I don't understand the intricacies of time travel. And seeing as how it's 2010 and we still don't have hover boards, holodecks, transporter rooms, food replicators, or even self-lacing shoes, I'm not holding my breath that time machines will be realized in my life time. But, it's still fun to think about. Especially in the context of being a music geek. Do you go back in time and prevent Nickleback from ever getting together? Step in and try to mediate between David Lee Roth and the rest of Van halen to try to avoid the Gary Cherone era? Take a bullet for John Lennon, or Dimebag Darrell? Try to keep Kurt Cobain or Layne Staley from ever discovering heroin?
Well, if you believe in the butterfly effect, doing any of those things could really mess things up down the line. As much as I'd love to hear what Kurt would write today, there's no promise that he wouldn't still take his own life. And 95% of Alice In Chains' songs were about the horrors of addiction, so maybe a clean and sober Layne wouldn't have yielded the same great songs. (The new singer was great live as well.) Even if you stopped Nickleback, someone would have come along in their place. And it could have been a grey hair effect; pull one, and three more pop up. If David Lee Roth and Van Halen stayed together, you'd miss out on some great Sammy Hagar era music. John Lennon and Dimebag Darrell's deaths were senseless and tragic. But maybe if they hadn't been killed, their killers would have hurt even more people.
So, if I had a time machine, I'd go to concerts. I'd go to a lot of concerts. In terms of butterfly effect, what's one more concert goer, as long as I pay attention to what went on at the time, stayed as inconspicuous as possible, and brought year appropriate money? I would be tempted to sneak in a modern video camera though... That could be a problem. But there are just so many iconic concerts, so many moments that never happened again, that pale in comparrison when watched on video, when I could have been there in person. On top of that, there's the age issue. I was born well after some of the best concerts took place. I was one year old when Danzig left the Misfits. Woodstock was 13 years before I was born. I was 12 years old when Woodstock 94 happened. I missed a lot. Woodstock is fine on video for me. All those smelly hippies... Woodstock 94 would have been pretty awesome. I love a lot of the bands that played there. But again, smelly hippies. I would definitely go to as many Misfits shows as I could, even though many of them were trainwrecks, with equipment failing, Doyle's guitar constantly going out of tune, or drummers being too drunk to play. And the early Gwar shows would have been fun. Especially since I could go to a show at P.B. Kelly's, then come back to modern time, and eat at Havana 59... which is the same place. I could see shows at clubs that are now parking lots. I could see bands before they got big, when they were playing to crowds of 3 people. Harder to blend in I suppose, but still...
Or, I could just re-live shows that I actually did attend. I'd just have to avoid running into myself. Shouldn't be that hard, as I remember pretty much where I stood or sat for every show. And I've been to some great shows that I'd love to re-live. Primus, Danzig, Tool, Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, Slayer... I had a blast at the many Misfits shows that I've gone to as well. But I went to many of those shows with good friends of mine. They wouldn't have been as much fun if I had been alone.
So I suppose the answer is, watch the stuff I missed on video when it exists and I can find it, re-live the shows that I did see through my memories (and maybe a bootleg or two...), and make new amazing moments by going to as many shows as I can now. I suppose I can save the time travel for Star Trek esque diplomacy for now.
I still want my food replicator though.
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