Tom Morello Eat Your Heart Out

Have you ever had a rock concert performed right in your own living room?  Well, you haven't lived until you have.  Yesterday afternoon I was able to scratch that one off my "bucket list."  Peyton Joseph Mares (my 4 year old grandson) paid a visit and brought me back to my love for the classic rockers.  For most grandparents there is always this self doubt; what are we going to do with them when they come over.  For me (and thanks to HBO's presentation of the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame's 25th Anniversary Concert) it is so simple.  All I do is ask, "Wanna play a little Tom Morello?"

There is this segment in the concert where Bruce Sprinsteen and Tom Morello, one of Peyton's all time favorite guitarists are playing together. (QUESTION: How does a 4 year old know that Tom Morello is his favorite rocker? ANSWER: Guitar Hero, of course!) Peyton questions what he will use for a guitar - he often brings his; yes he owns a an electric of his own thanks to Mimi and Poopsie's Christmas present.  I tell him I have just the thing.  I produce an old yardstick, and I can see the imagination take hold and watch as the 36 inch piece of wood is immediately transformed into the best Fender Statocaster around.  It takes me a few minutes to find the segment; which provides Peyton with the perfect opportunity to "warm-up."  You didn't think he was going on stage (my 3 step, step ladder) cold turkey do you?

With the spot found it was now time to start the performance.  Peyton goes into the next room providing explicit instructions to me as to how he is to be introduced.  I get the privilege of being The Boss in this little re-enactment.  So, I mimic Sprinsteen's introduction, "Welcome to one of the great guitarists, (Peyton Mares) a.k.a. Tom Morello.  I watch, mesmerized as my grandson emerges and steps up on the "stage."  As Sprinsteen and Morello break into Rage Against The Machine's hit The Ghost of Tom Joad, Peyton copies each of Morello's hand movements; and belts out the lyrics that he knows.  (He knows the entire chorus, by the way.)  My little 4 year old rocker is in rare form.  Videographer, Mimi, is on the couch doing her best to capture each moment of this stellar experience on her Blackberry; while sister Makenzie (she's 11 months) is bobbing and clapping enough to make even a die hard groupie proud.

I have been to a few good ones in my day.  I've seen Zeppelin, ZZ Top, Clapton, and I actually sat outside the stadium once and heard Hendrix as clear as if I had been in the front row.  But, none of these brought me to the sense of joy and pride like the sight of that precious little rock star plying something that he has come to love. 

Just when I thought I had seen it all, there came a point in the song when the real Morello was laying down a sequence that brought goosebumps to the skin.  Peyton "Morello," keeping up as best as he could, took the opportunity to improvise a bit.  Before I could caution him he was already airborne.  He landed, thank God it was on the carpet, in perfect kneeling form and his fingers missed nary a beat on the "yardstick."  He then jumped to his feet and followed everyone of Morello's licks with surgeon-like precision. 

One more slide to the knees later, the song sadly came to it's end.  The good news though was that John Foggerty would join Sprinsteen for a rousing rendition of Fortunate Son; and everytime Peyton belted out, "It ain't me, it ain't me..." I received another hit of that joy and pride I mentioned earlier.  After Foggerty (me), and Springsteen (Peyton) completed the Roy Orbison classic Pretty Woman, we readied ourselves for one of my all-time favorites.  This time Peyton made percussion his rocker style.  Placing the Sponge Bob drum along side the Playskool one that we had since he was two, my little rockstar readied himself for a finale that would top even the best Who encore.

With my "foam finger" guitar poised, Peyton and I broke into the iconic Born To Run, following every move on the stage of the E Street Band that we could possibly pull off.  It was hard to tell if we were succeeding over the bangs of the drum, but I didn't care.  It was the closest I was ever going to get to rock star status, and to be quite frank with you I think at least in my grandson's eyes I was already there.  Our "concert" had come to an end; or so we thought; oh the wonders of the rewind button.

Peyton's mom and dad entered the house for the pick-up, and in the interest of "you had to have been there," Peyton 'Tom Morello' Mares, and I; Earl 'the Boss' Gervais proceeded to provide an encore presentation for my daughter and son-in-law.  It was an afternoon that will surely follow me to my grave.