Then six days later on Sunday, April 10, I go to see ... Gordon Lightfoot.
It may seem like an odd combo, a pairing that seems to attract radically different fanbases. Except that both are badasses in their own respective spheres of music, each with an unconquered spirit that can be described as metal (using that term as an adjective). So, I'm equally pumped for both.
This post was meant for Metal Friday by the way but yesterday got away from me so I'm shoehorning it into that category.
I was supposed to see Priest back on Oct. 31, 2021--Halloween night which would have added even more of a metal atmosphere to the show. But guitarist Richie Faulkner decided that an on-stage acute aortic aneurysm was too metal to pass up (the guy kept playing right though it by the way, finishing up the guitar solo in Painkiller. Honestly there is nothing, nor could there be anything, more metal than that). Faulkner nearly died after the dreaded widowmaker and only the presence of a first rate heart and lung center four minutes away from the stadium saved his life. Parts of Faulkner's chest were “replaced with mechanical components.” He added: “I’m literally made of metal now.”
Cue "Electric Eye."
So, that resulted in an understandably lengthy postponement for the Priest.
But here we are, on the eve of seeing a band that is either my favorite metal band of all time or second favorite to the great Iron Maiden, depending on what day of the week you ask me. I'm super pumped, of course.
Now on to Mr. Lightfoot.
It was my dad that introduced me to the Canadian singer-songwriter, decades ago, when he sat me down to listen to "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." I remember really liking the song, a haunting retelling of a boat that went down in Lake Superior in November 1975, taking all 29 of its crew with it to the bottom. Later I went on to discover the rest of his catalog, including hits like "Sundown," "Carefree Highway," "Song for a Winter's Night" and my personal favorite, "Early Morning Rain."
Now I get to see Lightfoot, age 83, with my dad, age 78. I'm glad both are still here. Lightfoot is still doing it even at that age, which is just remarkable. I'm sure he's lost a fair bit off the fastball but I don't really care.
The show will be held in an intimate arena, the Tupelo Music Hall in Derry, NH, a venue that hosts acoustic artists and describes itself as a "friendly, relaxed, attractive, and intimate setting." The environment will likely be a lot more chill than Rob Halford storming the stage on a Harley Davidson in a hockey arena full of men in black t-shirts.
But, equally cool.
Good times indeed.
5 comments:
I think that liking different genres is a sign of aesthetic perceptiveness. If you like only one genre that is problem. Those that do often can't tell the good works in the genre from the bad.
There was a culture critic I listen to who lambasted rock and roll in favor of showtunes and easy listening. Talked about how sophisticated it was. He also talked about how masculine he was. Thing is I'm pretty sure rock and roll is more masculine than showtunes. He also once admitted that he did not understand classical music because "it did not have words in it." Which made me think he did not understand music period.
That's really cool that you're going to get to see the show with your dad. Something to be treasured.
Thanks guys.
An update: Judas Priest concert was CANCELLED outright after Rob Halford got sick... apparently he battled through a bad cold a few nights previous and sounded like shite, and decided to cancel the show.
Lightfoot it is. Narmer, I do think it will be something I look back on with fondness.
Matthew: Rock and roll definitely beats showtunes six ways to Sunday, although I do like a couple showtunes (Les Mis=phenomenal).
It would hypocritical for me to say every showtune was horrible, but on average there is more vitality to rock. I do when pressed admit I like Fiddler on the Roof for reasons I'm not sure. I've heard the soundtrack to Les Mis and think it is one of the better ones, though it is arguably more of an opera than a traditional musical.
The original novel Les Mis is an astounding story, if overwritten in places. That might be why the musical is one of the better ones. A lot musicals have awful stories. Then there is Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat which takes the Bible, one of the founding works of Western Civilization whether you believe in it or not, and makes a story of survival and forgiveness incredibly trite.
Ha! Have avoided Joseph all these years.
I really dig Jersey Boys, but of course that's not an original soundtrack, it's the cast singing the rock-and-roll songs of Frankie Valley and the Four Seasons.
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