Nothing More: Fade In / Fade Out

The Jamiroquai concert in 2005 was the first one his firstborn son wanted to accompany him. It was a pleasant stroll through the city park called Városliget with the four-year-old child, and when the doors opened, they discovered the open-air venue called Petőfi Csarnok. They bought pretzel and left the concert after the first song contentedly. The Tankcsapda concert at Kisstation in 2006 transformed into a sightseeing experience as well. They explored the neighborhood, and even they were able to take a look into the empty arena of the now-demolished Népstadion. They returned to the former ice hockey stadion when the opening act called Black-out already played their set, took a walk on the glass-walled gallery, then went home. The game-changer event was the Offspring concert at the Sziget festival in 2009. After getting across the traffic jam of Budapest, after finding parking place some kilometers away from the field, after hours of waiting to buy tickets, after hours of getting in on the island, after fighting through the massive crowd to get in front of the main stage, after two songs his son declared: “we can go home.” During their usual Happy Meal he explained to his son that it makes no sense to hassle so much for two songs, and afterward, they attended a lot of great concerts together.

His son forget the Stone Sour concert and organized another program for himself this evening, so he asked the younger son if he would like to join him for this gig. The small one never asked to go to the concerts with him. He loved music, but he was not a real fan. Earlier this summer, there was an afternoon Leander Kills set at a motorbike festival, where he played football with other kids his age rather than check out the band. Nevertheless, it would have been a good father and son experience for him when they attended the Foo Fighters concert recently, since he said yes without hesitation.
In these cases, he prepared a Spotify playlist for the kids based on the last setlist available from the relevant tour to help them to know the band. This time he made a similar playlist for himself because he know only superficially the opening act: 

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Driving to the home of his parents in the countryside, he was listening to this playlist. Fade In / Fade Out made a lasting impression on him.

The recent illness of his father made him visit them every week. One and a half years ago, his father was so sick that he feared to lose him. Frightened, he re-organized his life to be able to see them regularly, to show them that they can count on him. In January, the condition of the old one turned from bad to worse. They went from hospital to hospital, from examination to examination. There was only one good thing in this monstrosity. They spent a lot of time together. They had enough time to discuss everything. No question remained unasked, nor unanswered. No misunderstanding, no hard feeling remained between them. They brought back all the sweet memories they shared. As he rope swung in the garden of the old house listening to the Concert For Bangladesh album, his father played to him. Or the Chuck Berry concert in 1983, mainly because of the 23 cones of lemon ice cream he ate on the way to the show.

In the past weeks, he visited them every weekday. On weekends his brother was there with them, so he was able to spend a little time with his wife and kids. The condition of his father deteriorated day after day. Last Tuesday, he was able to climb the stairs to the hospital hall, then to the first floor easily. On Wednesday, they had to take the elevator.
No matter how often he went, his father became quieter and quieter. You could hardly hear his voice. His words became unintelligible. His speech became incoherent, and he spoke rarely. Suddenly it seemed his mind got clear. He asked his wife and his older son to join them, maybe to be together for the last time. It was a vain request. Only he was there. His brother worked. Her mother was in the kitchen.

A spasm clutched his father. He extended his arm for help, to be able to sit up. He caught his hand, pulled him, but it seemed the pain brought up the fragile old man. He vomited blood. He fall back. And he never spoke again.

„I have watched you fade in
You will watch me fade out
When the grip leaves my hand
I know you won’t let me down”