For Reasons (un)Known

Saturday, August 27, 2022 at the Banc of California Stadium was a date my son and I looked forward to for many years...the return of The Killers on tour...post Covid. Lead singer, Brandon Flowers, said the concert would be a "Super Spreader event! We will spread love, peace and rock and roll!" There is something about their melodies and lyrics that strikes the core of my soul. Their music makes my head nod, toes tap, knees bounce and sometimes even cry tears of joy. On this day, I had reasons to cry tears of joy...twice. 

Crying Reason #1: The second song of the night was "When You Were Young". I introduced my younger son to The Killers about 12 years ago. This was one of the first songs we would blare in the car as we ran errands around town. Therefore, it was no surprise that I love to reminisce of my times with my son as a young boy...and cry tears of joy during the concert. By the way, my son was also crying during this song as well. :)

Crying Reason #2; Midway through the concert, Brandon Flowers noticed a fan holding a poster above his head. The poster mentioned that he was fighting cancer and he wanted to play drums with the band. Brandon pointed to the fan, asked him if he knew how to play the song and told him to jump the barrier, and get his butt on stage. The sea of fans parted and he was lifted over the front barrier by security. Several seconds later, he walks along the back of the stage, pounds his chest like a linebacker that just sacked Tom Brady during the Super Bowl, shakes hands with band members, is handed drum sticks and sits on the stool behind the drum kit. Bandon then joyfully introduced the newest member of The Killers, "Say hello to Joel everybody!" He's almost hyperventilating as he attempts to catch his breath. Joel looked up over the cymbals, sees the thousands of people in the stadium and it finally hit him...this is actually happening. You can see him mouth, "Oh my gosh" (1:13 seconds into the video below). Joel clicked the sticks four times and they embark on a spontaneous and beautiful rendition of "For Reasons Unknown". It was not on the set list and it didn't matter (cut to the 55-year-old dude in the first row of left loge crying tears of joy). For 5 minutes, Joel didn't worry about medical bills, side affects of chemotherapy, or whether he would see tomorrow. For 5 minutes, he was cancer free. 

I expected to share music, sing-alongs, and other memorable moments with my son on a Saturday night in Los Angeles at The Killers concert. We were only a few miles from Hollywood, but spontaneous moments like this could have never been scripted, I'm thankful I was there to experience Joel's performance. Bravo Joel! 

But what the heck do I know...I'm just Joe.