It’s sometimes easy to forget that our parents were our age once too, despite how many times they tell us just that. To us, they’re just mum or just dad and we love them, but it’s rare that we can really just “hang out” with them.
But Drowned In Sound reporter Sammy Maine recently had the opportunity to do just that when she accompanied her father to his very first music festival, detailing her experiences in a new op-ed for DIS.
Maine opens her piece by recounting her youth, when her father was enlisted in the American Navy. One of the things she and Maine Sr bonded over was music, with the latter admiring the work of Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty.
“Desperate to see one of his idols, Gregg Allman, we decided to go with Ramblin’ Man Fair. With a line-up of Allman, Seasick Steve, Scorpions, Blue Oyster Cult and Dreamtheatre, the festival was bound to attract a certain sort of reveller and let’s be real, that ain’t me,” Maine writes.
“The thought of spending two days with a bunch of old dudes, watching more old dudes was not my idea of a rad time but my dad’s fervent excitement made me kind of excited too.” Maine then goes on to detail the amenities at Ramblin’ Man Fair.
However, it’s when the two hit the festival’s record fair that Maine has an epiphany: “‘Oh my gooooooooooooosh,’ he says, mesmerised, before picking up a copy of The Doobie Brothers What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits. ‘I used to get so, so high to this record,’ he smiles.”
“Watching these teenage memories come back to him reminds me that my Dad is an actual person – not just my Dad.”‘”Man, I wish Johnny and Maxie were here.’ Johnny and Maxie were my Dad’s best friends in High School and watching these teenage memories come back to him reminds me that my Dad is an actual person – not just ~my~ Dad. I forget that he had a life before me.”
“Festivals are an escape from reality. It’s not like my dad and I don’t talk in real life – we talk almost every day actually – but being in this environment brings new bonding and we talk as friends, not as father-and-daughter.”
“I ask about his time picking tobacco when he was 13… which leads us to smoking a few roll-ups together. This is big. I have been hiding my social smoking from my parents since I was around 20 and sitting there, beer in tow and fag in hand with my pops was weird and kinda wonderful.”
Maine and her dad then check out some of the acts on the bill, including Della Mae, Blue Oyster Cult, during which the duo reenact the famous cowbell scene from SNL, Jason and the Scorchers, and Gregg Allman.
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“Three days prior to his (only UK) appearance at Ramblin’ Man, Gregg Allman lost his mother, ‘Mama A’. It’s a poignant moment that reminds me that my Dad won’t be around forever,” Maine writes.
“However bleak that sounds, I look to my Dad as he’s singing ‘Statesboro Blues’ – ‘This is my jam!’ – with a teenage-like glint in his eye. For that hour he’s not my Dad; he’s a dude enjoying the songs of his youth, the massive smile on his face confirming his elation.”
“As a newbie on the festival scene, Ramblin’ Man still has some kinks to iron out… To be honest though, the festival could have been the ultimate humdinger and I still would have had a great time because, to be an utter cheeseball, I was with my Dad.”
“The experience made me realise I don’t just love him – I actually like him too. Like, as a real-life human person. I guess it’s true what they say – those that puke together, stick together.” We’re not crying, you’re crying!
