Plato and Llama Mama

Kings Gardens

I went to go see Llama Mama play their final gig at Kings Gardens.  The kids errr Llamas were great. 
Plato gave me a pass so I could go early and watch them rehearse - which was a good thing because
the show was so loud I couldn't hear anything.  (friggin old age!)  I took these pictures during rehearsal,
during the show it would have been impossible - it was solid bodies, many of them tightly wrapped in
Llama Mama concert T shirts - which I happily signed for any squealing college girl who happened to
ask.  Heh, heh.  (don't tell Kaylynn)  The crowd loved the band, there were girls, and kegs and helmets,
every kind of fan a college band should have was there.  I'm glad Plato's having his moment.

I got to talk to Plato after the show.  I was SO PROUD of him.  Thousands of girls just screaming to
touch him - that's my boy!  Plato was really excited.  The band had met with a larger record company
before the show and they were very interested in signing Llama Mama - the band would tour everywhere -
not just on the University Circuit.  Plato was chomping at the bit for the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.  He
also let it slip that Kissimmee thought she might be pregnant and he couldn't have been more excited at
the idea of having a baby llama.

That would make me a Grandpa.  Wow.  Did she  know for sure?  When would she be due - would it be
after graduation?  "Well, umm, Dad, I was thinking that I wouldn't graduate."  It hit me like all the hot wate
r running out of the shower.  An icy chill dripped over my body as I realized that my son might drop out of
college because he wants to be a rockstar and his girlfriend might be pregnant.  The same news that was so
wonderful a few minutes before was now chilling and it was difficult to swallow.  "But Plato, you only have
a semester to go.  Why would you drop out now?  Can't this record company business wait?"  "Oh Dad,
why would I go back?  The band is making money hand over fist, I get to hang out with my friends all day
every day and be with the girl I love.  What can college give me that Llama Mama can't?"  I was angry, not
at Plato, but because I realized I couldn't make him change his mind anymore, and even though he was
wearing a Llama costume, he was a man.  It wasn't his fault, he's doing what makes sense to him.  But in that
moment my heart broke.  Although I've never given much thought to the heir business in my family, I guess I
had always assumed that Plato would come home from college, get a good job and raise the next generation in
our house.  It's what I did.  I'd made these plans for my son without realizing what I was doing, and now he was
telling me that he was going to drop out of college to live like a rockstar.  There's a crushing sensation you get
when your heart laughs and cries at the same time.  I am so proud of Plato and his band, they really are great and
the kids really love them, but I'm so scared because he's venturing onto a path that is not what I imagined for him.
As I drove home that night I listened to his CD and to the song that played into my head... "it's not the destination,
it's the journey" 

A few weeks later I got an email from Plato that the new music video was on the Llama Mama web site. 
"Yo Dad - check this out - we look so totally rippin'  "   I sat and watched my son dance around the stage,
playing with his friends and making the world happy.  Who wouldn't want that?  The tune was catchy and when
it finished playing I said to myself "This is going to be big.  Really really big." 

Maybe you'd like to have a look at Llama Mama's first video?

NEXT
CALIOPIE