They say scent is the strongest tie to memory. While that may be true, music is also a very strong tie for me. Listening to them play all the familiar songs took me back to college when I first discovered their music. I was reminded of my Freshman year - full of promise and hope for the future. I remembered a boy named Todd, too, who made me a mixed tape (*sigh* I'm a cliche from the 80s!) at the end of my Freshman year/his Senior year. It was called "If..." and incorporated the song "Every Little Thing She Does". Oh, that was so very long ago, and yet the night we met up in the rain to walk out to the gorge and I stole his umbrella still pops in my head every time I hear that song.
Listening to the words, though, the song is much more fitting in my current relationship. I like that after all this time, and all the memories attached to that song, I can attach new memories...who knows? Maybe one day in the distant future I'll only remember hearing the song in the Wellington stadium on a clear summer night with my husband in our new country, at the start of a new year.
Looking all around us at the concert, I was amazed at the cultural and age diversity of the crowd. There were many people a generation ahead of us whooping it up and dancing the night away, shouting the choruses they knew by heart. Quite a few young kids (as in teenagers) were there too, who were perhaps drawn in by the opening act (Fergie & the Black Eyed Peas). Just ahead of us was a Polynesian family - the parents were rocking out and singing along to almost every song, while their (12ish?) daughter just stood there looking confused. =) It hit me, watching them, that music is universal. Sure, these days the internet connects us all over the world, and we can read the same stories and get to know people via blogs. But music is so personal and emotional. I wondered, too, what memories they had attached to the songs played that night, and how far back they started listening to the Police.
And I thought of all the outdoor and stadium concerts I had been to over the years, and it felt for a moment they were all connected and I was 19 or 20 again experiencing it all anew. The weather was perfect, the crowd pleasant and there was Sting! On stage across the world from where I first heard his music.
I also thought of my good friend Siw, who once had planned to go to a Sting concert with me back in 2000. We were living and working in Arizona, and were suddenly transferred to Minneapolis before the (weekday) concert. We sadly had to sell our tickets and never did get to see Sting in concert. Just so happens Siw's birthday was yesterday (happy birthday sweetie!)
Rock on -
5 comments:
Great post! Brings back some of my own memories. But--especially after seeing the "before" and "after" photos--I feel so old!
That was bloody awesome.Thanks for sharing the experience.I'm in Perth Western Australia and have a front row ticket for Friday 1st at Members Equity Stadium.Saw them last in 81 at The Entertainment Centre and am a die-hard fan.
Cheers once again...
Great post, Dawn. You really captured the essence of what music means to me as well. I'm also a huge fan of the Police. I own everything they have ever recorded -- mostly on CD and cassette -- but also including a stack of original 45's with B-sides! It makes sense that they would do such a great, far-reaching tour. Miles Copeland, (brother of drummer Stewart Copeland) managed the Police in their heyday and he is credited as the visionary who made them a global band/brand -- by touring in nations where no rock band had ever played. To quote an article about Miles: "They were the first Western group to play in India and one of the very few to do Egypt. They re-opened Greece to Rock & Roll after years of military dictatorship. The Police performed to huge, ecstatic crowds in Argentina and Chile."
Fantastic!! What a brilliant thing to do, thats gorgeous! Wish we could have gone, that would have been awesome. You two do the best stuff!!
Wow - still buzzing from the Auckland concert. This was an amazing show from start to finish. An outstanding display of musicianship from both The Police and Fergie's entourage. So glad you guys both enjoyed it, too.
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