David:
The problem with that hope is that they weren't playing anything that year that brought the house down ... except perhaps for Stand Back. And who the hell wants to hear that again?
Think BIG man. This was a one-nighter for posterity's sake. If they could do it the year before for The Dance, they sure as hell could muster the guns and requisite moxy for HOF. If not the BN outfit are bigger saps than I thought.
David:
I have a strong hunch Peter was asked whether he wanted to join the current band for a performance, & that he (I hope politely) declined.
Well considering he brushed off Lindsey backstage like he wasn't there, I suspect if anything he didn't approve of the banjo & tambourine dog-n-pony show he witnessed as representative of the band he founded. Now I could be wrong -- but something tells me....
BTW after I first posted, and before I saw your rejoinder, I realized I conveniently overlooked the ace in the whole for Albatross, to cover any deficit that may have stemmed from Peter's possible reluctance to engage - Jeremy! But over and beyond that, creative approaches and thinking should have been the hallmark of the night. I could see mixing and matching ANY of the FM personnel in the performances -- whatever it would take to create truly memorable fireworks.
David:
But didn't The Chain suck that year? It was lethargic & croaky, wasn't it?
We're talking for the ages, not the year.
Think BIG. [Revisit my first response above]
David:
What's so uncool about the banjo? How many superficial rock stars can roll the banjo at speed?
Noooooo! Don't even go there. A lot of us still have images of banjos playing in our heads from days long passed and thankfully forgotten, ones hopefully not to be revisited any time soon. [For anyone in the dark, fire up The Derelict from Penguin (1973) -- Dave W, forgive me mate, but it just didn't fit]