Berk2k14

First of all, thank you for truckload of empathy you delivered after my last post. I was seriously feeling a bit over the edge and you tipped me back. Bless you all!! In light of that, I thought I might take this moment while a fan blasts in my face and while my children are engrossed in episode of 867 of Liberty Kids/school ($8 for the entire series, by the way... ) to write about the ways I've been making my own life insane. Or just one way, actually, in the form of a sporatic turn around trip to Berkeley to see The Head and The Heart headline The Greek. It's only right that all my complaining about the craziness of life be understood alongside me doing things like this. On purpose. What I'm trying to say is don't feel sorry for me all the way, it's my own damn fault.

Anyway, Berkeley.
(via grainy iPhone pics)

We have seen Kenny play a lot (side note: if you didn't know, my little squirt brother is in a band called The Head and The Heart. More here and here.) But we always see him play in Los Angeles where he is usually swarmed by old friends and family and us. Those nights are always a rushy blur of super fun and amazing, and we never take our kids because a. it's always a super late night and b. it just sounds tedious and terrible and we don't want to. That is usually the right decision but the sad trade off is that my kids think their uncle makes YouTube videos for a living. They've never gotten to experience how awesome it is to see a person you love dearly walk across a brightly lit stage to the tune of thousands of screaming fans, which (if you've never experienced it) is incredible.

The band is also on the tale end of their tour and we won't get another chance to see them in this scope for a while. Since I am a pushover when it comes to my little brother, he suggested we come to Berkeley and I was like OK.

Kirby had a meeting he couldn't get out of but my parents wanted to come along so the 8 of us loaded up in two cars and headed north to the Bay Area.

We made the drive in about 7 glorious hours filled with not much screaming from baby. After we washed up and put the littles into jammies, we headed to the venue. Kenny met us at will call where we hugged a lot and we picked up our tickets. He made sure we were set and walked us through the gates towards the backstage entrance. Lemme just tell you, babe of a piano player, cruising through the packed ticketing area of his own concert, holding hands with many children... yes.

It was so fun to watch the kids experience the crowds and start to piece together that all of this was because of thier Uncle Kenny's music.

We went to the backstage area and all amazement about Uncle Kenny was quickly overshadowed by the amazement that is free food and beverages, cozy leather couches, and twinkly lights.

As the second band, City and Colour, played, we walked to the side of the stage to watch for a bit. I always love this vantage because you can see the band's view of the crowd, which is pretty mesmerizing. Magic for children and adults.

Finally it was time for Kenny to go on so we found our spot in the crowd and got settled in to watch. And when they walked onstage, and when the crowd roared, I looked over and I saw this.

And I knew it was good that we came.

Mary launched into full party mode the second they started to play and she didn't let up the entire night. Johnny, however, fell asleep two songs in, sitting completely upright with his legs crossed. (True story----> see grainy pic)

The show was amazing. Every once in a while I get hit by waves of gratitude that my brother is in a band whose music I *actually* like. It would be so sad if I thought his music was terrible. But I can fangirl sing every word to every song with the rest of the crowd and I love that. At one point Kenny swung around on his stool and managed to find us in the crowd. When the girls saw him waving at them from the stage, they burst out in excited, frantic waves and high-pitched squeals from our perch near the sound booth. So perfect. By the end of the show everyone was gone but Mary, Peter and I. Johnny and Clemmy were asleep on couches backstage and my mom and Hero eventually got tired and wandered back, too. My dad wanted to watch the encore from the side of the stage, so he left just before the end. The crowd sang every word of Down in the Valley and Mary and I sang along as loud as we could. It was so fun spending the night with my party-baby. Is this accurately describing the overwhelming cuteness that this all was?? I hope so.

Anyway, after the show, I piggy backed her through the crowds towards the backstage entrance. We high-fived every band member and found Uncle Kenny to give him a hug and tell him how perfect it was. The backstage area was totally alive with friends and family now, all eating, drinking and merrying in buzzy-post concert glow. I think my favorite moments were watching Mary and Kenny exploring the empty stage at the end of the night, with the lights still on but the theater empty. I found them standing in the doorway of the backstage opening as the gear was loaded off the stage and it struck me, again, how incredibly proud I am of my little brother, his bandmates, and the music they make. And how grateful I am to be able to share his world with his nieces and nephews, whom he loves so dearly.

Soon, all the others kids + my mom (bless her) were passed out on the couches backstage. Kenny and my dad loaded all the floppy, sleepy babies into our little minivan, parked next to their giant tour bus. We kissed him goodbye and headed to the hotel. I always get super sentimental after we leave Kenny when he is on the road. The night is always such excited blur and when it's over I realize that this is really his life. The nights we can participate feel so unique, but they are just one night out of so many for him. As we drove back down the 5 towards home the next day, he was in the air on the way to Toronto. It reminded me, again, that this wild journey he is on as a gift that is handed to few. I want to watch the whole story if I can.

(I realize how weird this pic is but it's the only bro/sis pic I got! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )