I was 13 years old when I attended my first concert. After being sucked into the magical realm of pumpkinland from hearing SP tunes on the radio, watching their artistic videos on Mtv, and begging my mom to buy me the 2 disc opus at Costco, I just wanted to see my new heroes live and on stage for what would become my first concert ever. My mom wouldn’t take me so she had my older cousin Lupita take me. It was at the San Jose Arena, and on a school night lol. I’ll never forget when Garbage opened, what a great act it was. But I still dream and vividly remember the moment Pumpkins went on stage to the intro track. And then with a loud bang they began their set list to the sound of roaring guitars and thunderous drums, it was friggin loud and it was so damn awesome. Billy with his Zero shirt led the band through a very well thought out song list like a conductor leading his orchestra through an opera. The energy and the magic was all there. I remember that was the moment I wanted to become a musician myself. I am 37 years old now, still in a band, got my own recording studio, and now I’m teaching my kids to be musicians themselves. I still play MCIS as well as all their other albums whenever we go on road trips and every time I feel 13 years old again, seeing Billy on stage giving the cue for the next song.