The zooming and hazardness turns of the freeway, cars bumper to bumper. Everyone on that freeway traveling to the same place. Turning off the highway onto the crowded busy streets, the frustration of my father trying to navigate the labyrinth of the streets trying to find the location of our parking garage. The sites and sounds of the city echo off the building. The blaring blaze of car horns, people, police sirens, and the reverberating sound of cars driving making the area come alive. To the west, the stadium of the concert is glowing in the sunset. The red, greens, and oranges create a halo of beauty and color around the entire building. Signs of final construction being done on the caesars arena, but it doesn’t get in the way of what is about to happen. Pulling up the the parking garage the tall grey pillar that stands before us is where we are going to store the car. The inside is dark cold and damp. The feeling and temperature give a break to the hot summer heat. Every few feet another fluorescent light flickering and buzzing as a car from the next flow passes over that area. Going up 3 floors we find a parking spot. There we get out and lock the door. Because, while we are in a safe and secure parking garage, we are still in the heart of Detroit.

Walking out of the parking complex we are immediately put in a state of shock as an immense crowd of people pass by. Many of these people past their prime, a little overweight all wearing t-shirts from the band ELO all of them walking in order like lemmings to the concert hall. Strolling down the street tightly packed against a crowd of people and a packed street of cars, there are merchants and scalpers standing on the side of the street offering people cheap shirts, and really good tickets for a really good price. Likely though, a lot of this merchandise is fake and unlicensed from Jeff Lynne himself. The temptation to buy a shirt or snatch up a pair of those tickets are equally tempting. But before I can take the risk at buy fake merchandise, I am whisked away by the speed of the crowd as the crossing sign changes to walk. People pushing in a rush across the bridge and across the street to be the first people in line to get into the stadium. A line out the door and half a block wide. The sound of music, the reverberations of people laughing, talking and yelling show how busy the Caesars arena. On the light up billboard, almost brighter than the sun, the sign shows a beautiful background of outer space with the grey and tattered spaceship with the words “Jeff Lynne's ELO” written in the center below showing the date in ivory white letters “August 18th 2018”. The sign, reassuring that the event I’ve waited 5 years for, has finally arrived.

The line to get in the door was stuffed like sardines with people cutting left and right. But after going through the slow security and crossing through the entrance, the room reflected the energy of the night. The New Caesar stadium was covered on the inside with bright colorful lights and the chattering of people all going to different places of the building. There were lines for greasy and hot fast foot, a strained escalator lift with people cramming to get to the main platform above, and a stretched out line for the Merchandise booth. After taking a quick look around the entire hall, I knew there was no reason to order food, but to instead save my money for something I really wanted, an item to remember the night for what it was. This once in a lifetime opportunity and the itching sensation of consumerism attracted me to the merchandise booth.

The booth itself was a small set up with hundreds of T-shirts and nic-nacs to represent the advertisable products of the band. T-shirts,  bandanas, hats, mugs, swimwear, pants, keychains, and so much more. The variety of the merchandise was enough to compete with Disney. But standing in line  realized that I had to know what I was buying before I got to the front of the line. This way I wouldn’t be able to miss the concert and give many of the other fans have an opportunity to take home a piece of their favorite band. Going up to the front of the booth and looking at the wide selection of available products I settled on two things; a dark grey T-shirt with the Original ELO logo made to look like that of the early electric companies of the early 20th century and a keychain. Which shirt to buy was the hardest choice of the purchase to make, but I believe the fabric of that silk-cotton mixed shirt with the original logo was good enough to show my praise to the band. When I saw the Keychain on display, I knew I had to have it.

The the thing about Jeff Lynne’s ELO is that they have always been a band I have been fond of. They are by far my favorite group of the classic rock genre. Their music as always been there for me through thick and thin. Their sweet groove, experimental sounds, and original beats create something that stands out from the rest of the preachy stereotypical music groups. They are, in my opinion, incredibly underrated compared to other notable artists of the time. And now that I am driving, the most common place I listen to them is the CD from 2001 that was a release of their greatest hits and the playlist on my phone keep my spirits up when driving. So when I saw that key chain, my heart was set on making it mine. Handing the green paper Andrew Jackson over to the cashier I was handed this metal majestic medallion. The back was a flat charcoaled stainless steel piece with nothing but the sketched outline of the other side of the keychain. Flipping it over the keychain was covered in grooves and edges. The slick design being a call back to their famous spaceship. The multicolored area of metal held tight in my sweaty anxious hand. The bright neon blue etched the four outer crosses with a bright red ring surrounding the items. With in that ring was a second one bright yellow with the center of this keychain being all black with the silver metal coating spelling out Jeff Lynne’s ELO written in the classical corporate letters ike the t-shirt. This satisfaction joyed me. My entire musical life influenced by this one man and the music he composed, now in my hand showing itself as a piece of pop culture history and the history of a rock legend. I now owned a piece of this legend in a round slit of metal. This moment holding a gratified long await sigh of relief and praise, because this moment starts the amazing rush of the rest of the night.

