Music Monday: Blogging Leads to Real-World Experience

Blogging, family, humor, lessons learned, music, writing 2 Minutes

Two weeks ago I wrote a blog post about The Hu, a Mongolian folk metal band formed in 2016. I had never heard of the group until three days before I wrote the post, but thanks to a comment from Clive at Take It Easy, I gave a listen to their music, and I liked what I heard.

After I wrote the post, my youngest son, Pat, told me that he was a fan of their music. I mentioned to him that as part of reading about The Hu, I discovered that they were going to be in town at the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion for a concert in about 10 days, along with Megadeth, Five Finger Death Punch (5FDP), and Fire From the Gods. He suggested we go to the concert, and while I was a little hesitant at first, we decided to go.

I didn’t know any of the other bands, all of whom were heavy metal. In fact, in another strange coincidence, another blogger, Ray V at Mitigating Chaos, had left a comment on my post about The Hu, saying they made 5FDP look like a girly pop band. I had to look up what 5FDP stood for, and then lo and behold, 10 days later I’m watching them perform live in concert.

Heavy metal is not a music genre I listen to, but I had become impressed by watching videos of The Hu, so I was excited for the concert.

I have to admit, I was a bit out of my element. There was a lot of black clothing, and a lot of tattoos. But they were all into the music, and you can’t ask for more when at a concert. And there were people of all ages, from people who appeared to be about my age (old), down to grade-school age children.

I also have to admit, I think I heard the f*** word more in one night than I had probably heard in the past 50 years – and that was from the performers! It seemed as if the f*** word was a key part of every song played by 5FDP. And most of the audience was chanting the word along with the performers.

My take on the concert was that the music itself was quite good since the guitarists and drummers were phenomenal. However, I could have done without the lyrics, at least the few words I could understand.

Overall, my son and I had a great time. There aren’t many things better than a live outdoor concert on a perfect summer night. I also got to step out of my comfort zone, and it was well worth it.

Here’s a clip I found on YouTube of The Hu performing at this concert:

This is not the first time that something I wrote about on my blog led to a real-world connection, and I’m sure it won’t be the last…

Published by Jim Borden

A 60-something guy trying to figure out the world, and his place in it. Happily married for 40-plus years, three wonderful sons. Accounting teacher, fitness enthusiast, blogger, reader.

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92 thoughts on “Music Monday: Blogging Leads to Real-World Experience”

  1. You are brave to step out of your comfort zone and go to a heavy metal concert. My son would be proud! Now it really would have impressed me if you would have said that you got into the mosh pit! Or it would have just confirmed with me how CRAZY you really are! LOL!
    Glad you had a good time with your son. It is pretty cool how here you had never heard of the Hu before and then you get to go see them in concert.

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      3. It is important to me to protect my hearing like it is important to me to protect my knees because they don’t really heal up from serious damage. I want to have both as long as possible.

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      4. You have probably heard some of their songs. Their is one song of theirs that I associate with an event in my life that is kind of special so I really enjoyed experiencing them perform it live.

        You would probably recognize Semi-Charmed Life. It was one of those songs that was always on the radio about 20 or so years ago.

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      7. I have to stop saying how I don’t think I know a band when you mention them! For once again you proved me wrong. Yes, I remember the Semi-Charmed Life song. A flashback in time. 🙂

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      8. By the way, the Austin City Limits music festival starts soon and they will be closing a lot of the park near the river downtown. But you could go to it if you really wanted. I think it is kind of expensive

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      9. How long does it last? Depending on the type of music Brad may be interested and depending on the price! We may think it’s too expensive as well, but I know he would enjoy hearing some live music when down there.

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      10. It is two weekends, Oct 7-9 and Oct 14-16, but it is a really big music festival; one of the two big events for Austin each year (SXSW being the other). They shut down Zilker park for like 4 weeks. I think it is at least $150 a day and I am sure they hit you hard on drinks and food.

        I do not plan on going. I didn’t see any acts listed that I really wanted to pay money to see.

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      11. Oh yeah, we won’t be doing that, expensive, like you said. Brad and Jason went to a music festival around here . An all day thing. Numerous bands, some they knew and really liked and some were new. I can’t remember exactly the cost of the tickets, but I know the price was under a hundred. They had a good time.

