Walking Tall

Last week I was at the Jack White show at the WaMu (Century Link) venue. These day’s Jack White’s shows are hit and miss. Don’t get me wrong, Jack is special and you are going to be blown away when you see him, but when he went solo, he started to get a little soft. He was playing a more of a country/bluegrass style than the raw rock he was playing when with The White Stripes and Dead Weather. The Raconteurs were great, but again, not hard rock like the aforementioned bands. So when you see a Jack White show, it is hard to know which Jack will show up. On this night in Seattle, the raw, Detroit fueled rocker took the stage and played a solid and hard rock show.

My senses were a bit more alive at this show because Jack does not allow cell phones at his shows (he is using a super cool start-up product, Yondr, who has created a locking cell phone case that you keep with you). Additionally, Jack’s sets are usually monochromatic and industrial. Tonight it was all blue and very visual.

The other element that completed this experience was that I had a clear view of the stage all night. I was midway back from the stage and literally, every person in front of me or within my view was shorter than me. Of everything I experienced, this was the thing that I reflected on the next day, which is how grateful I am to be tall.

There are not too many cons to being tall. A bumped head here and there. Planes and seating can be a little uncomfortable, tee shirts are never long enough (can someone please make a decent XLT tee shirt please?), but for the most part, being tall is awesome. I am on the low end of “tall” at 6’2″ and the past year or two I have been noticing more and more how tall I am compared to everyone else, especially in crowds. According to my Daddy, only 3.9% of U.S. men are 6’2″ or taller.  That is not a lot of people and the number gets much smaller the taller you are.

I am grateful for my height. It is not something that I could have developed, it was in my cards and I just got lucky. And for Jack? He is 6’2″ and also happens to be a badass so no hard feelings about you getting soft OK Jackie?