Just under four months to go.
It seems like only a short while ago the curtains fell on The Wonderful Seven’s last show in Miami Beach, FL; but man, it’s been almost 17 months since. And so much has happened during that time.
So I’ll be brief.
The rest of summer 2008 went by as if I was living in some sort of surreality. I was dumbfounded by the events during the tour, so occupied with what I have been going through just a month ago, that I couldn’t really keep up with what’s happening.
Back to working in Information Technology, with music taking a more prominent place in my daily schedule, things seemed to go as usual until life hit their utmost low on March 22, 2009. You know, everybody has those defining days; that day was very much it. Things started picking up very slowly, until even a lower point has hit on June 16 when some other basic “realities” I believed in took the wrong turn and flushed themselves down the toilet.
Life did go on, however, and ever since, I’ve been doing… well… great, pretty much. Other than some traumatic event on September 21, it’s been pretty much a steep incline. I guess I needed those three God‐awful days to awaken me and show me how hard it is to anticipate every corner life takes you.
At the meantime, Mark Knopfler released Get Lucky, which I still view as his best album, overall, as of yet. The album’s release coincided with a charity concert Knopfler gave at the Hurlingham Club in London, UK. I was lucky enough to book a VIP ticket, and decided that if I was going to fly all the way from Toronto to the UK for the concert, might as well take some time off and see some of Europe. That turned to become quite an enjoyable trip. It was documented in my travel blog, here (cycle till you get to around September 2009): http://blog.isaac.shabtay.com.
The VIP pre‐concert was a delight; it’s hard to beat Mark in an up, close & personal setting. Two days later, we were sitting at Jeroen Gerrits’ apartment in Delft, The Netherlands, when we popped Get Lucky into the stereo system and got extremely baffled by the album’s sheer beauty. I wrote a blog post later that evening (link here), describing the experience; that post went on to be promoted to Mark’s official Facebook fan page.
It was around that time that I decided that I will attend the Get Lucky tour in its entirety. It’s the little things, really; so many little things contributed to that decision — as little as the unexpected, dramatic C♯m strum in the song Get Lucky which made my jaw drop in disbelief. As little and short as the B♭ guitar cry at the very beginning of So Far from the Clyde. If Mr. John Lovell is reading this, he must be laughing.
There were bigger things, too. For example, it seems inconceivable for me to skip a show in which Before Gas and TV, So Far from the Clyde and/or Piper to the End may be performed. Any one of these songs performed live is enough justification for me to not miss even one show.
Granted, it’s not going to be easy. Even though Jeroen will be joining me for the North American leg of the tour, I intend to rely solely on public transport during the European leg, and we’re talking about some tight schedule. It’s a huge challenge; but I will make it.
And today… today, I am starting to plan this magnificent journey. If any of you has ideas / suggestions, please speak up.
Later,
Isaac
