"My Father's Chair" - Rick Springfield

I have always loved this song and I was thinking about my dad yesterday and this song came to mind. I love Rick Springfield - mullet and all.




So, a couple of years ago (maybe like 4 or 5 years), I was looking through the A&E in the Oregonian newspaper and I saw that Rick Springfield was playing at one of the casinos at the coast (I think in Lincoln City)the next night. I wanted to go but it was on a Thursday evening and I had to work on Friday. I don't love that drive in the dark, so I decided to postpone. I kind of let it go for the time being, but then I thought maybe he was playing somewhere closer, so I looked it up on the web. Sure enough, the following week, he was playing at a casino in Tacoma. Not really closer, but an easier drive in the dark. I purchased the ticket. Then, I realized I needed to figure out where this place was...turns out, it was on a boat.

I don't like boats.

Why didn't I read that BEFORE I bought the ticket?!? Well, I'd spent a bit of money on it, so I decided I would just have to buck up and go. I hoped that the boat would be docked the entire time, but I was prepared for the worst.

Turns out, it was next to the boat, not on it. Whew! I had arrived a couple of hours early, but, having no experience with casinos or concerts at casinos, I wasn't really prepared for the crowd. When we finally entered the venue, it was hysterical. There were all these 35+ year old women dressed to the nines and their reluctant and balding husbands in tow. The guys were, ahem, NOT dressed to the nines, and all begged to go back to the casino, to go buy a beer, to escape to the smoking area.

When the concert started, the women screamed like they were seeing the Beatles sans hair-pulling, crying or fainting. I'm not a screamer, so I just enjoyed the fact that Rick was still out there in the world singing. When he sang, I noticed his voice was different - not just older, it was rougher - almost like he had been a heavy smoker or something. I heard that he had been in a bad motorcycle accident a few years ago, so maybe that impacted his voice.

Rick Springfield was still a showman - He talked to people on their cell phones as women held them up. He damaged a lot of flowers by playing his guitar with them, petals flying. He looked like he was having fun and announced that he would be playing a show in Vegas for a while.

The whole experience was pretty surreal. I realized then and there that I was glad I had gone, but I would just enjoy my CDs at home next time and remember how he sounded when I was 17. This was all just a reminder that we had all gotten older and not necessarily in a good way.

Anyway, I drove home after, arriving at 3am or so. It was fun, but next time, I'm just going to stay home.

Here is a vintage Rick video from his first album, I believe. The song is called "Take A Hand".


**Also, please note that Rick Springfield is 59 years old now...Dang. Who'd have guessed...