Saturday Night at the Pool Hall: "My Dad Rocks Harder than Your Dad!"

Sometimes a group of us neighbours walk down to the pool hall, the local dive, the hole in the wall, for a beer and some funny conversation. This is one of the huge advantages of townie life: you can walk home after a beer. Especially if you're me, and one beer renders you unable to open car doors let alone drive home.

This weekend was special because one of our guys got his buddies together for some intensive rehearsals a few months ago, and the brilliant idea was hatched to put on a benefit concert, raising money for the Multiple Sclerosis foundation. Personally, I think any reason to put on a concert is a good reason, but it feels extra good to know that the money dropped into the box will help somebody.

So, how was it? It was great! The band consists of four guys who are 40 or so, all have salesman-type jobs, and all have young kids. They're dads, and they rock.

Aren't they smart? Think about it. They've got the day job, the wife, the kids, the house, and they do not need to get on a stinky bus to play music for an adoring crowd. They simply booked the pool hall down the road and invited everybody they know. Brilliant.

The set list was basically your classic rock that everybody loves, with some newer stuff thrown in to keep things exciting. Some Black Sabbath, some Van Halen, some AC/DC and of course, of course, some Led Zeppelin. The first set started off with "Suck my Kiss" by Red Hot Chili Peppers, which made one of my neighbours lean over to ask exactly what the lyrics were. Later on they played "By the Way" which is not an easy song, simply because we're not sure exactly what the lyrics are!

"Hot for Teacher" was dedicated to the frontman's lovely wife! They even played one of my favourite dance songs: "Bullet in the Head" by Rage Against the Machine. I was frantically dancing and therefore didn't notice the general crowd reaction. Jethro told me afterwards that the place lit up for that one. Us parents, we rock. Totally.

Of course the night wouldn't be complete without two essential ingredients:
1) Wah wah. "Doesn't Remind Me" by Audioslave
2) Cowbell. "Hair of the Dog" by Nazareth.

And the Zeppelin requirement? "The Ocean"

The guys traded instruments at one point as well as pulling a few more buddies up to the mic for fun.

A good night was had, and the walk home in the drizzle was worth it.