The latest of my too-frequent concert mishaps. Any long-time forum
dwellers will remember the last one, when my car broke down and kept me
from the wonderful Yes show at Red Rocks.
This one's not as dramatic (or costly!) but I regret it just as much.
I stumbled on the show about a month ago, when a friend told me that
there was a chance that The Mars Volta would be opening up for System
of a Down. I did some research and couldn't confirm this for certain,
but while looking on the Hard Rock's concert page I was delighted to
find that Sigur Ros was scheduled to play The Joint. I immediately
bought tickets, and spent several weeks looking forward to a night of
ethereal beauty.
About a week ago, I started feeling that telltale taste in the back of
my mouth that indicates that a cold is coming on. My wife became sick
before I did, but was on the way to recovery. Resolved to beat it, I
began a sensible program of Vitamin C, lots of water, and as much sleep
as I could get. For several days, it seemed to work- apart from a
little congestion in the morning and feeling a little more run-down
than usual at the end of the day, I was feeling fine. The 5th was a
little worse, but I reasonably determined that it was nowhere near bad
enough to keep me from the show.
Sure enough, it hit me hard on the morning of the 6th. Dizzy, feverish,
occasional bouts of nausea and dashes to the bathroom. A lump in the
middle of my head that throbbed painfully and drove my speaking voice
from its usual rich tenor
to a
croaking, wheezing baritone. I barely made it through the day at work,
though the fever did give me a certain false energy. The drive home was
brutal, I could barely navigate the rush hour traffic.
There was very little choice; I wasn't going to enjoy Sigur Ros in that
state, not to mention the various symptoms would probably distract my
fellow concert-goers. Jonsi himself would have probably lost his cool
and yelled at me on my seventh trip to the restroom.
It was an uncomfortable night- not simply becaue I was sick, but
missing the concert killed my mood and I was even unable to enjoy a
quiet night with my wife and animals.
I'm assuming that it's the result of bad karma. After all, I'd
downloaded Takk and hadn't got around to paying for the album yet. So
in honor of that, I've dubbed my condition the "24-hour RIAA flu".