A trip to Tacoma

 "Kindness is unconquerable, so long as it is without flattery or hypocrisy.  For what can the most insolent man do to you, if you contrive to be kind to him, and if you have the chance gently advise and calmly show him what is right... and point out tactfully and from a universal perspective.  But you must not do this with sarcasm or reproach, but without anger in your soul." - Marcus Aurelius

 One day three years ago, my daughter squealed with breathless excitement that "MCR is back together, and they are going on tour!!!", said she.  "They will be playing in the Tacoma Dome in October 2020".  The band she was referring to is My Chemical Romance, which had created quite a few hit songs back in the early 2000s.  

I enjoyed listening to them on Bakersfield's KRAB radio station around the time our daughter was born - during my long commutes to work - back when listening to the radio was still a thing.  If you are curious enough to follow the link to KRAB, the play button is at the top right corner of the page.  They still play great music.

MCR has been our daughter's favorite band forever.  She knows each band member's name, follows them on social media, knows all the little details of each recording, etc.  I shrugged my shoulders and assumed that we would be going to another concert far from home.

We had a family discussion about it, and decided that since it was sort of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, it was worth the expense.  A month later, when the tickets went on sale, I logged on and went through the stress of waiting to be allowed to purchase, knowing that the best seats were disappearing while I stared at the little circle spinning on the screen.

Once I was finally able to enter the website to complete a purchase, it showed remaining seats available.  This was followed by the unhappy discovery that many of the best seats were either gone or incredibly expensive - while texting over the phone with my agitated daughter.  She was at school and I was at work, so distractions abounded at both ends.  In the end, I purchased four tickets - for me, the wife, our daughter, and one for her best friend.  

At that point, we were a year out from the concert, and just happy that our seats were purchased.  Two months later, the world as we knew it changed.  The Covid-19 pandemic arrived, and most of the world went into lock-down.  Stock markets crashed and were back-stopped.  Companies and - even people! - got financial assistance.  Then the lock down ended, and everyone was supposed to wear a mask everywhere, and anyone who refused to get a dose of Pfizer juice in the arm was public enemy #1.  Crazy times.  Almost as crazy as times are right now.

As anticipated, I received a notice that the concert would be delayed a year, until October 2021 - but I could request a refund if desired.  We discussed as a family again, and decided to wait it out.  When the October 2021 date was getting close, I received another notice that the concert would be delayed a further year, until October 3, 2022.  Fortunately no major life events had occurred in our family in the intervening three years, and we were still able to attend the show.  And so here we are.  Almost.

The person that we knew, trusted and could count on to house-sit and care for our pets is now in a nursing home.  The wife had to stay behind - which is OK - this is not her thing, and she wasn't too excited about it in the first place.  She stayed home to house-sit and care for the critters, and the money spent on her ticket and the vacant seat went to waste.

There was one thing left to do before leaving, and that was to make sure we had a decent place to spend the night at the other end.  Our daughter, who is in charge of this part of the process, chose a Hampton Inn (a reasonably mid-scale hotel) not very far from the Tacoma Dome venue.  

We left home with a full tank of gas, some road food for the girls, and Monster Energy Zero drink for the chauffeur.  I decided to go on a fast for the entire trip, knowing that I would already be stressed (traffic, crowds, etc) and not very hungry anyway.  It was a good decision.  Anything we stopped for wasn't good quality food, and it wasn't appealing anyway.  I managed a 45 hour fast, which is not shabby.

It's a five hour long trip, with heavy traffic at each end, and lack of knowledge of the roads towards the western end of the path.

Along the way, we drove through smoke from some wildfires that are still burning.  We also saw a really beautiful vintage hydro racing boat.  My daughter took these photos while I was driving down Snoqualmie Pass in fast-moving heavy traffic, with white knuckles wrapped around the steering wheel.  I looked it up - Miss Wahoo was built in 1957, originally with an Allison V-12, and later swapped out with a Rolls Royce Merlin V-12 engine.  She was semi successful back in the days of wealthy sportsmen, before hydroplane racing became a commercially sponsored sport.  This boat belonged to Bill Boeing.

 

Below is a photo of Miss Wahoo out in the water, where she belongs.

Once we arrived in Tacoma, things got a bit grittier.  I was shocked at what I saw across from the hotel we were staying at.  I am not used to seeing this.  I'm sure we have homeless camps here as well, but not front and center, with broken-down cars and trash lining the streets.  This is Somalia-level stuff.

