Mackenzie Leith ’25
I remember my first concert without my parents. I went to see Carrie Underwood at Climate Pledge Arena with my best friend from middle school. I remember feeling nervous without my parents beside me. I felt so small in such a large place with thousands of people.
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My mom still tells the story of her first concert without her parents. She saw Pearl Jam at the Gorge with her best friend from middle school. She felt confidently lost; she knew she wanted to be there, but didn’t know what to expect. The Gorge is a big place, and it’s easy to feel small in a crowd of thousands.
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Since I was a little kid, my mom has fostered a love for music in me. She played a variety of songs for my brothers and I growing up, which ultimately led us to have a unique and balanced taste in music. From her, I learned the diversity of music and that each song has its own independent message or meaning. Her love for music mixed with her love for my brothers and I created fond memories associated with countless songs.
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Her best friend, Mandy, and she began singing their hearts out. Together, they let the world melt away, taking it all in. The sounds, the scenery, the sensations. So much to see, so much to understand.
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My mom has carried her love for Pearl Jam with her into adulthood, so when she found out they were playing in Seattle in May 2024, she knew she had to go. I was lucky enough for her to take me with her. When I asked my mom what songs I should listen to before the concert, she mentioned the song “Daughter.”
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“Alone… listless… breakfast table in an otherwise empty room
Young girl… violence… center of her own attention
Mother reads aloud, child tries to understand it
Tries to make her proud”
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I realized that my mom sharing this song with me was an extremely vulnerable moment for her. Although I initially fell in love with the rhythm of the song, I quickly understood the importance of the lyrics. By the time the concert came around, I could sing all the words. While they were playing it, I turned and looked at my mom who was singing along too. A sense of gratefulness washed over me. I looked at my mom and saw the person whose entire existence defines me as a daughter.
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My mom and Mandy loved this song. Both daughters, young girls, trying to make their mothers proud as they prepared to graduate high school and move on with their lives. The truths that they could release into the open air along with a crowd of thousands. It’s comforting knowing that others feel the way you do.
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Hearing about my mom’s first concert at the Gorge helped me see her in a different light. It reminded me that this is our parents’ first time living, too. My mom, like me, was once a 17-year-old girl who loved concerts, shopping, and spending time with her friends. From my mom, I learned the importance of listening to the lyrics of a song so that I could understand its message, rather than its rhythm. I will forever be grateful that my mom and I get to be daughters together.