And here's the winning essay :

My favourite love gig is the only love gig I had the pleasure & the 
privilege to attend. That was in Athens back in 2002. I was 42 at the 
time and love was supporting porcupine tree. I went there in a big 
space like a warehouse with my friend Antonis a music documentary 
director in his thirties and dragged along my then 13 year old son 
Menis who didn't feel like watching some old rockers but wanted to go 
to a rock concert. We were late, bought tickets at the entrance and 
walked a long alley to the distant sounds of 7 & 7 is... Then we 
entered the place which was packed; somehow we managed  to remain at 
a distance that was OK. Then we couldn't believe it. The band seemed 
so young and Arthur sang so beautiful and powerful, we thought he 
wasn't the real Arthur Lee but a  younger person personifying him:  
that is we couldn't believe a man his age could be so youthfull and 
energetic. the band was fantastic too. Their version of signed DC 
still raises my hair. My son just couldn't believe Arthur's 
performance; he became a love-fan ever since. When he sang the words  
"freedom", he tore the place down. What a show! What I loved was that 
here we were three persons form three different generations enjoying 
music originally written in the sixties, sounding better than ever.  
Love returned a year later with the string ensemble to perform 
"forever changes" in a small club this time (Rodon), but I was 
shooting a movie-I'm a cinematographer- and was too tired to go to a 
late night gig. Of course the next days I regretted it deeply. It was 
fun though to read Mike R.'s diaries from the Greek island of 
Angistri and to find that the band enjoyed their time in our country. 
Later I had the pleasure of purchasing the "f. changes concert" on cd 
and it somehow covered up what I missed. Back to that concert though. 
Of course we didn't stay for the "porcupine tree",  the headliners. 
Love's show was too much;  we wanted to take it in and keep it inside 
to savour it.  I'm a film person and had the pleasure to learn my 
craft in LA at AFI. That was back in 1990. There I bought my first CD 
player and first thing I did was to get the first three love records 
as they first appeared on cds. I haven't had the chance to catch many 
live acts in my lifetime but here' s some bands I had the pleasure of 
watching and listening to live: Mink de Ville in London 1977 
supporting doctor Feelgood, Tom Verlaine live in NY 1981(playing 
"wild thing"  as an encore,  James Chance at the peppermint  lounge 
in NY-1981, Miles Davies in Athens-1984, The Pogues with Joe Strummer 
in LA-1991 and a rare reunion of the original Blasters at King-King, 
on an early afternoon benefit gig in LA 1992.  Also a reunion gig by 
the Television at UCLA in 1992.  Those were my favourite live gigs.  
None of those matches the performance I enjoyed in Athens with Arthur 
& Love. His vocal range was so "mature", the versions of  the songs 
sounding so fresh. If only I could place a "request"  so many years 
later,  that could be one of our favourite Arthur's songs here in 
Greece in between "love-connoisseurs",  that would be "love saga", 
from Arthur's 1992 record also known in europe as "five string 
serenade"...  I'm  inserting  it on to my mac right now:  the slow 
blues intro with Arthu's howl,  then  his unique reciting-singing  
"... people say I'm crazy... there'll  come  a time when everything 
will change....",  then the beautiful harp part and then the words 
"... some people cry while others  die ..."

I only regret that I never had the chance to meet the man, both in 
his city or mine.

Thank you for the opportunity  to write this.

 From Athens-Greece,

Dmitris Th.