Back in high economics class, Mr. Haymond would make a point to stop his lecture ten minutes before the bell rang every Friday so he could ask the class a "Feel-Good Friday" question. These questions would be of the harmless and fun "get to know you" variety, and he would go around the room and let everyone have an answer, unless of course they didn't want to. That never was an issue, since I've never met someone who felt morally opposed to answering what their favorite game was as a child.
My favorite question he asked went like this. "I have two tickets for you see anyone, anywhere at any time. What do you want to see?" In my effort to seem cooler than the rest of the kids, I said something like "Sonic Youth at CBGB's" and "Radiohead at the Auditorium Theater," because in 2004, that wasn't likely to happen. Never got those tickets two years later.
The best answer though came from a classmate named Jeff. Jeff was a brilliant pianist. Now, there are two kinds of brilliant piano players; the really straight-laced, proper and studious genius, or the shaggy haired, completely crazy genius. Jeff was the former. (But we were very lucky to also have a latter.) His answer was "I'd like to see Bach improvise on an organ in some great big European church." Suddenly, Sonic Youth just didn't cut it anymore.
If Mr. Haymond asked me the same question again, I think I would go back in time as well. But how far back would I go? Who would I see? Where would they be? I could get my hearing blown out by a Beatles concert... I could watch Elvis corrupt the youth... I could see hip-hop's birth, Mozart composing, Robert Johnson selling his soul... It's very hard to pick just one. Hell, I might just go personal and go back and watch the August 1, 2001 Radiohead show in Grant Park, my first "real" (meaning I bought the tickets myself) concert.
Or maybe I should just curate my own fictional three-day festival? I know, that's like using one of the genie's three wishes to wish for a billion more. But still... it'd be a way to have Radiohead one night and Daft Punk the next... and maybe Led Zeppelin from the dead...
No, I've got it: I'd want John Bonham and Keith Moon to come back from the dead and have a drum-off, thus settling an argument I've had with one of my Northern Star friends for about a year now... My money's on Bonham, but either way, I think we both win.
Ball's in your court now; I've got two tickets to see anyone, anywhere at anytime. What'll it be? (Oh, and sporting events are acceptable answers. A lot of people in class said they'd like to see a Bears Super Bowl, Cubs World Series or Michael Jordan basketball game.)
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