AIR DRUMS

I hadn't been to a concert in years, so I was excited when I found myself sitting in Madison Square Garden last weekend waiting for Billy Joel to start playing.

I leaned over to my sister, Liz sitting next to me. “I don't think there's a song he sings that I don't like.” I gushed.

It was just then that our seat mates for the evening arrived. Several men and women all about our age checking the seat numbers with their tickets. The man who would be sitting right next to me smiled at me, tipped his pork-pie hat, then sat down. I smiled and gave him a quick head nod back. That's when I noticed several guys sitting around us wearing the same kind of hat.

I leaned over to my sister again. “What's with the hats?” I whispered to her, hoping my new seat mate didn't hear me.

Liz shrugged her shoulders. “Didn't Billy Joel wear one in one of his videos?'

I tried to remember but I couldn't so I had to assume they were honoring him in some way.

Just then the house lights dimmed and my seat mate took off his hat, balanced it on his knee and began screaming, “YOU RULE BILLY!!!”

I looked over at Liz, my eyebrows going up in concern. “You want to switch seats?” I asked tipping my head in the direction of Billy's very obvious number one fan sitting next to me.

“Nope.” was all I got from Liz as she smiled and looked down at the stage .

Billy sat down at his piano and began playing his first song. My buddy next to me grabbed his phone and frantically began typing the name of the song being played. “Good choice!” he called. “Good choice!”

I looked over at him and smiled hoping he was going to be a well behaved number one fan. After he was done typing,he put his hat back on his head and began playing a duet with Billy on his newly acquired air piano.

I looked over at Liz again and mouthed “Wow!”

I was just grateful that he seemed to be playing a very small air piano and was keeping it right in front of him.

As the concert went on my seat mate would write down each song and then begin playing a new air instrument. “He can play everything!” I said to Liz as we now watched him play air bass with the emotion of a true musician.

By the forth song he seemed to have really warmed up. He took out his imaginary drumsticks and began tapping them over his head then he began playing, what seemed to be, his favorite air instrument of all. A very large drum kit. How do I know it was a large drum kit? Because he didn't have enough room in front of him and he had to set up his crash cymbal just inches from my face. So while his foot kept a steady beat on his base pedal I'd have to duck back as his hand reached out for that cymbal that had to be hit several times in this particular song.

I looked over at my sister who was staring at me in disbelief, mouthing the words, “I'm sorry.” to me.

But I have to say I wasn't sorry. Out of the thousands of people at this concert what were the odds of me sitting next to someone with so much talent? I could have been annoyed, but watching his speed as he moved around his drum kit was nothing short of amazing. By now my initial shock had worn off. I had to admit he was certainly having fun and I was having fun watching him.

He seemed to be a very accomplished drummer. Well, his form was good. I can't be sure if he was really good because air instruments can be tricky that way.