John

Some of you may consider me an old fart as I began getting into metal music back in the mid-70's with the likes of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Deep Purple, The Who, etc. The metal music in the 70's and early 80's set the stage for rock today. My sons affectionately (I hope) believe I attended and/or was a product of Woodstock. I attended my first concert in 1981 (Ozzy / Blizzard of Ozz) and enjoyed my 100th concert (The Who / Celebrating 25 Years) in 1989. I warped my sons with my taste of metal music and they progressed from there. Although I took a break from attending concerts, I kept quite busy with music on a personal level until late 1996. As a single dad, raising two sons became my priority. Without regret, I stopped my hobbies of photography and journalism while previously attending shows and offering published articles regarding the events. I resumed attending concerts - with my sons - when they became teenagers. Things have since changed and now my sons have begun to warp me with their respective music. In comparison to true metal, some of today's rock music is crap. I have also learned that the shows attended at smaller venues are most often FAR BETTER than attending the concerts held within larger venues. Also, it is often within these smaller venues that the majority of groups make themselves available to the audience in order to meet, give autographs, have their respective pictures taken, and actually THANK those for attending in realizing that without their listeners and fans that attend their shows, purchase their respective CD's and merchandise, they would not exist.