“I’m no angel,” joked the iconic artist and virtuoso guitarist Peter Frampton to a group of fifty fans sitting around him on stage at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Interspersed between powerful performances of his greatest hits, the multi-platinum selling Grammy Award-winning musician and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee told candid personal stories and shared laughs with the crowd for a live taping of the PBS series The Art of Music, exclusively attended by Chase United Cardmembers.
Hosted at The Met after regular visiting hours and absent any museumgoers, the intimate event might’ve been mistaken for a living room jam session had it not been for all the cameras.
Set to air on public television later this year, this latest installment of The Art of Music series focuses on the artist’s musical journey. Cardmembers enjoyed a once-in-a-lifetime listening experience as they sat feet away from Frampton while he was interviewed — by his friend and fellow artist Warren Haynes (previously of the Allman Brothers Band and founding member of Gov’t Mule) — and played his way through the audience’s favorite songs, kicking off the night with the decade-defining anthem “Baby, I Love Your Way.”
Rob Zucker
Frampton traced his love of guitar back to his school days, discussing with Haynes how the massive success of Frampton Comes Alive! in 1976 left him shaken, saying that, “When I found out I had the biggest record in the world, I just felt scared.” He opened up to the crowd about how being seen as a star more than a guitarist left him frustrated, and shared that it was his former classmate and old friend David Bowie who invited Frampton on tour to “reintroduce me to the world as a guitar player.” His pure passion and joy for guitar playing were felt by all later in the evening as he launched into a heartfelt rendition of “Lines on My Face,” backed by Alison Prestwood on bass and Rob Arthur on keyboard.
The lessons in rock & roll history that were so naturally woven into Frampton’s conversation and performance were apt for the venue. The Met’s Musical Instruments collection houses approximately five thousand instruments, ranging from 300 B.C. to the present, which Cardmembers were able to view before the show as they received a private, guided tour led by a museum curator.
Rob Zucker
Before the performance began, attendees mingled on a stunning mezzanine overlooking The Met’s galleries. As they sipped cocktails from the open bar and dined on decadent hors d’oeuvres, like pistachio-crusted lamb and lobster cakes, guests traded concert stories and quickly bonded over their love of ‘70’s music. Several Cardmembers nodded in agreement as one shared they’d grown up listening to albums like Frampton Comes Alive!, so they’d jumped at the chance Chase United offered to see Frampton perform in such a meaningfully intimate setting. While most of the crowd traveled only a few subway stops or a short drive for the event, more than a few attendees traveled all the way from Los Angeles: they were relieved to discover how easy it was to make friends throughout the night, another perk of the well-planned evening.
Before wrapping up his set with his iconic, talkbox-powered number “Do You Feel Like We Do”, Frampton shared with the crowd his excitement over writing and recording new music. “If you’re lucky enough to have a passion,” he said, “you learn that passion reinvents itself.” The crowd left warmed by the spark that Frampton so openly shared — it’s no doubt that everyone left feeling very much alive.
Rob Zucker
Once the show was over, attendees enjoyed champagne and desserts during a casual meet-and-greet and photo opportunity with Frampton. After passing by The Met’s priceless collections of renaissance paintings and ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs as they made their exit, attendees picked up gift bags including an autographed poster to commemorate the night. Any United MileagePlus® Cardmember has the chance to secure tickets for themselves for this kind of all-inclusive event — there’s no minimum spend, it’s just part of being a Cardmember.
Previous shows in The Art of Music series featuring Grammy Award-winning artists Sheryl Crow and Jason Isbell can be viewed by visiting www.youtube.com/@TheArtofMusicTV-cq1ld
To learn more about the one-of-a-kind experiences like this one offered to Chase United Cardmembers — and to view past events — visit unitedcardevents.com
