Monday, June 18, 2018

whole lotta love...

the summer solstice is almost upon us...we are in the twilight of spring...a season ripe with celebrating earth...and our mothers...our fathers...and often the memory thereof...of the hopeful new beginnings of June weddings...joyful endings with graduations...and the outdoor concert season...there I found myself praying to the weather gods two nights last week...praying for dry weather so I would not schvitz under a cheap rain poncho...and the weather gods listened...I will talk about the two concerts in reverse...Dead & Company at Citi Field on Friday...this my first time seeing this incarnation of the infamous Grateful Dead, a band that played in the background my life essentially...I vividly remember many fellow students in the spring of '79 at Binghamton who did see them...the concert where someone tripping on acid, most likely, fell over the rail and later died...the story becoming more discussed than the setlist...flash forward to last Friday, a gorgeous night in Queens...and I tried embracing the experience of songs that had no beginning, or end...some I knew, some I didn't...I enjoyed the first set...found the jams of the second too long, too indulgent...musical masturbation...yeah, maybe I'm not a Deadhead...last Wednesday...Forest Hills Stadium...Robert Plant...oh, Lord, this was the bucket list item I waited a long time for...I admire him as an artist...pushing the envelope...trying new partnerships...new musicians...for many it is a disappointment that he refuses to reunite with Page and Jones and head out for that longed for Led Zeppelin reunion...but I get it...and he does too...he heard the faithful and sprinkled in old Zeppelin tunes...so that the gray roots, receding hairlines, extra pounds and aching bones we all shared Wednesday night faded away...in the encore, with that first note of "Whole Lotta Love" I swore I saw a rock god...lustrous golden curls, vest and bell bottoms...wailing against time in its infinite cruelty...oh, Mr. Plant...ramble on any time you want...

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