Roland: From time to time I am getting reminders that I am getting old. One of them occurred yesterday when I drove up to Düsseldorf (a mere four hour drive away from the Black Forest) to join a Peter Gabriel concert by the title '
So - back to front' for a late 25th birthday celebration of Gabriel's 1986 album '
So' (the one with
Sledgehammer and
Don't Give Up) and the accompanying 1987 tour. Gabriel managed to (inserting Blues Brothers quote) 'get the band back together', and he actually performed with the same musicians that made the 1987 concert so memorable to everyone who had the pleasure of seeing it. 1987... 26 years ago... half a life ago...
I got the impression that it must have been pretty much the same audience, too, as it appeared that there weren't many people under the age of forty around.
Obviously the musicians aged, too (and actually Gabriel himself did not age too well...), hence there wasn't as much jumping and dancing as in the Eighties. Instead we were rewarded with a really beautiful light show with loads of impressive pictures.
It was a good concert (albeit not even close to the original), but the best feature of the event was meeting my old buddies again who were there back then in 1987! And if you think four hours is a long way to drive to a concert: the couple in the middle traveled down from Sweden!
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So many things to say; not enough space or time. Great that you got a chance to revisit your friends and the event Roland. I can relate.
ReplyDeleteThe older I get the more I enjoy the rare times that I meet old friends. I know the guy in the middle since almost 40 years, but I only meet him once a year or so as he lives in the woods in Sweden...
DeleteWant old? 26 years ago, I was a newly minted captain of artillery....so eager to make my mark in the Army.....Saw a recent ad for a Jimmy Buffett concert....he's not aging that well either.
ReplyDeleteI was 22 and in the middle of my studies of Electrical Engineering. Not the best of times as it was stressing me out extremely. This concert was one of the few good things I remember from then!
DeleteSorry, I had to google "Peter Gabriel" as I remember hearing the name but couldn't remember any songs. Too recent…
ReplyDeleteSo all of you getting back together to go to the concert was almost like getting a band back together. Nice.
ReplyDeleteWe have the chance to see Carbon Leaf in Portland this weekend at a fairly small venue (500 people), but at mostly standing room we are passing. Too old to stand and get jostled around all night after standing in line.
'Getting the band back together' is one of the favorite quotes of the three old gentlemen in the picture as the three of us counted together must have watched "Blues Brothers" around a hundred times! Other Classics we quote from regularly are "Airplane!" and "Life of Brian"...
DeleteI actually enjoy small concerts more than big ones these days. There is a certain intimacy and closer connection to the music when it is played for a few hundred people!
This is so true! But I feel the older you are the more difficult it gets meeting either of them!
ReplyDelete