T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S.

This is a milestone in the boys' lives. Honestly, I can't tell you the name of my first concert without turning red in the face. Toto. at. the. gorge. with my Dad and brother. I don't even remember how old I was, but I remember I didn't really understand what a concert was or how amazing it could be until I was much older.

Marty and I packed the little boys up, Reuben decided he didn't really want to go, understandable. He's a teenager, ya know. We headed to Seattle on Saturday afternoon, made a quick, (HA! quick, that's a good one), stop at Ikea and then grabbed some dinner.

We arrived 45 minutes before the doors opened. We waited in line outside the venue. I knew they were excited; they were bouncing off the walls, or maybe that was an attempt to stay warm. We finally got in and managed to get all the way up front to the left of the stage. Perfect. After two, mediocre at best, opening bands the moment we'd been waiting for was here. (the video is short, well, ah, because we forgot to bring an extra battery for the camera and it died.)

The Hives put on the best rock show we've ever seen. There was even one point where Howlin' Pelle Almqvist (the lead singer) climbed out on one of the light scaffolds and Marty lifted Solomon up to shake his hand. After the show, in the car Sol told us he was never going to wash that hand again. Ewwwwww.

Knowing the boys' can tell their friends that their first show was one this good, definitely won't make them red in the face.