Joy. Part II

Part I is here.

Then finally the lights went down, and the opening bars of Plastic Surgery started slowly, and Adam walked out, facing away from the audience while singing the first few lines.  

Oooooh

Then when the chorus kicked in he turned around and was right in front of me, performing right in front of me.  

Greg got some pretty good pics with his iPhone

"I've got a fetish for black

A fetish for green

A fetish for those arty magazines

I've got a fetish for blondes

A fetish for blondes

A fetish for blondes

A fetish for brown haired girls

I've got a fetish and that means I'm sick

So very sick

Any more for the Christian D'or?"

~Christian D'or

So many of the really punky songs, from before he was famous, from before the MTV Goody Two Shoes era, so many b-sides and album cuts.  Songs that I've never heard him do live before. Even singing alternate lyrics that I'd only previously heard on bootleg recordings of his pre-fame concerts.

"You gave me punishment, it lasted an hour

It made marks on my skin

I'm just a bundle of misery, girl

Since you kicked my cheekbones in

There's a whip in my valise, oh yeah

Who taught you to torture?"

~Whip In My Valise

I didn't take any pics, I was
too busy enjoying

But he also did a lot of hits (not all of them, he had quite a few, especially in England), and plenty of songs that everyone (it seemed) in the audience was singing along with.

Especially Antmusic.

"Well I'm standing here

what do I see?

a big nothing threatening me

it's so sad when you're young

to be told you're having fun

So unplug the jukebox

And do us all a favour

That music's lost its taste

So try another flavour

Antmusic!"

~Antmusic

And Kings of the Wild Frontier, which is still ringing in Greg's head a week later.

"No method in our madness 

Just pride about our manner

Antpeople are the warriors
Antmusic is the banner!
A new Royal Family, a wild nobility

we are the family"

~Kings of the Wild Frontier

See the bandana on his hip?

And I was so very happy, dancing in front of the stage, singing along with every single word of every single song. Adam looked fantastic, and believe me when I say that he wears 57 better than any man ever has before. He was energetic, dancing all around the stage, and looked as though he was enjoying the hell out of it. He sounded great, and his rocked-up versions of Desperate But Not Serious and Prince Charming were surprising and SO good. He did one song from his upcoming new album, and even though the song is currently unreleased, I knew a lot of the words just from watching YouTube videos of him performing it live.

"10:36 and I hope I've made
The right decision (nononononono)
Ninety eight point four's the bore
With twenty twenty vision (nononononono)
You want a thrill so you come and see me
A cheap line in fantasy
I'm still searching for the
Ants invasion
If I'd the courage
I would make my way home
Too many antics in the forbidden zone"

~Ants Invasion

Rock!

I've always kind of thought of myself as the perfect audience, I love to see people perform whether just in a casual conversation where they are holding court or on an actual stage, and being quiet and shy I don't want any of the attention and am happy to direct my full focus on the performer.  On this night I was probably the best audience anyone has ever been in the history of people, I am sure I looked happy, and thrilled, I was dancing with complete joy, and what songwriter doesn't love a person who has memorized every single lyric they've ever written?  As far as I was concerned, he was performing just for me. He was right in front of me, after all.

"I live the life that I've been left

I leave most things unspoken
But deep inside Geronimo
Is tearing me apart
Now's the time I must digress
From going through the motions
Take my head out of its sling
Free the warrior"

~Killer In The Home

The band and the backup singer were really good

He came out in a jacket, a white shirt, and a t-shirt, with various scarves and belts and straps and things.  At one point he took off the jacket, then later took off the shirt.  He pulled off a bandana tied to his hip and performed with it, wrapping it around his fist, around his neck, tying it around the microphone during Whip In My Valise and sexily pulling it tight.

Then he held it out, and the audience screamed and reached toward the stage with outstretched hands.  I was just dancing, and when he threw it in my direction I made a weak grab at it, but missed.

Greg caught it.  Greg told me later that Adam looked right at me, but I didn't see it, then Adam looked at Greg, Greg nodded to him, Adam balled up the bandana and tossed it directly into his hands.

I missed the whole thing, but I got the bandana.  I wrapped it around my hand and kept dancing.  It kills me now to think of it; clearly Adam Ant wanted me to have it. Is it safe to say he saw me loving his music and his performance, and wanted me to have it? I think it is.

