WHAT YEAR IS IT ANYWAY?

 

So grateful I was a teen through the 80's. Always with my keto-blaster.

I’ve been thinking a lot about music lately. When I look at the names of many of the bands touring right now, I have been asking myself, “What year is it anyway?” I was a teenager in the 80’s and I never dreamed that so many of the bands I idolized back then would still be touring now.  Some of the bands are playing smaller venues, but others are selling out stadiums!

Saw Mr. Big in Toronto last May, it had been 32 years since I had seem them, and the lady beside me, who took these pictures, had been at the same show!

A couple months ago, my husband, Rob, and I attended the 50^th Anniversary of Helix show in Delhi Ontario. I was thrilled to have a conversation with their bassist, Daryl Gray, before the show. I had interviewed him and the late Paul Hackman, back in 1985 for my high school radio show after their Long Way to Heaven tour stop in Halifax, NS.  We talked about the difference between what music was to teens back then and now. How it wasn’t just something you listened to, it was how you dressed, who you hung out with, and a part of your attitude. The internet, social media and streaming services has changed the music industry. I remember waiting months, sometimes years, for my favorite band to release a new album and the anticipation of getting a new monthly music magazine like Circus or Hit Parader, to find out what my favorite bands were working on. Everything is so instant now; I don’t think the appreciation is there for the music and bands like it was then.

Brian and Daryl of Helix - September 2024

Me in 1985. 

     

Last year when I attended the Stadium Tour, featauring Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Poison,  and Joan Jett, I couldn’t help but notice the age range of the crowd. People my age (50+), parents with their children and young adults able to attend on their own. It made me smile seeing teenagers as excited to be seeing these bands live as I had been when I was teenager, and still am as a 55-year-old woman. The interest in 80’s music is definitely having a resurgence, and not just for us who experienced it then. The younger generation is catching on to that 80’s vibe and embracing it.

It's a surreal experience meeting the members of bands whose posters use to hang on your teenage bedroom wall. 

 

Rob and I recently did the VIP Meet & Greet package when WASP was in town. I had the lead singer, Blackie Lawless, sign my high school yearbook. The album they were performing was as much a part of my high school experience as any class I took. The Q & A part of the VIP package was interesting and made me realize that these bands from back in the day are the original “influencers” before influencers were a thing.  

Me watching Blackie from the VIP section at the side of the stage, November 2024.

This brings me to Taylor Swift. Whether she knows it or not, she has tapped into what made the 80’s music scene what it was back then, the camaraderie. Back then we didn't have cellphones and social media. We had teenage night clubs, arcades and field parties. We spent loads of time with our friends socializing in person, and the music was always there, like another friend. 

A little 80’s musical fairy dust has definitely been sprinkled on Miss Swift. Maybe it comes from all the Def Leppard music she listened to as a child, because her mom was a huge fan. Check her out on Crossroads with Def Leppard from 2008.  The Eras Tour has taken over Toronto, and the signs of it are everywhere, as are the Swifties. I’ve volunteered to take a few group photos over the last week of girls and women going to her concert, you can’t help but get wrapped up in their positivity and excitement. Instead of leather, animal prints, spandex and the studs of my time, its glitter, sparkle, sequins, and friendship bracelets. Different packaging, same magic.

 

I already have tickets to the “80’s Rock Invasion” concert for spring of the new year. As long as these bands keep touring, I’ll keep going, and I guess it doesn’t matter what year it is after all.