Paris

Paris.  I have a love/hate relationship with the city...  I think it is a beautiful city, but when I visited (admittedly close to 20 years ago) the people were so RUDE.  I have been to other European countries (even some that didn't speak English - as their main language), but no one was nearly as rude as the citizens of France.

That being said, the events of last month in Paris hit me hard.  I felt the attacks the most I had felt terrorism since 9/11 (I grew up in New York...so that REALLY hit close to home).  The stories about the Bataclan Theater bring me to tears.  I grew up in clubs (figuratively, not literally) seeing rock bands.  By my count, I've been to 800 concerts.  At least 200 of those were in clubs.  When I worked in the music industry, I was in clubs sometimes 4 times a week.  I spent time with radio station and record store employees, tour managers, merchandise guys, road crews, bands, etc.  These were my people...  Spending time with a lot of these people, we were all very much alike.  Not the most popular people in school, never really finding a "place in the world"...and suddenly in the world of music it all made sense.  Music is a huge part of who I am.  For me to go to a club to see live music is a night out.  No big deal...  For the 89 people that died at the Bataclan, they probably felt the same way...it was a night out to see the Eagles Of Death Metal.  It probably never crossed their minds that they may not make it home that night...

Here is the definition of Terrorism:

1. the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes.

2. the state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization.
3. a terroristic method of governing or of resisting a government.

ISIS was trying to create fear.  They were trying to get people out of their normal routines...to think about being scared.

The family was down in NY for the Thanksgiving holiday (we alternate years).  I was able to get tickets to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for the family and was looking forward to going.  My initial excitement was tempered with the response from my wife of "Maybe this isn't a good year to go."  I hadn't even thought of NOT going.  We had gotten married less than a month after 9/11.  Due to fears of my wife and her family, we changed our Honeymoon plans.  I had always regretted that... Not just because we lost a boat load of dough, but because we did exactly what the terrorists wanted. We acted scared.  We changed our lives.  I wasn't going to let that happen again...

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.  The boys will absolutely love it.  It will be special." I told my wife.  She agreed and was ok with going...even, eventually, looking forward to it.  I told her we should take the LIRR into Penn Station, then walk the block to Macy's.  It will be super easy...

Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, I went to see Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness at The Paramount in Huntington, NY.  My brother works security there and got me on the guest list.  It was a blast.  The music was great.  I bumped into an old friend.  I spent time with my baby bro.

You know what?  I never once thought about the Bataclan or those 89 people, until...my mom started texting me and pleading me to drive to the parade (she had been at home with my wife).  That was followed by a 12:30am text from my wife to drive to the parade.  I caved in...and agreed.  If it would make her feel less anxious about going into a large group of people in a major city, then so be it...

You know what happened...  We had a great time...and got stuck in 2 hrs. worth of traffic coming home...

I believe in being cautious.  I believe in knowing what is happening in your surroundings.  I don't believe in being scared.  Life is too short.

I will continue to live and breathe music.  It's part of my soul.  I won't let anyone...especially terrorists, take that away from me.