So, life continues at a frantic pace. Playing the role of a swashbuckling program manager is a strange one; the mere concept elludes most people. Yeah, I probably work a few too many hours each week, and as ususal, can see myself never really able to get out from underneath the pressure of it all.
That said, I'm still fighting for it, and still getting the results.
But enough about that...
Last Friday night, I had the absolute pleasure of seeing one Wayne Hussey play a solo set in a local haunt in Frankfurt. I stumbled across the information by accident a few weeks ago when I was having a conversation with a friend of mine in the pub. She mentioned that the lead singer of the Mission was coming through town, and I quickly put it on my radar.
Strangely enough, I actually was feeling indifferent to the show right up until Friday night. I had had a word with John in the pub about it right after I learned of the concert, and invited him along for the crack, as he tends to be up for this kind of thing. The week or so before the show, he mentioned in passing that he was not totally enthralled with the music, but more or less asked me to keep him informed; he'd go along in the event that I needed the support.
It depends on what you consider as needing support; I ultimately dragged him out, and we were both treated to a bloody great show. Stimmt.
Although a band that easily hits my top 5 groups of all time, I never thought I would have the opportunity to see the Mission UK, and by the mid 90s had already written the chance off. Sure, I've kept an ear open for signs or sounds of them through the years, but really just resigned myself to listening to the Mission that I've always preferred: that of the late 80s and very early 90s, the years of angst ridden adolescence and college. At one point during school, I actually stopped talking about the group as a heavy influence on my life, until I bumped into my friend Kitsie, who happened to be a pretty big fan of the group, also.
I permanently loaned a couple of Mission CDs to a Spanish girl Christina that worked in my Irish local in Valencia. She comes from the same town as Heroes del Silencio, a Spanish group that for me, happens to be a latino equivalent to the Mission.
I arrived at the club last Friday just as Wayne Hussey was starting the first song. OK, so it was only him playing, but play he did. He put on a brilliant little set, mixing loads of original Mission songs with a handful of covers. He played both acoustic guitar and piano, and truly amazed us all.
Unfortunately, I can't really capture the moment as I'd like to, but will simply leave it as an experience that absolutely makes my fall. For me, it's like UT winning the UT-OU game, or Obama winning the election. Sure, maybe both of those things happened, also, but I'm the one that's still smiling to myself saying, "damn, he downed a bottle of red wine, then ripped out a killer acoustic version of "Wasteland," followed later by what I have to say is the best piano cover I've ever heard of "With or without you." How cool is that?"
Pretty fucking great.
Like all German shows that I've been to, this one started early, and ended early. The encore got cut short by the fact that the club needed to reopen as a hip-hop club within the hour. That meant that by 11pm, I was back in my local, cutting up with whoever was about.
That also meant that I drank far too much got way too silly.
Of course, I'd forgotten all about this until the following afternoon when I returned to the pub to watch the 2nd half of the Arsenal - ManU match. The Arsenal victory just made the weekend all the more enjoyable, and things continued on through the Saturday evening and Sunday.
So, it's Monday night, and I've had a stressful day at work, but can still go to bed tonight knowing that I had a super weekend, and after almost 25 years of being a huge fan, I can finally say that I've seen the lead singer of the Mission. And that's good enough for me.
that's the short report for now,
keep the faith
bryan
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