Barely on the other side of the Hudson, deep in the bosom of the picturesque town of Piermont, N.Y., I achieved a brief state of nirvana, landing in the presence of Dean Friedman, who had just played a rare U.S. show — broadcast via satellite on BBC Scotland, no less — at the locally legendary Turning Point. Dean’s “Ariel,” the voracious reader might recall, is theNo. 6 Song of All-Time, meaning he is the highest-ranked TFS (shorthand for Top Five-Hundred Smash) artist with whom I have ever come in contact. I’m guessing he will be the highest-ranked TFS artist with whom I ever come in contact; Don McLean, Paper Lace, Del Amitri and Dexy’s Midnight Runners don’t seem like good bets and Roger Voudouris is no longer with us.
The set was great, his support acts (especially these guys) were terrific and Dean was as nice as could be when I gushed to him about how much I’d looked forward to seeing him and hearing him and, hey, do you remember this baseball blogger e-mailing you this thing about his favorite songs…? It was a bit of a schlep up there by Rockland Coaches bus for Stephanie and me, challenged as we are by highway driving, but well worth the trip to hear “Ariel” and so much more.
All that said, you’ll note the wire peeking out from my shirt pocket. It leads to a radio that I was fingering furtively to grab a score as musicians entered and exited the stage, a radio I was anxious to get back to for an update even as this once-in-a-lifetime interaction came and went too quickly.
The music you love is eternal. The Mets game, however, is on right now.
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