Born Lucky, indeed

Be careful what you wish for. You might get it all at the same time.

Such is the case with me. I've been waiting for the wonderful Van Halen to reunite since the day my brother Dan and I figured out that Sammy Hagar wouldn't hold a candle to his predecessor. I've also been waiting for my whole adult life to spawn a descendant, and the aforementioned Graham Lucas Roche is the answer to those prayers. As (bad) luck would have it, these two blessed events are happening almost simultaneously. I'm not dismayed as much as I am in awe that the possibility for such overlap is uncanny in the grand scheme of the universe.

Had I not been expecting the coming of the chosen one, my master plan would make me the envy of my pathetic peers. There are a fistful of dates on the VH tour that will inevitably serve as the highlight shows. Their first show in Charlotte, NC, of course. NYC, LA, Chicago, definitely. Indianapolis, since DLR hails from Bloomington, likely. That said, a friend and I were toying with Expedia to find a round-trip flight that would have us flying out of and back into Seattle, with a bender and a VH show in between, within 24ish hours. We had a few of these worked out, the west coast shows were definitely easier to accommodate.

Add the price of the event to the mix, though, and there's a really good chance I wouldn't be able to do this more than once. Floor seats, really the only seats worth buying, are $150 (not including tax & fees). The airplane would be anywhere from $100 to $400. Add another $200 in sundries (car rental, beer, food, hotel) and we're up to almost $700 a person for the outing. Again, I don't think I'd do this more than once.

It's all water under the bridge, though. The shows themselves run far higher than the amount I'd be willing to pay for any other act on the green earth. There's a show in Seattle, which will sadly be a non-highlight, yet to be scheduled, and another show in Portland for 12/1/07. We're thinking about making a "Graham's First Travel Adventure" out of the Portland experience, more on that later.