'Me and Twitter.' She shouts back.
'God... this is amazing.'
She smiles. It is the same smile as from that first meeting at Strathconas, the only difference the appearance of one or two laughter lines. True to her Italian roots, she has aged graciously and remains as attractive as ever. After Christmas Day 1972, being together was such a natural thing. A few days after my twenty-first birthday, we married, and thirty-seven years later, well here we are. I am so glad that ours was a love that was to endure.
The rock and roll medley ends in a flourish to great acclaim. I reflect that it’s still the best music for getting a crowd on their feet.
'You are too kind Liverpool. I can't tell you how special this is for me.'
Matt acknowledges the cheers from the crowd.
'And let's hear it for the great Jimmy Jet.'
Ged gets a generous response as he leaves the stage.
'OK guys, I have one more song to do. It is my new single, which is available to download from tomorrow.'
I again turn to Sofia. 'I didn't know about any single.'
She waves away my comment.
'The song has had something of a long gestation. It was written forty years ago on a stormy night in North Wales with only an acoustic guitar, a betting slip, and a pen as props.'
I am dumbfounded. I feel Sofia's hand embrace mine.
'It is a love song and a special love song, because it is about my mum, and it was written by my dad. Ladies and Gentlemen, I dedicate this song to Tom and Sofia Kellaway, my mum and dad, over there in the lower tier. The song is called 'Sofia.'
Matt starts playing and his performance is beautiful, full of tenderness and restrained emotion. I am not an overly sentimental person, but I can feel a lump in my throat, and my eyes are watery. It was only a few weeks ago that I recorded a version of the song in Tom's home studio. He had liked it, but I never expected this. To my right I see that Sofia is dabbing away a tear, and I hold her hand a little tighter. To my left, Julian gives me the old Paul McCartney thumbs-up and a pat on the shoulder. This is an unreal moment for me, to hear this song in such a wonderful context and played so brilliantly in front of thousands of people. The melody line is transporting me back to the emotions of that summer evening when the unobtainable Sofia had inspired me to write the song that was my first proper composition and was destined to be my best.
Matt's performance elicits an ovation from the crowd worthy of his efforts. He acknowledges the response, looks up to our seats, and points a clenched fist in our direction. I feel so proud. Matt has played a wonderful set, and finishing with the Sofia song has hit the perfect note for me. We are all standing and clapping, Sofia and Julian waving in return at Matt. However, my own distractions are kicking in.
I feel a single tear travelling down my right cheek, as a dream-like state slowly absorbs my conscious being. I can still hear the applause. I can still hear the cheering. I can still hear the foot stomps. Yet I now see the crowd out in front of me. The year is 1972, and I am standing on the stage of the Liverpool Stadium, taking a bow. I acknowledge those to the left. I acknowledge those in the centre, and I acknowledge those to the right. I turn to leave the stage with the roars and cries of the crowd crackling within my head from ear to ear. I now have my back to the audience and stand still. I hold both hands up in the air at a forty-five degree angle, fingers outstretched. I then tilt my head downwards. There is one last blast of adulation from the people before I leave the stage.
Who would have thought it? Caroline was wrong. After all these years, the Liverpool Stadium dream has finally come true.
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If you want to hear a demo of the song Sofia, please visit
https://www.chimpsindung.co.uk/the-drummers-tale.html
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About the author:
Chris Whitfield is an accountant with a sense of humour, which most people consider a contradiction. He lives on the Wirral with his wife and two bitches. That's a Border Terrier and a Cockapoo, in case you're thinking he's living the life of an African tribe leader who believes he's a gangsta rapper. Chris has three grown up children but has never quite managed to grow up himself.
At the age of eighteen, Chris was often mistaken for pop idol, Donny Osmond. Nearly four decades on and ravaged by time, the best he can now do in the look-a-like stakes is Richard Osman from BBC TV's Pointless. Osmond to Osman, how the mighty fall.
Chris has published three books, Chimpanzees in Dungarees, Balls! and his first novel, The Drummer's Tale. Many are asking for how much longer can this go on?
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Other free e-books by Chris Whitfield:
CHIMPANZEES IN DUNGAREES
When did you last see a Chimpanzee in Dungarees? Laughing at a Sexist, Racist and Homophobic Comedian? Holding a Baby Called Keith? Sitting next to a Newly Wed Virgin? Eating a Meat Paste sandwich and drinking a pint of Mild? And how long is it since you went to a Tupperware Party? Attended by a member of the Deferential Working Class, a Football Maverick, Bus Conductor and Streetwise Dog? And have you recently seen anyone in a Woollen Balaclava? Wearing a Shellsuit? In a Reliant Robin? With a Pools Coupon Collector and Spinster wearing an 18 Hour Girdle in the back?
Fashions come and go, technology advances, social acceptabilities change and gender roles shift. There are so many reasons why something can be everywhere one day and on the slippery slope to oblivion the next. Chimpanzees in Dungarees has more than ninety such disappearing things in the categories of advancement, children, class struggles, commerce, fashion, female emancipation, food and drink, football, natural causes, social acceptability, the state, vehicles and the future. Part satire, part nostalgia, part autobiography, part social commentary, this book has been written with one sole objective. To take the proverbial and have a laugh… or is that two objectives?
For more information, please visit https://www.chimpsindung.co.uk/chimpanzees-in-dungarees.html
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BALLS! The Best European Football Nations
BALLS! is an irreverent and informative look at the history of the sixteen teams that played at the 2012 UEFA European Football Championships in Poland and Ukraine. Discover why England fans are always disappointed. Why you can never write off the Germans. How a ginger pube makes you Irish. Why the Italians tolerate match-fixing. How a Civil War made Spain great. Why Russia turned up two weeks late for their early internationals. How the goals of a striker called Ruth took Portugal to their first World Cup. Why being a Pisces is bad news in France. How the Netherlands went from Total Pants to Total Football in less than ten years. Why UEFA regretted asking Ukraine to host Euro 2012. How a clown helped Poland to the top of the World in the 70s. What Croatia has in common with early 90s pop culture. Why the future for Greece is the kebab. How Hitler helped the Swedes at the 1938 World Cup. What happened when the Danes started to pay their footballers. How the Czechs won a tournament that lasted seven years. And how FIFA and UEFA constantly fiddle with the formats of their tournaments. It is a journey of more than one hundred years across Europe and the World that takes in the sights of glory, humiliation, success, failure, politics, war, nationalism, internationalism, visionaries, parochialism, corruption, gamesmanship, racism, multiculturalism, the gifted, the not so gifted, and pies. If you like football, you will love this book. It is complete and utter Balls!
For more information, please visit https://www.chimpsindung.co.uk/balls.html
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