![[title of show]](http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b285/ShephardSummers/titleofshowsm.jpg)
Monday, June 28, 2010
Once Upon A Time. . .
Once Upon a Time.... There was a little boy who loved color and happy things. You could say that he had a sunshiny personality, and this would describe him to a T. And then family and society and life set about labeling that as "not masculine." (Frankly, it's not really feminine either, but it's definitely not macho).
Music became the source of all things colorful and happy.
And that's when my love of ABBA began.
Saturday night was ABBAfest at The Hollywood Bowl. I admit with reluctance that there were indeed plenty of gay people there (it also happened to be Pride Weekend). But I wouldn't say all 18,000 people at the Bowl were gay. (all of the photos in this post were taken at ABBAfest, some of the best Bowl shots I've ever taken)
I was made fun of for liking ABBA as a kid. I never understood that really. Why is it that people think liking ABBA is so gay? Because their music is melodic and happy? You can't blame it on the clothes (lots of bands in the 70's/early 80's dressed flamboyantly), and the two men in ABBA certainly aren't feminine or gay. 
I was prez of my High School's Int'l Club which tried to help foreign exchange students get acclimated. Imagine my shock when we hosted a region dance and all of them, guys and girls alike, actually WANTED ME TO PLAY ABBA. Ya know.. .so they could actually DANCE. Straight people like ABBA too? I was genuinely surprised (I'd brought my ABBA and Donna Summer records, just in case.... good thing, too). 
In 1979, my mom and sister took me and a friend to see ABBA when they did their one-and-only US concert tour. The Voulez-Vous Tour was so much fun, lots of electric blue jump-suits and a children's choir and an Arena filled with 60,000 fans. Clearly all of them weren't gay or European. 
So, I realized that Americans are, once again, sheltered, shallow and homophobic. Quelle Surprise. (I know, straight men don't really say "quelle surprise," unless they're French... but my sexuality isn't really in question here). 
ABBA sold 375 million records globally. Somebody out there likes them and is not admitting it! 
Flash forward to 2010. . . I live in LA and I'm in my 40's and I never thought I'd get to see anything close to ABBA ever again. They are some of the best song-writers ever, IMHO. 
Did any straight people make fun of me for going to see ABBA at the Hollywood Bowl this weekend? In 2010?? Yes, sadly. Apparently, some people think all of ABBA's 375 million records were sold to gay men and straight women. If it makes their world safer to believe that, feel free. :) But how sad that anyone believes music has to be gay or straight. ABBA's music is uplifting, happy and lovely. I guess that's gay to some people. 
(I love this photo, blur and all) 
I know it's probably self-indulgent to post 25 photos of ABBAfest on my blog. But what if there's some young person out there reading who feels badly for liking "fill in the blank?" Hopefully, in a small way, they can relate and feel better. :) 
I know I sure did after attending this concert! They were Europe's best ABBA tribute band! The rainbow lights and Go-Go dancers didn't hurt either. 
I will always love them and their music. As a friend of mine said, "You just can't be sad listening to ABBA." I think the movie and the Broadway musical were just as happy and uplifting. 
(I wasn't sad looking at the Go-Go Dancers either) 
( I hope you're zooming in on some of these... beautiful colors!) 
Last but not least... my favorite photo of the night... an explosion of color like I've never seen!
Once upon a time, there was a boy who loved ABBA, who grew up to be an adult who loves ABBA. As far as I'm concerned, that's a happy ending to this ABBA-tale. It has been an uber-stressful month. This concert lifted my spirits infinitely.
"So I say thank you for the music... for giving it to me."
~Shephard :)
Labels: Of Mice and Mondays
posted by Shephard @ 