Leaving the booth with the memorabilia in hand and hiking up the immense layered flights of stairs, we find the level we will be seated at. The seats themselves were behind this massive heavy black curtain and we sat at this ivory white table. The stadium dome itself was massive supported with scaffolding of twigs. I wonder, the entire time we are there, how the place doesn’t collapse from the weight of the concrete roof.This room filled with tiny dots of people. I sit in my seat with the widest grin on my face. After all of these years I have the chance to see my idol perform his masterpieces on stage. The excitement left me bursting with energy.

The lights along with the crowd began to fade out. Other than several hunderest whispers and screams, the tension rose up as the orchestra began to build up its sound and the bright shining light playing to the beat. The emese array of people throughout the globed room roar in cheers as this build up continues.  Each beat more lights burn bright, the music gets louder and pushing the hype upwards. The peoples’ cheers are almost ear wrenching. But at the same time, I was sitting these screaming along with them with the most excitement I had ever felt in my life. The entire time I am clinging to life with the keychain in my hand. Every beat, the holding on the nic nac grows tighter and tighter. The moment for me had finally arrived. I had achieved one of my main goals for my musical career, it was truly happening.

And then out of nowhere he appears. With his charcoal black shirt underneath a grey sanded dress shirt, his eyes covered by an amber shaded pair of sunglasses and the curled scruffy locks of hair fading down his head. His beard, barley kept and shaved, but resembles a godly look. He begins to strum out the beautiful cords on his electric acoustic guitar. The wood freshly polished and shining in the light each note flowing from his finds onto the strings and out to the crowd. His voice singing smoother than stone with his lyrics coming out as if it were his natural language. He feeds the crowd energy and the energy from the crowd feeds him with excitements more lights more sound and more music coming from the stage. The orchestra keeping up perfectly to the sound of the song, along with the drummer hitting each beat on par to the legends plus the back up singers helping Jeff at his old age reach those highest notes.

Through the entirety of the concert it is banger after banger of the classic and most popular sets of their music. Every song the crowd knew by hard after 40 years of listening to the same classic masterpieces. The people themselves could have run the concert all without him, but it was more like a religion of support for this legend of music mastery. Songs such as “Twilight” to “Telephone Line” boom from the stage out to the crowd the two widescreens by the stage showing off the glorious features of the song. The energy from this show and from this experience impacting and allowing me to love music more than I already do. It felt almost as if with every measure of music played the keychain absorbed the experience of the concert. The heat of love for ELO placed with in the keychain a night to remember place solely into one item. I never wanted for a concert to not end more than this show. I could tell from where I was sitting so far away from the stage the Jeff was enjoying himself, the crowd was enjoying themselves, and I was enjoying myself. This concert a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a rock legend, a man who has come to the United States in over 40 years this was my one chance to see him in actions. Every second of the show connected to the keychain.

But as the final song played, the mob of people crying of envy for one more song.and the experience and the night to never end. The energy was so high they could have kept playing into next week and the energy levels would not have changed. But as the concert died down and ended the mass of people left the stadium quick like a horde movie at top speed to get out of their parking spot as fast as possible. The night ended as it began. The sounds of the city with the echoing sounds of cars, people, and the city life around us booming with life. Everyone walking one direction like lemmings this time to their cars. Scalpers trying to sell left over shirts from what they didn’t sell at the beginning of the show. Navigating our way back through the dark fluorescent lit parking garage back to the car. My dad navigates through the concrete jungle of Detroit and passing stupid drivers. This time in hand there is a piece of flat metal with fluorescent colors of blue, red, and yellow and in the center in classical cursive writing says Jeff Lynne’s ELO. While it represents that band I have loved for most of my waking life, it also represents the once in a lifetime opportunity of seeing the band live, my love of music, and the emotion it can make any listener feel.