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| (L-R) Sydney Walker, Chloe Kirby, Conrad Lamb, Jordan Niccol, Brooke Scheper and Stephan Sukola ... with Tim McGraw on stage in the distance |
I love a good concert because it catches lightning in a bottle.
It brings together
thousands of people, from different places and walks of life, and unifies them
in mind and spirit, like nothing else can.
It offers music, the language of the
soul. It taps the feet, it tingles the senses and it provides assurance that
all can be right in an otherwise crazy world.
This can happen on a Sunday morning in
church, or a Tuesday night at North Park, and particularly on a special night
when you have tickets for one of your all-time favorite acts.
This story happened just a week or so ago.
I woke up Sunday, July 1, convinced
that my wife, my daughter and a few of her friends needed to go to Paul Brown
Stadium to see Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw on their “Brothers Of The Sun
Tour.”
I’d debated it for months, thinking it
was one of those things I should do for my daughter that I wish had been done
for me years ago if the Beatles, the Eagles or the Rolling Stones were in town.
It was an event. It promised to be a good show. And, besides, how many concerts
can a parent enjoy with a teenager?
In all, my wife and I had three
Springboro High football players and three Springboro varsity cheerleaders,
plus a good friend. They’re all good, kind-hearted children, who didn’t mind
being seen at a cool concert with their parents.
Their cool parents, by the way. I can get jiggy with it, don’t you know.
The majesty of the evening came midway
through Tim McGraw’s portion of the show. McGraw is one of those entertainers
that women swoon over and guys are allowed to like, too. He played roles in two
football movies – Friday Night Lights and
The Blind Side – and he carries
himself like he could smack the fire out of anyone who crosses him. He’s a
guy’s guy.
Plus he’s married to Faith Hill. Enough
said.
After speaking his appreciation for
Cincinnati, he said a few things about the lives we lead, and the value we
should find in them – every day. Then his band struck up the opening chords of
his 2004 hit, Live Like You Were Dying,
which he wrote in response to his own father’s death a year earlier.
It was a song everyone in the sold-out
stadium knew very well. It’s about putting everything in real perspective, by
recognizing that time here on Earth is short, and we should drink up every
experience we can.
Like sky diving. Or Rocky Mountain
climbing. Or maybe losing your mind a little and trying to ride a bull. That’s
a great message.
And then he sang the words I appreciate
the most: “I loved deeper, spoke sweeter, and gave some forgiveness I’ve been
denying. And one day I hope you get the chance … to live like you were dying.”
But let me tell you what made this song
really meaningful. Far away from the stage, in section 151, row 52, the Springboro
teenagers we brought rose to their feet, wrapped their arms around one another,
and then modeled what it means to live in unity of spirit. It’s a moment I’ll
never forget.
They locked arms and swayed to the
music.
They stood in harmony with one another
and sang along to the song.
They showed what it means to live
peacefully in the world around them.
They did this several more times as the
night continued. When he’s not cranking out loud music, Kenny Chesney can
create a moving moment just like Tim McGraw. What a gift it was, to sing along
with some teenagers, singing words that meant as much to them as it did us
older folks.
Too cool, I say. Too cool.
A good concert can do that. I wish it
could do that in all facets of life, like divorced parenting situations and school
board meetings. Wouldn’t the world be a better place? Much the same way it’s
hard to dislike someone if you pray for them, it would be difficult to fight
with someone if you sing along with them.
It’s been said, “Where words fail,
music speaks.” That’s so true.
So ladies, let’s all stand and sing
with Tim McGraw. You know you want to. Guys too. C’mon, it’ll be good for you.
We’ll put the world away for a minute,
and enjoy life. We’ll dance and relax, and become one with the universe.
And besides,
if we’re lucky, maybe Faith Hill will show up.
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| Tim McGraw (L) and Kenny Chesney ... and (below) ol' what's-her-name.  |