AUTHOR'S NOTE
The first in what I hope will be a recurring series, No 'Kid'ding puts a spotlight on the younger people of Outlook and area by showing readers what they do in their spare time. Maybe it's a passion for what life has to offer, maybe it's a cool at-home project they're working on, or maybe it's an attention-grabbing idea that may spell dividends in the future; the bottom line is that kids are interesting, wise beyond their years, and perhaps more adults need to be paying attention to what these younger generations are up to at home. If you have a child who you think might make for an interesting story, please reach out to this reporter!
OUTLOOK - Alex Lockhart is a walking encyclopedia of heavy metal music.
The 16-year old Outlook teenager, who had actually reached that age on the day that this reporter sat down with him and his mom Destiny on October 9 (Happy Birthday again, Alex!) is essentially a live performance addict, and he can probably tell you anything you'd like to know about local Saskatchewan rock bands from Saskatoon and Regina.
Lockhart, who is autistic, likes how friendly the people of his hometown are, even if his love of music takes him and his mom out of town quite often. Alex says that the heavy metal genre is something that really stuck out to him when he started getting into music at a younger age.
"I think that I've liked it all the time," he said. "I think it was 2016 when I started really getting into metal. That's my favorite genre. As far as my favorite bands, I'd say it's a tie between Ice Nine Kills and Reject. Reject, I've been following them all year and Ice Nine Kills because they're just so original. They base all their songs on horror movies. I've seen both bands live; Reject, I've seen four times live and Ice Nine Kills once."
Alex, whose favorite song right now is '66' by Reject, says he pursues music because it's something that brings him joy.
"That's a good question," he said, when asked what he enjoys the most out of music. "I'm not too sure. The music makes me feel good because I enjoy it."
And enjoy it, he certainly does. Alex has been to 59 live shows, having attended his first concert at the age of 9, and it's only escalated in the time since. This year alone, he's attended 19 shows and there are more on the horizon he's looking forward to.
"I'm looking forward to Sum 41 in January; this will be my second time seeing them," he said. "I first saw them at The Ex in 2019, it was my second concert."
Let's just pause for a second and do a little bit of math here. If we take that number of 59 and add one because of the upcoming show in January, we get 60. When we take that number and divide it by seven, arriving back at the age when Destiny says Alex attended his first concert at age 9, we get an average of 8 to 9 shows that Lockhart has attended per year leading up to today. Of course, that math flies out the window when we remember that in 2024, he's already seen 19 shows.
Alex enjoys the atmosphere that concert events bring, which allows him to choose between hanging with friends in a more loose environment or sitting down to experience what he's about to watch take place onstage.
"It depends on the show," he said. "Like, if it's a small local show, I like to hang out with my friends a lot. If it's like a bigger SaskTel Centre show, I like seeing huge bands."
Alex's favorite memory of attending a live concert included a bit of interaction with the band itself.
"It was probably when I got to fist bump the vocalist from Shinedown," he shared. "That show was in July of 2022. Just because of how big they are. I mean, they're like an arena band."
Alex enjoys going to all of these shows with his mom, making music something that the two of them can share together. Destiny says she likes watching him be with his friends and seeing him enjoy himself in the environment that concerts can produce.
"I'm basically just the one that brings him to the shows," she said with a grin. "I like watching him hang out with his friends as he's made a lot of friends at these local shows, the Saskatoon shows. He loves to get in the mosh pit, that's been kind of a recent thing. I love just watching him have an awesome time."
Over the course of many, many concerts and many, many memories made, Alex has met at least 30 of the bands that he's seen live, and he's come away from those shows with a small boatload of merchandise, including guitar picks, signed items, and more than 150 band t-shirts. No, that's not a typo; Destiny herself went to Alex's bedroom and brought out a hefty armful representing only a sample of the shirts that her son has acquired over the course of his love affair with live music.
As far as what the future may bring for Alex, that's still kind of a question mark, but Destiny says that she'd love to see him do something with all of these bands that he's seen, perhaps in the promotional department.
"It's still hard to say," she said. "He's not too sure what he wants to do. I'd love to see him working with a band, like even just something behind the scenes. He's awesome at videos and photos, like a photographer or videographer job. I'd love to see something like that some day. One of those wait and see things, I guess."
Regardless of what the future brings, the odds are pretty good that Alex's love affair with live music isn't going away anytime soon. If you find yourself attending a local live show in the city, you're liable to run into him, no doubt adding to that mountain of band t-shirts, but more importantly, his treasure trove of memories that remain near and dear to his young heart.
