the queen is (not) dead

While deciding what to wear out last night, I had a memory flash from my early childhood of asking my mum whether I would have to wear a tie when I met the Queen. I don't remember now how she responded (she was probably very used to deflecting her younger, clingier son's gay little enquiries) but I do know that when I did eventually come into Her Maj's presence about ten years later, I was indeed wearing a tie (school uniform, singing in the choir at the opening of Parramatta Stadium, the royal personage avec manbag/husband a distant figure in the back of a vehicle across the field).

That this memory should have emerged last night was both accidental and entirely appropriate. I was getting ready once again to see the Queen, or as the announcer kept on intoning, "My Queen. Your Queen. The Queen of Soul..... Aretha..... FRANKLIN!" Yes, my life dream of seeing Aretha in concert came true last night at the astonishingly beautiful Radio City Music Hall here in New York. So I wore a tie. But I wonder whether the idea of holding on to such things as life dreams isn't a great way to set myself for disappointment. How can someone like Aretha ever live up to expectations after such an amazing career and with such an enormous reputation? (Then again Clare, who came with me, had very low expectations - she thought Aretha was dead.) It's not that I was disappointed, because it was actually a huge thrill (I almost cried as she came on stage). And it's not that I felt she failed to live up to her reputation, because there were a few amazing moments (and only a few) in an otherwise really enjoyable but mostly pretty forgettable performance. But to cruise through a performance on mostly reputation did not make for the punch-in-the-face kind of experience I was hoping for. Yes, the woman is 66 and overweight and not very healthy. And she can still really sing - I just wanted more singing and less filler from the band. When she sat at the piano and just played and sang, she was at her sublime best. It also has to be said, the woman still knows how to get her groove on, even if she was patently exhausted by the end.

Still, money well spent on a fantastic opportunity, and a fascinating view of how to win over thousands of people in a massive sold-out auditorium with a legendary reputation, some classic diva attitude, the occasional belter moment and a ridiculous sparkly frock.