Rare is the opportunity for an adult outing that includes me, my two children, and both sons-in-law. Very rare. Now that I think about it, Bud’s 31st birthday may have been a first.

So as it turned out, all four A’s (A5 was not born yet) were housed elsewhere on July 7 while we enjoyed An Evening with Collective Soul: Dosage 2012 at the Tabernacle in Atlanta. To top that off, we were joined by my “other” child, Lance, who currently lives and makes movies/tv shows in the A-T-L.

The setlist at the Tab included more than two hours of incredibly good jams, including the band’s first hit, Shine, which closed the homecoming show. We sat on the first row of the balcony, where the temperature soared to what seemed like 2oo degrees when we were dancing, but we had a great view . . .

Stage set

I also saw Collective Soul at Park West, a smallish venue in Chicago, during the Disciplined Breakdown tour in 1997. I’ve been a fan since the early ’90s, and I remember exactly where I was the very first time I heard Ed Roland and his band.

I came home from work one Saturday to find Hints Allegations and Things Left Unsaid blasting from the living room stereo speakers that Autie and her friends had relocated to a couple of open windows so they could hear the music outside. That didn’t bother me much. Nope. The air conditioner was also blasting because of the open windows, and that diverted my attention away from the bass-thumpin' music and speaker placement. While closing the windows, I noticed a bunch of sandy footprints on the off-white carpeting that had been shampooed a few weeks prior. But the clincher came later that afternoon, when Autie stated that she would really like to have a jet-ski, as if the dozen or so “guest” jet-skis scattered along our beach were invisible. All those issues were solved a few months later. Our new house had fixed-pane windows in the living room, outdoor speakers, and no lake or beach in the back yard.

Collective Soul still ranks among my all-time favorite bands, despite that Saturday afternoon introduction. I look forward to the day when Autie’s first daughter, A3, pays her back. In the meantime, I’ll make do with the photo below.

Coach, Autie and Lance

We thoroughly enjoyed your birthday, Bud! Let’s do it again next year…

Bud

~Most of the photos were captured by Dizzy's phone. She's good like that. :)