Chris Hadfield was the key note speaker at my firm's global annual shindig several years back. Sounds like a similar speech etc, very interesting stuff, and then he got his guitar out and did Space Oddity, good stuff and something different indeed.
Now c'mon Ernie, we're all modern people these days. I was actually more than a little fortunate to see Elton and Billy Joel together in Chicago when they were doing a joint tour, not sure if it reached beyond the US. Anyway the concert lasted about 3.5 hours and was absolutely ****ing amazing. Taking turns to do stuff together and each with their own set, simply amazing. The two best piano men of the past however many years together, unforgettable.
Never been a great EJ fan if i'm honest. but props for his performance tonight at 76, some performance and from his band of course... he's just referenced George Michael who would have been 60 today...
I saw Billy Joel once and Elton came on and sang "the bitch is back" with him. They were both going through messy divorces at the time.
Got a lot of Van's stuff. Love it. Saw him at the City Hall in Hull a few years back, walked on stage, sang about seven songs no-one knew, then walked off. Hardly spoke a word. Not even 'goodnight, thanks for turning out'
He does have a bit of a reputation. I have only seen him at festivals and he was a bit miserable but did play his good stuff.
He does indeed, can be a miserable old sod. One concert, years ago, someone in the crowd shouted enthusiastically 'Turn it on Van', the reply? 'it's already turned on...'. He's been releasing a lot of stuff recently though, I wonder if he's got his appetite back, or he's just skint.
We saw Sting last night in the p***ing rain in Scarborough. Only went because free tickets. Never a fan of the police but he was pretty good and his band was top draw. Terrible lighting though - lights (both on full and flashing) aimed straight at the audience. I'm informed that this is to do with the venue rather than the band but not good whichever way. Support included Sting's son who had a really good voice.
He sold all the rights to his music to Sony 7 or 8 years ago, it’s probably them that are releasing stuff and he’s now loaded.
I don't know how the business works but the stuff I've bought recently was recorded in the last 5 or 6 years and released by Exile Productions, of whom VM seems to be the sole director. Maybe the Sony deal doesn't prevent him from doing this.
