Yeah, I bought a CD. Whatever.
First things first – it’s my husband’s 35th birthday today. I am so honored to have spent 15 years with this man, and look forward to many more. Happy Birthday, my love!
So, I’ve been hyping his gift for weeks now. I bought the tickets on May 9, but tried to forget about them until this past week. We’re both Beck fans, though he might have the edge over me a bit. Either way, I started getting periodic anticipatory mind spasms around Thursday, and was positively giddy by Saturday morning.
Little did I know I was also in for a surprise. A big one. I’m not sure I’ve mentioned my devotion to all things Beatle on this blog. I got hooked when the anthology came out in 1995 and never looked back. That fandom led me to explore artists connected to the Beatles, including wives and children. Of all of them, Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon have certainly made the most impact. I requested Sean’s album Into the Sun for Christmas 1998, became mildly obsessed with Friendly Fire a decade later and am just discovering how much I love his collaboration with girlfriend Charlotte Kemp Muhl, The Ghost of A Saber Tooth Tiger (GOASTT).
Just after 8pm on Saturday, we were settled into our orchestra seats with our beers and our excitement. Figures took the stage, and I noticed one wore a distinctive wide brimmed hat. The lights came up, and I died, because the face and voice beneath the hat were unmistakable. Lennon announced The GOASTT, and the band went right into a psychedelic soundscape that defied any warm blooded individual to sit still.
I was exhausted by the end of the set, still in disbelief that I’d just seen an artist I’ve always found to be not only highly talented, but able to take on new forms and styles with astounding, surreal ease. I admit that I was also swooning over the fact that I’d seen my favorite Beatle’s son. I really can’t begin to describe the experience with any accuracy.
Beck, of course, was like a second wave of disbelief and mindgasm. The 13 year-old me seeing Loser for the first time on MTV would never have believed I’d be seeing him live 20 years later. He looks exactly the same.
It’s rare for us to get to a show, let alone a performance on this scale. If there was any shred of guilt over what I spent on the tickets, it’s long, long gone.