September 7th, 1995 — I was 16-years-old.

My friends were going to the  The

Masquerade to watch the Foo Fighters play. I had a ticket. I was the driver of my
friends in my Honda Champaign colored station wagon. We were leaving
Chattanooga to watch them play. I had gotten into trouble that week and that day I
did not go to school because I was sick. My parents had a rule that if I missed
school then I could not play with my friends. I did not think they would not let me
go to a concert I had tickets for. I might have been able to talk them into letting me
go if I had not been in trouble earlier that week. Now, I was having FOMO really
bad, but what my parents said was gospel. I was mad, sad and all that stuff. After
a few days I was okay with it until we were all at lunch and they were wearing their
brand new Foo Fighter shirts and they all had Pat Smear’s autograph on them.
Their take on the story was that they met him walking to the show and he took
them on the bus that was on the hill next to bridge. Today this day I do not know if
they were screwing with me. The guy who I gave my ticket to got me a cream
colored shirt. I remember the color but not what was on it for some reason. I
remember wearing it all the time until an ex took it and never returned it.

Fastforward:
April 12th, 2000 — I was 21. I was a lush back then. My friends were lushes. The
Foo Fighters were playing with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I did not have a ticket. I
had given up but I still wanted to party. I went to a pre-show party at my friend’s
apartment on MLK Boulevard. The party got really big. Everyone in his building
were going to the show but the party had spilled into a church’s parking lot. The
police were called. My friend owed me some money for school books, not code(it
was for books). My friend was dealing with the police and he came up to me and
said “If I give you my ticket are we square?” I was like sure thing. I went to that
show. Flea seemed to be arguing with Anthony. It was really awkward. My future
wife, from another town, was at that show. Years later, we talked about how bad
the RHCPs were that night. On October 18th, 2017 Dave was talking about a
Knoxville show that they played on April 11th, 2000. My now wife and I looked at
each other and laughed because we knew how bad the next day show was and
now we understood why.

Fastforward again: My wife and I hit sever show together. They were all good. In
Nashville Dave was really funny with a camera backstage. But life marched on. In
2010 I was in a coma for about three and half months. When I woke up, I had lost
my job at the local news paper. I was told the news three days after I woke up. All I
could do was write the words to my wife with tears in my eyes, “I’m sorry.” I could
not talk yet because I had a trachea. I was bed ridden because I had gang green
on my lower back inside my gut. I fought it off. I was at a low point in my life. We
lost one of our cars and I could not move for months. In that time I was learning to
walk. My wife went to the store and bought the album “Wasting Light” and I cried
so hard. I don’t know what it was about that album but I said I am done feeling
sorry for myself. Just get up and get out. I found an old Nikon camera at a
pawnshop. It has a lens. I started to take photos with the camera. I then started to
make graphics for people, still not good at it but okay enough to get by. I went
back to school and graduated. I got a job at a local news station and have benign
doing okay.

Fastforward for the last time: December 31st, 2017 — NEW YEAR’S EVE! What a
show! My wife and I were planning to go to Vegas to watch the Nashville Predators
play the Vegas Golden Knights. As I was reading on what to do in Vegas, I ran
across an article that said that the Foo Fighters were playing at  The Chelsea but
it was sold out. I emailed the Chelsea; they responded that it was a sold out show.
I sent another email to them thanking them for their response. They sent another
response and thanked me for thanking them and then they said they would put us
on a list. It was sometime right before the show. We didn’t think we were going. I
never check my email when I am on vacation but for some reason I did. BOOM!
There it was, I had to respond to them by the end of that day to claim my spot. WE
WERE IN! It was a great night. We met a lot of cool people that were from the
Vegas area. The floor was bouncing like crazy. It was so much fun. A very nice lady
who looked like Kate Jackson, don’t know if it was her or not, had a set list in her
hand. She came up to me and my wife and just handed us the setlist. Was it her? I
do not know. But in my stories to others it is. In February 2018 at the age of 39, I
found our I was going to be a father. She is the greatest adventure I have ever
been on. It is so much fun being a dad. That trip to Vegas and Arizona changed my
life for the better.