Dear Joe, Tim, Joe, Ben, Chris, Lawrence, John, Kevin and Dickey (along with Nate, Tim, Josh, and others I am forgetting),
Thank you.
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones has been an important band in my life for a long time. I have blogged about my association with the band and music several times over the last few years. It has been a great privilege to see you live as many times as I have, especially half of those concerts occurring in Boston.
Your dedication and affection for your fans has touched me. I was a fan and as time has gone by some of the songs have taken on greater significance. Each successive time I have gone to one of your shows my affection for the band has grown.
I am lucky to like a band the same way the band likes its fan and to have directly felt that affection. While I have felt it seeing The Bosstones in Seattle, it is when I travel to Boston for the Hometown Throwdown that feeling is most palpable.
This year I will be headed to Boston once again for the Hometown Throwdown.
It is an incredible privilege to be able to see one of your favorite bands repeatedly, let alone getting to travel to participate in their hometown celebration. I am very fortunate.
Last year’s event was particularly special by all accounts. The 18th (semi-annual) Hometown Throwdown celebrated Boston and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones history in a way that was unparalleled. I am truly sorry I missed it.
Knowing what I missed and how it would be impossible to be matched, I am incredibly excited to have the opportunity to attend Hometown Throwdown 19.
And fortunate.
Not many people get to see one of their favorite bands as much as I will have seen you by the time 2016 is over. And the only reason I have, and will have, seen you as many times is because of my wife who knows how much this means to me. Leaving her home with the kids, the youngest of which will not even be 6 months old during the Hometown Throwdown, it’s not a small thing.
Travelling from Seattle to Boston may not be a big deal for many, I know I’m not the furthest traveled fan at the Hometown Throwdown. With this being my 3rd appearance, I also know I’m not the fan with the greatest attendance record at the Hometown Throwdown.
I am not making any claim for being the biggest or most loyal fan.
What I do claim is that you, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, are a special band to me, along with many other people. I appreciate that feeling seems to be reciprocal. You keep doing the Hometown Throwdown shows, the meet and greets, and more. Heck, you even posed for a picture with my son’s Flat Stanley for a school project once. How many bands would do that?
So I just wanted to say “Thank you” for being so obviously grateful and loyal to your fans by continuing to hold these Hometown Throwdown celebrations. I am looking forward to this year’s Hometown Throwdown in whatever form it takes.
And thank you to my wife for letting me go.