I’m
not much of a fan of pop or rock concerts, in part because I’m not
great at being surrounded by hoards of people, and I don’t much care for
all the hanging around waiting for the ‘main
act’ to appear. Until this week, I think the last one I attended was
about 20 years ago.
On
hearing that Rod was to appear in Taunton I did give it some thought,
and then immediately dismissed the idea, in part due to the cost of the
tickets. Then, quite suddenly, two things happened
that changed my mind and caused me to shell out, shock horror, a
whopping great £300 for a VIP ticket. Firstly, an unexpected tax rebate
found its way into my bank account, and then a long standing friend of
almost 40 years, who I’d not seen for some time,
contacted me to ask if I was up for going. Spurred on by the thought
that it was all for a good cause, St. Margaret's Hospice, and in an
increasingly common moment of rash behaviour, which I put down to my
rapidly advancing years, I am delighted that I decided
to take the plunge, and we managed to obtain the last two tickets
left.
We
all tend to like the music we grew up with, and ‘Maggie May’ will
forever remind me of the discos of my youth, back in the 70s, but I was
apprehensive that at his advanced age Rod might
not be quite up to it. I’ve also not been keen on the ‘crooner’ style
he seems to have adopted lately. I’d geared myself up for the same level
of disappointment I’d had when I saw Frank Sinatra perform towards the
end of his career. Would Rod just turn out
to be a has-been who doesn’t know when to quit? How wrong could I have
been?!
This
was a tremendous performance, which had the audience of 18,000, mainly
couples over 40, bopping in the aisles; providing a far better workout
than anything the NHS could ever prescribe
to tone up our sagging thighs and flabby arms. What impressed me most
however, apart from his signature raspy voice, was the way in which he
was able to really connect with his audience and to read its mood; one
could easily feel that he was singing to each
of us as individuals. This was not some slick, carefully choreographed,
performance, with a set that was all bells and whistles. Apart from his
great backing singers and musicians, it was all about the music, which
has clearly stood the test of time. There
also appeared to be a total lack of the self-conscious ego one gets
with younger performers. He displayed the confidence of someone who
knows that he has long since earned his place in our affections.
He
was on stage for almost two hours and it was hard to tell who was
enjoying the performance more, him or us. In his tribute to the events
surrounding D-Day he had the crowd with him, and
by the time he had run though many of his old favourites, we were
eating out his hand. This was one true pro who still knows how to
deliver a good gig; and at 69, is he still sexy? You betcha he is.
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