In October we got to see the very last concert tour of one of our ultimate favourite groups, Simply Red. Both Cameron & I thoroughly enjoy their music and have for so many years. Strange how we are both from two different era's (in terms of music and culture) and yet we both have such similar tastes in music. Anyway, when we heard Simply Red was in Auckland and this was to be one of their final concerts ever, we had to, had to be there. The concert was absolutely great! The arena wasn't packed to capacity but the crowd was awesome, no-one pushing or getting out of hand, I guess as the group has been around for so many years, the crowd was a little bit of a mature bunch of people. But the great part was because they've been around for long, the crowd included people from all walks of life, all age-groups and all ethnicities (and a hell of a lot of South Africans - heard a few people around us talking Afrikaans). But regardless of the dynamics of the crowd, we all got down and boogeyed the night away which was fabulous! Simply Red was AMAZING and we enjoyed every moment (if I haven't said that already)! They played all the greats, from Stars and Fairground to Money's too tight to mention, Thrill me and If you don't know be by now! All in all it proved to be a great concert, a great band, a great crowd and a great evening! We are so thrilled we can say we got to see one of the greatest bands of our time.
A few weeks after the Simply Red concert we attended the Robin Gibb concert, for anyone who doesn't know who Robin Gibb is, you obviously don't know what great music is about! Sadly because there's only two of the Brothers Gibb still alive and Robin being the "healthier" of the 2 only Robin got to do the concert, and sadly as much as we loved the classic hits of the Bee Gees, that distinct Barry Gibb sound was sorely missed. Don't get me wrong it was a great concert, we enjoyed the music so much and the crowd did too... more people got up to dance than I've ever seen at any concert I've been to! The backup singers were extraordinary and really made the music gel and made it sound so close to the actual Bee Gees sound.
We decided to go the Robin Gibb concert way before we even heard that Simply Red was coming to NZ, mainly because Cameron grew up listening to the Bee Gees because of his dad (I've never met a bigger Bee Gees fan ever!) and Cameron was adamant that we had to go "For my Father" and so we did. Don't get me wrong, I do love the Bee Gees and not only because of the great music they've recorded but mainly because of the great influence they've had over the music industry over the past few decades. Everyone from Dionne Warwick to Destiny's Child have had great hits written and produced for them by the Bee Gees and that is what I personally admire most about the Bee Gees. Nowadays people want the fame of being a great singer or artist, but what makes a great artist is the ability to write & produce great, classic hits that relates to all age groups and crosses all genres of music. Both Cameron & I are both really passionate about music and can appreciate a good song when we hear it and so Bee Gees sit on top of the list of the greatest artist ever, both for us and in music history!
We might never get to see the "Bee Gees" in concert but I for one am glad I got a small taste of what their music means to people and the beauty of the music they've made over the years.
