Tuesday, June 19, 2007
The Noise of Summer
The Boy was out last night practising erecting his Glastonbury tent in the back garden. Today he will continue to comb London for size 10 wellies. The Career Girl was at Wireless in Hyde Park on Sunday watching the Kaiser Chiefs and hundreds of other contemporary acts that I have trouble telling apart. The Young One, now alarmingly fifteen, was at Wembley on Sunday watching Muse from a distant postal code. She loved it but it was more to do with the excitement of being among that many people than the music. They're not particularly rock and roll offspring. Certainly not compared to my mates' kids. None of them have even thought about forming a band, for instance, and neither have they threatened to adopt a music-inspired haircut. It's just that going to the giant open air gig has become the thing that everybody has to do. I got through the whole of the 60s, the 70s (apart from one work connected day at Reading and a few Hyde Parks and Knebworths, which don't really count), the 80s and the 90s without going near a festival. I still feel that rock and roll is better when there's a roof over its head. I go to Cornbury and enjoy it but the music is the least important element. I've had many great days at the Test Match where I couldn't tell you a thing about the play.
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a nice blog. interesting and informative.
ReplyDeleteIs it because they have such easy access to that rock and roll via you that they're so cool about it?
ReplyDeleteWhatever, it's lovely to hear someone agree with me that the music sounds better indoors; ideally with a numbered seat.
The irony being that at your hand winning top trump Bob Marley concert didn't they open the roof up!
ReplyDeleteThey did indeed, but one is a small aperture in an enclosed box while the other is more aperture than box.
ReplyDeletere: opening up the roof of the Lyceum
ReplyDeleteI wonder what was the original idea behind that was? I remember several sweaty nights waiting to watch The Police or sundry ska revivalists when I was happy that the building had that feature, being in the middle of the sardined puntery, but surely 'back in the day' this was not so necessary. I can't imagine the audience for Dan Leno moshing, for instance.
I did the Knebworth thing, stayed up all night to get a decent 15 sq inches nearer Led Zeppelin, only to be showered with piss during Todd Rundgren. I'm afraid my aversion to festivals these days has more to do with my back, the fact I like to sleep in a bed, don't like being around 100,000 people and paying 15 pounds for a hot dog. Plus at least if you go to see a band you like, you don't have to sit through the likes of the Levellers, Dodgy and Dumpys Rusty Nuts before your act of choice arrives on stage, usually just a half decent support act chosen thoughtfully to match the headlining act.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of which, that would be a good topic for a future thread, ill matched support and headlining acts! I remember Budgie supporting Richard Thompson of my memory serves me.