"Second" Acts in American Life

I think there's an old saying that goes "there are no second acts in life" or "American life" or whatever it is.

After last night's New Year's revelry, I have a one-word rejoinder.

Bullshit.

One of my "bucket list items" that I'd already crossed off my list was to sing lead vocals with a band. I'd gotten to sing one line of the chorus of "Born To Be Wild" by a local band some time in 2008, so as far as I was concerned, that was my "sung with the band" moment never to be repeated.

For New Year's Eve, I went to the place I usually go for karaoke. This time, a band was performing until 1 a.m., then karaoke would start up. I listened to a few songs from my seat at the bar, went outside for a few minutes to bask in the relative warmth of seasonable temperatures after several days of frigidness, then went back in as the band started Drowning Pool's "Bodies." Before I knew it, the lead singer passed the mic over to me to sing one of the "Flooooooooor"s.

I would find out later that band does that a lot. However, that moment felt like I was getting a chance to have one of those great seconds acts you supposedly never have. A few minutes later, I would have a second chance at that "second" act during the Beastie Boys " (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)!" when the lead singer passed the mic over to me to sing "to paaaaaarty!"

However, those two things were only the bread and an appetizer compared to the main course that would come as the band performed its last song of the night: "Mudshovel" by Staind. The lead singer put the mic in front of me to sing pretty much the entire closing coda, and that came after I'd done one or two "mudshovel"s earlier in the song.

I'd originally planned to get my sing on with a few songs at karaoke after the band finished their night. However, after I did my obligatory Stevie Nicks song for the night ("Stand Back" if anyone's wondering), I decided I'd had enough singing for the night and went home.