So, you'll have to forgive me if I sound a bit evangelical. But I wrote this in my head on Monday night, while standing in the middle of a French sports stadium, surrounded by the jumping masses watching Pearl Jam.

It occured to me during the gig that a path in life might well have started with Pearl Jam. Although Monday was the first time I'd seen them, the oldest songs have never left me for 14 years now. They still give me the tingles that good songs are meant to give you.

I thought back to a music lesson I had in Year 9 (about 1992, when I was 13). After a really bad couple of years, we suddenly got an ace music teacher, Mr Halsey. (Mr H wrote many original school musicals, which were sold on to other schools and after he left my school he went on to be Director of Musical Education for Newcastle Council...anyway, that's not the point). He asked us to bring in examples of riffs to the next lesson.

Next lesson arrives and after an array of girlies try to pass off Color Me Badd's I Wanna Sex U Up as having a good riff (I suspect he was actually looking for Another One Bites the Dust or such like), he slots my tape into the machine.

The thumping opening to Even Flow kicks in, followed by that voice of Eddie Vedder's - you know, the one where you think the devil created his lungs - singing "Freeeeeeeeezin, rests his head on a pillow made of concrete, again".

I turned round to find 32 jaws hitting the floor, all with the same thought "that swotty little shy blonde kid, this is what she listens to?! THIS?!" Some of them were open mouthed about the fact that I obviously had hidden depths of cool. Some of them were open mouthed in disgust that I didn't like Color Me Badd. Mr Halsey was open mouthed that someone understood the concept of a riff.

I think that was one of the seminal moments that led me on this path. I stood in the middle of the gig and thought "this is what it's all about. I'm here in Paris, a city I love, watching a band I love and I don't want it to end. This is why I have no money, no kids, no mortgage, no intention of growing up any time soon. So that I can do everything my 13 year old self would have wanted - this"

I love it when you're just happy - those moments never last very long, but I owe it to my 28 year old self to keep hunting them down.