Merry Christmas

 

Yesterday I received as many emails and social media updates for concert tickets going on sale as I did for concerts being canceled. I scroll through Instagram and I see record shops shutting down out of an abundance of caution, not to mention restaurants and theater, due to positive cases, and yet New Year's Eve in Times Square will be taking place with restrictions keeping the crowd to a fully vaccinated, masked and distanced 15,000. (Good luck with that!)

NYC’s risk level has now changed to “severe!” 

 

On Monday, "people who are immunocompromised and those over 65 should rethink holiday plans." Wednesday, "schools will remain open and people who have been boosted should gather for the holidays."

Those who write with their left-hand but throw with their right can go maskless, but all Morrissey fans need to show proof of vaccination and one selfie of them smiling before they gain entry to a bar.

Well, WHAT THE FUCK IS IT? What the FUCK is going on?

Seeing all these concert cancellations is really doing a number on me. I started digging through boxes last night and found a stash of ticket stubs. It was both fun and depressing. There were more than a few gems. 

Elton MSG, 1976. First time I saw him. Opened up with "Grow Some Funk Of Your Own." My friend Frank talked about that show for years, raving about the opening even 20 years later. "The band must have stayed on the groove of Grow Some Funk for ten minutes before Elton came out."

 

 

The killer lineup of Blue Oyster Cult/Thin Lizzy/The Dictators, Palladium 1978, still a Top Ten show of all time, no pun intended. (Kills me that the Lizzy portion of the stub was torn.) Rush at The Palladium for the "Permanent Waves" tour. I think they played three or four nights. I went twice. Only found one stub. The other might have gone the way of the Thin Lizzy stub. 

Another unforgettable bill--Anthrax/Public Enemy/Primus/Young Black Teenagers at the Ritz. That was a sick night in all the right ways. 

 

And all those great NRBQ Bottom Line shows, as well as solo Zevon, Danny Gatton, The Roches and that Aimee Mann show where 2/3 of XTC--Andy and Dave-- reunited for a live cover of "Collideascope." Dave Gregory was Aimee's guitarist for the night. I knew that ahead of time and so I wore my "Drums & Wires" t-shirt. I also had a reserved table, something you didn't get at The Bottom Line unless you knew someone or was someone. I knew someone. Some guy at a table behind me saw my shirt and started hounding me, "XTC tonight, right? Right? I knew it!" I guess the shirt and special table made him think I knew something, but I didn't. I was more surprised when I noticed Andy Partridge sitting a few feet away than he was.

 

 

I also remember waiting in line for almost four hours for Prince at Radio City. This was 1983 and the "1999" tour. I ended up with 5th row, but all the way to one side, so I missed everything happening on stage left, including the whole "Do Me, Baby"/bed humping sequence. First time I was happy with a shitty seat.

 

This too shall pass. But when? 

 

I said this back in April 2020 when most of us were brushing our teeth with Lysol and wearing hazmat suits in our living rooms---if I had to, I could stay locked up for years and never be bored. As long as there was food in the house and my stereo and televison worked. I've got enough books and records to keep me occupied for hundreds of years. I can do it. But I'd only want to do it if I knew it was for the good of everyone. I don't want to do it because a good portion of the population is either selfish or ignorant. If I get sick, it'll be on my terms, not because of all the non-doctors and non-scientists who have to "live life" by refusing to do what is right. 

"Do not go quietly into that good night. Rage, rage against the meticulously researched, peer reviewed, double blind science that could have saved your fucking life you obnoxious twat."

But I digress.

Even the crankiest among us find a way to smile around Christmas. That truly is the magic of the season. Take that feeling out for a drive all year round. It's not easy, but it's worth a shot.

Whatever your plans are today and tomorrow, and even moving forward, please think of everyone, not just those around you. 

 

Be safe. Stay healthy. 

 

If my perfect Christmas could be put into music, it would be this Duke Pearson song. 

 

Merry Christmas everyone.