I mean, don't get me wrong, I love all my music still, more than ever now in some cases. I just feel like more and more I'm one of the oldest kids at a show. I know this isn't the case, especially if I end up going with Jen and/or Natty (I'm not calling you old, I swear! I'm just making a point! ...I love you guys!), but hell, either I'm getting a lot older, or concert crowds are getting a lot younger. Which really is more than likely the case... but see, that right there is another thing that bothers me.

I feel that if I do, in fact, grow out of any of my scenes, the last ounce of scene politics goes out with me. I know I was young when I started in on all this (holy crap it's coming up on 9 years now), and maybe it's actually just a (can't believe I'm saying this) adults perception, but it just seems like things are changing.

When we saw The Cab, Plain White Tee's, Dashboard Confessional and Panic at the Disco, it was the first time I'd ever not been in a line (Thank you again to the boys in The Cab for getting us into that show), and, it was the first time I'd ever seen a line actually go inside the venue. The only way I can describe would be... violent, really. It freaked me out! I mean, hell, I've been excited to get inside before, and ran, but these kids were shoving and grabbing and trying to pull people back behind them, anything to get in front of the kids that should be in front of them.

It just seems like the vibe of everything has changed lately. It seems you're more likely to get a dirty look than a hand up.

Sure, I go into pits looking to be jostled around and pushed and shoved and stepped on, but it's all in the hopes of feeling like you're part of one giant entity when that band comes on. The band that the first however many kids may have been camping out for for however many hours. I'm not saying that that still doesn't happen, because lord knows it does, but it just seems like it's happening less and less often.

It's said often and usually as a way to but down those around you: It's all starting to seem really superficial. It shouldn't matter what the band looks like. What happened to everything being about music? I mean, let's be honest, It happens in some scenes more often than others, and unfortunately it's the scene that the younger kids are into... the scenes that introduce them to everything.

It's seems silly, but if you're at a show and there are the younger kids around you, don't write them off just because they're young, or because this is their first show. Talk to them, give them a high-five for being awesome and liking at least a bit of the same music you do! If all the new kids see is the older kids trying to keep up appearances and out do each other, they're going to think that's what it's all about!

Don't let the next generation lose out because some of us are too caught up in what we're doing sometimes to remember the politics. We're all there to have fun. We all like at least one of the same things... chances are someone near you likes something you like... look for reasons to reach out to people, not push them away.

Let's keep it fun, guys. I always feel like this is a point I'm harping on, but damn! That's what all this is all supposed to be about, after all.

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