SANTA BARBARA BOWL
Dan Thomas is a music enthusiast who frequents the Bowl. His love of music encouraged him to share an experience with his son. Little did he know that this experience would hold as a beautiful memory of his son, Joey. Here is their Name-A-Seat story:
“To celebrate Joey’s birthday on March 11th this year, I wanted to honor him in some way, but was unsure how. Then I received an email which solved my dilemma.The Santa Barbara Bowl has a Name-A-Seat program in which you can purchase a small plaque and have it installed on a certain seat for a fee.
In addition to seeing Cheap Trick and Pat Benatar there in 2013, Joey and I attended a Def Leppard and Poison show at the Santa Barbara Bowl on September 15, 2012. Due to the noise level, I purposely got seats near the top of the 4,500-person venue in an effort to protect Joey’s hearing.
What I remember about that night is that he questioned why Poison had its name, how much he enjoyed the Def Leppard song, ‘Rocket,’ and just being with my beautiful son sharing my love of live music.
My favorite moment, which I have thought of often since, is when I snuck a peak of Joey watching the concert and taking everything in. It made me cry with joy then, and has an even more meaningful and lasting effect on me now.
I got to visit the recently-installed plaque, which will remain there for the life of the [seat] itself.
If anyone attends a show at the Santa Barbara Bowl in the future, please be sure to stop by Section C, row CC, seat 27. That was where my son sat on a gorgeous September night in 2012.
I love you, Joey.”
Everyone at the Bowl thanks Dan for sharing such a sentimental story. We are honored to be a part of his memorialization.
Whether your story commemorates or celebrates, use Name-A-Seat to represent your Bowl memories!
