Music had always been a big part of his life. He has been an active musician since he was a young boy. However, young Thomas Elliott has not seen any especially inspirational live performances in his life. He had not seen anything so vibrant and colorful as to change him as a person and bring out his true passions. This would change January 11, 2007.

In his old “dull” life, he once caught wind of a live performance in Missoula, Montana, at the Wilma Theatre. He heard that an old band, full of memory, was playing the roots reggae music that Tom has enjoyed for some time. This band was brought into existence in the mid-sixties by a man named Bob Marley. This group of reggae musicians is called the Wailers. They were big through the late sixties through the seventies until Marley’s tragic death. To Toms advantage, they were now small enough to play in the unpopulated state of Montana, close to Polson. After he heard of this great opportunity, he promptly went down to Missoula and got tickets in advance.

There was one catch, however. He knew he had to drive the dangerous roads of Western Montana from Polson to Missoula to catch this performance. He developed a fear of driving in anything other than light, rural traffic due to a hellacious car accident. He was going much too fast down a back road when he swerved around a cat and destroyed a section of barbed-wire fence. His only way of getting to this spectacle of wonder was to face his fear and drive down, on one of the most dangerous highways, to Missoula.

When the calendar showed the magical date of January 11, 2007, Tom departed with two good friends towards the city of Missoula. He borrowed his mothers green Ford Explorer for his expedition to the concert. He was very tense during the first fifteen miles. As hunger overcame the young men, they stopped in Ronan at a Subway. After the quenched themselves, and left, Tom was much more relaxed and the rest of the drive was relatively smooth sailing.

The arrival to Missoula was somewhat early, for it was six o’clock and the doors of the Wilma opened at seven. Tom and his crew with him met some other good friends who were also attending this spectacle. The clock approached seven as the young men mingled. The clock was closing in on seven so Tom decided to head over to the Wilma. The line was long before the great doors of the Wilma. Tom handed the green ticket to the big man at the entrance and excitedly grabbed the ticket stub as he entered the building.

The young men anxiously awaited the opening band to play, as they were so early to the concert. Being ten minutes after seven, they had to wait a considerable amount of time to hear some music. They found desirable seats in the audience due to being early. As the clock approached eight oclock, Tom noticed people filling the section in front of the stage. Tom hurried then to find a good spot to see the musicians on stage perfectly. As he mingled with the good people in the crowd, he noticed that he could relate with them and he felt as if he were at home.

The opening band was amazing, a delicious combination of guitar, keyboards, bass, tenor sax, and drums. They were a nice instrumental group.

When the Wailers got on stage, the crowds went absolutely crazy and Tom knew he was in for an awesome show. The crowd piled into the front of the auditorium, where Tom was. He was glad he got up there ahead of time and he saw the band perfectly. When the Wailers started performing Tom just then had a great sense of belonging. The sweet music pierced his soul and he felt like he was flying. Tom danced rhythmically with the crown and no one could ever know what kind of bliss he was in that night.