The Surviving Classic Rock Concert Photos
I went to these shows at first, because of the music. Then I began to photograph them, in order to have something lasting to keep from the
I was often so critically disappointed with the resulting photos, not appreciating what I had for what they were, that I often just printed one or two
of the better frames and filed the rest away...often not revisiting them for years at a tim
I had become bitterly resentful in life, as I was approaching the age of 50. I was often swearing at God, instead of reaching out to God in prayer as
I had grown to live. Early in 2004 I had spent two weeks in the hospital, having dangerously developed diabetes. Several months later we lost our house,
and most of its contents, to a faulty furnace fire. It just seemed that life was crushing down around us. Then, by the Grace of God, I began trying to
change tha
As the year 2004 progressed, instead of spiraling deeper in resentment, I resolved to resume a more spiritual way of living as well as becoming more
active in my Home Church. We salvaged from the house, tore down and rebuilt, receiving much needed help from our church and a community of
caring people...often anonymously or from people we had not previously known. It was an overwhelmingly humbling experienc
It seems that the year 2004 should have been the worst of my life...but I now see that, because of the redirection of my life, I can now realize it
as one of the best!
Among the many treasures that were salvaged from the ashes, were family home video tapes and photographs. Among those photographs was a (water-damaged)
briefcase full of my old rock concert photos in a closet, the ceiling having been burned through from the attic above...surely, only minutes away from
destruction!
Since recovering these images, I have spent many hours pouring over them, more than during the previous years since they were first captured. It has been
deeply satisfying, more than I had originally hoped for.
I have often wondered about the things that survived our house fire, and thankful to God for the many precious items that did...family photos, video,
and some of the furnishings. But why these concert photos...so few minutes from destruction? Why should God care about things such as these?
Perhaps it's about change. In recent years as I've lived, and as many do, trying to understand what this life is all about, there was a moment
that a thought came to me that seemed so simple and obvious; that on just observation alone, of this physical world around us, that it was always
changing at any given moment. We can't escape this. Through the minutes of our days, the seasons, plant and animal life ever adapting, and these
bodies that we reside in...there's always some change taking place.
Sometimes these changes appear subtle, sometimes dramatic. The year 2004 was, for me, one of those dramatic years through time.
So, I've come to accept that perhaps, since there was such a dramatic shift in my life's focus, that these photographs are just a little
gift from an all-knowing Heavenly Father, knowing how much they really meant to me...and for me to continue on this more spiritual path.
In these present days I have become certain of some things; one is...in that time, when there is no time measured, I'll receive a Divine Embrace
and the full insight..."Come here son, let me explain all the things that were really going on in your time..."
Another thing that I am certain of became very clear in a conversation, with my friend Dale, about this music that is so close to us and its place in
my life these days...wondering if they can abide together. His response was, with a twinkling eye and a subtle grin..."It's still good
music"...
Peaches and Willie
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