Brian May and Rick Wakeman perform at the Sonic Universe Concert. // David J. Eicher
On the fifth day of Starmus, Friday, September 26, the speakers and other invited guests wrapped up our overnight stay on La Palma, at the Gran Telescopio Canarias, having participated in the GTC round-table discussion the night before. We explored the many telescopes on the mountain, with the summit unfortunately surrounded in some fog, and then proceded back to the airport to fly back to Tenerife.
After arriving in mid-afternoon, we checked back into the Abama Resort, changed and readied ourselves, went downstairs and linked up with some friends, and had a couple drinks, caught up with emails, and so on. Then we jumped into another bus and headed to the Magma Arte & Congresos, a large arena, to see one of the highlights of the week, the Sonic Universe concert. At around 9 p.m., Rick Wakeman and his band took the stage and for two hours blasted the Starmus delegates and many locals who also came for the show with some amazing rock and roll. The band was intermittently joined by Brian May, who played along with several songs, including a Brighton Rock style guitar solo jam with his famous Red Special. He also grabbed a 16-string acoustic and entertained the crowd with a rousing rendition of the celebrated Queen song “‘39,” a sci-fi romp about time dilation from general relativity theory.
It was an incredible, unforgettable, and amazing night of rock and roll!
My wife, Lynda, and I were fortunate to be seated in the front row, between Stephen Hawking and Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke and his wife, Dorothy.
Wow. My ears are still ringing a bit as I write this, and I am just blown away. What a magical crossroads of science and the arts tonight — a night that will never be forgotten!
For all images from this trip, visit the Online Reader Gallery.
For related blogs, see:
Starmus begins with Wilson, Eicher, Dawkins, and Harvati
Starmus Day 2: Hawking, May, 51 Degrees North film
Starmus Day 3: Book signing, Duke, Kroto, Cunningham, Ellis
Starmus Day 4: 108-minute round table at the world's largest telescope