My dad loves live music. He has tried to include his family in this love as long as I can remember and wherever we have lived. Free jazz concerts at the Denver Botanic Garden. Live bands at the V.P. Fair in St. Louis. He even drove us the 100 miles from our home in Flagstaff to the Hopi Reservation for a reggae concert. Things got really exciting when we moved to the Bay Area: He took my 12-year-old brother to a U2 concert, dragged my mom to the Pretenders, and I got a couple of pretty awesome daddy-daughter dates to see Los Lobos at the Fillmore and R.E.M, Phish, and Barenaked Ladies at Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit. (Wow, I miss those San Francisco days.) My dad stops to listen to street musicians, always. He can even enjoy the garage bands at a middle school talent show. If there is live music, my dad listens. And so does David.
I've suspected for some time that David might share his grandfather's love of all music live. David never sat more still in church than during a cello solo. Inside a sandwich shop near our house sometimes there is a man playing the guitar, and, while most people sit a polite distance away, David marches right up to sit at the table closest to the music--and he's concerned when the man isn't there. On weekends at the Greene, David prefers the live bands to the splash fountain. The other week when I took him to his little class at the rec center, in the room next door was a senior citizens' ukulele band practicing (yes, a senior citizens' ukulele band--I love our community!), and no amount of glue and glitter could drag that boy away. He loves live music!
This was reconfirmed to us Friday night at the Dayton Celtic Festival. Greg and I had been looking forward to the Celtic Festival for sentimental reasons. When we had been married just a few months, Greg and I were here in Ohio for a little while so Greg could complete some training. One evening we stumbled upon the Celtic Festival, and we had a great time, especially listening to the music. Now that we are back in Dayton, we couldn't miss the Celtic Festival. So we skipped the grocery store for date night, and headed downtown to Riverscape MetroPark. We liked being on the river and seeing the ducks. David had a good time playing in the fountain. We loved the fresh scones with strawberries and cream from a Scottish bakery (so much so that we had to go back for more--yum!). But it was all about the music. David was fascinated! He clapped his hands and wiggled his body to the beat. He reminded me of my dad because he blocked everything out and gave all his attention to the music. I was surprised by how long the music held David's attention. He was loving it! We enjoyed part of Slide's set and especially Scythian, whose set didn't end until 9:30. David and Mary were having such a great time that we considered staying for Gaelic Storm, but we decided to leave on a high note. We left feeling so happy that we had been able to share with our children the experience of free live music on a summer night. And, like I said, it reconfirmed to us that David really, really likes live music.
So the next time Grandpa Mike sets out in search of live music, he should know he would have a willing companion in David.
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