My favorite performers were usually people who were not yet known, some of whom never would be. I didn’t get to see most of them live unless they toured as opening acts for somebody else. I can only imagine how great it would have been to experience the glory years of rock up close and personal.

Today’s young Hampton Roads rock fans are lucky. They have a first-class place to hear all kinds of music, several days a week, all year long. It’s as though the Fillmore East relocated to Norfolk for the new millennium. I don’t care much for the Insane Clown Posse or know anything about Puddle of Mudd or Girlz Garage, but I know that Norfolk is now on the tour itinerary of a lot of bands. And occasionally, one of the dinosaurs from my era will show up there. The only thing is, as I discovered last year while crammed together with 1,500 of my closest friends and fellow Jethro Tull fans, I don’t like being crammed together with 1,500 of my closest friends, no seats and no room to move.

But that’s OK. I’m not the target audience, and the target audience knows a good thing when they see it. That’s why the Norva was voted “Best Rock/Pop Concert Space” in this year’s Best of Hampton Roads readers’ poll. It’s a well deserved honor. Bill Reid and his associates have put Norfolk and Hampton Roads squarely in the middle of the rock and roll map.