All age's shows make me smile. This past Saturday, while waiting for HM to take the stage, I was standing in the back 3rd of the Sokol Auditorium. After a quick census with a friend, we determined we were the 4th and 5th oldest people on the floor - who weren't working. I have to say...age has never bothered me. Many of my friends often tell me I am the youngest person they know...I still get carded for drinks, cigarettes...even a movie, last year.

While waiting for the acts to start, the house is playing music - 70's rock and 80's pop music...music I grew up listening to - lynchpin songs that you relate to some experience. For example - "Purple Rain"...Jennifer Young asked me to the Sadie Hawkins dance in 7th grade and kissed me on the cheek to that song. Of course, she was trying to make Trent Northern jealous because he went with Karen Wiley who I was REALLY in love with...sigh...

So...Purple Rain is played and a handful of emo teen couples break off and begin the hands on hips / hands on shoulders dance. It's nice to see, many things don't change.

After Prince finishes...a familiar guitar / keyboard riff begins..."Here we stand...Worlds apart, hearts broken in two, two, two..." A tiny blond, blue eye shadow and sparkles who tips the scales at 14, jumps up and screams "Oh My God!!! Journey!!!" And like all holier than thou, music elitists...I thought...huh? If Steve Perry were standing next to her, she would be thinking "Who's this perv and how soon can I go huff again?"

(Side point...I have to make a conscious decision to not become the bitter, know-it-all music fundamentalist and let people have their experiences - even encourage them)

Why is "Separate Ways" important? My best friend's older brother went to see Journey in '83. And he brought us both back something very special - Journey headbands...no shit. They were gray synthetic cloth with black silk-screen - outlines of the members of the band and the "Frontiers" symbol. There are 4 things I wish I could find from my childhood...the Journey headband was one of them.