I was leafing through the morning paper looking for coverage of the Led Zep concert, and there were surprises along the way.
First, I ran across a green-politics story with a picture of Australia’s new Minister of the Environment and it was Peter Garrett, formerly famous as the eight-foot-tall lead singer for Midnight Oil. I saw them live once and he was electrifying. In the middle of the show the mosh pit got a little out of control, and Garrett ran to the front of the page, howling “Somebody’s gonna get hurt! Throw him and him and him out and give them their money back, we’ll cover it!”
Then there was this weird little filler story about a wave of European rock acts citing Daft Punk as a major influence. Huh? Those guys are babies.
For a moment I felt old. Wait a second; Garrett, a rocker of my own generation, is a Cabinet Minister. Make that “grown-up” not old. And hey, those Led Zep guys are all ten years older than me, and the reviewers seem to think they can still rock and roll. Maybe I have a few tricks left up my sleeve.
Contributions
Comment feed for ongoing:
From: John (Dec 11 2007, at 16:12)
Peter Garrett is in Cabinet, but he's on "training wheels". He's bonza bloke but he made some odd off the cuff comments during the campaign. Rudd is to be admired for dismissing the howling opinions of the press and appointing him to Cabinet. It's an example of looking to the future instead of placating the shrill media.
I was hoping Garrett would have ended up with an Aboriginal Affairs Ministry. I'm sure you remember the Oil's "Sorry" shirts when they played the Sydney Olympics. As a band they spent a lot of time in the outback.
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From: Michael C. Harris (Dec 11 2007, at 17:58)
I've been quite disappointed with Garrett as a politician. During the Victorian state election, not long after he joined Labor, he wrote a letter to households in my electorate that incorrectly claimed the Greens had made a preference deal with the Liberals. The Liberals aren't in with a chance in Northcote, but the Greens are taking Labor votes.
It was dishonest politicking, undermining his former friends and colleagues, and I expected more from him.
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From: Tony Fisk (Dec 11 2007, at 21:22)
Agreed. Garrett's political performance to date hasn't had much spark to it.
Ah, well! As Garrett put it: 'The time has come...'
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From: des von bladet (Dec 11 2007, at 23:19)
You old people and your rock and roll!
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From: Carolyn (Dec 12 2007, at 02:18)
Tim, as one of my favorite storytellers says, "You know you are old when the president of the United States is younger than you." :-) Keep on rockin'!
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From: UltimateCowboy (Dec 12 2007, at 05:58)
Daft Punk is the robot rock evolution...anyone citing them as an influence is probably just channeling the future.
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From: Travis Allison (Dec 12 2007, at 12:12)
Hey! I was at a concert where he did the same thing - must have been some serious mosh-accidents back then.
We were at the Another Roadside Attraction tour north of Toronto when I saw them.
Travis
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From: Gary Lang (Dec 12 2007, at 17:07)
I saw him physically lift a member of the audience from the mosh pit who was acting up and hand the guy to security in - I don't know - 1990, 91 at the Greek Theater in Berkeley. Is that the show you mention?
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