My ears are still ringing and I’m still smiling 😍
Last night I went to see – live and in person – a band I’ve followed for years and whose music I just love. Foo Fighters.
They were live in London at our Olympic Stadium and I booked the seats in August last year.
My nephew-in-law Jonny was my gig-buddy and what can I say.
They didn’t disappoint us.
They came on on time, played full out for 150 minutes and were perfectly imperfect all the way through!
Lead singer, Dave Grohl spoke to us all the time between songs, made us sing, laugh and – at a point – cry by briefly talking about their drummer who died in 2022. AND their new drummer is amazing… it’s as if he attacks the songs with such a force 😳
We were called MFs a few times 🤭 and I’ve had to be careful today to erase that word from my vocabulary as I heard it so many times last night!
It was real. It was raw and I loved every moment of it.
My point is to add a contrast for you.
About 5 years ago we went to see ELO (Electric Light Orchestra) fronted by Jeff Lynne. A brilliant musician and producer.
It was a perfect performance.
It sounded like their Greatest Hits album. No banter, no out of the blue extra moments.
It was mechanical almost. Too good…
The lesson in this contrast for me is to bring that real version of yourself.
Still know your stuff (there’s no doubt the Foo Fighters know their stuff back to front) but live and in person they’re able to move in and out of practiced performance and LIVE-in-the-moment performance.
No one wants us to be ‘perfect’ and often we can just lose ourselves and our potential impromptu thoughts and ideas by sticking too closely to the ‘script’.
I was excited about going and slightly dreading being around the 80,000 other fans BUT, it was great.
Another lesson. Follow your gut about what you really want to do and then, do it.
It was tempting to think I wouldn’t go when I got a bit flustered about the journey, people, train times etc.
Nope. Ignoring myself, I went with the knowing of how important is was to me.
A final word on the matter…
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“There are about 3 million notes in a two-and-a-half-hour musical; being a perfectionist, it took me a long time to realize that if I’m hitting 75 percent of them, I’m succeeding.
Performing isn’t only about the acrobatics and the high notes: It’s staying in the moment, connecting with the audience in an authentic way, and making yourself real to them through the music. I am more than the notes I hit, and that’s how I try to approach my life.
You can’t get it all right all the time, but you can try your best. If you’ve done that, all that’s left is to accept your shortcomings and have the courage to try to overcome them.” ~ Idina Menzel
And in other news…
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Douglas and Thelma, by contrast, have been taking it easy together in the sunshine. Douglas now accepts her in the pack and is very protective of her! It just took a little time… I shall be on holiday next week so will also be taking it easy… no eZine for a fortnight and wishing you well.
