Photos and Review by Jeff Palmucci
Show photos HERE
Soon I’ll be sixty years old, my daddy got sixty-one
Remember life and then your life becomes a better one
— 7 Years
That line is from Lukas Graham’s hit song, 7 Years. The song is a poignant ode to the passage of life, starting at young childhood and winding through to later life.
The first time I heard that lyric above, I completely lost it. I was bawling like a little kid. At the time I was 48 years old, and my own father died at 49. A ton of different thoughts were flashing through my mind: That was so incredibly young. He missed out on so much of life. He never got to see his grandchildren, and would have loved them so much. Will I ever get to meet my own grandchildren?
Sorry to get so dark, but I wanted to explain what happened at his House of Blues show last Sunday. For the first time in a long time, my wife came with me to the show, along with a friend (Helen) from out of town. My wife is not a fan of my regular music fare, but likes Lukas Graham a lot.
So it’s the end of the show, final encore, and they start up the home movie reel effect that you can hear at the beginning of 7 Years. To this day, I still get choked up when I hear this song. I really didn’t want to act like a goof in front of my wife and our friend. It’s embarrassing!
As the song plays, sure enough I start to tear up. I try to discretely wipe my eyes so no one will notice. I look over at my wife, and she has completely lost it. I mean bad. Worse than I ever did. I guess we are both emotional saps. I have no idea what was going through Helen’s mind at the time, but it couldn’t have been flattering.
The show at the House of Blues was sold out that night, packed to the rafters. I don’t usually see the third level full, but it was tonight. Lead vocalist Lukas Graham Forchhammer, was pretty engaging with the crowd, telling backstories and interacting with the crowd. He talked about his own father during the intro to You’re Not There, a song about working through his own feelings on the issue. Playing to the Boston crowd, he talked about the family in Newton he had to crash with after losing important contact information.
The crowd was pretty psyched up and enthusiastic throughout the show. A loud cheer went out when they started to play the fun Mama Said.
A great night of music. I recommend you check them out. Who knows, I may see you there. I’ll be the old guy in the corner crying like an idiot.