Another great week for old people!
Last Sunday- Allan Tousssaint at Jazzfest here in Chicago. Ninety minutes of amazing music by a 74 year old legend. Writer of some of the greatest songs of the modern musical era, including: Ruler of My Heart, A Certain Girl and Fortune Teller
Along with Don Byron and Marc Ribot, and a great rythym section, they played 90 minutes of music, in front of 25,000 fans on the lakefront, moving effortlessly from jazz standards to soul and pop standards. Standing ovation after every song!
Then……. there is the Boss. Bruce Springsteen just finished two nights at Wrigley Field last night. As someone on line said “ There haven’t been this many hits in Wrigley for a long time. The band played with joy- big smiles on their faces. Bruce is the only guy out there that can make a baseball stadium sound intimate. At one point, as I was walking around the first night, I found myself up in the upper deck, behind home plate. It sounded like I was in a small club. Joined onstage by Eddie Vedder and Tom Morello, the band sounded as good as they ever have.
I shot the second night. It was a religious experience! About 2 hours into the show (how come young bands only play 90 minutes?) the rain started falling. Bruce played the rest of the show out on a platform out front- not under the roof. He was almost saying to the audience- you are in the rain, I am going to be in the rain too!
The end of the set kicked into gear with Ghost of Tom Joad, with Tom Morello trading verses and playing a kick ass guitar solo. This lede into Badlands as the rain got heavier. One of his crew guys mentioned during the afternoon that when it rains, it kicks him into another gear. Sure seams like it. The set ended with a rocking Thunder Road. For the encores, he started with a gospel like Rocky Road. The band then kicked into Thunder Road, Rosalita and Dancing in the Dark, and ended with 10th Avenue Freezout, which included Bruce jumping on the piano, in front of a video screen showing the same piano, making for a very weird shot!
So, 18 people having the time of their lives in the rain in front of 30,000 people also having the time of their lives, singing along with every song.
One more point- I was right next to the handicapped section and everyone was waving their crutches and canes in the air while they sang along. Maybe music can heal??
I guess you don’t have to be 20 years old to have fun in music today.