That's my bandana wrapped around my hand

Adam performed twenty-two songs plus five more during the encore, he was onstage for nearly two hours. Being me, I had done a ton of research about his recent set lists, and actually had the whole list on a notecard in my purse. (Full disclosure - I also burned the whole set list onto a CD and made Greg listen to it nearly every day for a couple of weeks before the show.  You know, to prepare.)

Dancing

So when I heard the beginning of Physical I knew it was almost over. It's one of my favorite Ant songs, and he really rocked it.  Then he unceremoniously put down his guitar and walked offstage, just like he always did at the end.

One of the women I'd met before the show ran over and hugged me, telling me how glad she was that I got the bandana. Two other people from the audience told me I deserved it, since I "knew all the words".  (Good grief, I thought, could they hear me singing?)

And that was it. I wanted to sit down again, and Greg sat with me until the security people starting shooing stragglers out.

It was completely indescribable. He was brilliant, and I feel inspired and energized; I still feel it strongly a week later. It was such an intense, joyful, meaningful experience for me, I feel transformed.

Thanks, Adam.

Setlist:

Plastic Surgery 

Dog Eat Dog 

Beat My Guest

Kick!

Cartrouble (part 2)

Ants Invasion

Deutscher Girls

Stand and Deliver

Kings of the Wild Frontier

Wonderful

Whip In My Valise

Vince Taylor

Strip

Desperate But Not Serious

Cleopatra

Never Trust A Man

Zerox

Antmusic

Goody Two Shoes

Vive Le Rock

Christian D'or

Lady/Fall In

Encore:

Fat Fun

Red Scab

Get It On

Prince Charming

Physical

Joy. Part I

My concert

It was always such a big deal to get dressed for an Adam Ant concert, not only because I was young and had a closetful of size 4 vintage clothes (largely black, some Victorian, one with actual gorilla fur trim) but also because it was part of the Antperson creed.  

"Fun to go to the A.N.T.S.
Put on a kilt, dye your hair green

And dance to Zerox Machine"
~A.N.T.S.

I have to admit, as a 46-year old woman who is now a size 14, I do not have a closetful of cool clothes anymore.  I have a closetful of clothes that were good enough for me to end the ordeal of shopping and go home. That would not be adequate for the front row of an Adam Ant concert.

"They believed in sex and looking good
With their own brand of music
They weren't pandering
So which side of the fence
Are you on?"
~Magnificent Five

Encouraged by losing twelve pounds over the past three months, I decided the main thing to wear to the concert would be cleavage.  I have never in my life bought a push-up bra, but am now the proud owner of a red Frederick's of Hollywood bra that comes with its own boobs pre-installed (so mine have no choice but to be pushed on top).

"Don't you ever, don't you ever
Stop being dandy
Showing me you're handsome
Prince Charming, Prince Charming
Ridicule is nothing to be scared of"
~Prince Charming

I then shopped for a sexy black lace top and a short fitted black skirt, and happily discovered that I am now a size 12.  

"I'm the dandy highwayman who you're too scared to mention
I spend my cash on looking flash and grabbing your attention!
The devil take your stereo and your record collection
The way you look you'll qualify for next year's old age pension.
Stand and deliver 

Your money or your life
Try and use a mirror

No bullet or a knife"
~Stand and Deliver

Greg was somewhat surprised that I planned to spend the entire day getting ready for the concert, but seemed to get the idea when I spent hours trying on multiple combinations of stockings, tights, boots, camisoles, and jewelry, all the while playing Adam Ant videos and working on my hair and makeup. 

Antperson, wearing Death Eater
black leather wristbands,
push-up bra and Vivienne Westwood
day of the dead sugar skull necklace

Husband of antperson, wearing punk
Buzzcocks t-shirt, guyliner
and "ready to rock" face

"We don't follow fashion

That would be a joke

You know we're gonna set them, set them
So everyone can take note, take note"
~Goody Two Shoes

Finally it was time to go.  We arrived 30 minutes before the doors opened at 7:00pm, which gave us enough time to pick up our tickets

FRONT ROW CENTER

admire the view

The view!

and chat with other Antpeople who were already in line.  There were a lot of people wearing Ant-style white stripes, pirate gear, and Adam and the Ants concert t-shirts from the 80s.

