Tribute

I was a little surprised when Tim said, "There is a Bob Seger Tribute band coming to the Titusville Iron Works.  I would like to go." We had never been there before. It is an old (duh!) Iron Works factory, built in 1860, a mile from Drake's Well, its specific purpose being to supply the boomtown oil operations with the machinery that they needed. 

In its new incarnation, it is a huge warehouse of a building, true to its history, and filled with antique cars and oil related memorabilia, and Tim has always wanted to see the inside. 

I am not a fan of tribute bands myself, but I missed the opportunity to see Bob Seger. He's 78 and retired. I also happen to love that music. All of it. It seemed like a nice (and rare) night out. 

Last night was the night. 

The venue itself was very cool. A dragster sat atop the crane bridge still in place from the old factory. A city trolley was parked. The interior was lit, and it was filled with memorabilia. There were antique cars set atop the bathrooms and in the rafters. A large oil can collection ran along one wall. Cast iron clawfoot tubs held gas fire pits. A lot to see, and Tim was in his glory.

The band was alright. I mean, it's a tribute band. It is NOT Bob Seger, and I don't know that there is anyone in this world with just the right amount of gravel to his voice to capture that perfectly.

(ignore the poor sound)

But isn't there something wonderful about knowing the words to every song? To sit in a crowd who also knew all the words to every song? It was funny to look around and see people my own age, some of them looking like anybody's grandma, others looking like they were fighting as hard as they could NOT to look like anybody's grandma. 

I found myself wondering what we looked like, Tim and I sitting quietly in our corner, our heads bobbing along with the words we were singing.

Some folks danced. Tim is not a dancer. He is a preacher's kid, even after all these years and he was raised to believe it was a sin. He never quite got over that. We danced once. We also danced at our children's weddings. It was expected. I prodded him, and he did his duty. 

So we sat there in the dark, happily listening to the music,and I was remembering where I'd been in my life while these songs were popular, a little trip down memory lane.  The band broke into "We've Got Tonight". Yet another favorite. I sighed happily. Tim leaned over and said, "Want to dance?" 

And we did. 

Later we walked outside to the car holding hands. It was late, for us anyway and we had a hour to drive, half of it through some pretty serious woods with a pretty serious deer population. We listened to the finale blasting through the brick walls and joked that we didn't even have to pay the $25 ticket price. We could have sat in our car and heard every bit of it. We drove home with the echoes of the amplifiers ringing in our heads, our minds filled with old songs and old memories and old places.

I leave you with the real deal.