I Decided to Buy VIP Tickets for Myself as Early 30th Birthday Present

I know the title sounded snobbish or maybe it really is, in a way.

I, if God will, will turn 30 in a couple of days and honestly, I’ve been thinking about it a lot. We all know that age is just number but when it’s the multiples of ten, there seems to be an imaginary gate to enter with imaginary milestones checker in front of it asking, “So what have you done in the past 10 years?”

As for me, I think I’ve made the most of my 20s. I didn’t pursue my master degree (not even tried to), haven’t mastered any other language, haven’t bought any designer hand bag or been a CEO or CCO or anything close to that. However, I have job(s) and saving, I earn more than what I spend and I can buy books whenever I want to. I would say that I’m a settled adult.

A couple of months ago, this settled adult heard that Death Cab for Cutie was coming to Singapore again in July 25th, 2019. I watched them live back in 2012 at Fort Canning. It was among my first concert trips and until today I can still remember Ben Gibbard’s checkered shirt and his presumably heartbroken performance. It was good and I’ve been listening to Death Cab for Cutie since university and I spent a lot of time in my 20s listening to them.

I asked my husband if he would like to come and he said yes. I checked the tickets, found the best located and most expensive seats available. I thought, “Why not? I’m an adult now, I have money and I like this band. This is how I celebrate life as and adult.”

So I bought them.

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About one or two months later, We The Fest 2019 announced Travis on its line up day 2 – July 20th, 2019 (the festival was held in 3 consecutive days). I must say that Travis is a pretty ‘ancient’ britpop band but their songs topped on my personal music chart during university years. Beside Travis, there were Eva Celia, Barasuara, RAN, Nadin Amizah, Hindia, Ardhito Pramono. I also somehow perceived the idea that Daniel Caesar is the closest you can get to Craig David these days, so I thought about giving it a go.

I hate to admit that I was intimidated by the ‘young-ness’ in We The Fest. I kept thinking that I was too old for it, but Travis on the line up was the quite anti-thesis of my idea of We The Fest.

I did a little research and found out that it had sort of VIP ticket called V.I.B or Very Important Banana (or Very Important Bastard according to Iga Massardi). The price was twice the regular ticket but it had its own entrance, lounge, toilets and front row viewing area. I gathered my courage and my younger dream; that I’d still go to music festival and dance when I’m a mother.

So I bought the ticket. The V.I.B one.

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So during the past 2 weeks I might look like a crazy mom who was crazy about going to music concerts. I went to WTF by myself and enjoyed it. The V.I.B indeed got its own line, lounge, toilets & viewing area. It was great that I could admire Eva Celia properly, could dance and jump with Barasauara, sit and sing along while watching RAN, laid down watching Daniel Caesar, and stayed until Travis performed their hits at midnight.

I cried a little bit when Travis performed ‘My Eyes’. It brought me back to 2007, to my first years of university, and for the first time that night I figured out that the song was about his son. I saw Fran Healy as a wise old man sharing the fear and doubt about parenthood. I cried a bit and I went home with a feeling that it might be my last time watching them live.

Then about a week after that, I watched Death Cab for Cutie with my husband in Esplanade. The concert was sold out.

It took me to a lot of moments and brought me a lot of feelings. Ben Gibbard seemed to have moved on from Zooey and wore a wedding ring. His voice was still haunting and the whole performance was as efficient as it was in 2012. They performed ‘Title and Registration’ and I couldn’t be happier. They performed 23 songs in 2 hours.

I felt like getting through a time machine; through my 20s that would pass in a few days.

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At the end of the day, I remembered that before buying the tickets, I told my husband, “You know what is funny; I was always wondering if there would be a point in my life where I purchase VIP tickets just because I can and I deserve it and I do it for myself. I think I have arrived there.”

I’m sure that I can tell something good to my imaginary milestone checker on the imaginary gate so he can say, “Welcome to your 30s. Buckle up, chin up.”