Rock & Old Over

As a kid I clearly thought my elders were out of their minds. I was too busy trying to be a grown up instead of sitting back and enjoying the days of my youth. I wouldn’t say I wasted those days by any stretch, but it is true…time flies. Getting old is no fun.

Here we are on the cusp of another summer ending. Soon the kiddies will be back to school, and in my neck of the woods the leaves will fall and the snow will fly. The older I get, the more times seems to move in mysterious ways. Without realizing it another tick is gone from the calendar. Getting old is no fun.

Part of the reason I intended to pull back on the whole concert/live music thing was not only because it was becoming more and more expensive, but the sheer number of acts that I had yet to see (or really had any desire to see) was diminishing year after year. Even those that still did hold my fancy were becoming older too. Their calendars work just like mine. Just because they are rocks stars doesn’t excuse them from the ravages of time.

Recently I took a special new friend to a show. Since their “concert experiences” were somewhat limited, I thought this would be a fun outing. The enthusiasm was there so I thought…why not? Journey, Foreigner, and Night Ranger were on the bill. You can’t get more AOR then that right? While none of the bands are among my top greatest artists of all time, I have to admit there is quite a bit from each band that I do enjoy. (Okay maybe not so much Night Ranger, but you get my drift.)

It was fun night. Problem was there was an annoying woman about 20 years past it in front of us that forgot this was 2011. It was no longer 1985. The ravages of time. Getting old is no fun.

David Crosby

Putting this annoyance aside it did beg the question of what is happening (or quite possibly what has already happened) to the rock and roll world. In the age of buying songs piece by piece rather then digesting a band in the old school LP format something has gone amiss. I sat there watching each band take the stage and realized that they are ALL getting old. Sure there were the “replacement” band members in there that injected new blood to the offing, but that isn’t my point.

I have never seen the Temptations or the Four Tops live. To be honest as I write this out I am not even sure if there is a version out there of the Tops anymore anyway. I know these “bands” have morphed into a touring and performing machine where many of the original contributors are long since deceased or retired. So what you are seeing is a performance or mimic of the original gem. It’s a live version of something that is not so “live” anymore. And while I don’t think that those sorts of things are ALL bad ALL the time, I do think it is a bit worrisome to think that soon it will be all a brand name. The good is gone…the label is all that remains. Just look at Kiss, and you will see what I mean, but that is a story for another time.

Grace Slick

Foreigner sounded great. As you know I have been a fan of that band for as long as I have been a rock fan, but only one guy up there is the “real deal”. Plenty of the other members in this new version of the band have credentials, but even they are older too. The original guy is still cranking and sounding great…but he is NO spring chicken.

Paul McCartney will be 70 next year. David Crosby just passed that mark, and who ever thought he would make it that far? Bob Dylan is 70, and Uncle Elton John is in his mid 60’s. Other greats like Ray Manzarek (The Doors) and Grace Slick have already slid past that milestone. Carlos Santana and the boys in Pink Floyd are all up there too. Jagger and Richards are knocking at the door. How much longer will we have these guys to muck around?

I hope the answer is forever. We will through the magic and wonder of the legacy of their recorded music…created for all of us fanatics throughout the years, but it makes you think.

The fact that we still have the ability to talk about these guys anymore is because they were able to create something beyond the nice tidy MP3/4 files that we toss onto a pocket hard drive these days. They made albums. By definition alone this alone means a collection or body of work. It was more then just piecemeal bits or songs here and there. I am far from a technology snob, nor do I hold a grudge against anything more modern than the classic rock set, but if an artist doesn’t have a platform to develop and grow and produce…then they are doomed.

Most selections now come with such a small window of opportunity to have artistic achievement that we rarely see things that last much more then a couple years at best. I mean look at the Jonas Brothers. You couldn’t swing a cat a couple years ago without hearing them referenced somehow, but now they seem so passé. I know pop music always will be…but if a band has a chance to build a foundation for a career…we are more likely going to get great things. Just seems like the law of averages to me.

I love the fact that there is so much to choose from, but I also hate that I have to dig for it. And when I find it…I have to wonder what version I am buying…the super edition or the deluxe mega edition or the collector’s special edition. Ugh. I know I touched on this once before on the old site so allow me to get back to my original point.

If we only have the random tattered bits to choose from when it comes to buying new music…how will we replace all the greats that were are seeing age before our very eyes? I don’t want Sir Paul to pack it in. None of the greats that I mentioned need to do that. Being creative, active, and making people smile with their music is a gift. It is the definition of awesome. There is just something not quite right though.

It’s equal parts wonderful and sad that I noticed so many younger kids at the show. There was a kid that couldn’t have been more than 8 years old a couple rows up from us that was adorned in a huge oversized Journey t-shirt. Foreigner was on stage, and he was singing along and pumping his fist in the air at all the right moments. I’m not sure if it was his mother or not, but the woman next to him was way younger than myself. She gave him a high five. It was very cool to see a little moment like that. The woman didn’t look old enough to recall the first Foreigner album when it was new either; so what does that mean for the guys on stage who are older than me? Times a ticking away people. Nobody is immortal. Not even Charlie Sheen.

I always hold out a glimmer of hope that music will come around again. I have my strong doubts that it will sometimes, but I still hold a candle out there. It’s hard to find sometimes, but it is there. Hope that there will be another great thing that inspires me and sees them carry the torch that started so long ago into the musical future. I hope that in another 30 years when I am as old as Mr. Crosby, that I too am still out there looking to find that little kid clapping his hands and singing along to the tunes of the next generation to come.

But time seems to be running out…don’t you think? Did I mention getting old is no fun?

Bob Dylan