Tonight, I danced with 500 seniors.

Tonight, I danced with 500 seniors at John Mueller's Winter Dance Party.  It was me, my Mom (not quite a senior), and 500 other seniors dancing to a tribute show featuring the Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens, and of course, Buddy Holly.

Coincidentally enough, it was 51 years to the day that all three passed away in a plane crash.  I am familiar with the story as I grew up watching Lou Diamond Phillips' portrayal of Valens in one of my favourite nostalgia movies, La Bamba.  My sibs and I used to watch that all the time on my dad's beta machine (along with He-Man's X-mas, Top Gun, Stars IV-VI, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas).

My bf felt sorry for me, when I told him that I was going to this concert with my Mom.  Little did he know that I wasn't being a good son, but that I actually really like this kinda music.  Growing up, my sister and I would go into our play room, play dress-up and spin records.  We'd dance around and sing along to all the songs from the 50s and 60s.  One of my earliest memories as a family is all of us at our summer farm in Kingston dancing to the old records.  Oh yes, I can twist and shout, do the mashed potatoes, and all that jive.

One of the things that I enjoyed the most tonight was watching how excited these old folks got with the various songs.  One lady couldn't contain her joy and bopped around to the various tunes, while her husband sat there rather sullen.  This one guy kept doing the fist pump in the air to his favourite songs.  There was one old lady who sat by herself in the box, but was having a great time and danced a lot.  At one point, my Mom informs me that she even saw her crying.  Undoubtedly, she was remembering the times long passed that she shared with a loved one.

My fav. act was Ritchie Valens and he wisely got the crowd up and dancing.  During Oh Donna, he asked couples to come to the front of the stage to dance.  For 'La Bamba', he insisted that nobody was allowed in their seat and had to join the party.  It was like everybody was relieved to finally have the chance to dance.  People jumped out of their seats and stayed on their feet for the rest of the set.  There were many standing ovations from this point on and it was an amazing site to see so many people up and about, smiling, and having a genuinely good time.

Yes, I was probably the only person there my age, but I was there for the music.  There's the saying that Feb. 3rd, 1959 was 'the day that the music died.'  But for me, Feb. 3, 2010 was the day that the music was very much alive.

(Special thanks to my Mom for asking me to accompany here)