Antperson and husband at Citywalk

When the doors opened, I immediately went for our seats, which were, as promised, FRONT ROW CENTER. 

Greg and I sat there surrounded by empty seats, looking at the dark empty stage, and I quietly relived every single feeling that I had ever had about Adam Ant and his music: when I was a lonely quiet girl spending hours and hours loving his music alone in my room, finding what felt like a family of kindred spirits attached to this beautiful man and his brilliant music, when that turned into finding Antpeople pen-pal friends, the long bus rides and car trips to meet them and to see Adam Ant perform in concert, the teenager who had lost the light and turned into darkness and cutting but went on a previously-planned Adam and the Ants concert anyway just out of remembered loyalty and came out of it completely overwhelmed with such joy that it brought back the light, when I learned how to run out of the concert with the opening bars of the last encore and follow Adam's tour bus back to his hotel, when I actually saw him in the hotel lobby in Atlanta, and then met him and got to shake his hand and touch his tattoo with a quivering index finger in a hotel room in Washington DC, when I got to meet him again in a hotel bar in Norfolk and ask him questions and get his autograph on my tour program, when I met Marco Pirroni and Jordan, and then when his career seemed to end and his mental illness seemed to take over, and there was no public word of him at all, for so long, and when he began appearing in public again and began doing concerts and talking about a new album, and it just seemed like it might be a bad thing, YouTube videos of him forgetting lyrics and it was just so upsetting, but then he kept playing concerts and got better and soon all the crappy iPhone YouTube videos of him in concert were driving me crazy, because he looked and sounded great and he was touring the UK and Europe and Australia, but would he ever come to America?

"He who writes in blood

Doesn't want to be read
He must be learned by heart"
~Magnificent Five

And there I was, sitting in my seat, looking at a stage about four feet high - no barrier between me and the stage - just literally a few feet from me.  Right there, he would be right there.

So then we went and got in line at the merchandise tables and bought two t-shirts, a tour program, and two wristbands.  Greg went to the restroom to put on his new Adam Ant t-shirt, and I just sat, dazed, looking at the empty stage and tearing up, just a little.

Ant vandalism at the Hard Rock

The opening act, Brothers of Brazil, were actually quite good, but I was far too distracted to really enjoy them.  When they left the stage and the roadies started clearing off their instruments and bringing out the rest of Adam's stuff, I started getting such butterflies in my stomach that I felt slightly nauseous. I was shaking a little. Greg went back to the merchandise tables for a third t-shirt.

Antperson and husband
wearing Antshirt

A roadie came out and taped the setlist to the floor, Greg took a pic of it with his iPhone.  When he showed it to the people sitting behind us, they were disappointed that they weren't familiar with more of the songs.  (I secretly got a kick out of that. Seriously, this was a surprising setlist packed with non-hits, custom-made for a punk like me.)

Awesome setlist, not including
the five encore songs

"Music for a future age
Don't be square, be there
All good clean fun
(Whatever that means)
Antmusic for Sexpeople
Sexmusic for Antpeople
Get off your knees
And hear the insect prayer"
~Don't Be Square (Be There)

Antperson in position, waiting

Part II is here.

Antmusic for Sexpeople, Sexmusic for Antpeople

Good things, part 3.

I've mentioned my enduring love for Adam Ant and his music a couple of times before on this blog:  HERE, when I talk about how my 14-year old self first discovered his music, and HERE, when I briefly mention seeing Adam in concert with my friend Hellione.  I felt compelled to at least try to write about how I love Adam Ant and his music, but truly, it didn't even begin to describe the scope of my feelings.

I'm going to try again.

When I bought that first Adam and the Ants album (Kings of the Wild Frontier) and had never heard any of their music previously, I fell in love immediately.  Music was a big part of my life and I liked all kinds: classic rock, pop, punk, things that would be called goth now but back then that word didn't exist yet.  The songs on this album had a screamy, punky edge, with tribal drums and such incredible energy.  I'd never heard anything like it before, and still now, 30 years later, I love every song on this album.  Not only have I not gotten tired of it, I love it more than ever.

