London. There’s something about ‘60s music that’s enduring so that beyond the Baby Boomers generation, it remains relevant and captivating even to Millennials, Zers and Alphans. The Beatles, for instance, topped the UK charts late last year with their single Now And Then lording it over the hit parade despite overdubs, audio restoration and reconstructive technology covering for John Lennon who died in 1980 and George Harrison who passed in 2001.
Somehow, remaining survivors Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr managed to give life to the song that was shelved but resurrected from home demo archives dating back to 1977.
A British ‘60s band that continues to resonate today is Jethro Tull, an exponent of progressive rock. When it was announced that Tull would perform at the London Palladium, tickets were sold out in a gasp. Luckily, there were tickets for sale in the secondary market and our friend Jing Rivera Nejad, a long-time London resident, won the bid for two third row seats. The timing was perfect since my wife Menchu and I were visiting for a week last month.
The Palladium is a historic venue, just off Oxford St. and opened its doors in 1910. For Tull, the place was packed to capacity of over 2,000. We were probably the only Asians in the audience. In Asia, Tull has performed only in Japan and Hong Kong since its inception in 1967. Worldwide, the band has sold over 60 million albums.
Tull frontman Ian Anderson, 76, is ageless and still rocking. His fuzzy hair is long gone and he’s now bald. On stage, he was an electric presence, lifting his left leg and wiggling it for a few seconds while playing the flute — his standard routine. The signs of age were his paunch and the glasses he had on. His voice has always been raspy, appropriate for the recurring theme of hope from despair in his set list. Anderson was in his element, prancing around like a cat, belting away when not romancing the flute. Aqualung was the most applauded song and the instrumental Bouree also received acclaim. In between songs, Anderson bantered and even related how The Eagles appeared to have lifted music from his 1969 song We Used To Know for their 1976 single Hotel California.
From London, we followed the ‘60s music trail to Liverpool and Nottingham. In Liverpool, we visited the British Music Experience exhibit that features acts like Boy George performing on a virtual stage in a hologram, musical instruments, videos on mini-screens, costumes, publications and an interactive display where anyone can play guitar or drum. There are exhibits of the Merseybeat bands, punk rockers, mods, Spice Girls, Adele, Amy Whitehouse, Ed Sheeran and Coldplay. We also went to The Beatles Story museum that recreates the Cavern Club, Lennon’s White Room, airplane seats to immortalize their first US tour, Abbey Road studios and the rooftop where they performed. Sgt. Pepper costumes, the Magical Mystery Tour bus, th
e Yellow Submarine, guitars and drum kits are on display, too. A tour around town took us to
where Lennon and McCartney studied, Strawberry Fields, Penny Lane and The Beatles’ first homes.
In Nottingham, we watched the “Sensational 60s Experience” show on a Sunday matinee at the Royal Concert Hall where Lea Salonga is scheduled to perform in a concert titled “Stage, Screen and Everything In Between” on June 28.
Emcee Ray Martin entertained the full house with hearty British humor aimed at the seniors in the audience. He wished a fan a happy 94th birthday in a greeting “from Mum and Dad.” The music was as nostalgic as it was exceptional. Five bands alternated to sing their ‘60s hits — The Swinging Blue Jeans with Hippie Hippie Shake, The Fortunes with You’ve Got Your Troubles, Vanity Fare with Hitching a Ride, The Trems with Silence Is Golden and Dozy Beaky Mick and Tich with Legend of Xanadu. They dished out four to six songs each with incredible energy for musicians mostly in their 50s to 70s. The fans were on their feet, dancing, clapping, singing.
Back in London, we checked out Yoko Ono’s exhibit at the Tate Modern and capped the visit with a dinner at the Royal Overseas League hosted by Philippine Ambassador to the UK Teodoro Locsin Jr. Reliving the ‘60s to swing down memory lane was an unforgettable experience and could only happen where it all started.