Old Friends or Old Farts?

In the early 1950s two Jewish kids, a short Elvis impersonator and a tall cherub voiced choir boy, collaborated on the little remembered song Hey Schoolgirl in which they sang about teenage lust. Fifty years later the two are singing the same song in packed venues throughout the country. Somehow, the song doesn't seem too relevant this time around. Two 63 year old men singing about the girl in the second row? Shouldn't they be getting their social security information in order?

Surprisingly enough it was my dad who hooked me on the tunes of the duo from Queens. How songs from New York could traverse the ocean and arrive in the Far East were as mysterious to me as tenant halls and neon Gods. All I knew was that I loved the way that their voices sounded together. Trying to impersonate this sound led to the discovery that I was tone deaf along with a brief and unsuccessful battle with the violin. The guitar was never taken up because I watched my uncle study for years and the only thing I ever heard him play was When the Saints Go Marching In.

Flash forward to 2003 and upon hearing that my favorite dynamic duo was putting aside differences and reuniting for a tour, I was pleasantly surprised. So how was the show you asked? Did they really rock out like it was 1960 all over again? Hell if I should know. You'll have to read the reviews for yourself!

So my question to you is how much would you shell out to hear two over-the-hill rockers partially rock? My initial thought was about $60 or so. I had paid that much to hear Paul Simon solo a few years back. I usually shell out $20 or so for a CSO show and the most I've spent on live entertainment is $75 at the Lyric. So online I went only to find . . . $100 for the upper balcony at the United Center? Screw that! I'll just dig up my old vinyl and avoid the crowds of balding baby boomers.

The next day I read in the papers that the two are just glad to be singing again and this time it's not about the money but, rather, about the music and the sharing of the music. Jesus Christ! If ticket prices ranging from $70 - $200 is just about the sharing of music then I'd hate to think what it would be like if it wasn't about the music! Okay, all of you who have experienced the sticker shock of reunion bands are most likely laughing at my ingenuousness. I learned that the next day when our CFO told me that she has shelled out as much as $400 for Rolling Stones tickets and would gladly give Paul and Artie $200 for the pleasure of two hours of their company.

In the end, I don't think that I missed much. From what the reviews tell me, a good time was had by all. Not a rocking time or an especially moving time, but a good time. They covered all the old standards the standard way. Paul discarded his 100-piece world music band and his new interpretations of classics such as I am A Rock and the two old rockers rocked out gracefully. The crowds were gentle (not even a little bit raucous like the crowd for a Bangles reunion) and, not surprisingly, full of balding baby boomers and their offspring. And I, with my old vinyls, fared just fine sitting at home while the cat ran circles around the room as if he could sense the anxiety of the 1960s emanating from the music. (Fine, my cat is just plain crazy all the time.)