What a relief, the 80s are back
The merest whiff of recession defying commerce had me jetting off to Dubai recently. It was over a weekend so we decided to go as a family, but without the kids. Even better, just the two of us. The business opportunity was a wild goose chase, but I’ll clutch at any straw these days. The trip did, however, present a brief opportunity to relive my youth at a popular music event hosted by talented skiffle troupe, Chris Martin and The Coldplays.
I hadn’t been to a gig, as they’re known, for about 20 years. On the flight over I read with interest that the eighties era is undergoing a bit of a revival in the UK. Tip top news for old gits like me, but not without its potential disadvantages. No one’s keen to see an IRA reunion take further hold for instance, but Spandau Ballet are an altogether more harmless proposition.
“Those were my Salad Days, slowly being eaten away,” they chorused in their 1983 hit ‘Gold’. What cracking foresight of the lady’s blouse and kilt wearing Kemp brothers. It would become the perfect title for a future Best of CD and reunion tour a quarter of a century on.
Little did they realise, 15 years after first releasing it though that Gordon Brown would sell over half Britain’s gold reserves at rock bottom prices. The price has more than trebled since. For that one act alone he would never have worked in private industry again. If you need some direction as to surviving the gloom watch Gordon and then do the opposite. With the recent G20 meeting he was at it again, calling on the IMF to sell tons of gold to help the poor. All very noble, but little more than rhetoric. Such a sale would need consensus agreement from 185 countries as well as US Congress. However, the message is loud and clear. Britain’s unelected Prime Minster and worst Chancellor in the nation’s history thinks it’s time to sell gold. Hmm, I’d be inclined to buy it.
Then watch the price rise as we listen to nostalgic sounds of a new romantic yesteryear. Spandau are not the only ones hitting the road again. The Human League are doing the same as are the Police, Blur and Take That. A whole generation gets a chance to rekindle memories while middle-aged rockers pad their pension funds.
Meanwhile Coldplay are youngsters in the here and now. Their cleverly structured product is marketed to appeal through the generations. I definitely wasn’t the oldest at their Abu Dhabi show. The Viva la Vida tour sees them at the pinnacle of their creativity and incorporates the genius of Brian Eno’s production. This gig was a late addition and a fee of $2M for a couple of hour’s guitar twanging must have helped persuade them.
And fair play to the lads, they give a hefty chunk of their earnings to charity. Soon they’re going to start arguing and take time off for daft solo projects. Now’s the time to see them.
They staged a fantastic show in the grounds of Abu Dhabi’s seven-starred Emirates Palace Hotel. It wasn’t even spoiled by the weather which lent a dramatic lightening storm backdrop. The rain was torrential, the worst in the region for nearly 40 years. Within the first five minutes I was completely drenched, but who cares when you’re 18?
We stayed at Sol Kerzner’s new Atlantis Hotel on Palm Jumeirah. Driving down the Palm at night in a taxi it was remarkable how dead everything was. There was the odd light on in the blocks of apartments but otherwise the place was deserted. The credit crunch has hit Dubai big time.
I remember Palm apartments being offered off-plan years ago when the vision was on the drawing board. Then I couldn’t imagine the project ever completing, or the properties being worth that much. They did, and the prices multiplied in value fivefold. Now they’re plummeting back down again. That’s if they could sell them, which they can’t. Modern Dubai was built fast on borrowed money using third world ‘guest workers’. Its leadership is resourceful, but their model’s going to be severely tested in the coming months and years.
Even here in Cyprus the good old days are becoming a distant memory. Who knows when they’ll return? While we’re waiting any nostalgia and popular entertainment presents some welcome light relief. Whatever happens, I know this much is true (hoo-hoo).
