Do you recall concerts before corporate sponsorship? Down here in Atlanta it was always "Alex Cooley Presents: Band X". Back then, the boys and I would get fired up on the way to the show, all the while listening to our Clarion cassette deck blaring loudly to compensate for the windows being down (no A/C in the 70's, remember?). We didn't care what we wore as long as we got there for the show. "The show" represented a release and connection between you and the performer on stage. Now to present day;  Gone are the tailgate parties before the show, when flags waved in the breeze, your favorite rock band's music filled the airwaves and pulling a "sixer" out of the trunk to share with your rock-n-roll comrades was a rite of passage. Now, in place of twisting up a doobie, we opt for a De Cafe' espresso with a cherry on top, no less. Instead of beer, it's "personal hydration containers" or in layman's terms, bottled water. The tattered concert shirts you wore as a badge of honor and your favorite Levi's have quietly been dismissed for khaki shorts, button up Polo's and of course, the current status symbol, a Rolex. As I write this I wondered if the ghosts of concerts past might come back and punish us. What would they say if they saw an encore and in lieu of us lighting up the sky with lighters, we pulled out our cell phones instead. I shutter to think about the vengeance that would rain down on us for this loss of respect. What use to be, "Rock-n-Roll All Nite and Party Everyday" has morphed into "Honey, it's been three months and I haven't been laid". Friends, these are things I think about when I see a triple pickup black beauty. What a privilege it was to grow up in our era. To see all of the artists we had the opportunity to see and most of all, to just be free. This guitar is just a tribute of just that. The spirit. Well done Gibson, rock on...