…got stars in my eyes. Last night I had more fun than i’ve had in a long time. Natty and I went to see Foreigner and Bad Company live. What a blast. Now the tickets were free, and I imagine that i wouldn’t normally go to see 2 of the 70’s premier arena rock bands, but since the price was right, we couldn’t resist. We had lawn seats, and it had be raining all day, but it was great. I’d love to launch in to a play by play recap of the evening, but I have a headache. Suffice it to say that we didn’t really fit in with the rest of the crowd, and i have to admit that at first I was a bit snobby toward my mullet/harley tee shirt wearing, Heavy Metal Parking Lot, fellow audience members. But once I had had my 3rd $10 beer and our neighbors had their 23rd $7 Barcardi Silver malt beverage, I started to notice that people were having a really good time, and by god, so was I. So, in the end the sweet rock stylings of Bad Company bridged socio-econmic chasms, and isnt’ that what classic rock is supposed to do?
After calling just about everyone in my cell phone address book during “Juke Box Hero” I realized that I would have paid top unemployment benefit dollars to have my old friend Brendan Maloney there buy my side to document this special evening. For those of you (all two of you that look at this site) that don’t know Brendan and his famous epic storytelling emails, I decided at that very moment that the world needs, nay- deserves unfettered interweb access to these gems. So, in that light, I will endeavor to post all the multi-page, multi event tomes that I have received from Mr. Maloney.
Back to the rock show–As we entered the pavilion area, I overheard some fellow rock fans that Foreigner would be playing before Bad Company, which, for some reason felt a bit strange for me. I mean, everybody knows Bad company, but hell-Foreigner 4 might be the best example of mid-80’s pre-hair rock and roll ever produced. Well, after the opening bars of Cold as Ice, i realized that the years and rock mileage had not treated Mr. Lou Graham very well. Instantly sweaty, a bit over weight and voice cracking as if i were trying to sing his songs, it was plain to see that perhaps this 25th anniversary tour wasnt’ such a great idea.
OK, OK I didn’t know that Mr. Graham is recovering from cancer, had I known that I certainly wouldn’t have been so harsh, but in my defense, look at the next paragraph, which is in his defense…..
In their defense, however, Foreigner gave 110% to the crowd and everyone, myself included ate it all up. But when Bad company took to the stage, their flawless reproductions of their seemingly endless string of hits put poor Foreigner to shame. the lead singer guy’s (his name escapes me now) voice was incredible, the band was extremely tight, throwing in snippets of beatles tunes at the end of songs just to keep things interesting.
In the end, I was left wondering about this topic, which will be our next poll, so you, fair jefke.com visitor, can weigh in with your opinion. As far as over 50 rockers, especially front men- it is more important to still have your hair, still be thin, or still be able to hit the notes that made you famous to begin with? Bad Company had all 3 of these areas locked up, as does, say Steven Tyler from Aerosmith. Robert Plant looks good, but can’t hit all those notes, Roger Daltry well, to be honest, I hate the Who, so i don’t know if he can sing anymore (he was great as an immortal in the High Lander Series though). I’d say if i had to choose, I think the pipes are the most important element, but that’s just me. I’d love to ramble about the very strange bathrooms and the people falling all over themselves with their 26oz beers in limited edition collector’s “Guitar” shaped cups. But i’m sick of typing. All i know is, Ronnie James Dio is coming to town with Deep Purple and the Scorpions, and i just have to go to that.