This is just for Air Supply to Read
My daughters became huge Air Supply fans today. Mission accomplished. 😊
But there's a bigger story here — one that started eleven years ago, in Elk Grove. As Graham told the crowd it had taken 11 years for Air Supply to come back to Elk Grove, I was — at that very moment — leaning over to my girls to say: I was here 11 years ago, and the Air Supply t-shirts you're wearing, I got as gift from Air Supply! That's when I decided to complete this story for the band. So please don't make it public — this is deeply personal & just for the band. Let me unfold it.
2015: At the time, my wife was already in the US with her family, and I was still working in Pakistan, due to join her about a month later, around late August. Then I found out Air Supply was playing this venue. It was about 20 minutes from her place in Chicago — it was now or never! So I flew in early — quit my music production job (and a gig on TV - meh, no regrets) — just to catch what would be my very first Air Supply show. I'd been a fan since forever, ever since my cousin first introduced me to your music.
That night, Graham handed me a couple of t-shirts and a book, and I told him, candidly, that one day I'd bring my daughters here to see the band. Three days later — a full month and a half before they were due — my twin girls arrived, on July 31st. I've thought about this more times than I can count. If that concert, and the love of Air Supply, hadn't pulled me in early, I might not have been here when they came. My wife still jokes that I came for Air Supply, not for her — and honestly, she's right. :)
2026 - 11 Years later
In 2026, we were happily settled in Bellevue, WA, when my wife had a job switch — and just like that, we came down to Chicago, landing 20 minutes from the venue. And no, we're not expecting a 2026 encore of that particular coincidence — two is a handful!
But I kept those t-shirts that Air Supply gifted me all these years. Never once wore them. Today, my girls had their first concert ever — and they walked in wearing those exact shirts. In four days, on the 31st, they turn 11. Full circle, down to the day.
And now I have just one wish left: that they eventually return those shirts to my closet — no ransom, no conditions — so my wife and I can wear them to Air Supply's 60th. Negotiations are ongoing.
The crowd was massive in Elk Grove this time, and the band rocked harder than I remember. The arrangements were insanely brilliant — especially on "A Matter of Time" and a deeply personal one for me — someone who's been away from music for about 11 years. But the bug never sleeps: I'm now recording again, my album, one song at a time - and nights like this are a big part of why.
My kids know every single word to the new album. It's just brilliant, how they can relate to Katy Perry, Taylor Swift etc. now Air Supply — it's in their playlist. Isn't that just proof of how your songs keep hitting across every generation?
Music has a way of stitching moments together across years — a promise made to Graham, two shirts folded away in a drawer, two little girls who weren't even born yet, all meeting on one stage on one perfect night.
To Graham, Russell, Mirko, Doug, Pavel, Kat, Jessika, Cari, and the whole crew — thank you for making today what it was. Cari even waved at my girls, ever so lovingly — and now that they know she writes children's books, guess what's going on their reading list.
It's on my personal blog, just for you guys to read. It's a just big, wide, huge — Thank You!
Old Article & Tweets by Russell in 2015:
