Kenny's biggest regret from 1992

I have a confession. One of my biggest regrets is from 1992. Yep, 25 years ago. And it’s all thanks to Dan, the brown-haired jock kid in the class next to my home room.

Looking back on it now, it was not right to dislike Dan. He had every right to wear that t-shirt with pride but seeing him wear it hurt like a son of a bitch!

Now you might be saying, “What the heck is Kenny talking about? What t-shirt and who the hell is this Dan kid?”

Well… Dan was the one kid at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Grade School that actually attended the 1992 edition of Lollapalooza!!

Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ice Cube, Lush and Jesus and Mary Chain — and that was just the main stage. Believe it or not, that tour happened 25 years ago this year. For 25 years, in a small place tucked away with my many musical memories, it haunts me as one of my biggest regrets. How did I miss that show? Why did I miss that show? Then, by the time Dan was strutting around the school yard in his very own Lollapalooza 92 tour t-shirt it was gone, off to another city that, in my youth, might as well have been on Mars.

To be honest, looking back on that time in my life I try to think about summer days riding bikes with buddies or time with my old man, when he was alive, and truth be told, the summer of ‘92 is a summer that had many great moments. However, missing Lollapalooza still holds the top spot in my memories…. For all the wrong reasons.

It was a tour that changed everything, for me at least. Crowd surfing, mosh pits, the haze of pot smoke, Doc Martin boots, long hair and great music.

I did manage to attend a few different editions of the travelling show in the following years but never did a bill as good as ’92 present itself again. I remember showing my kids Youtube videos from the Thunderbird Stadium show and when my boy said, “Were you there Dad?” I hung my head low and quietly said, “No.” I have been lucky enough to see all the bands that were on the ’92 bill but they weren’t together sharing the same stage so the hurt will never be healed.

#vancouver #1992 Lollapalooza Chris Cornell of Soundgarden crowd surfing like the rock star he is. #vancityrocks

A post shared by Moments From Vancouvers Past (@historical_vancouver) on Aug 23, 2014 at 8:22am PDT

So I pass on to my children the error of my ways and hope that they never miss a show that they will come regret.

If you were at the show please tweet us your story!

Side note: what hurts even worse now, I remember asking Dan what the cost of the ticket was….$26.50.