I had my first concert experience when I was 13 years old. It was to some hair band in the ’80s that I didn’t even like, and I didn’t know its music very well. But someone at my high school had extra tickets, and I was keen to see what all the stadium rock fuss was all about.
So a gaggle of unsupervised teens headed into Montreal from our small town, not telling our parents where we were actually going for the evening. One of our number was tall for his age and sported a pretty good attempt at a moustache, so he was able to acquire beer from one of the vendors at the show. Another of our group brought some “brownies.” To make this long story short, suffice it to say I spent half of my first debaucherous concert experience feeling seriously ill and worshiping the porcelain god in a pretty gross bathroom.
My daughter’s first festival concert experience was somewhat different. This past year, at the tender age of 12, I asked her to be my concert buddy for the three-day Squamish Valley Music Festival. We spent the hot, sunny days lounging on the grass, eating ice cream and listening to bands she actually wanted to see. She got to hang out with friends her age who were also there having a glorious weekend festival concert experience with their families. Sure, she saw a bunch of young adults drinking, and she certainly now knows what marijuana smells like, however, despite some raucous behaviour, the fest was mostly age-appropriate and suitable for pretty much everyone in the family, from kids to grandparents. We decided then and there that this would be our little annual tradition.
However, now that this year’s fest is cancelled (and with their social media accounts deleted, I have little hope of it ever returning), we’re both left disappointed and disillusioned and probably some other emotion that also begins with the letter “d.” Things happen, we are well aware, but it would be nice to know the “whys” of this loss. Everyone I know had a special place in their hearts for “our” little music festival and supported it wholeheartedly.
Yes, some folks complained about the kids, the inebriation and the noise… however, I think they were a vocal and fuddy-duddy minority. In the end, my music-loving daughter and I will have to find another new tradition to begin this summer. But hopefully, she will always remember and cherish the memory of her first music festival.
