Sean Lennon to perform Double Fantasy? Count me in for one. I can’t express how excited I am over this except… it is in Southbank in London. Very pleasant and what have you, but I will be over here in New York damning Lennon with faint praise for not playing it in New York.
What price Sean singing “Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)” on stage? Lennon’s astounding lullaby to the young Sean Lennon, “Before you cross the street, take my hand: life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans.” What a meeting of generations, what an imagine for us all. It makes you hope there is a life after death just Winston O’Boogie can listen in!
The Sean Lennon live presentation of Double Fantasy is part of the Yoko Ono curated Meltdown fest at Southbank in London from June 13th to June 24th. And some of the other programs sound kinda cool. A Plastic Ono Band concert, Siouxie (sans Banshees), Kim Gordon, Marianne Faithful but definitely Double Fantasy is the calling card.
At the same time of its initial release I was ambivalent about the album, loved Yoko but Lennon less so (that’s the honest truth). It was the time, I was listening to gang Of Four, what did I care for Lennon’s domestic bliss? What had it to do with me? But, over and above sentimentality, time has given an extra gleam to the Lennon songs: “(Just Like) Starting Over”, “Watching The Wheels”, “Woman” –how could anybody miss that string of genius?
I would love to see Sean deal with them, I wonder how deep he can go, how much he can, or even wants to, channel his father? This is as important a concert as you can imagine. If I had the money I’d cross the Ocean just to see it.
Double Fantasy – John Lennon And Yoko Ono – A