HELLO CLEVELAND!!!!!! I DON'T CARE IF IT'S A CLICHE!!!!!

The other day Tristan showed me how to make a song on my ipod repeat indefinitely.  I had no idea until then that this function existed.  This brand new information answered an old, nagging question of mine:  How could one specific song on a five-year-old's ipod have 500 listens in only a matter of months?  The song was 'Dry Bone Valley' by Mastodon and the excessive listens were discovered not long after I'd given him The Hunter.  Can you think of a single song you've purposely listened to 500 times?  In three months?  I got nuthin'.

Tristan loves Mastodon.  They were the first band he'd ever seen, in Chicago with Deftones and Alice in Chains in 2010.  He was four.  Since then the love has been non-stop, and has sometimes driven me bonkers ('Curl of the Burl', really?) but mostly towed me into fandom myself.  That they're pretty great live doesn't hurt, either.  The most recent record, the one with the swansong-sounding title, has been the soundtrack of choice during kitchen cleanup since it came out.  Which is high praise in this household.

Anyway, after that first concert, Tristan never seemed too interested in seeing another.  I took him to see Opeth and Katatonia at First Avenue in October of 2011 and he was having none of it.  Which was fine, we left the show and I managed to see Opeth and Katatonia play together again TWICE in 2013!  Unfortunately Katatonia played not a single song that I knew (and I have something like NINE of their records).. but I digress. 

So out of the blue in summer of 2013 Tristan asks to see Mastodon for his birthday!  It was such a proud moment.  At first I thought we'd be trekking to Europe to be able have the chance to see them in July, but they were actually touring the states that summer, playing some terrible outdoor festival.  BUT there was an off-date with MACHINE HEAD in Cleveland!!  We took the train, stayed in an historic hotel, ate amazing food, hit some "museums" and it was WONDERFUL.  Fucking Cleveland, man.. who knew?!

Tristan at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tristan at The Arcade

Nice cubby in our room at The Arcade

Tristan at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

NASA Glenn Visitor Center

pretty self-explanatory, I think

Tristan and Lake Erie

I don't have a picture of Tristan at the show because I didn't even take my phone.  I probably could have taken a picture of him with Mastodon's rad drummer Brann Dailor, who stopped to talk to us when we were eating outside earlier in the day at the awesome Greenhouse Tavern, but of course I didn't.  Brann is such a sweetheart, and Tristan was so confused as to who he was.  It took all sorts to stop myself flailing my arms and yelling "THIS IS THE MAN THAT WROTE THE SONG YOU LISTENED TO FIVE HUNDRED TIMES IN THREE MONTHS!!!!"

It might seem crazy to everyone else, but traveling for concerts makes all kinds of sense to me.  I have done it forever.  I flew to Canberra, Australia to see my very first show (Mr. Bungle) when I was seventeen.  I could produce a long list of bands I've traveled to see and dozens of reasons why concerts are the best reason to go anywhere, but basically it boils down to the fact that passion for music is universal and music is a universal language.  I know that I have friends in any given venue before I even walk in, it doesn't even matter what country.  I want Tristan to have the same passion and the same experiences I've had.  And he won't even have to endure being groped!  But he IS only 8, and maybe wants to pace himself.  Maybe he'll ask to see another show in another three years.  Stay tuned.