- Thu Oct 13, 2016 5:16 pm
#88068
I have been thinking back over the last few years, and felt the need to ponder some of the many historical things that have occurred in such a brief amount of time. This event would have to be one of them. I have talked to quite a few people about this, and also overheard many conversations similar to, “I can’t believe I saw John Carpenter perform his music live on stage”. There seems to be a general appreciation for the experience of the concert itself, and almost something like shock that this is all happening in our lifetimes. Looking back through some older threads on this forum, you will find jokes about a “dream” John Carpenter live concert, or about booking him to perform at an event like MondoCon.
Like many of you, I have been enamored with the films and original scores of John Carpenter for most of my life, although perhaps not in the exact order of consumption that one might expect. When I was a young kid in the Reagan years of the 1980’s, it was incredibly difficult to sneak anything other than some TV broadcast film edits past my parents, and even some of those attempts were unsuccessful. I was able to catch a few of them though, and I felt that They Live spoke directly to me, and really opened my eyes to the society I was growing up in. I also really enjoyed Escape From New York and Big Trouble In Little China (a personal favorite), but the horror films were completely unavailable to me back then. My first viewing of The Thing in my late teenage years was an earth-shattering experience for me. So, it wasn’t all about Halloween ‘78 for me back then, as much as I love it now, as I don’t believe I even saw the film until my early 20’s. The music sounded so familiar though...
The Lost Themes album took a lot of us by surprise, and once it was known that it was not just a compilation of unreleased material, it almost seemed inevitable that we might be able to hear some of this music performed live. Who remembers the JC quote, “It would take a million dollars.”? We could probably guess where that million came from due to some of the merchandising and pricing, but I found myself happily shelling out for the experience. It really felt like a bucket list moment, and much has been said already about the content and quality of the concert. It still makes me smile when I think about John Carpenter “boogieing” around on stage while pounding on those keys.
For those of you in the UK who have waited longer.than.anybody.else, I trust you will enjoy the upcoming shows!