If the instance this comm and user are hosted on, dbzer0, had an official band, it would probably be Rise Against. I don’t speak for the admin(s), but it seems like that would be the case. I felt like something a bit heavier this morning, but not too heavy. This isn’t as heavy as I go, but it’s well above my BPM/loudness average. I mean, I was just listening to Enya on the way home from work, and before that, ReoNa. I mostly listen to calmer music.

Going back to the late 2000s — this song came out in 2009 — my wife and I were playing a game called Rockband on Xbox, and it wasn’t always how we discovered music, but it did introduce us to some things (like previous SotD A Jagged Gorgeous Winter). However, while I didn’t realise it at the time, it was teaching our six year old niece about music, since she was there half the time or more watching us play (her mom’s boyfriend was our drummer). So this child went from being all about Hannah Montana (and her grandfather took her to a show), to the next week Rockband released a Hannah Montana pack, and I meticulously listened to all of the songs and picked two (See You Again and 7 Things) I didn’t hate so she could have some of “her music” to sing… to the very next week, declaring “Hannah Montana is for little girls, I like punk rock now.” I thought someone was putting her up to it, but I realised the music she was growing up on was the music we were playing on Rockband. I grew up on vinyl records. She was growing up on digital. But, a lot of the same music. We played music from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and the current decade at the time. Anyway, she said her favourite song was the one that goes “I don’t hate you…” and we knew exactly what it was.

Fast forward a bunch of years and we eventually took her to a Rise Against show, when they came out our way. It was the third rock concert we took her to. Me being taken to a rock concert by an older relative was practically unheard of when I was a kid. I wish I had some aunt or uncle take me to see Guns n’ Roses or Metallica back in the day. I still got the experience from the other side. So if you have kids, or if your siblings do, or your partner’s siblings, or your friends, and they like the same music you do, consider taking them to a show sometime. Especially if it was never done for you. If it was, I feel you owe the next generation, but if it wasn’t, still do it. And I mean the full concert experience. You go out to dinner before, and you catch a crappy diner after. Get a hotel room for the night, and stay up late. You keep the fun PG for the kid, but you keep the fun. Then you get a big breakfast in the morning, and then you go home.

Music is important, but it’s even better when it’s shared.