Tuesday, September 16, 2008

I Have Succumbed.... To Rock Band

My son likes the way I sing, and is thoroughly impressed with my musical repertoire. I keep explaining to him that the reason why I know so many songs on the radio is because I choose to listen to radio stations that play the songs I listened to growing up. Turn on one of HIS preferred radio stations, and I'm like a fish out of water. The closest I can get to possibly recognizing, and MAYBE singing along to any sort of "new" music is Radio Disney, and that's only because I swear they play the same five or six songs overandoverandoverandoverandoverandoverandover again!

So, last night, after dinner was through, we all sat down in the living room. My husband and I tried our best to watch "Jeopardy" while the girls fought....er.... played with some toy that they both wanted to use. During a commercial, my son shyly asked, "Mom, would you be the singer for me in Rock Band?"

Now, mind you.... we don't OWN Rock Band, so I thought my son had finally gotten tired enough from all of his super-early mornings to become a bit loopy. He explained to me that one of his friends had let him borrow his system "indefinitely", because he never plays with the thing anymore, and so he told my son that he could use it until he "beat the system". I'm not sure how long that would take, but I would presume it might be awhile.

I asked him where he would like me to perform this particular endeavor with him, and he suggested his room. Since I tried to avoid the two upstairs bedrooms like the plague (the sight of them, at times, can potentially lead me to want to hurl myself out the nearest window!), I said, "Since your sisters are making too much noise for us to be able to hear the television clearly anyway, why don't you bring the game system down here and set it up?"

Well... I didn't have to tell him twice. He was off like a shot, with his little sister in tow, to grab the gear to set up the game.

I'd never seen Rock Band in action before, so I had no clue really what to expect. Setting up this game is a bit like setting up an actual stage show for a band... there's all kinds of wires to plug into certain ports, and the drum kit has to be assembled. Once everything was in place, my son turned the game on and scrolled down the list of song selections.

Most of the titles (and artists) were completely foreign to me. They did, however, have a few Aerosmith selections, a song by The Clash, one by The Rolling Stones, and one by Boston that I did know.

I started off with the Boston tune... "Foreplay/Long Time". Since I grew up on Boston, I chose the "expert" level, and got a near perfect score. My son was grinning from ear to ear when the song finished, 'cause I guess getting a good score moves him up in the ranks somehow. All I know is, although I can carry a fairly decent tune, I'm no Brad Delp! But, if it helped him along, and it was all in fun, that's all that really mattered.

We played a bit more before I shooed them all off to bed. Even my little one got in on the action, pretending to be the newest rock-star singing sensation. It was quite the hoot.

So, today.... we were driving back from the grocery store, and as always, I had the radio on. I was running through channels, trying to find something other than commercials or "talk radio", when I heard the distinctive sounds of that very same Boston tune. I left it there... and cranked it.

And, as I did last night, I sang along with Brad. My incredibly intelligent, smart-as-a-whip little girl exclaimed, "Mama! That's YOU singing! That's the song you sang last night!" And, when the guitar solo hit, during the middle of the song, she cheered, "That's BROTHER playing! Awesome job, brother!!"

What a howl! There's never a dull moment with that kid, I tell ya! (Who, by the way, now thinks we're all rock 'n' roll stars! :)

6 comments:

Robin L Greenslade said...

This sounds like a fun way to spend a quality evening with your son!

I love precious moments with my daughter. Even if it is just a walk around the block.

Did you just want to crack up laughing when your younger daughter thought it was you and your son on the radio? How totally adorable.

=)

Mama C. said...

No... I didn't want to crack up laughing... I DID crack up laughing! She's such a constant source of entertainment, my little one. ;)

Hey, thanks for popping in, Robin! You're welcome here, anytime.

Tanya said...

I'm going to have to try this Rock Band! What a cute story!

I always sing really loud. I don't know how my husband and son stand it, honestly. I would drive me nuts!

Michelle D. said...

You ROCK! What a fun, spontaneous family time! I love it!

Lisbeth said...

That sounds like a lot of fun, I bet your kids will remember this for a very long time....

Susy said...

Oh Ryman want's that so bad....Glad you had fun with it!