JFK

On 22 November, it will be fifty years since JFK was assassinated. Being the spring chicken that I am, I wasn't born in 1963. In fact, my parents got married on 16 November 1963, it's a good thing they didn't go for a week later, that would have been a real bummer as Roger Sterling found out in Mad Men when his daughter gets married just after the assassination.

Mad Men dealt with the event expertly. From everyone at the office crowding in to watch the television to Betty watching the news at home, I felt like I was living it with them. It's such a great show. I can't understand why anyone chooses not to watch it.

It's very hard to imagine the shock Americans (and the rest of the world) must have felt to see their president die. I try to imagine (god forbid) how I would feel if Obama died and we live in much less innocent times. The only comparison is, I guess, 9/11. That feeling that the whole world has changed forever.

Anyway, being in the US is interesting as the anniversary draws nearer. There is wall to wall television coverage, the conspiracy theories are being aired yet again and I'm looking out for JFK, the film, to be shown. I went to the cinema to see it in 1991 (22 years ago!) and remember loving it but I was a bit of an American Studies geek. I am not sure I'd enjoy it quite so much now but I could happily watch it again. You can never forget JFK in New York, not least because of the airport which I know much more intimately than I would like.

He was no angel but respect to Mr Kennedy.

In other, less serious news, I have two pieces of information to share:

1) The Eagles are coming to London, O2 on 16 June. The tickets sold out in four minutes. Sorry if you weren't lucky.

2) I am rewatching Sex and the City (obv.) and did you know Bradley Cooper was in an episode? Me either! He must have been in his early 20s. 

I am here to keep you up to date on these important matters.

The Eagles - LIVE!

This week I had the opportunity to see the Eagles live in Madison Square Garden. The tour is called History of the Eagles and accompanies the documentary I wrote about back in May. The tickets weren't cheap and we were nowhere near the front. We're talking nosebleed territory.

That's the stage from our seat! No matter we thought, there is a screen in front of us (you can see it in the photo). For the first 30-40 minutes, the screens didn't work. It was disappointing because it was honestly impossible to tell if it was Glenn or Don telling us an anecdote. As this is New York, the crowd did not take this quietly. There was a lot of hollering and shouting for them to fix the screens. I found this quite amusing in itself. When they finally jumped to life, the crowd over our side went wild. I did wonder if the Eagles wondered what was going on.

Anyway, never mind that. The gig itself was fantastic. I can't imagine a scenario in which I wouldn't have enjoyed this. I've wanted to see them live for years and to see them in New York was the icing on the cake. Also, as I am living bang smack in the middle of Manhattan we were able to walk to the venue and back. That in itself made the whole experience so enjoyable, no hanging around waiting for trains and taking an hour to get home with thousands of others.

If you are interested, here is the setlist. You may notice something. Yes, there is no New York Minute. I know it's a Don Henley song but they played three Joe Walsh songs. They were in New York. If I had one disappointment it would be that. The crowd would have gone wild. The reaction when they introduced Joe Walsh as being a Jersey boy nearly blew the roof off.

There was lots of amusing little stories and Frey especially poked fun at himself and the band. Henley was a little po-faced but I forgave him for his encore of Desperado. It was sublime. I filmed a little bit of it and you can watch it here along with some of New Kid In Town and Life's Been Good. He was in the finest of voice. I also throughly enjoyed Walsh who is clearly the light relief in the band and widely adored. The talent in the band still amazes me, often they would be doing three musical things at a time. As someone who can barely read a note of music, I am always impressed by such musical talent. Anyway, if the Eagles are rolling into your town, go see them. It's worth the money. They are as good live as you can possibly hope for.