Sunday, the first of November, Owl City performed in front of a capacity crowd at the McCasland Field House on the campus of the University of Oklahoma.  As a member of CAC Concert Series, I was responsible for promotion during the weeks leading up to the show, and the night of the show I worked to ensure things ran smoothly.  Overall it was a fantastic evening, but the highlight of the show was not what you would expect.For the past few weeks, “Fireflies” has been the best selling single on all of iTunes.  Upon the show’s initial conclusion, this mega-popular hit had not been performed.  To the surprise of absolutely no one, the band retook the stage for their encore and broke out into a rousing performance of the song that virtually the entire audience came to hear.

Being on Concert Series, I was able to stand beside the stage, behind the barriers holding back the general audience.  As such, Owl City walked right past me both when they left the stage and moments later when they returned.  So that was pretty cool.

Personally, the highlight of the show came towards the end of the set.  Having already played through a good deal of his library, Mr. Young told the crowd that he had a confession to make.  He said that as a child, he had played a great deal of video games.  One of those games was Wave Race 64, and he told us how he always enjoyed the theme song.

As a person who spent his formative years in the 1990s, I was keenly aware of the game that he was speaking of.  I also thoroughly enjoyed Wave Race 64 and spent many hours gleefully following dolphins and flipping over ramps on my virtual jet ski.

Moreover, I positively LOVED the theme song for Wave Race 64.  I would actually leave the game on the main menu screen to listen to the song repeat over and over.  This catchy tune was a sweet melody in my ears.

So Owl City played a faithful rendition of the Wave Race 64 theme.  Even though it had been years since the last time I heard the song, it was immediately recognizable to me.  Memories of my youth came flooding back.  Not only was this the highlight of the concert, it very well may also have been a highlight of the month.  In fact, come January, when I look back on the year that was 2009 and ponder the year end superlatives, this may end up taking some year end awards for a seminal moment in my life.  Owl City, I salute you.  Many thanks.