Last night, The Roommate and I went to see Ben Kweller who opened for Death Cab For Cutie. I love, love, love live music but I hate, hate, hate the experience that goes with it.

Of course when we ordered our tickets, we were charged about twenty bucks in service charges and
miscellaneous fees. We intended on picking up our tickets at Will Call, but for
some reason had to pay a "handling fee". Go figure. And naturally since they
have the only lot any where near the venue, they charged to park there.

Sign of Aging #1. Bitching about exorbitant fees.
Sign of Aging #2. Bitching about parking.

Walking to the front door, I noticed that aside from the cop on duty, we were the oldest people in line. Two of my least favorite words: All Ages. Once inside, I saw a few people older, however we were the oldest people not
accompanying their children.

Sign of Aging #3. Realizing you are the oldest person in a crowd.

Entering the venue was a chore as well. There was a boy's line and a girl's line. In the girl's line, The Roommate had her purse searched. In my line, I not only had to empty my pockets and disclose their contents,
but also get frisked...twice.

Sign of Aging #4. That uncomfortable feeling that comes with being frisked by a twenty-two year old with a bad hair cut.

The venue was one of those giant floors without any seats, so that meant standing a lot. The Roommate wore the wrong shoes and well...I'm just old and so is my body, so standing for many hours started hurting my back.

Sign of Aging #5. Bitching about your back and/or feet hurting.

The venue was in desperate need of air conditioning...something I consider to be a sin of great proportions in the desert. My guess is since it was an All Ages show, they kept it
hot so all the tweens and such would pop down their allowance on the highly over-priced bottles of water.

Sign of Aging #6. Bitching about it being too hot.

BK was awesome. He is a great performer, but the show was TOO FUCKING LOUD. Towards the end of his set, I thought my ears were bleeding from the piercing volume.
No, Not bleeding, just sweat dripping onto my ears.

Sign of Aging #7. Bitching about music being too loud.

I am seriously going to have to reconsider my next concert going experience before deciding to go. Maybe some nice folky lesbians will be better for this grumpy old man.