Everyone, at some time or another has been moved or touched by a piece of music or a performance? Even, at times, just the memory of that time when you saw a concert or musicians at the peak of their powers can give you goosebumps! ‘Hey, remember that night I saw Cold Chisel and they didn’t stop for 2 and a half hours!’
And how can you not be inspired and moved by a 100 piece Symphony Orchestra playing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 (written 212 years ago). They say his greatest achievement was ‘to raise instrumental music to the highest plane of art, above vocal music, literature and painting’.
As far as orchestras go, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO) is amazing and I have seen some incredible performances from them. I’m certainly not as familiar with music from the baroque, classical or romantic periods, but seeing these pieces performed live and watching a 100-strong orchestra come together to perform beautiful music is truly inspiring. I have also seen them perform the music of John Williams, (including Superman, Star Wars, ET, Indiana and friends).
My son is trying to talk me into an opera now. Not sure about that, the closest I have been to that is a ballet performance of Swan Lake, but that’s so different! Maybe I would see the opera in the Pretty Woman movie because I would recognize about 30 seconds of music from that one! I guess I have appreciated some of the incredible voices I have heard over the years, from Jimmy Barnes to Pavarotti – they are a bit different, right? I will see how the opera pans out, who knows maybe I will become a fan!
I often get asked what kind of music I like, a question that I find impossible to answer and for a very good reason. Because it all depends…What sort of mood am I in? What was my day like? Do I need a release of some sort? Did someone piss me off? etc etc.
Can the one person (A.K.A. me) get pumped up walking to work with Detroit Rock City or Uprising blasting through my headphones but the next minute be listening to Ed Sheeran or Adele? Then followed up with some Bon Jovi, live from Tokyo in 1988. (I have done all of the above, yes!)
And when watching live music, can you be blown away by a Symphony Orchestra performance of Bolero, and a day later be rockin’ along at a Midnight Oil gig. The love of live music is the common theme here and I think you can really learn to appreciate awesome musicians of all types.
Maybe there is something wrong with me – why can’t I make up my mind on which music genre I am into and just stick to it?
It could be something to do with my formative music years, listening to a lot of church music, Elvis Presley and Sandy Scott, but then also (like every other kid at the time) being obsessed with the Knights in Satan’s Service – or KISS. Our neighbourhood even put on a full-on backyard KISS concert sometime in the early 80’s.
Of course, I played in a band for a while and there is nothing like hard rock music to pump up a crowd, but somehow Dancing Queen always fills the dance floor.
I have seen some awesome rock concerts through the years, which again range wildly in genre. A few varied and notable ones are John Farnham (couldn’t hear for a few days after), Bon Jovi (outdoor concert at QEII standing in the middle of a stadium in pouring rain for 2 hours), Michael Jackson (there is only one), at least 2 of the Angels farewell tours (only will ever be one Doc Neeson) and Billy Joel (at Maddison Square Garden).
Musical Theatre is another big passion of mine and one day we might actually be able to go back! I have seen everything from the Jersey Boys to Grease to The Bodyguard. We even saw an off-broadway production of The Grinch in NYC. And (confession time)…I have seen Mamma Mia every time it has come to BrisVegas!
Then there is YouTube / Google predictive music which probably uses some algorithm to work out what I would like to listen to next – good luck with that one, technology has no chance of keeping up with me! It’s a fun game to play Metallica and then some Bee Gees and see what it predicts next!
Music and experiences
Music is a great way of reminiscing about memorable times of your life, with certain tunes or songs bringing back distinct memories. Our brains can trigger a cognitive memory if we have somehow associated a song with a time in our lives. Virgin Australia always used to play Black Fingernails, Eskimo Joe (such a great song) when coming in to land so obviously I can’t help thinking about that – from a time where I was travelling to Sydney a lot. Likewise, every time I hear a song from Diesel’s Hepfidelity it takes me back to probably my favourite concert of all time – Jimmy Barnes’ Rock n Soul tour supported by Diesel at Fishermans Wharf on The Spit, Gold Coast (circa 1992).
Good and bad covers
I have always thought that if a band can record a new take on a classic then they should do it and make it their own. Great examples include Band on the Run (Heart), Layla Unplugged (Eric Clapton – a brilliant cover of his own song), and American Woman (Lenny Kravitz – Shag Well by Reputation!) Its surprising some of the songs that we think are originals but they are actually cover versions. Not going to mention any here, but there are some truly awful covers around and some that are exactly the same, so why bother?
So there you have it, my absolute ‘non-committal’ answer to the question of which type of music I like! And if you see me out and about with my headphones on, see if you can guess what type of music I am listening to, then tap me on the shoulder and see if you were right!
But I guess that’s not really what this post is about – it’s about the power of music to take you to a place like nothing else can. Whatever the genre…..
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