Baby's First Concert

One of the greatest gifts I can think to give Rachael is the ability to decipher good music from the no-talent, corporate crap that the big labels put out solely for the purposes of making money. On Thursday night, Jeff, Rachael and I ventured out to the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery in Woodinville to see Tori Amos.

I’ve been a Tori fan since my freshman year of college when I discovered the redheaded siren with a quirky sense of wording and a beautiful voice while watching 120 Minutes on MTV. This was back in the day when MTV used to show videos…videos by artists that weren’t 16 years old and lip syncing or rapping. I went out the next day and bought Little Earthquakes, and that was it, I was a lifelong Tori fan.

On paper, Tori was a great first concert for Rachael. It was at an outside venue, so Rachael could run around until her energy was spent, Tori’s crowd is chuck full of parents who are about my age, and women who most of the time, love kids, and Rachael has always had an affinity for piano music. When she was in the womb and heard piano music, she used to do cartwheels. I always thought that was very cool.

When the time came to head to the show, I was excited to bring my baby to her first live concert. Unfortunately, the drive out there was a nightmare. The traffic at the Woodinville exit was backed up, because of a 4-way stop sign intersection on the way to the venue. Would it have been so hard for the promoter or the city to hire a cop to direct traffic rather than making people sit in their cars for 30 minutes? I guess this is the quality you get when the entire concert promotion industry is owned by two major corporations who care more about money than they do about the artists or providing an enjoyable concert-going experience for fans.

We finally arrived at the show and found a nice spot out in the grass with a full view of the stage. Rachael danced and clapped her hands to the music of the first band; a little acoustic foursome known as The Dittybops. As the sun was setting Ms. Tori took the stage alone. I have seen her on every tour since Little Earthquakes back in 1991, and she usually has a full band with her. This time it was a one woman show, which proves one thing; when an artist is truly an artist, they never cease to amaze and surprise their audience.

Rachael sat on my lap swaying back and forth to the music, clapping her hands, then getting up and dancing. Since Jeff was only at the show to be with me, I was able to put him in charge of watching Rachael. He gladly accepted the duty and actually didn’t mind being at the show, only bitching mildly about the fact that the food was very overpriced.

The evening had been going as anticipated until about an hour into the show, when we thought Rachael would be winding down. The little hamster on crack went into turbo drive taking off and running away every time she had the opportunity. She spun in circles around our blanket like a monkey who just ingested a hit of acid and a double-shot latte. I leaned over to Jeff and made the prediction that our jittery kid would end up conking out five minutes before the show ended, and once again, Mom was right.

Near the end of Tori’s set, Rachael threw herself down, covered herself up with her Cat in the Hat blanket, and went fast to sleep. The show ended right after that song. We waited a few minutes and heard half of the first encore when I told Jeff we should head for the shuttle line. For the second encore Tori launched into “Pretty Good Year” and with my baby passed out cold in my arms, I stood there and enjoyed one last song.

I’m under no illusions that Rachael will remember this show, she’s too young. All I can hope is that by attending this concert and the other musical events I will take her to during these formative years, it will help build her into a young woman with a strong sense of individuality. Instead of listening to the endless string of vacuous, untalented, teenage divas during her ‘tween years, maybe Rachael will opt for a better standard. Perhaps by showing her an example of the true artistry and creativity that Tori Amos represents, Rachael will look at popular culture with the same cynicism and suspicion that I do. Hopefully, this will give her the strength of character she needs to look at pictures of models and airbrushed perfection and laugh it off as ridiculous instead of developing the illusion in her head that she needs to follow suit.

I don’t know if that will happen or if any of these hopes will come true, but I can tell you that one thing is guaranteed: this might have been Rachael’s first Tori Amos concert, but as I live and breathe, it sure as hell won’t be her last.