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  7. Wouldn’t it have been hilarious to run into some of your students at the concert? “I never pictured Professor Borden as the heavy metal type.” I’m familiar with a couple of the heavy metal bands you mentioned, and you were definitely out of your element. I think it’s great that you shared your experience with your son. My son and I went to a Nascar race (one of his interests) a few months back. I had absolutely no interest other than hanging out with him. I don’t take those shared experiences for granted since he lives more than 1,000 miles away.

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    1. that would have been funny to run into some of my students. and yes, I was defintely out of my element, but I still found it enjoyable. A big reason why was the chance to be there with my son. Pat is a big fan of F1, and he went to an F1 race last year in Texas with his brother…

      those shared experiences are what make life enjoyable!

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  8. Well done on going to the gig! I’m sure you and Pat both enjoyed your time together. I’ve half-jokingly suggested to Jill that she plays Whole Lotta Rosie. If that works, maybe The Hu can follow AC/DC? We could tell her they’re a substitute for The Who…

    Thanks for the shout out 😊

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      1. Good to hear that. I hadn’t realised Philly was so close to a state boundary but I guess the river does that job.

        Jimmy Buffett means very little over here. I think I spent more time watching him in a recent episode of Blue Bloods than I have in listening to his music!

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      2. the best views of Philly are from across the river in New Jersey…

        I did not know Jimmy Buffett was in Blue Bloods. and I can see how his music may not translate well outside of the U.S….

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      3. Best seen from a distance?

        It was just the one episode. They are currently showing season 12 here but I think you’re due a new one soon. From what I’ve seen of him, which admittedly isn’t much, he seems like a poor man’s John Prine. He has taken Caroline Jones under his wing, which gets him into my good books.

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      4. sometimes the details aren’t so pretty… 🙂

        I think Jimmy Buffett is a guy who admits he is not the most talented musician, but he knows his audience and he knows how to perform better than most. He has built a rabid fan base. And he seems like a pretty savvy businessman as well. I also read his novels/books, which I found quite enjoyable.

        I remember when you told me about the Caroline Jones connection…

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      5. He’s made the most of a variety of talents, which is always to be admired. Caroline opened with him for The Eagles – not a bad gig to get. She’s been on tour a lot of late with the Zac Brown Band and is a kind of honorary band member. She just needs that one big break to really take off.

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  10. I have to admit, heavy metal is not among the genres of music I listen to. The closest I ever came to it was as a teenager. I listened to Metallica. At some point, they changed and got heavier and louder. So, I stopped listening to them. For some reason I still enjoy AC/DC. Maybe they just have a better sound? I don’t know.
    I really enjoyed reading your blog on this, though and I admire you stepping out of your comfort zone like that. That was a bonding moment with your son. To me that is beautiful! I know your son really appreciated it, too!

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  12. My daughter dragged me to see Megadeth in retaliation for me taking her to see AC/DC a few years earlier. We loved both concerts and as you say, Jim, it is more about the shared experience. Don’t we, at a certain age, make up our own words to songs anyway? 😂

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  13. Wow, Jim. I really commend you for stepping out like that. Personally, I have a hard time keeping engaged while listening to live music, so I think by the 3rd band I’d be ready to pack it in. Way to represent the over 60 crowd.

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    1. The first two bands only played for about 30 minutes, and there was only 15 minutes between them, so they kept things on a pretty good schedule. And while I was certainly among the older crowd, I wasn’t alone!

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      3. Actually I liked the music but the head banging was never really my thing. I remember back in the day in my little group of friends it seemed like the guys did the heavy banging and us gals sat there with flirty eyes watching. Hahaha Oh wow Jim now your taking me back down memory lane. Haha. I think I still have a few pictures tucked away of my “rocker friends” from the 80’s hahahaha

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      4. nothing like a good trip down memory lane. there were a few long-haired people swinging their hair around at the concert, while I sat there running my hands through my crew cut… 🙂

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  17. And I thought I was stepping outside my box playing “Whole Lotta Rosie”!!! I could never go to an actual concert … most especially not a heavy metal one! You’re a brave man! And ol’ Clive certainly has broadened our horizons, hasn’t he? 👍

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  19. Hi Jim, it sounds like an interesting life experience. I have only been to one concert in my life and that was Live. Terence wanted to go and we were still dating. I did go, but I told him after never again. I am a firm believer in letting people know right up front what I will or won’t do – haha!

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