My wife and I once spent six months living in a car while we travelled across Australia. As vast and remote as the country is, we didn’t have a lot of radio signals, so the soundtrack of that adventure was limited to our three CDs.

The first was CCR’s Greatest Hits that we purchased in Perth. It’s a classic album that makes for perfect road-trip music. The second was a mix of cheesy 80’s power ballads — the kind of CD that you’d purchase at a gas station checkout counter for $5. It was terrible and awesome. Mostly terrible.

Finally, a friend in Melbourne gifted us a copy of Green Day’s live album from 2005.

This weekend we’re heading to San Francisco for phenomenal food, excellent wine, and a concert. It’s Green Day, with Smashing Pumpkins and Rancid as openers. I’ve seen the openers before, they’re both good. But I’ve never seen Green Day. And although I’ve never been a massive fan, I’ve enjoyed them for most of their career.

The funny thing is that the whole time building up to this, I had completely forgotten about that album. I stumbled upon it on Spotify the other day and was flooded with memories.

Three CDs over six months is a lot of repetition. That album is burned into my mind, yet for whatever reason, it slipped my mind in the anticipation for the upcoming show.

Regardless, I have another reason to be excited for this weekend. I’ll be experiencing live, the soundtrack to one of my greatest adventures thus far.