little comfortable. He knew all the words to their songs, but you tell he was restraining himself.

TOP is his favorite band. We bought the tickets for his birthday. He had know idea that he would get this as a present which was cool, since both my teenage sons usually just want money or a gift card. We are not rich in anyways, but we are not poor either. Just a family who makes ends meet somehow every month. So, he was rather surprised. We are not from Dallas. We drove in from out of state.

Before the concert I was familiar with their music. I did not know all their songs, but I always liked Vessel and a couple of their other albums. My son knows everything about the band.

Just before the show starts when you hear “ETA 2 Minutes”. I see his race light up. When the show starts we are both on our feet for most of the show, which I prefer to be at concerts. He sings every word to every song along with 20k others. There is no holding back for him. He was not worried what anyone thought about him. The expression on his face almost brought me to tears.

I have been to a lot of concerts, never one where the entire crowd sings every word to every song. To me that is moving and creates an unmatched energy in a show.

We get back to our hotel. We were up till about three in the morning watching videos as he explained to me about Banditos, Clancy, Nico and the Niners, what albums covers represented, etc….

This was one of the best concerts I have ever been to. The nicest people at a concert ever. I talked to a lot of folks at the arena. This was the most welcoming crowd I have ever been around.

The next morning on the way home. We found the set-list online and created a playlist of it. We listened to it twice, and just talked about the show the whole way home. I downloaded every album available and it is now heavily played in my rotation. I know he will always remember this show! I think it may stick with me a little more just because of his reaction. I am thankful to the band and the fans for this experience.