Here is Adam and the Ants performing Kings of the Wild Frontier on Top of the Pops (a British show similar to American Bandstand).  They are clearly lip-syncing to the recorded track, and in fact Adam isn't even bothering with the pretense of a microphone.

Lyrics from this song, co-written by Adam Ant and the guitarist, Marco Pirroni:

"A new royal family
A wild nobility
We are the family"

"No method in our madness
Just pride about our manner
Antpeople are the warriors
Antmusic is the banner"

That inclusive, "outsider but part of our family" message really struck me.  As a lonely, shy girl living in the middle of nowhere, this idea of Antpeople was extremely appealing.  I loved the music, I loved the message, and I have to say the fact that Adam was hot as hell didn't hurt.

I found that Adam had had one previous album that had only been released by a small label in England, and I had a local record store special order it for me.  It was called Dirk Wears White Sox, and was completely punk; very angry and very poetic.

Here's a clip from Derek Jarman's movie Jubilee, with Adam performing the song Plastic Surgery.  This is very early, before he was known at all, and very punky.

My admiration for both Adam and his music was cemented in my soul with these songs.  Regardless of the poppy stuff that that came afterwards, these two albums are still some of my favorite music to listen to.

Adam and the Ants had been tremendously popular in England, much more so than in the US.  They had dozens of hit songs and legions of loyal fans.

And thus began a decade and a half of buying every Adam and the Ants album and single, and then when the Ants broke up and Adam Ant was a solo act, buying all the Adam Ant stuff.  I went to Georgia twice to see Adam in concert, one to Washington DC, once to Norfolk VA, and I saw him on his last tour here in Orlando (the Wonderful tour, in 1995).

After that Adam disappeared for a while, not releasing any more music.  In 2002 he announced a new album, and started doing promotional appearances and interviews.  But he was behaving erratically and saying things that sounded strange.  He did one promotional single for charity that was so bad it kind of scared me.  Then Adam got arrested for threatening patrons in a pub and pulling a gun on the police when they arrived. He was given a suspended sentence and he ended up spending nearly a year as an in-patient in a psychiatric hospital.

By this time, I had a computer and internet access and was trying to keep up with Adam.  This was extremely upsetting news. I was glad he was getting treatment and really hoped he'd get better.

In 2006 his autobiography was released, and he told about how he had suffered for years with undiagnosed bipolar disorder, and had attempted suicide.  He made it clear that he was working with doctors to manage his illness with medication and was doing well.

Then about a year and a half ago, he popped up in the news again, talking about a new album and a tour. He started doing public appearances at charity events and things, and then doing actual shows in small clubs around London.

This really worried me, as it really appeared to be the same type of manic behavior that preceded his breakdown before.  I watched YouTube videos of him performing, and he did seem a little off, forgetting lyrics to his songs sometimes.  But as the months passed, he seemed more and more in control and happy.  I watched videos of him being interviewed on British tv shows, and he looks healthy and, really, pretty damn good.  The more recent videos show him performing in bigger and bigger venues around the UK, looking and sounding amazing.  I started to feel better.  Maybe his illness is under control, and his creative spirit is returning.  He spoke in interviews about wanting to return to that early, punky type of music, and the set lists posted online from his recent concerts back that up, he's been doing a lot of the really early songs along with the big hits.

Then on Monday a miracle happened.  I had taken a random vacation day from work, putting in for it a few months ago when I realized how stressful this time would be; I figured I'd need it.  Late morning I was pooting around on Facebook when I see an announcement from the Hard Rock Live Orlando.

ADAM ANT IN CONCERT IN FEBRUARY!  Tickets were going on sale that very day at 5pm!

This was a complete shock.  His new album is supposed to come out in January, and there had been vague talk of a US tour afterwards, but it seemed way too much to hope for.  Then that not only is there a tour, but the first concert date to be announced and go up for sale is right here, where I am!

And how lucky that I was off work and saw the announcement, and was at home to call and buy tickets immediately!  Obviously, I called and bought tickets the second they went on sale.

I seriously want to cry a little just looking at that.  FRONT ROW CENTER!

So, anyway...  good things are happening.  This is a good thing of such miraculous importance to me that it has literally changed everything around in my head, and I have trouble thinking about anything else for very long.

Adam Ant!