My teenage self would be impressed with my adult self

 The day my teenage self would admire my adult self- May 2013

Okay so while in New Zealand, I made plans to head to a Limp Bizkit concert with my friend Aria once I was stateside. As a teenager, Limp Bizkit was my favorite band, I knew every word to every song. My best friend then was Theresa and we would drive around listening to them. When I was 15, almost 16 I went to my first rock concert which was Family Values. Limp Bizkit was our sole reason for convincing our parents to let us drive to Grand Rapids on a school night. Theresa, Emily and I went and had an amazing night.

Come full circle, 15 years later, Limp Bizkit was back in Grand Rapids so I knew I had to see this. The venue was a small one, Orbit Room which made the experience better. Aria came to my house and she started pre-gaming. This was her night, like me, she loved Limp Bizkit and tells people that Fred Durst is her husband so I decided to be the designated driver. We took off and got to the Orbit Room and discovered a long line. It was early May in Michigan and a cold day so we decided to wait it out. We didn't care to see the openers, after 30 minutes the line was still long so we decided to head over to the bikini bar next door and have a cocktail to wait. Inside, we made conversation with one of the “showgirls” and sipped our drinks. After another 30 minutes we went back to the Orbit Room and finally the line was short enough to head up. Once, inside the opener was finishing his performance and we decided to wander. As we walked passed the mechandise booth, we saw a sign talking about meeting the band after the show. It was advertised as $150 so we stood there pondering the idea. I told Aria that it was her call and I'd do whatever she wanted. Finally, the guy behind the booth yelled “meet the band...$150 for two people. Right now there are on 30 people.” I looked at Aria and she had lit up but was still indesicive, asking me what I thought. I told her, again, it was her call. She finally decided to do it. The man gave us special bracelets and we headed in for the show.

Aria found the bar and got another beer. We found a place to stand that was less crowded on the second tier with a railing to lean against. I was pretty happy with the view until I noticed an upstairs so I asked a few people about how to get up there. None of the staff seemed to know so I dropped it and settled into our newly marked territory. Aria got herself another beer and came back double fisting. I told her that she might want to slow down so she could remember the night later. She said these were her last beers. After the show started a bouncer I talked to earlier came up to me and asked if I was asking about the upstairs earlier. I said that I was and he told me it was open and how to get there. We checked it out and it had an amazing ariel view with very few people up there. We took up residence, standing in the back so we had plenty of space to get down. Aria left to use the bathroom and came back with yet another beer... haha...I gave her shit as she was getting pretty hammered. We were enjoying the show when a older woman approached us complaining about how they were playing all their old stuff and how she wanted to hear “Angels”. I don't even know the song she is referring to but I enjoyed the older stuff. She said she kept yelling it and attempted flashing them but it didn't work...wonder why old lady? We told her we wanted to hear “Break Stuff” and she eventually walked away. After the current song ended, they started playing our song and Aria went nuts and disappeared behind me somewhere. I stayed as our purses were in the seats in front of us. At this point the older lady approached me yelling about the music selection again. I ignored her, I was dancing. She proceeded to stand next to me, staring and attempting to get my attention. I DON'T CARE LADY!!! After the song ended, the lights came on and the show was over.

We slowly made our way downstairs and were herded into a corner to wait for everyone to leave so the meet n' greet could start. Aria was hammered at this point. A tall black man was in charged and remided us that he had the right to kick us out if anyone was disrespectful. Aria kept trying to make smart ass comments and I continually had to stop her, reminding her that it was stupid to get kicked out before it started. She settled down. Suddenly, someone brought out some beer and they served everyone. I took some Gatorade.

After a bit, a guy walked out and Aria flipped her shit saying “it's him.” She got quiet and said she just wanted to hang back for a minute and observe. She stated that she didn't know what to say to him. Eventually, she got enough balls to ask for a picture and he obliged. We went back to our place against the wall where she again stated that she didn't know what to say to him. I decided to approach him and told him that my first rock concert was them at Family Values in Grand Rapids 15 years ago. We reminisced about that show and Aria jumped in talking about a life size photo she had of him in her dorm room in college. We chatted for 5 minutes or so and he went on his way, meeting other concert goers. Aria followed him like a lost puppy stating one liners whenever she could. She attempted to follow him into a back room but I stopped her saying she couldn't. Her response was “wanna bet?” I then explained that if she did then she'd look like the crazy fan, this struck a cord and she stopped.

After a bit, another band member came out and I pointed him out. Aria said “that's DJ Lethal.” I suggested getting our photo with him since, after all, he is in the band. She agreed and walked up chatted and asked for the picture. We all talked for a bit and then Aria was right back following Fred again. I was waiting for Wes Borland to come out and eventually he arrived. He immediately commented on Aria's necklace which she told him I made. He said it was “an attention getter” We proceeded to get our photo with him and gravatated back to Fred. I kept saying, “wow, time was not kind to him....as he looked totally different than I remembered.” After three more beers at the meet n' greet, Aria was getting out of control and I decided to tell her that it was time to go, that I was tired. We walked out to the car and Aria almost immediately passed out.

On the ride home, Aria would periodically become alert, do something on her phone and then fall back to sleep. I jammed out to some music and as I got to I-94, Amanda woke up and asked where we were going. I told her that she was in no condition to drive and I was dropping her off at home. She stated “I'm good.” I disagreed and she stated “but I'm not going home.” I inquired as to where she was going and told her that I could drop her off. She then paused then said, “I'm going home.” I laughed and pulled into her driveway. She opened the door and took about 2 minutes to get out of the truck and announced “I'm druuuunk” the second her feet hit the ground. She stumbled to the house and went inside.

The next morning, I picked her up to get her car. I discussed the night before and how I questioned some of the pictures from the night before. She agreed on my concerns. “Fred” the Fred that she followed around all night like a puppy dog was not Fred and in fact was the drummer. “DJ Lethal” was indeed the real Fred Durst. The real kicker here is that she was all awkward around the drummer but walked right up to the actual Fred and spoke to him without a single problem. It was hilarious. All I can say is that I'm glad I suggested getting that photo with “the other band member (aka Fred Durst)”