On Monday night, my band opened for a band from Toronto called Black Cat Attack. The guitar player is the original lead guitarist from Sum 41.
Now, my band has opened some shows I was more excited for; i.e. Michale Graves, Nekromantix, Koffin Kats, the Creepshow, etc., but my experience with Black Cat Attack made me realize why I still play music.
When I first saw Sum 41, they were one of the headliners at a huge festival here in Tampa. They were ginormous. Now, I'm playing a dive bar with the guitarist from that huge band. There are maybe 35-40 people total. What really struck me was watching his devotion. He had the same passionate look on his face playing in front of 40 people as he did in front of 10,000 people. When my band played, he was right up front, and told me how much he liked us. That encouragement, along with seeing his devotion, made me realize how much I love playing music.