Thursday, November 3, 2022
Some of my fondest memories from childhood are ingrained with memories of Ty and myself. From the time I was in 7th grade (6th for Ty) up until my sophomore year of high school, there wasn't a week that went by that Ty and myself weren't hanging out in some capacity. Whether it was skateboarding (which I was terrible at), building ramps for skating in Ricky's backyard across the street or just wandering the neighborhood endlessly without any destination talking music those years shaped me and I carry them with me today.
The memory that comes most to mind is the first time I ever attended a concert without adult supervision. 2003 Lollapalooza at Jones Beach was one for the ages. My mom picked Ty, myself and a few other friends up and dropped us in the parking lot at Jones Beach. We had the worst seats in the house but that didn't matter. We were about to experience Jurassic 5, Queens of the Stone Age, Incubus, Audioslave and a newly reformed Jane's Addition in mere hours time. I remember the both of us walking through the gate and being like kids in a candy store engulfed in the culture of live music. I was hooked instantly as was Ty. As we wandered up to the very top of Jones Beach and got settled in, nothing was going to prepare us for what happened next. A patient at my mom's dental office was a security guard at Jones Beach, came up to our seats and said come with me.
As we relocated to the 6th row, Queens of the Stone Age were about to take the stage. Our new friend security guard told us that if anyone came to claim the seats, we'd have to go back to our ticketed seats all the way up top. As if by some stroke of Rock and Roll God luck, every seat around us started to get claimed except for the 4 we had. I'll never forget the sheer joy, emotional connection and realization that this was exactly where we were meant to be. That show single handedly ignited my love, passion and dedication to music for the rest of my life and in that moment, sharing those experiences with one of my closets friends was something I'll cherish forever.
As the years went on, life gets in the way and Ty and myself spent less time together however when we would run into each other it was as if no time at all had passed. I'll always look back fondly on the time we spent together,
