Appleton: Mom will 'go to any show, stay until the end, outdrink the band, get up for work'

My mom took me to my first rock concert: Steppenwolf at the Fresno County Fair on Sept. 30, 1990.

I bawled my eyes out, and we left after one song. In fairness, I was 2 years old. That one was probably on Mom.

Toddler trauma aside, we owe everything to our moms.

Mine raised two kids as a single parent, kept us going after we lost the house to the subprime mortgage catastrophe and supported me in every way possible as I became the first in my family to graduate from college.

Last week's column: Appleton: An afternoon at the Noblesville library, where children's books are under siege

When we moved to Indianapolis, Mom left the only home she's ever known to move to a city she'd never seen. Having her down the road with two kids under 6 means the world to us.

Not lost among her many accomplishments was furnishing me with an exceptional taste in music.

The homemade mixed tape that we listened to on the way to preschool included "Smells Like Teen Spirit." My first favorite song was "Zombie" by The Cranberries.

Apart from the Steppenwolf hiccup, rock concerts have been our most consistent shared interest over the years. Mom is ride-or-die. She'll go to any show, stay until the end, outdrink the band and then get up for work in the morning.

This Mother's Day, we brainstormed a few colorful memories we've shared in at shows across three states and four decades. Readers put food on the table, but I wanted to get these down in print as much for me as for anyone else. I have a feeling these moments will only grow more important as the years go by.

Dishwalla

Circa 1995 at the Madera County Fair

You'd be forgiven for saying "who? At the where?"

My first concert memory came just before this '90s band launched into its sole hit, "Counting Blue Cars."

"This one goes out to my b**** ex-girlfriend," the lead singer told us, widening my mom's eyes to bowling ball size.

"Oops," Mom told me.

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Queens of the Stone Age, Vampire Weekend, Cage the Elephant, Arctic Monkeys and Alt J

Dec. 8, 2013 at Valley View Casino (San Diego area)

Read that lineup again. Really drink it in. I've looked for a better one in the decade since. It does not exist, nor will it ever.

Each band was firmly in its creative and performative prime that night. Queens, Arctic Monkeys and Cage are three of the best live bands of that or really any generation, for my money. But Vampire Weekend and Alt J stepped up, too.

And my mom, in her 50s at this point, knows each band. In fact, she was the one selling Alt J to me. I was there for the other bands. What a legend.

U2 with The Lumineers

March 20, 2017 at the Rose Bowl

"The Joshua Tree" played in its entirety while outdoors in Southern California. Me, my mom and 61,580 others.

U2 was pretty good, but The Lumineers floored me. I did not expect an indie folk band to slay a football stadium's — a big football stadium's — worth of people. But they won me over that night.

More recent Lumineers review: Lumineers, Caamp bring quality arena-folk show to Ruoff Music Center in Noblesville

U2 is Mom's go-to. "Achtung Baby" was the soundtrack to my early childhood. I am less of a fan. But if I was ever going to see this band, it had to be with her. And it was.

Muse with Cage the Elephant

Dec. 12, 2009 at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas

There's a bit of a theme here, but if you've seen Cage the Elephant live, then you know. Many of you may have seen them with me here in Indy just last year, in fact.

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During this show, Cage frontman Matt Shultz attempted a full-sprint stage dive. One problem: The venue had bars all throughout the middle of the floor, apparently in an effort to keep people from packing in too tightly.

Crack. Slam.

Rib-first onto the bars. Folded like an accordion. But he popped back up and finished the show as if nothing happened.

Muse is my all-time favorite band and in my mother's top five. This was our first time seeing them live. You can't beat it.

Father John Misty

Oct. 4, 2022 at Clowes Memorial Hall

Here's one a little more recent and a lot more local. I relish any chance I have to visit Butler's campus, but this was as good a reason as any.

Mom and I are both huge FJM fans. This was perhaps not the good Father's best night. He brutalized the audience for sitting during his opening song, then tripped over something on the stage near the end of the night.

He also denied us the "Real Love Baby" encore blessing bestowed on some lucky crowds.

But his unique talent and dark humor overcame all odds. Lizzo bumped him off of my best Indianapolis shows of 2022 list in the 11th hour.

It was the best show Mom and I have seen together in Indianapolis. But we are taking on all challengers in 2023.

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Rory Appleton is the pop culture reporter and columnist at IndyStar. Contact him at 317-552-9044 and rappleton@indystar.com, or follow him on Twitter at @RoryDoesPhonics.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Appleton: Rock concerts with Mom over four decades