With the elementary school bus out of commission, parents are forced to organize carpools. One morning, as he drives his children and their classmates to school, Homer, who thinks Grand Funk Railroad and ELO are cutting edge bands, tries to act hip. Bart and Lisa are mortified. Realizing that he’s out of touch with the times, Homer purchases tickets to the Hullabalooza music festival, the greatest gathering of rock bands of all time, and drives Bart and Lisa to the concert instead of taking them to school.

As the bands perform their music, Homer tries his best to blend in with the Generation X crowd. But the audience mistakenly believes Homer is a “narc” and throws him out of the concert. Feeling dejected and uncool, Homer walks the Hullabalooza fairgrounds, where he accidentally kicks a pyrotechnic device used for the concert. A projectile fires into his stomach, but amazingly, he walks away unharmed. A concert manager who witnessed the accident offers Homer a job in the freak show as an impact abdominalist. Homer accepts the position. Soon after, he begins touring throughout the country and attracts a following of his own. He even earns the respect and admiration of Bart and Lisa. But a veterinarian diagnoses Homer with abdominal impact trauma—and warns him that the slightest stress on his stomach could mean death.

Despite this warning, Homer remains determined to perform for his hometown when the festival stops in Springfield. As family and friends, who are unaware of vet’s diagnosis, watch with great pride, Homer strides onto stage. But when the cannonball is fired, Homer jumps out of its path at the last possible moment. Later, Homer tells his family that they mean more to him than being cool.