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01/27/2004: "Music: Performance"

I was never a compulsive concert-goer. My parents took me to the Boston Pops a lot when I was a shrot, and I stood on my chair and conducted along with Arthur Fiedler. I went back to Symphony Hall for a music-appreciation series on Saturday mornings when I was in the seventh grade (the musicians must have loved that!), but that was pretty much that for me. I went to the concert series in college, but in the interim most of my live music experiences were jazz. The jazz festival moved to New York from Newport about the time we moved to New Jersey, and my older brother had to go. I went too, and was often by myself in New York City, hot summer nights, at the age of thirteen or so. Mingus fingus. It wasn't until I got to college that I discovered rock and roll, went to some Dead shows, and spent a lot of time bleeding from the ears at smoky nightclubs. it was a group thing and when the gang all went their separate ways I lost interest. Saw Costello a while back, probably ten years now, and haven't been to a ticketed performance like that ince. But the church has a respectable music program, and I am hearuing more live performances than ever before, and am acquainted with dozens of professional musicians, for the first time in my life. They're mostly quite nice.