There was another added level of stress that our car would be stolen or broken into overnight - or lose the catalytic converter.  I am aware that not every homeless person is a criminal, but I also understand that there is desperation, and that some of them have drug habits that require constant effort to obtain money.   

Our rooms were not ready, so we stopped at a nearby Jack In The Box fast food joint for the girls to eat.  It too, was in a sketchy neighborhood, so I left my wallet locked in the car along with the girls, and went in to order.  One of the menu items I saw advertised in Jack in the Box was a "harvest themed" milkshake called the "Basic Witch" - a clever take on the "Basic B*tch" theme of pumpkin spice and entitled women.  Jack in the Box has always been slightly non-politically correct. 

Onwards... we finally made it to the event we had waited through three years of insanity for.  It was great, and worth the wait, and worth the trouble, and worth the expense.  The opening act was some local gal that was selected to play while everyone waited in line to get merchandise or locate their seat.  I'm not sure who it was, but I could hear her from behind stadium seats while we waited in line to get T-shirts. 

She didn't sound very good, and in between songs, she kept screaming "F*ck Fascism!!!".  I'm not sure she has ever seen a fascist - the kind that kicks in your door in the middle of the night and takes dissidents off to prison camps.  I suspect that in her mind, a fascist is someone who disagrees with democrat politicians.  I don't actually know what she thinks, but legitimate fascists seem to be rare.  I'm more concerned that someone might kill me for $20 in a horrible grubby city.  Whatever - It was probably nothing more than virtue-signaling. 

The line for merchandise was quite long, and slow-moving - because people kept cutting in ahead.   And that's one other reason why I don't like cities - it's every man and woman for themselves, and screw everyone else.  I'm used to a little more civility in public - where I live we have a high-trust society, and at home there is far more courtesy.  Or maybe it's a generational thing - it's hard to tell.  Both the teenagers I was with thought that kind of behavior was bullshit.  

The second band, "Taking Back Sunday" started playing as we finally neared the merchandise venue.   By the time we finally purchased our shirts, the second band was nearly finished with their show.  I think we only got to see 2-3 of their songs from our seats.  Below: Taking Back Sunday

  Below:  Waiting for either MCR or the president to wander onstage.

 And then the show started, which was the last time anyone sat down.  Great show, great talent.

The following day, on the long trip home, we had a discussion about the homeless people we had seen, and the tent cities.  

My daughter said that nobody cares about them, and that nobody is doing anything to help them.  I reminded her that there are charities constantly trying to help them, but that the problem is far larger than any individual or charity organization can deal with.  There are structural problems as well - how does someone apply for a job without internet, a bank account, or a home address?

I also pointed out that the only organization with the ability and money to solve this is the government, and they seem completely unconcerned.  Hell, we can't even get schools built for children, let alone get help for people who have had bad luck or fallen into drug dependency.  The government could deal with this if it wanted to, but it doesn't care.  I reminded her also that but for the grace of God, we too could be living in a tent if a few bad breaks happen, and to be thankful for everything that we have, every day.

What I didn't tell her is that all of us circle around the edge of the abyss, and if we spiral into the whirlpool, there will be no lifelines forthcoming.  Everyone else has too little resources to help - they are also too busy madly rowing their own boat in order to keep out of the pull of the vortex of poverty and desperation.

With that, I'll post a few videos of MCR's music from YouTube.  If my own passes copyright, I will post it at the bottom.  These guys are really talented songwriters and musicians.

Below:  Teenagers.  This song has a great bluesy guitar riff, funny lyrics, and a great chorus.

 Below:  The Black Parade, an anthem that brings to mind Bohemian Rhapsody.  Well put together, great guitar work - reminiscent of Queen's Brian May.

Below:  I'm not Okay - a power-pop song that was a pretty big hit back in the day.  Great vocals.

Bury Me in Black.  I love the guitar work in the intro.  These guys are versatile.

Famous Last Words.  Another power-pop song with a great guitar hook lead-in.

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The lead singer finished the show with the song "Cancer", a song about a dying child.

And my own video - unless/until it gets a take-down notice from the record label.  I noticed that the drummer definitely earned his pay during this song :)

Some closer-up pictures of the event were taken by a local station KOMO news.