Worth the wait?

The tickets were bought, holidays had, and the day arrived. It was Maze in concert night.

We arrived early as there was no indication of what time Maze would hit the stage.....but coffee and cake with friends we met at Hammersmith helped the time to pass. Then, into the auditaurium. Tickets in the stalls, we walked and walked further toward the front and stopped at Row H, 8 rows from the front, almost smack in the middle. What a view!

We waited. While 2 fellas (once of light of the world) sang covers of old classics. They were actually quite good.

We waited. While the crew checked all kit for the umpteenth time.

We waited. While the guys on stage tried to attract the attention of the guys in charge of house lights. They finally went down and in the darkness we could see the band take their places.

I love that feeling of anticipation, seconds before the moment in time you've been waiting for, and excited about.

The stage lights came up and the band hit their first note. For the first time in 10 years in the UK, and over 20 since we last saw them.

With a huge cheer, Frankie Beverly ran onto the stage and at 61 looked very fit (physically) all in white with trademark baseball cap. He still sounds fantastic too.

I was surprised that it took a few numbers for the crowd to get to it's feet, but we we were finally all up the whole atmosphere changed into something more like a huge party.

At such events, I feel so free to do what I want, nobody cares, and if they do so what? I can't dance to save my life, and being amongst a predominantly black audience I should have felt intimidated by their natural rhythm but no, I just enjoyed myself. It's a shame I don't feel the same when I'm at Church, but I don't and that is that.

Back to Maze. They didn't let us down, and sang all the favorites. The time was ticking on and we knew the evening couldn't end without one particular song, and when the crew rolled on the keyboard to centre stage we knew that time had come......it was Joy and Pain. It's a classic. At the end, we were all singing Joy and and pain, is like sunshine and rain over and over, just like in the live album Live in New Orleans. Sent shivers up the back of my neck it did.

All too soon, the band had completed their set, come back for an encore and the lights were back up. Leg achy and weiry we made our way home, with favorite melodies still ringing in our heads.

Maze sing a song called 'I wanna thank you' I've always been sure it's aimed at God. While I wanna thank God too (cos he made it this way), tonight Frankie Beverly, I wanna thank you, it was well worth the wait.