Then after various acting roles, musicals, etc., he decided he was going to recreate the work of John Lennon into a stage show. This was apparently so long ago that it's not funny (1992) and he is still doing this thing, when he's not being a double father on Offspring. Oh and by the way, he is not the director of Pink Flamingos. That's THIS GUY.
Panda courtesy of clotwo
On this Friday night, I wasn't sure what exactly I'd signed up for, but I knew it involved said dad from Offspring and some John Lennon covers. I'm not going to explain who John Lennon is. I knew there would be some value in the evening as I assumed some of my favourite songs would be played, so off I went with the usuals for old-people fare (the parents and godmother) and had the usual too many wines.
(This is where I rant about QPAC'S bell ringing to make people sit in the auditorium and rush people of all ages while they threaten to close un-openable doors. I'll move on.)
Not long after we sat down the stage went dark and centred on a pianist on the left, Stewart D'Arrietta, who turned out to be damn amazing. He began playing a short interlude, before the band launched into "Day in the Life". The band as a whole were instantly identifiable as very, very good. I'm so used to hearing crappy covers of classic songs that I was a bit surprised at how well they played them. They had paid well attention to each little detail, to recreate it with a splash of uniqueness. And I was very satisfied with the drum fill after "He blew his mind out in a car". Thus thankfully, my Beatles snobbery was taken care of.
So as of this moment I felt I knew what was going on. Ok, covers of Lennon's best penned/co-penned tunes. Starting with the best and moving down the hierarchy? ... Cool.
But then, after the first chorus, the music stopped, all lights focusing on John on the microphone. Without a beat, he launched into a Lennon quip in a quite impressive imitation of a Lennon Liverpudlian accent. I'm not Liverpudlian but I thought it was pretty accurate, and he certainly seemed to channel the ghost of Lennon through it, with little nuances and hand gestures throughout his speech to make the character come alive. I suppose he has it down to a fine art, through years of practice. From then on the format of the show was set. Cover song; at times full songs, like the title tune, at times excerpts, like the beautifully arranged 'Isolation'; and then a snippet of dialogue from John/John, and so on. At times Stewart on piano would accompany John's dialogue with background music, depending on the subject matter.
The dialogue roughly charted John's life, from his schoolyard clowning to his rapid rise to fame with his Beatles band mates, his friendship with Paul, and the death of his mother (where a beautiful rendition of "Julia" followed). The first half ended on "Strawberry Fields Forever" (quick! run to the bar! Hurry up old people in front of me! Quick, guzzle it down! Quick, have a quick pee! Quick, find your seat again!)... and began with "Steel and Glass". I didn't know this song, which made me shameful. The next half focused more on his struggles with fame and search for meaning, and the discovery of it through Yoko, and how he transferred his new found meaning and love over to his lyrics. A lot more of his solo songs
were featured here, such as "Woman", "God" and "Watching the Wheels". It was rather lovely to hear the dialogue reflecting the context behind the songs, and then hearing said song, which brought new appreciation to the songs. There were hints throughout the dialogue of him having some insight into what would happen next: that his life was running short, and his unavoidable neglect for every fan's attention would be his undoing.
Wrapping up the performance, as "Isolation" was revisited once again, it came to the bridge, and suddenly all lights centred squarely on his head surrounded by black. John sang those last affecting lines, which finished with the sound effects of two gunshots. Lights went down. The stage was silent for a time. While we figured out what was going to happen next, the opening piano chords of "Imagine" started up slowly. After such a journey with John as John, the effect of this moment was a little tear inducing. I'm a tough cookie though. "Imagine" is such an overplayed, over-loved, overdone song, that has lost its meaning through repeated listens, however when played in this context, it's popularity all made sense. It is a song reserved for 'fucking good' status.
John Lennon was not just an arrogant rockstar who stumbled upon the greatest band in the universe, winning him life in the spotlight and fans and groupie sex and drugs. Like every other rockstar. The difference with John Lennon, apart from being one of the greatest songwriters of all time (OF ALL TIME), was that he tried to use his fame and art to say something other than telling stories. In his cynical Lennonish way, he invented things like Bagism and planting acorns and Bed-Ins for peace, to get people noticing him for the message it brought, not the thing itself. Which is why people still remember him as one of the most prolific ambassadors for peace. Sure, if he had died 10 years or even 5 years later than he did, perhaps we wouldn't remember him so fondly... and perhaps his family life would be more on the table (poor Julian). But I do think his campaign would still be remembered as one that actually did something, inspired people, got people thinking about the reality of a peaceful world.
No one is really doing or has really done that since. This may be because it is now a much more common thing for most musical artists to stand a bit more for something other than just the art. Whether it be amnesty or veganism or disability awareness or political disdain, a lot do have some kind of backing behind their art. Which is great. But we the young people (yeah, until I'm 26 I still think I can still call myself a young person), of today, do not have the leader for peace that John Lennon tried to be. Granted, we're not in Vietnam times. But there is still a war or two going on that people do tend to forget about. While John Waters has been bringing this show around the country and overseas for many years, earning him not only moolah but the opportunity to act and play as his idol, it's a good way to remind us of this fact. And while it'd be impossible to kill, it's nice of him to keep the Lennon spirit alive. So, it was worth going for that, and I'd recommend it to anyone who hasn't. I just wish I had posted this a few weeks earlier to commemorate the anniversary of his death! RIP JOHN.
7 and a half bent back tulips out of 10.
And a happy christmas from John and Yoko.
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