Long Live Rock, The Nineties, Part III

Hothouse Flowers / Ziggy Marley and the Wailers / Midnight Oil (1993, Cleveland)

A triple bill. An absurdly mismatched triple bill. I went for Hothouse Flowers, Wendy went for Midnight Oil. We both grooved to the Wailers, although reggae really wasn’t my thing back then. I guess it still isn’t. Peter Garrett was huge. At least two heads taller than anybody else on stage. He’s in the Australian Parliament now. He’s probably the tallest man in the room whenever they meet. That’s got to count for something, in rock and politics both. Bono on the other hand is short, I think, probably too short for a serious career in electoral politics. I guess you can still try to save the world, even when you’re short, if you operate outside of elected positions.

    But in 1993, Garrett was still a rock singer, and Bono, I don’t even know why I’m talking about him.