2020 has been some year. Is it really only August. Time seems to have so slowed down. Many things have just stopped. Live Music most definitely.

Looking back to the start of the year it all seemed a bit different. We were looking forward to a fantastic concert year. I had worked my socks off and secured a whole list of discounted tickets. It was on paper a great year of gigs and some top bands.

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The Who

Whitesnake

Foreigner

Europe

Aerosmith

Wayward Sons

Ozzy

Saxon

Deep Purple

Blue Oyster Cult

Hollywood Vampires

Killing Joke

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On paper that’s how it will remain for this year. All cancelled some pushed into 2021. So yes something potentially to look forward to. BUT…….

Has the concert zone closed for us. It was always a delicate balance for Hawklad. His enjoyment of the music, the spectacle, a chance to see the bands he loves to listen to. Balanced against his social anxieties. His fears of strangers and crowds. The positives just outweighing the negatives. As a result he could get himself to concerts. Yes it would need his hoody pulled up until the lights went out. But he was ok doing that as he felt that rock crowds were easy going and accepting of all kinds of looks. This was confirmed on our first concert trip. Dad wore the most embarrassing T-shirt he could find. Hawklad was reassured to see that I didn’t get one single strange look and was never asked to leave.

But now it’s a different world. Hawklad definitely sees it differently. Heightened fears and anxieties. The ‘is it ok to attend concerts’ calculation he would perform has got a different answer now. The negatives outweigh the positives. I know the medical advice is that this new world view could become a semi permanent switch in his Aspergers. A dynamic which won’t automatically switch off when the pandemic finally goes. It may take years. May never switch back. We just don’t know.

So maybe that’s it for our concerts. If so then it’s kinda fitting that three of the last bands he got to see just happened to be his favourites. Alter Bridge, Kiss and Alice Cooper.

So let’s enjoy the memories. It might be the year Live Music stopped for us but it doesn’t mean that music has stopped. Most certainly not.

72 thoughts on “2020 the year music stopped”

  2. That is a lot of concerts in one year! I am sorry you missed them. Stupid COVID! It definitely caused a lot of anxiety in Hawklad as well. We have a similar discussion here about “would you go to the movies if they opened.” I’m a ‘heck no’ kind of girl, but Bob is of the ‘sure if we socially distant’ kind of guy. I can’t imagine a time where I will be comfortable in the theater. Every cough will give me the heebie jeebies. But I can still meander through the world and function. I can’t imagine what Hawklad is going through.

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  3. It’s so weird how everyone holds up phones instead of lighters now.
    I hope going to shows isnt a thing of the past for you guys! Maybe outdoor shows would be doable? Ah, the future will take care of itself!

    We live in the now, and we remember the good times! I saw KISS is 83 or 84, no makeup. It was a good show, but I bet the full makeup was awesome!! Hollywood Vampires would be cool.
    💌💌

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    1. I hold up my phone usually shouting – will you focus you useless heap of plastic…… Kiss are due to do one more festival here next year. We saw their last ever indoor English show apparently. The Vampires are epic – That was a top show. They were brilliant but we also got to see The Damned and The Darkness. Like a mini festival. xx

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  4. I am so sorry, Gary, for both of you and I will be praying that that switch will not stick, that it won’t be permanent. I do hope he gets to enjoy his favourite bands again one day. Until then enjoy the music. I wish I could send this to someone of influence like a band manager or something. I wish you both much happier days ahead. Hugs xo

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  7. We’ve introduced a music night where we listen to the music of one band, all evening. This is something we’re going to retain as we both miss going to live concerts. Maybe you could do something similar?

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  8. Oh my God you just took me right back to being a kid with my brothers at band practice. Eldest was lead guitar / vocalist and now and then right out of thin air someone kicked in Detroit Rock City.

    My brother pretending to be Paul Stanley bouncing furiously from one side of the practice room to the other and too knackered to get that first line out in one go. He did the bouncing to absolute perfection too.

    “FEELAH TAHH SADDU… NAAA *mic feedback and crash

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  10. Also sorry (got carried away being taken back to that crappy old band practice room) I do think live music will recover and probably be restored back to its former glory if I’m honest. We have provisionally booked in for a full weekend at studios in Liverpool and the first available date for the main studio and sound booth is end of March next year. If musicians are recording it means they’re also playing so although we may have to hang on a little longer and wait for next summer to really enjoy the open gigs and festivals there’s still plenty to be enjoying from home in the meantime.

    You could ask Hawk to pick three of his favourite songs preferably different bands and genres. Ask him to accept a challenge and little project which is to learn all the different instruments in each song, be able to identify and chop / change and switch from one to the other on cue and learn key changes and how to count them in bang on etc.

    Amazing how much that helps develop a really keen ear and natural affinity for music which by the time gigs and festivals are back on, he’ll be hearing it all with a brand new pair of ears 🙂

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  16. What a lineup! And my favorite Kiss!!! I loved the pics of them! Well, I hope you are still rocking that house of yours with them. Remember loud! Well, only if your son is comfortable with this. And your son as great taste. I listen to Alter Bridge everyday. Thanks to you two😊

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  19. I hope one day we’ll all feel safe enough to go again. ❤️
    My anxiety the past few years has limited how many concerts I’ve attended, but this year I had purchased tickets to 3 concerts: one in March and two in April. 🤦‍♀️ so needless to say, they were cancelled and I just found out they won’t be rescheduled. (Not sure I would have gone if they had been rescheduled for anytime soon anyway)

    Oh well. 2020.

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