Geezerstock: Wine, Wrinkles and Deckchairs.

Carrie termed the evening Geezerstock. I thought that was hilarious! That is exactly what it was. Old people still rock and rolling. Now only done with middle age style- No smoking (of any kind!), wine and a flabby roll of fat around the middle!
Saturday night I found myself up at Kenwood House in Hampstead with Jeff, Carrie, Dan (and his lovely parents Janet & Michael) attending the Brian Wilson concert. Beth had to work; I missed her terribly that evening. At one point we called her on a cell phone and held it up so she could hear! It was Jeff’s Birthday (not telling which one!) and we were celebrating the 10th anniversary of our move to London. Brian Wilson also had sentimental value. The first concert we ever took Carrie to was a Beach Boys concert back in Buffalo, NY some years ago (OK, maybe about 20 years ago!).
We packed a nice picnic dinner (including Carrie’s legendary birthday brownies); four bottles of wine and off we went on public transport to Kenwood House. It was a beautiful summer evening in a really lovely setting. Kenwood House is a great place for an outdoor concert. We spread a blanket on the lawn, enjoyed our meal and then found our reserved seats on some red and white striped deckchairs ready to rock and roll. Carrie and Dan appeared to be the only people there without wrinkles and gray hair!
The show opened with California Girls and most of the audience remained in their seats. Brian came on with a terrific 11 member band - surprisingly with a female member in tow! – What? There are no girls allowed in the Beach Boys!! Jeff said the girl was there to help Wilson hit the high notes. And he needed it; Brian was really struggling to hit any notes in the first few songs. Thank God, he had strong vocal support! The Band quickly ran through a lot of the Beach Boy hits, I think everyone was waiting for their favourite BB song. Mine came before intermission…. God Only Knows……There was little band banter and one silly audience participation song of row row row your boat. Think about it, he has been performing these songs for 40 years! We sang along with the songs we knew and scratched our heads at the ones we didn’t ( I don't remember that one?) I didn’t realize Wilson has a new album coming out in September – and the band was performing them.
After a short intermission the band returned and the audience got up and began to dance. I think it took awhile to get us out of our deckchairs. Maybe it was because we had finished the wine and needed the restrooms, I don’t know. But you know, it was a fun night. The music was good, it made you feel happy and brought back great memories. What else could you ask for besides less wrinkles, gray hair and the ability to get out of deck chairs gracefully?