All Revved Up With No Place To Go

“I was a varsity tackle and a hell of a block
When I played my guitar
I made the canyons rock, but
Every Saturday Night
I felt the fever grow
Do ya know what it's like
All revved up with no place to go”

All Revved Up With No Place To Go – Meatloaf

This week is the two year anniversary since I saw Meatloaf play at Vector Arena. My friend Zena, with whom I get up to the most mischief alongside, ranks this man as one of her favourite music artists and bought two (second row) tickets to his show. I took the spare one and we headed out to see the legend himself. It was a fantastic night, despite Meatloaf not being as young and energetic as I assume he once was on stage, and it was the night which reminded me how much I love seeing artists perform live.

In the gap between the opening act playing and Meatloaf coming out Zena and I got talking to the couple next to us, and they said “aren’t you two a bit young for Meatloaf?” I do believe they meant it in the most polite way; merely as a comment that in Meatloaf’s prime he appealed to people twenty years older than we were at the time, and we were more likely to be caught up in whatever the Top 40 music stations were playing, rather than an older man on one of his last world tours.

But their comment made me wonder why we think music should have an age limit on it. As we grow up certain music influences us and it is usually what is current at the time, until we become older and these songs turn into classic hits. My musical taste, however, spans many decades. I have music from The Beatles, The Clash, Foo Fighters and Imagine Dragons on my iPod; I will play Simon and Garfunkel then play One Republic. I have been asked a lot recently if I am too old to listen to One Direction and go to their concert, but I think not. I like their music and appreciate their place in the industry, and there is no way anyone is going to stop me from watching them perform live.

I think letting your age restrict you is a bit like being all revved up … with no place to go. Being 20 shouldn’t stop you from playing on swings and being 40 doesn’t suddenly mean you are too old for Disney films. As long as you are acting above any legal age limits I don’t see the problem with having a bit of fun and doing what you like to do. If I had listened to what people had said about being too young for Meatloaf, I would have not only not seen a musical legend, but also never discovered the opening act Luger Boa and consequently many other Kiwi rock bands which Luger Boa led us to. Because really, an age is just a number, and your likes and wants define you much more than a digit.