onthebeatntrack

I’ve actually finished another post already and it’s all-ready to put the hard word on you guys – and a new regular segment it will be too, so start licking your lips in anticipation! While you clean up your own saliva, I’m going to wedge another post in between the next one because there’s just been too much musical joy in the last 24 hours to not acknowledge it in written form for the purposes of sharing. I did consider adding this as an idiosyncratic digression from my next topic but to be honest I didn’t know how harmoniously the two posts would live together under the one blog-post(code). So, I’ve given them their own rooms to avoid any sibling rivalry before they start throwing GHDs, Nintendo Wiis and blocks of cheese at one another – they’re both allergic to dairy so the last one is when things start to get particularly nasty. I am feeling a little parental guilt about the time invested in the ‘other’ one so far, so it’s only fair that I spend some time on ‘this’ one so we don’t have any needy awkward ‘you didn’t love me’ moments down the track (yawn). If you guys can spread the love evenly between them that would make my life less of a rollercoaster – I get motion sickness so I’d prefer not to ‘just ride it’, no matter how convincingly catchy Ronan Keating’s advice might be.

I’ll keep this one a manageable length for you though because I know how ‘busy’ Fridays can be for everyone. There’ll no doubt be coffees, talking about what YOU’RE doing on the weekend, checking Facebook to see what everyone ELSE is doing on the weekend, having a sneaky booze infused lunch AND THEN busting your chops at four thirty in the afternoon when you realise there is ACTUALLY shit loads of work you SHOULD HAVE done instead of farking around all day – so I know I’m going to struggle for your attention and I appreciate you sacrificing some time out from what is essentially your weekend warm-up.

You see, I capped off a sensational week and a half of live music on Wednesday night care of the one and only (my descriptions were less emphatically solitary before Wednesday) George Michael. AND. HE. WAS. OMG- AMAZING! I know how George feels – I’ve been the one walking in the (not literal) midday sun all day today loving every minute of every post-concert debrief. For those that I didn’t talk to today about it (if there’s anyone left – I knew I’d find you eventually), this is sort of how things went …

The STAGE was suitably colourful and artistic (“larrving the arrsh” I joked wankily at one stage – I actually was enjoying the digital spectacle on the big screens, I just wanted a cheap laugh. And got it – score!). It was at Etihad Stadium which has a 50,000ish capacity for a concert, so it was actually good to have some slick visuals to keep your eyes occupied rather than focusing on George’s G.I. Joe figurine size silhouette on the stage.

The SOUND was as clear as a freshly Windexed window. Having only been to one open air stadium show before (Michael Jackson way back in the mid 90s at the MCG – unfortunately I recall very little apart from the really shit t-shirt that I bought) I just assumed that the sound would come with a complimentary echo and reach us a couple of light years later (that’s probably really fast, yes? Just pretend it’s a bit slower than that for today). But it wasn’t at all – it was as good if not better than the sound at most other concerts I’ve been to. It made for a perfect backing track to my well-timed-if-not-occasionally-lyrically-inaccurate-but-ALWAYS-VOLUMOUS-vocals. Respect!

His VOICE was abso-friggin-lutely perfect – both technically (despite having no technical music knowledge, I somehow ‘just know’ this) and aurally aesthetically (go with it like you’re just learning English and pretend that makes sense). Basically, the Man can sing! Oh, AND MOVE! George was busting out some totally funky junky moves out there and it’s impossible not to do a bit of footwork yourself when he’s busting them out right (over) there. He was on fire!

While all of that collectively made for a forever memorable live show (seriously, he was freakin excellent) the multitude of awesome songs that made up the set list must be given the massive kudos it deserves. I was reminded about some songs that I’d almost forgotten – Flawless (Go to the City), Too Funky and Careless Whisper – I witnessed in person a few of MY own favourites – Fastlove and Freedom 90 – and I gained a whole new appreciation (definitely now categorising them as radically gnarly) on a couple of previously underrated tracks – Spinning the Wheel and, probably my favourite for the night, Father Figure which I hadn’t even thought was deserving of my attention, let alone praise. I was not right (which is different to wrong) – it deserves both.

It’s too hard to go past Amazing as the highlight. It is a just a ridiculously (yes) AMAZING song and has been a constant source of pure musical joy for me over the years. I don’t even know what to write about it because I don’t think I can do it justice (I know, even with all of this talent). So, just click here have a little listen for yourself and you’ll no doubt be taking your own little walk in the midday sun in no time …

So, R.E.S.P.E.C.T. to George. Even 25 years and ‘a few’ indiscretions later, he’s still got it. Massively.