MOG

Harry started his own musical journey within the last year which means he has moved beyond just listening to what I get him. He was listening to the tried and true Clash and the ever classic Johnny Cash. When Ellyn got back from seeing the Red Hot Chili Peppers in the Fall Harry started listening to them a lot. He also got into Rage Against the Machine.

We bought him a guitar several months ago and he searches for guitar tabs for songs he likes on the web and actually practices at least an hour or two a day.

One disappointing thing for Harry has been to discover that many of the bands he likes have broken up and shall probably never get back together again due to death (Joe Strummer) or 'musical differences'. When Harry found out that RATM were reuniting at Coachella he was devising ways to get out there.....was not to be.

The guitarist of RATM, Tom Morello, started a solo project called The Nightwatchman which is the outlet for his acoustic protest songs in the vein of joe hill, woody guthrie, etc. Morello is Harry's favorite guitarist and he watches his guitar lessons videos on Youtube almost daily. I checked out his official website and low and behold he was doing a tour. I got three tickets and Harry was drunk with excitement.

The kids and I drove to Detroit for the show on Tuesday. The show was in the basement of St. Andy's called The Shelter. I asked Harry what he was going to wear to the show and he was going to wear his RATM shirt and I told him concert etiquette states: no t-shirts of the band. Instead Harry wore his Clash t-shirt--the Clash also happen to be Morello's favorite band and he did the induction speech when they were inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.

When we finally got in the venue we were surprised how small it was. We told Harry that if you want to be in the front you have to go up and stand as close to the stage as you can and just wait. We got in at 7:30 and the opening act, Ike Reilly, came on at about 8:30. (I issued a brief missive about Reilly's greatness yesterday and my feelings have not been reduced by time. He was a wonderful musical discovery.) Mr. Reilly was a source of discomfort for Harry because before every song he sang he said, "Here's a little song about sex and cocaine." Everytime he said this Harry would look back at me with the small grimace of a boy of 12 who is still disarmed by any mention of sex (especially in front of his mother).

After Reilly as we waited for Morello to come on the guys right up against 'the stage' let Harry go in front of them. When Morello came on Harry was at most 3 feet from him. Morello came on at about 9:30 and played easily til about 11. He played his songs, told stories, passed around a bottle of Jameson Whiskey (which before he did he pointed at Harry and said, "None for you young man. Stay away from this stuff."), played an acoustic version of Guerilla Radio, and kept remarking how great the audience was. About 3/4's of the way through the show he said, "There is a young man up here with a very cool Clash shirt on." He then asked Harry his age and name and then gave him his guitar pick. He then said, "I saw KISS when i was 12 years old and Paul Stanley didn't give me shit." He told Harry, "If you are 12 and already listening to the Clash and The Nightwatchman you are already ahead of the curve." What curve I don't know but i will take Morello's word for it.

After the show Morello said that he would sign anything people bought--t-shirts, posters, etc. We got two t-shirts and got in line. Some guy that worked at St. Andy's came up and gave Harry one of the promo posters for the show. As we are standing in line the guy he set up Morello's guitar and such came up to us and somebody asked if he was the engineer here (st. andy's) and he said no, he is the tour manager for Rage. He asked Harry if he was the guy who got the pick and Harry said yes. He turned to me and said, "My mom used to take me to gigs." He then went off on a brief tangent about how maybe that wasn't such a good thing.....In the end he told Harry to do good in school.

When we got up to Morello he said, "harry!" He signed Harry's t-shirt and poster and my t-shirt and I said "I'm Harry's mom" and he said his mom used to bring him to shows. He gave me 'mad props' but unfortunately did not ask if i would be interested in carrying, birthing, and raising his love children.

In the end Harry had a great first show and met his hero who was everything you hope your hero would be. Me, it is now super clear i am officially 'the cool mom' and much out of the range of groupie. When rock stars see me I remind them of their mother! The Horror.....the horror.