The Year My Mom Came To Lollapalooza*

*Because I was early internet friends with one of the artists and he got her in for free.

“What did he tell me to say? ‘I’m with the band’?”

“Yeah. He was sitting in the back seat of our station wagon. It’s so strange that you were the only nearly 50 year old woman there. Now the age barrier at those shows is totally gone. Remember those two girls who kissed in front of you to try to freak you out? The whole idea of Lollapalooza back then was eff the mainstream, eff our parents. And yet we brought our Mom to Lollapalooza.”

“I remember asking you guys to not call me ‘Mom’ while we were there. I didn’t want people to think I was a hovering parent. I didn’t even want you guys to talk to me.”

“I remember that. I remember thinking that was stupid; I thought it was really cool that you were there. What did you do, just sit around the festival by yourself all day?”

“I think I decided I was interested in some cause and worked at one of the booths for a while. I watched some of the bands, too. Courtney Love was there, right?”

“Yeah. Let’s see, what year was that… 95?” [Wikipedia search.] ”Sonic Youth, Hole, Pavement, Beck, ha, Cypress Hill… oh wow, Patti Smith!” [So obviously there were other nearly 50 year old women there.]

“I remember that! I thought that was a pretty big deal.”

“You watched her?”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’m so jealous. We took you to Lollapalooza and you got to see Patti Smith.” 

“You might have seen her too and just not remembered.”

“It’s so weird: I remember the first time I heard Patti Smith in college and just thought, yeah, I’m not so into this. Then years later, I put the same album on and I suddenly LOVE this. Wonder what that is that makes your feelings about music change like that.”

“When Dad and I first started dating, we were really into — oh what do you call it — early music? Like, with recorders? And then we got into the Highland stuff and wanted you kids to do traditional Scottish dancing.”

“Oh thank god you never followed through with that.”

“And when we first moved here we almost bought land and built a geodesic dome.”

“WHAT?!”

“Yeah.”

“I ALMOST GREW UP IN A GEODESIC DOME. Oh my god.”

“But the fact that we never did it must have meant that it wasn’t us.”

“Yeah. I guess the things you don’t do kind of tell you a lot about who you really are.”