Good Charlotte

This time of year 8 years ago I was just beginning my life at Saul high school. We all had to complete a month of summer courses before being admitted into the school. I remember that July like it was yesterday. That was the summer I stepped into who I am. I switched from Air Force Ones to Chuck Taylors. I started listening to different kinds of music. I started painting on everything. I stopped trying to fit in & tried to build a life that would fit me. I stopped looking at what was cool & started looking at everything. That summer I sort of wiped my life clean & started from scratch. Like clothes, I let my wardrobe go & asked myself, “If there were no styles, no trends & no dress codes, what would you wear?” And something in me answered, “T-shirts. I kinda like graphic t-shirts.” And so I started wearing nothing but t-shirts. And my entire taste in music changed. And I chose my music the same way, by pretending that nothing was popular & no one could hear what I played. Everything was based simply off of what I liked & what I wanted. And at 14 years old one band in particular caught me; Good Charlotte.

Their poster from back then is still up on my wall. Their single, “The Anthem” became my anthem. They were the soundtrack to my teenage years. Their music added to the changes I made. As I stepped into who I am, their music was there. And in the last 8 years they’ve come to Philly several times to perform. And of course no one would go to a Good Charlotte show with me because that kind of music isn’t cool where I come from. So I missed show after show after show. At some point in your life you wake up & realize that the majority of your regrets don’t come from things you’ve done but things you haven’t done. So when the Bamboozle Roadshow came to Philly last Sunday I bought myself a ticket and went. Good Charlotte was gonna be there & I didn’t wanna regret missing them anymore. It was hot that day too. 96 degrees. It was at Festival Pier, on the waterfront. I got there at 10:30am. Waited in the sun until the gaits opened at 12:30. Got inside, got some beers, something to eat, met some cool people, ran into some people I already knew, got some more beers, and by 4:00 the show was starting with a band I knew nothing about. At 5:05 Simple Plan took the stage, & they’re a band I can sing along to, and I did. Then I started feeling sick from the heat & the beers. I told the girls I was with that I’d be right back & I took a walk around.

At 6:00 sharp I saw a familiar bowler hat hit the stage, followed by an identical man in a black cap… then Paul and Billy and Deano. And by myself I raced to the stage & got pretty close, forgetting that I was sick. I was high off my eyes because I was finally seeing Good Charlotte for the very 1^st time after all these years. And when they started, they started with ‘The Anthem’. I swear I was 14 years old again, jumping and screaming and singing at the top of my lungs. During Benji’s guitar solo this guy next to me shouted, “We’re over thirty and we’re both singing like teenagers! Wooooooo!” Everyone, no matter how old they were, was a teenager during ‘The Anthem’. After Good Charlotte I went home. The show stretched until after 11 o’clock that night but I was hot & drunk & sick & absolutely sun burnt. But I won’t forget the crowd surfing and water fights. I had a blast last Sunday.

I remember that summer, this time of year, 8 years ago, when I discovered Good Charlotte, when I stepped into who I am, I had dreamed of a day like last Sunday. 8 years later I got it. And having a dream so simple as seeing your favorite band live come true, it makes me wonder about the fate of my other dreams. But for that short half hour or so I felt 14 again, when the only thing I wanted was to see Good Charlotte. And there I was & there they were…. And just like that I had everything I wanted.