A few months ago I had the chance to hang out with good friends and attend a concert near me.  It was an 80’s music showcase headlined by Boy George of Culture Club and Adam Ant, along with a handful of other bands from that era.  It was fun to get together with my high school friends and listen to the bands play the music we grew up listening to, and it was clear that we were not alone, as the show was sold out.  Many people like us were reliving our youth, watching the people we used to idolize still perform the songs we loved as kids.  I had a great time, but after I got home from the show and thought about the whole experience, I had some thoughts about it all.

My first observation was of the crowd itself.  I was surprised to see how many people dressed up in 80’s garb for the show!  Most of these folks were in their late 40’s – early 50’s, but they were still rocking the finger-less lace gloves, the giant hair bows popularized by Madonna in her early prime, and even some die-hard Adam Ant fans who dressed like they were part of his pirate crew. I had to wonder:  did these folks have this stuff just hanging around in their closets?  Did these people hold onto their high school clothes and preserve them in airtight boxes, like they do for wedding dresses?  Did they begin packing up for college years ago, run across their Bangles concert t-shirt, and then have an epiphany:  “Whoa, I better seal this shirt up like the Shroud of Turin, because I’m sure I’m going to want to wear this in 30 years for a show!”.  Also, for the people who REALLY went all out with the face paint and super-sprayed hair, I have to wonder how their kids reacted when their parents went to leave for the show:  “Mom, why are you dressed like a goth Captain Jack Sparrow?”.  I’m glad so many people let their 80’s flag fly, but the level of dedication these folks displayed to these bands and the music was crazy!

Secondly, I have a public service announcement to the concert promoters of these legacy acts for folks our age:  while it was fun to relive our youth by going out to a show, the reality of our age makes it hard for us to stay up too late.  In other words, you have to start these shows earlier!  The concert started at 7pm, but there were 12 different acts playing that night.  Even with a split stage set up to allow the stage crew to work on the next set while a band played, it still took awhile for each band to set up on stage, play the agreed upon 3 songs they were asked to play, then finish their set.  By the time Boy George made his way onstage it was close to midnight, and I witness quite a few people nodding off in their seats by the time he got started.  In the past, I would chalk up all the sleeping people in concerts to people who had too many ‘adult beverages’, but this time it was clearly a case of older folks who had just worked a full week and were just not able to stay awake.  It got bad enough for my group that when Boy George started “Karma Chameleon”, we left so that we could still hear the song as we made our way to the parking lot.  The music was great, but even the power of amplified sound was not enough to overcome the siren call of sleep when you’re of a certain age.

Lastly, I thought about all of the bands we saw that night and it made me wonder:  do they still enjoy playing these songs after all of these years?  If you could travel back in time and talk to the members of, say,  A Flock Of Seagulls right before they recorded their first album, and you told them, “Listen, the good news is that you’ll still be performing music live for people in the year 2018, but the bad news is that they ONLY want to hear “I Ran” and nothing else”, would they still want to do that for a living?  I’m sure all of these acts had visions of long-term success, and relished the opportunity to express themselves through music, but I also am sure the Bangles did not sign up to write, orchestrate, and record hundreds of songs in their career, only to have their adoring public DEMAND they only play “Walk Like An Egyptian”.  I imagine they will swallow their pride, take the check the concert provides them, and then go back home and work on their passion projects, but its got to be a bit of a mixed bag for these folks.  I wonder if Adam Ant lashes out at his management from time to time:  “Listen, I don’t want to sing “Goody Two Shoes” again!  I really want to perform my magnum opus, the musical adaptation of the history of calypso music!”  What do you mean no one is interested?  I’m telling you now, if you make me go out there again and sing “King of the Wild Frontier”  I will light myself on fire right in the middle of it, and then good luck getting your security deposit back!”.

Despite all of these issues that crossed my mind, I still had a great time.  I was glad that so many of us were still around to enjoy the music together, and that the bands that created the music that shaped our generation were still together and playing music 30 years later.  The only thing I’d do differently is get more sleep–and wear more “Dippity Doo” in what’s left of my hair.  Hey, I still want to fit in with the cool kids, ok?