My wife dragged me to a Kurt Darren show last night. Not so much dragged as politely con-vince-d me (pun intended) that it would be nice to go together to the show. It wasn't that I minded being
with my wife, quite the opposite in fact, but I'm not a Kurt Darren fan, if you know what I mean.
Turned out
it was not so bad after all - he has 3 girls in the band, and the rhythm guitarist/backing vocalist was
very cute, and positioned right next to the 'star'. Made it easy to enjoy the
show, without actually having to look at Kurt.
My family often ask me why I am NOT a fan, as if it is inconceivable that one can adopt this stance, much the same as my attitude of not understanding how it is possible for ANYONE to accept the shocking statistics surrounding Rhino poaching in South Africa (currently standing at 54+ for 2012, and the year is only 45 days old). To be honest, I cannot tell you, I am not sure I understand it myself.
I like music in general, most music from the 60's to present (although honestly the latest 'music' is severely lacking in quality, appeal, and in many cases purpose), and despite my earlier statement to the contrary, even Kurt has a song or two that I like (such as " Standing on the Edge" which he also sang last night). I find that I am put off by the hype around artists, and the volume of the adoring crowds that appear like magic whenever a celebrity is around.
I see on his website that you can even download his voice for use on your GPS (provided of course you have one of the following Garmin GPS units: nuvi 200 series, nuvi 205 series, nuvi 500 series, nuvi 700 series, nuvi 705 series, nuvi 800 series, nuvi 1200 series, nuvi 1300 series, nuvi 1400 series, nuvi 1410 series, nuvi 1600 series, nuLink! 1695, nuvi 2200 series, nuvi 2300, nuvi 2460, nuvi 3700 series, nuvi 5000, dezl 560, zumoR 660 - if you are interested, the link is http://www.gps-creative.com/products/kurt-darren and it will only cost you R149.95).
It's also not just Kurt, I regularly get angry looks when I say that I an NOT a fan of Juanita du Plessis or Patricia Lewis (what happened to her anyway) or Bok van Blerk or any one of a whole lot of local artists. And it's not just the Afrikaans ones, it's the English ones as well. Before I get lambasted for being 'anti-local' that is ALSO not true. There are a LOT of local artists that I really enjoy listening to, such as Theuns Jordan, Nadine and Lianie May, among others.
Maybe it's the style of music which doesn't appeal to me. Maybe it's the commercialism of the whole thing, and how some artists tend to lap it all up more than others. Perhaps I am even jealous of their fame (though I dislike crowds intensely, and prefer anonymity over fame), who knows.
All I know is, I spent 2 hours listening to music last night. 2 hours which I could spend with my wife, even if we had hundreds of other people around us, just relaxing and listening, and while it was not necessarily my choice of music, I have to admit it had the desired effect of 'soothing the savage beast'.
And watching Guitar Girl wasn't all that difficult either.
