Hayden is still good, after all these years

I went to see Hayden for the first time in 9 years last night. I think the similarities between shows 9 years apart are pretty eerie.

When I last saw Hayden, I was 16 years old; it was at a campus bar, I didn't yet have a girlfriend (ever, HA!, those were the days), and I loved every second of it. I even brought the album cover to get it autographed by him! He made fun of me in front of the college kids, and I was incredibly nervous.

Today, I've since graduated from the university he played the first time I saw him, I'm a bitter 25 year old, pissed off that I have to travel an hour to a different campus bar to watch him play, again without a girlfriend, and still managed to love every second of it.

He did manage to play some of his worst material from his first album. He also hates it when people yell "We love you, Hayden!". HATES IT. Which is understandable for what he's doing. The guy plays his friggin trumpet solo parts with "mouth trumpet". Clearly, even he doesn't take himself that seriously.

In summation, Hayden is awesome, even if his records are hit-or-miss, and the new one is particularly bland. But the hits are still gold, and I needed a reminder of that.