This week's (8/12) closing ceremony at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London was one for the ages. Specifically, the ages of 20-70. Baby Boomers and GenXers performed separately and together in a generation spanning tribute to British music of all kinds.
Night of contrasts
Indie rockers Kaiser Chiefs (average age of its members: 34.6) delivered The Who's "Pinball Wizard." Later, The Who (Roger Daltry is 68, Pete Townshend is 67) provided a trilogy of their Boomer anthems "Our Generation," "See Me, Feel Me" and "Baba O'Riley."
Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, 21 shared the stage with Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, 68 and Genesis guitarist-vocalist Mike Rutherford, 61 to perform "Wish You Were Here" (Pink Floyd's tribute to band co-founder Syd Barrett.)
Joining 65-year-old Queen guitarist Brian May for a performance of "We Will Rock You" was 24-year-old singer-songwriter Jessi J.
Ray Davies (The Kinks) did an intimate acoustic rendition of his "Waterloo Sunset" after being dramatically deposited on stage via a black taxi, a traditional London fixture.
There was a recorded performance of "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen's late vocalist Freddie Mercury, a montage of David Bowie classics, and a performance of John Lennon's "Imagine" by various choirs from his hometown, Liverpool.
Before the ceremony, director Kim Gavin said the goal was to show that the British Invasion has never ended. "It's about how good British music is in the world, and how global it is," said Gavin. The larger message, he said, was to show how "U.K. culture, media, music are locked together to create the next big thing."
Did you watch the closing ceremony performances? If so, please share your thoughts.
Photos (Roger Daltrey & Pete Townshend, Ray Davies) by Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images
Indie rockers Kaiser Chiefs (average age of its members: 34.6) delivered The Who's "Pinball Wizard." Later, The Who (Roger Daltry is 68, Pete Townshend is 67) provided a trilogy of their Boomer anthems "Our Generation," "See Me, Feel Me" and "Baba O'Riley."
Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, 21 shared the stage with Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, 68 and Genesis guitarist-vocalist Mike Rutherford, 61 to perform "Wish You Were Here" (Pink Floyd's tribute to band co-founder Syd Barrett.)
Joining 65-year-old Queen guitarist Brian May for a performance of "We Will Rock You" was 24-year-old singer-songwriter Jessi J.
Ray Davies (The Kinks) did an intimate acoustic rendition of his "Waterloo Sunset" after being dramatically deposited on stage via a black taxi, a traditional London fixture.
There was a recorded performance of "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen's late vocalist Freddie Mercury, a montage of David Bowie classics, and a performance of John Lennon's "Imagine" by various choirs from his hometown, Liverpool.
Before the ceremony, director Kim Gavin said the goal was to show that the British Invasion has never ended. "It's about how good British music is in the world, and how global it is," said Gavin. The larger message, he said, was to show how "U.K. culture, media, music are locked together to create the next big thing."
Did you watch the closing ceremony performances? If so, please share your thoughts.
Photos (Roger Daltrey & Pete Townshend, Ray Davies) by Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images
Comments
I watched it all except the end so didn’t se the Who. I felt sorry for Ray Davies. I love that song but he croaked his way through it but the sound system certainly didn’t help him. Brian May is terrific when he’s Brian May and not trying to be a 65 year old playing at being a 20 year old, still knows how to play a guitar though. The hommage to John Lennon and Freddie really struck home, two great artists we lost there too soon. On reflection they are not the only ones. Pleased that they didn’t drag McCartney and Elton out again. I like Ed Sheeran but he doesn’t have the depth of voice yet to carry off a Pink Floyd song. Just my humble opinion.
NBC could have given better coverage of the ending music segment instead of putting on a show about a animal hospital with a monkey driving down the hallways.
Otto, you are SO right! I was watching and watching for The Who, until I realized that the animal hospital show was not a promo, but an entire episode. What a JOKE!
I saw most of the closing ceremony. I was happy to see George Michael on stage, and though his performance of Freedom was a bit of he made it up on his second song.
The absolut best part IMHO was to see Bryan May on stage, that solo hitted me so hard I could hardly sleep that night. God save the Queen!