No One Wants to See Your Ass: Amy Goes to Another Concert

It is no secret I am a fan of Dave Matthews Band. Some people may balk at this. But I have been a fan of theirs for over half my life and I do not see that changing anytime soon. I have seen them play live 48 times – including the night in questions - July 28, 2009. That also includes seeing them in over a dozen cities in about a dozen states. One of the more memorable concerts was a road trip to Anderson, Indiana where Dave Matthews Band played at what was then called Deer Creek Music Theater. It was a 5 hour road trip with one of my (now) best friends (we barely knew each other when we went on this adventure).

This was the year I had a horrible fake ID – which I used at the show and I got a little… tipsy. On our way into the concert we saw a line up a guys urinating right outside a wooded area – I took note.

After the show, I needed to pee – BAD. Instead of waiting in the long lines, I decided to venture into the wooded area outside of the venue and do like the guys did and pee in the woods.

So outside the venue I made my way toward the trees. My friend yelled, “Keep going! No one wants to see your ass!” So I went a little deeper. Step, step, step, six foot drop and submerged in water.

Apparently, there really is a Deer Creek and apparently it is more like a rive and apparently I had fallen into it.

So there I was completely submerged in water – pee water, floating down stream, convinced I am going to die, I still had to pee. If I was drunk – it was now gone.

I am not sure how much time had passed, but finally my friend called out for me. “Don’t come any closer!” I yelped. And I looked up and there she was, looking down on me – probably in more ways than just the one. And now to try and get me out.

After several attempts, I finally crawled my way out of the creek using a tree branch and my friends reluctant hand. And I was able to relieve myself as well. Soaking wet, we found my car and I sat in the passenger seat on a floor mat and a box top. My muddy sneakers were in the trunk and my socks are still in the parking lot somewhere. We sat there for what seemed like days. My friend could not look at me without laughing hysterically – and since she had to pee, too, she just could not look at me.

We finally got back to the hotel, thanks to my friend explaining to a traffic cop that she had to pee and I was able to clean myself up. The next day we drove home and I showed up to my brother’s graduation party wearing red Hawaiian print pajama pants and a Michigan State T-shirt. It was a great road trip and a story my friend and I have told and will continue to tell for years to come.

But I have come a long way from falling into Deer Creak. And on July 28, 2009, I saw Dave Matthews Band – for the 48th time - at what was once known as Pine Knob (and has, to my knowledge, no creeks) with my sister Amanda. We were third row and it was an amazing show.

This was only the second concert since the surgery and MUCH different from the Coldplay show I saw back in June. No handicap seating for me. No earplugs or sunglasses and virtually no sitting. I actually danced. A lot. I may have dislodged my shunt, as a matter of fact. We did not get there late and we did not leave early. It was like any other concert I had been too – but better, of course, because it was Dave Matthews Band. But all in all I did pretty well with the noises and the lights and the crowds of people. And I was happy to have such a normal concert experience. And while I may have come out of there with a bit of a backache from all the dancing – at least I wasn’t soaking wet from falling in a creek.

(July 28, 2009)