The year is coming to an end, and it’s time to recap what was GOOD about 2021.
Now it’s easy to focus on the negative of 2021, but what went right in 2021? I mean we are still going through the pandemic, things aren’t quite normal yet, but we can look past the obvious and point out some of the awesome stuff that happened this year that even YOU may remember! No necessarily order, just 5 moments that were bad ass.
- Returning to Live Music with Upheaval Fest.
After 2020 and NO concerts, returning back to a big rock festival was on the top of my list. Mind you it was still pretty risky considering the pandemic, but it was outside, I was vaccinated, and I was ready to rock and do the thing! It also happened to be the first ever 2 day ROCK festival in my hometown of Grand Rapids, MI….parents got to be with Lily and I got to do my rock star thing, it was near perfection. Seeing Korn, Rob Zombie, Pop Evil (at our old stomping grounds), and everybody was a great experience, and a wonderful welcome back to normal.
- Becoming Dad.
What a roller f&*(in’ coaster becoming a parent is. Lily was born on Dec. 28, 2020…so my Dad Days began this year, and honestly? I’m still figuring it all out, but lemme tell you…those first 2 months of transition to Dad-Hood? A nightmare….I didn’t know what to do….All I knew was lack of sleep, adjusting to not being able to do whatever I wanted, spending money on kid things….it’s the biggest life change ever! Here is the thing though….after those 2 months and Lily started to become more than a baby burrito? Everything changed….she became the sweetest little girl that I would do anything for. I look back on those first two months and think, ‘That was rough, but it was sure worth it.’
- Seeing My Wife Become Mom.
No seriously, read my previous thing about becoming Dad and the shortcomings that I had…Katie seemed to have none of them, or at least from what she told me. Something in her just clicked and she was ‘Insta-Mom’ and just freakin’ got it. I was in awe of her, and her parenting abilities, cause not only did she have to deal with becoming Mom? She had to deal with my issues becoming Dad. She was already a bad ass wife, but when Lily came around? She became the bad ass mom.
- Decimating the $5000 24 Hour Livestream Goal
When I started the 24 Hour livestream 5 years ago, I started with a simple goal of $500…5 years later, my goal was $5000….just look the difference 5 years can make right? Even better is that we BLASTED past the $5000 goal in the first few hours and stretched it all the way to $7500 which we also surpassed. The amount of giving that people did to raise money for the kids at the Stead Family Children’s Hospital was something to be in awe of! We waxed hair, shaved beards, gave away mugs…you name it. I can’t wait for year 6!
- Finally Seeing Slipknot in Iowa
One of my big draws to living in Iowa was the fact that I would get to see Slipknot on the home turf at some point…and that finally happened with Knotfest Iowa. Say what you will about the way the festival was run with lack of water and such, but the bands were on fire that night. Still my favorite from the evening was seeing Megadeth, but the moment Slipknot got onto stage…I finally got to cross that one off my bucket list. It made sitting in the parking lot for close to 3 hours waiting to get out, worth the time.
- Chaos for a Cause @ Electric Park Ballroom
If you were at that show, you know…it was a blast! Not only seeing the return of live music to the Cedar Valley, but also seeing live local bands again after not really seeing any of them since 2020! The vibe was great, the costumes were awesome, and it was just a cool event to be part of. All of the bands were amazing live, and I even got to join in during Rebel Yell with Grave Corps. I hope more will happen at Electric Park Ballroom in Waterloo, I feel like it is a severely underutilized music venue.
2021 overall wasn’t too bad of a year! It wasn’t perfect by any means, but it COULD HAVE been 2020 when the pandemic was really raging on! I have a good feeling about 2022, so let’s try to keep it that way.
