Saturday, August 06, 2005

A-Fest-ing we will go...

It's the week we here in Bethlehem wait all summer for. Musikfest has come to town and brought with it the usual fun. Basically, downtown Bethlehem is taken over by all the Fest-ing and all the merriment, and you buy tickets to buy food and beer that you can walk around drinking out of Official Musikfest Mugs and you get to listen to live music and eat and eat and eat and also get really annoyed at the teenagers who have also been waiting for this week all summer but only because they are sick of the mall.

WHEW!

So tonight was our first trip downtown to the place where venues are given names like Volksplatz and Festplatz and Liederplatz, and you pay the equivalent of $5.00 (10 tickets) for 22 ounces of Yuengling Lager in your Official Musikfest Mug. But did I mention that you can drink it while wandering around town? When else do they suspend the open container law?

My mom, my sister, and I headed to tonight's big concert, which was a Keith Urban concert. Well, let me tell you, the dude is a hottie, and he plays the guitar like nobody's business. It was a fantastic concert. However, The Most Annoying Woman in the World was sitting right in front of me. So apparently the Fates have something against me because this lady was tough to handle. First of all, as soon as he came out on stage, she stood up on her seat. This annoys me. We all know you shouldn't do that. It's rude, and the security guards frown upon it. Sure enough, a security guard immediately trained his death ray (or flashlight, whatever) on her...but in her practically-orgasmic state, she didn't notice. I finally tapped her on the shoulder several times and pointed his way. She jumped down, but she continued to gyrate wildly, holding up a sign made out of a pillow case that said "Thank you" (and we were about 45 rows back, so I am guessing he didn't see that). Eventually, she moved up a few rows, leaving us in peace. Luckily, I am sounding more annoyed than I was. She wasn't enough to ruin my night for me.

However, the people behind me? The ones yelling "SIT DOWN!" at the 45+ rows of people ahead of them who were singing and dancing to the music? They would have been able to ruin my night if they hadn't eventually SHUT THE HELL UP! Yes, I know it's sort of annoying when the people in front of you are standing when you want to sit. But yelling? Not helpful. Not helpful at all.

Anyway, to recap, awesome concert, mad guitar-playing skills, awesome cover of Tom Petty's "Free Falling," and some Down Under yumminess in a slightly-scruffy, totally hot little package. Good night for the Thomas ladies...

And then? Then, we entered the fifth circle of Hell. We have a public transportation system here in the area in the form of buses. For most of the year, it's used pretty often by those who don't own cars, but this is a car-heavy area, so buses usually aren't crowded at all. But during Musikfest, you can get a special bus pass pin that allows you to ride to your heart's content during Musikfest hours. We catch the bus at a stop that we can actually see from our house. And since parking is, well, a bitch during Musikfest, this comes in handy. Tonight, for the ride home, we hopped on a bus that was teeming with about 900 million teenagers. You could smell the hormones. The girls were beautiful, and the boys were Very Cool. One of them was so cool that he was wearing his jeans belted around his knees and showing us his boxers. It was our lucky night. Anyway, bus rides like that make me want never to have kids, lest they turn into one of those. Now, I would imagine that you love your kids no matter what, but the thought of having one of these children who dress almost like hookers (or else better than I do) and don't understand that the F-bomb is not for use in public or in everyday conversation just makes me think that celibacy is just fine, thankyouverymuch. And when I see a crowd of 15 and 16 years old who are noticably more drunk than I am, I think that I feel a certain amount of pity for the parents that have to raise them. And also I am happy that it's not me...

Anyway, the rest of the week will include a JoDee Messina concert, some Kate and CJ (a more local acoustic folk duo), and an evening with the Steve Miller band. Unfortunately, it will also include many, many more teenagers. Luckily, the festival food and mugs of beer are worth it. After all, this is Bethlehem's week to shine!

6 comments:

NME said...

I love Musikfest and was just telling Patrice just yesterday that I didn't want to miss it another year. I just like walking around people watching, eating and drinking beer. Good stuff.

In regards to teenagers - I dread having them. In my opinion even the most wonderful child in the world can become an annoying nuissance between the ages of 13 and 17. And it's not necessarily about fashion or rowdiness but the annoying "know everything" vibe they give off. But the time before seems great and hopefully once they grow up a bit you can resume having a lovely relationship with them. One hopes.

mrs. awesome said...

i am with nme...i am not looking forward to the teenage years. but, i do know two things. my daughter won't dress like a hooker (why do they make juicy sweatpants for 10-yr-olds?!), and i have to believe that all the hard work i do now to guide and discipline her. you can't control everything, but trying to address it at that point seems a little too late (if you know what i mean). glad you had fun :)

hazel said...

we totally have to go to musikfest. even when my mom lived in hellertown, we managed to miss it. this weekend, trent has a soccer tournament, so I don't know if we'll even get to it this year. we'll see.

having a boy that is on the cusp of this adolescent hell you speak of is quite harrowing. I keep waiting for him to wake up one day by giving me the finger. lucky for me, the only signs he's pubescing is some little tiny pimples on his nose. still, I wait - and brace myself.

Susan said...

Sounds like a blast! I wish we lived closer so I could go with you and drink beers!

Sherri said...

I really should get up to Musikfest....Quakertown is too close to miss it.

And about teenagers....ugh. I look at them and remember how obnoxious I was at that age and it makes me cringe. I try to have as much tolerance as I can, but sometimes I really do just want to smack them upside the head!

Hope you have a good time at the other concerts. :)

Fred said...

Sounds like a great time. I used to listen to the Steve Miller band in my college years; that was some great music. This just inspired me to search for a few songs on iTunes to download.