On the road to San Francisco was an exciting adventure in itself, let alone the fact of where we were going. Our destination, The Warfield. Where we were to see my favorite band, Everclear, in concert. My father and I planned to leave early Friday morning on December 15th. All the excitement and anticipation pushed us into leaving Thursday night at about 9:45. We had a long road ahead of us, but our purpose was worth it.
The plan was to drive four hours, halfway, and then stay the night at a motel. Starting with the first Everclear CD, “World Of Noise,” and listening through all five of their CD’s, up until their latest, “A Good Time for A Bad Attitude,” we arrived at the motel. With a few gas, bathroom, and coffee breaks in between the driving, we seemed to be there in no time. Tired from the drive, we slept from 2:00 a.m. until ten in the morning.
“Lets go,” my dad said as we threw our bags in the back seat of the car. Another four hours and we would finally be there, I couldn’t wait. Once again we put on the Everclear CD’s and turned up the volume. Just about the time that the last song ended on the last CD, was when we found ourselves in downtown San Francisco. A little confused by the street signs and jaywalkers, we pulled into the parking lot at The Warfield. It seemed like I had been waiting forever, but the wait was now over. Or so I thought.
It was only about 2:30 in the afternoon and they wouldn’t open the will call box until 6:30 at night. Doors open at seven p.m., show starts at eight p.m. We had four hours until we could at least start getting in line. My dad and I walked around for a little while and then had lunch. Just our luck, we had only killed about an hour and a half of our countdown time, so we headed towards our car. Awaiting the concert, we listened to the radio and relaxed for awhile. I was sure the time would never come!
We stood in line and got our tickets, then moved to the line where we waited to enter. Finally,it was seven o’clock p.m. and they were opening the doors. My dad guided us towards our seats and wesat down. “It’s so small,” was my first reaction. It must’ve held no more than a thousand people. Twenty feet high andtwenty feet away from the stage, the first row in our section, front and center, we had awesome seats. I was so excited and couldn’t sit still.
The first two bands were both on for about forty minutes and there was a half an hour wait in between each one. The anticipation was more than I could handle. Art, the lead singer and guitarist of Everclear, walked on stage. Followed by Craig the bassist, and Greg the drummer. I was so excited that I couldn’t stop smiling! It was such a wonderful feeling to finally see and hear them live. The opening song was one of my favorites, “Santa Monica.” Which was followed by their latest single,“When It All Goes Wrong Again.”
The remainder of the concert was filled with at least 15 of their greatest songs, cheering fans, and incredible energy from the band. Not to mention how unimaginably loud the music was. If you have never seen the lead singer of a band jump over the guitarist, while playing and singing asong, it’s time to go see an Everclear concert. They interacted with the audience so much. They let us sing chorus’of some songs and during one of the songs they pulled 50 kids from the floorseats, up on stage to dance with them! After the song was over Art, Craig, and Greg made sure that they gave each person up on stage a hug. You could really feel how much they care about their fans.
This experience was something I will never forget and will cherish for the rest of my life. It was so neat that my dad took me all the way to San Francisco, 417 miles away, to see Everclear. He really understood how much they meant to me. I will always remember what he did for me, and how much he cares. I look up to and respect the band for their amazing talent and heart for what they do. My father nor Everclear, will never be forgotten by me.
