Play it again

Concert notes:

1. Torrential rain and intense lightning let up, thankfully, about 2 hours before the show last night; lucky, since it was outdoors at Fenway Park (our baseball park) in Boston.
2. In my many years of concert-going, I've never been in such an old crowd! I'd wondered if Ken and I would feel a little silly -- waaay grown-ups amongst kids. But truth is that while there were a few younger than us, most of the crowd was our age or older. In fact, ear plugs (ear plugs!) were everywhere, and bottled water was selling like crazy.
3. Sting could, if he so desired, write the book on how a rock star can age gracefully -- he looked great, was in top condition physically, and still had his voice. [note: do ya think he'd just like everyone to call him "Gordon" at this point?] Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland were both in top form as musicians, but haven't held up quite as well physically (though still light years better than most old rockers).
4. Ken told me he'd read that after deciding to get back together, The Police held focus groups (focus groups!) to get feedback on whether to make a new album or tour with their existing catalog; the overwhelming response was to forget anything new and just go with their hits. Although I'm a little shocked by the whole thing (I mean really, rock and rollers holding focus groups?!) I can't say I'm disappointed -- it was a treat to go to the show and hear all their best stuff, all my favorites (guess I was well-represented in the focus groups...).
5. While they were at it, they SHOULD have thrown the question of peripheral sales (t-shirts) to their focus groups. The $35 same-old, same-old punky looking black t-shirts that would have sold at their shows in the 80s were not selling. But I'll tell ya, if they had offered nice quality golf-type polo shirts with tastefully embroidered logos over the left breast, they could have charged $50 and sold them out.
6. The concert itself was fabulous -- just a great set, incredibly well-played, with the band (Sting especially) just clearly into the crowd, having fun, delighted and grateful to be there. The intense reception to "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" made me think that ultimately we all just want to be happy, we all just want to feel good. This is not a bad thing.
   
7. Sadly, weirdly, I can't seem to remember what my first concert was -- Genesis? Pink Floyd? Yes? (I'm saying Neil Sedaka really doesn't count -- I bet Pat and Linda would agree). I'm not even sure how many shows I've seen -- 30? more? But in all likelihood, this will be my last -- although I guess I'm not allowing for the shows that Dean will want to see that I might have the chance to chaperone.