“Mom, can you get us tickets to the Michael Marcagi concert? It’s in June and we really want to go,” my seventeen year old asked me this past March.
“Who’s Michael Marcagi?” I asked.
“He’s this really awesome indie rock performer and he’s blowing up on Tik Tok and Lauren and I really want to see him and he’s really cute and he’s coming to Detroit and it’s general admission so we want to get there early and see him up close and he’s super talented and can we please go?” my teen replied without taking a breath.
So, because I’m a cool mom, I looked into her request.
- Hmm, tickets were only $25. That’s pretty good, I thought.
- Let me listen to his songs. Ooo, thoughful lyrics with authentic guitar, similar to Noah Kahan. That’s pretty good, I thought.
- Hmm, it’s general admission in a small tiny club I’ve never heard of. In Detroit. On a Wednesday night. That’s NOT so good, I thought.
I wasn’t sending two 17 year olds to a general admission show in a small club in southwest Detroit by themselves. This isn’t the 80s after all.
That’s how I ended up buying four tickets to the Michael Marcagi concert at the El Club in Detroit. My husband and I would safely drive the girls to this concert and hopefully sit in a corner with a drink while they joined the mosh pit or whatever.
Concert Day
When the day of the concert arrived, I warned the girls that we could NOT take off work early so they could camp out to get good seats, aka standing spots, for the Michael Marcagi concert. We could leave at 5pm and get them there at 6pm, an hour before the doors opened at 7pm.
They were disappointed, but understood.
Imagine their bliss when we pulled up at 6pm and the girls were #3 and #4 in line to get into the club! Woo hoo, they should be in the front row after all!
My husband and I, though, had no interest in waiting in line and standing in the front row through an opening act and then Michael’s performance. We weren’t 17 anymore, and how do those young people stand in one spot next to sweaty strangers for 5 hours and not have to go to the bathroom anyway?!
He and I walked through the neighborhood to a restaurant for dinner. We only saw two guys exchange cash for something in a baggie. I felt so alive on a Wednesday in Detroit!
After dinner we entered the El Club. (They didn’t even check our IDs before slapping the “21 and over” wristband on us.) There were two long, rectangular rooms: one held the bar, and the other boasted the stage, 500 people, and our daughter and her friend standing in the front row.
There was also a courtyard where I thought we might stay for the evening with a drink.
Alas, it started raining so that plan was foiled. My husband and I went back inside.
Rockin’ out with Gen Z
We were standing at the edge of the concert room and the gaggle of 500 people, watching Lily Fitts the talented opening act, when it happened.
“That’s him,” my husband said, pointing to one of 500 Gen Z/Millennials in attendance. “That’s Michael Marcagi.”
Really? I thought, looking at the young man wearing a baseball cap standing in front of us. Huh! The real Michael Marcagi was just checking out the scene watching the opening act, sipping a cup of tea, while our daughter was eagerly waiting for him with 499 of her best friends in the front row.
“Hey, Michael,” my husband said, when Michael turned to leave, presumbly to head backstage. “We’re really big fans of your music. Our daughter loves your work, too, she’s even in the front row. Can we get a picture?”
Voila!
And that’s how we met and had our picture taken with rising indie rock star Michael Marcagi. He was gracious and kind, clearly not turned off that two Gen Xers probably the same age as his parents were his new biggest fans.
So what happens next?
Was our daughter horrified that we met Michael first–and without her? Did she enjoy her front row experience? Was she able to meet Michael Marcagi herself?
Turns out there’s much more to our wild Wednesday night in Detroit, including how we bonded with the lead guitarist’s mom and sister, an odd connection with the little town of Bucyrus, Ohio, and more!
Check out next week’s blog post for the exciting conclusion of Parenting Teens: The One with the Michael Marcagi Concert.
And, for those of you who are music aficianados, please enjoy Michael’s performance on Late Night with Seth Meyers:
