Fab and Gear!

One of my favourite releases, perhaps of all time is the Concert For George. I wasn't fortunate enough to attend in person, but the concert disc gives a great account of what must have been an absolutely incredible event. The sheer love for the man is vividly displayed by the 5000 souls in the audience and by the musicians on stage. The great thing about the performers is that it's obvious every single one of them is there to bat for the team. It's a joyous celebration of the man who played such an underrated role in life and as a musician. His songs probably never sounded so good and the real tragedy is that he wasn't there to lead the band himself. In some ways it's a kind of greatest hits concert; a "best of" compilation. What it shows is the strength and depth of his work particularly post Beatles. Songs like Isn't It A Pity, All Things Must Pass and Beware of Darkness just shine and stand up as solid pieces of work which would have made brilliant additions to the Beatle catalogue. His body of work is littered with classics. Give Me Love...as poppy as it gets and just fantastic stuff. The Beatle material is played very well and with love by an incredible array of musicians. I think Mr Clapton did well with that job, given that there wasn't much time to get the whole thing together. I mean doesn't Old Brown Shoe for example just come in like a truck?

There is a glimpse of the Beatle "family" on display here too. When Paul and Ringo are playing on For You Blue, it's nice to see them remembering in jokes that must originate from when the song was written. There is a kind of "bubble" around both of them on stage during that song. It's kind of like, "we were in the Beatles by the way!" Notice how Paul hangs around at the end to ensure Olivia is escorted off stage, or how his obvious pride in the young Mr Harrison is displayed when he mentions how much like his Dad he is? It's also an unusual view of Paul as we don't get to see him in "someone else's band" type situation that often, (if at all actually?) Apart from his obvious main contributions, we also see Paul just being a musician in the band...witness how he is checking Eric out on stage, giving him that look musicians often give when playing together - one of "I played a great bit there - did you notice?" Nice to see. By the time Joe Brown steps up to do I'll See You In My Dream (er...and not a dry eye in the house I might add) you realise that a life has passed and his songs live on as a permanent reminder of the man. George's life unfolds in front of you throughout the set, from the boyish throws of I Need You to grown up and cynical Horse To The Water.

Again and again you get this feeling of the high regard in which George was held at a personal level. One of the great touches is that George's guitar is sitting on stage, on a stand, throughout. A nice, understated touch to give some kind of physical presence of the man and serving as a reminder of his understated brilliance.

Yes, decidedly fab and indeed gear!