Power Trip 2023: Why this grandmother flew her granddaughters out to see AC/DC
Would you go to a heavy metal festival with your grandmother?
Brooklyn Harper and Illy Pirylis of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, both 17, have been enjoying Power Trip this weekend with their grandmother, 59-year-old Kerri Yingst of Hobe Sound, Florida. But it's not the first time. It's the third festival the trio have attended together since the 2022 Welcome to Rockville festival in Daytona Beach.
On Saturday afternoon, all three were excited to see the first performance by AC/DC in seven years and spent over an hour standing in line at the band's merchandise tent after the gates opened. Yingst referred to her granddaughters as her "concert buddies"
“I didn’t know they liked my music,” Yingst said. “I was (in New Jersey) visiting and I heard Black Sabbath coming from the bedroom, and I’m like ‘Wait a minute, maybe they’re just on YouTube.’ I go about my business and go back upstairs, and I asked them, ‘Do you like that?’ and they said ‘Yeah!’ That’s when we found Welcome to Rockville and started going to festivals together.”
More: Power Trip 2023: AC/DC rocks festival with first live show in seven years
When asked about sharing the experience of Power Trip and seeing AC/DC with their 59-year-old grandmother, Harper said "it's honestly amazing."
“It feels like a privilege, because you see all these other people around and they’re like, ‘I wish my grandma would have taken me places like this.’ I know we have the best grandma ever. Look where we are, we’re in California. It’s insane,” Harper said. “It’s a lifelong experience to be able to see Iron Maiden with your grandma, who else can say they did that?”
Yingst said the first concert she ever attended during the late '70s was Cheap Trick, and she was accompanied by her mother, who didn't want to go, told other concertgoers to stop smoking marijuana and was persistent in her pursuit of a good place to sit in the venue, which had limited options.
"I remember KISS came around and (she) wouldn't let me go, so I had to sneak out for shows. We lived in the middle of nowhere and had to drive an hour or two hours. She let me go south with some friends to see REO Speedwagon, Journey and those were my early ones. I saw Heart when they put out 'Dreamboat Annie,' and I saw Poison as they were getting started."
Harper said she has memories of going on road trips with Yingst and falling asleep to Guns N' Roses and began exploring rock music when she was 15 with Pirylis. The two teens found music on YouTube and created playlists of their favorite songs.
"Now we get to experience the festivals and see new bands we didn't know about," Harper said.
While attending Welcome to Rockville, Yingst was comfortable among the metal fans and didn't have any concerns allowing her granddaughters to go into other areas outside of their VIP access.
"They asked me, 'Grammy, can we go to the GA area because it's closer to the stage?' I didn't have a problem with them doing that because I knew there would be someone watching."
During Christmas and birthdays, Harper and Pirylis don't receive gift cards or clothes from their grandmother. Yingst said she'd rather purchase festival tickets and create memories.
“When I’m dead and gone, which I hope won’t be for another 200 years, I hope they will remember this and take their kids and grandkids," Yingst said.
Brian Blueskye is the arts and entertainment reporter for The Desert Sun, where he covers all the music festivals in the Coachella Valley. Email him at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Power Trip 2023: Why this grandma took her grandkids to see AC/DC
