What A Rockstar

You know, I realized something last week. I went to see my brother's bands play at a local bar. I say bands because he was in two of them. One he played bass in and the other he played guitar. What I realized is that it's like having my own little personal Rockstar. It is, seriously. Now, I may not be able to make it to every show, but when I do I am just filled with a great sense of pride. And I've seen some pretty damn good shows too. I've been mere feet away from Zakk Wylde, shook Jerry Only's hand, and I've watched Hatebreed get a circle pit so big going that it was going around the audio tent on the second stage at Ozzfest. But none of that compares to when I'm up front watching my brother play. Especially that band that he plays guitar for. And last week was particularly awesome and my ears were ringing the next day like a MoFo! And initially I started writing this three days after last Saturday nights show and I'm still not sure my voice has completely recovered. It could be that my ears are still jacked and I don't sound right to myself. And then last night the show was even better, the place they played was a better venue and the PA system was up to par so they sounded even better. And my ears weren't ringing this morning when I got up. That's nice, but hey, I digress. Back to my brother. I had the opportunity to grow up with him and I feel I helped to mold him musically. Of course now our tastes in music vary and are as different as they are alike. And for good reason, he is his own person. What fun would a clone of me be? Actually an exact clone of myself would be cool as hell, but not for a brother. (Just to raise hell with and annoy the public in general. But that's another idea for another time.) But to think I may have helped to point him in the direction to where he is now, is cool. But let's get something clear. I am not taking any credit for his guitar skills. He did that all on his own. I got a guitar first, but he learned to play first. And I mean really play. Not just learn a few cool riffs to show off. So to put it in confusing sports terms, I just called the play, he came down with the ball in the endzone to score the game winning touch down as time expired. I wonder if this is how Joe Satriani feels when he observes Steve Vai or Kirk Hammett do what they do and enjoy it?