I’M SEEING A LOT OF ARTICLES ABOUT ROCK AND ROLL BEING JUST FOR THE YOUNG. UH, NO.
I don’t know why the concept of rock and roll being for the young is a thing all of a sudden; I mean, Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney were around 70 yrs of age ten years ago and around 60 years of age twenty years ago, so what’s up with this?
(Yeah, I know…Zeppelin doesn’t tour anymore. But they’re an icon. Come at me…LOL.)
Many of these pundits actually have the gall to say that these old-timers should “exit the stage” gracefully, at least by age 55. WTF is up wid dat? (granddaughter approves of street slang).
Many of these articles decry the fact that oldsters still “get down” with these acts. Well, yeah…we do. I think there’s a giphy of me doing just that out in the ether somewhere…
Many of these “scholarly authorities” face-palm themselves by saying that said oldsters bring their kids and grandkids to concerts. Guilty as charged. And loving it.
Many of these music aficionados bemoan the fact — and it IS a fact — that these acts can’t hit the right notes anymore. Sorry — McCartney and Jagger at 80 sound wayyyy better than Ed “Three-Chord” Sheeran or John “If-I-Hear-“Say”-One-More-Time-At-My-Supermarket-Arrrgh!” Mayer. My grandkids will tell you that in an instant.
Some of my soft diatribe is tongue-in-cheek, some of it isn’t. Semi-serious, at best. However, you have to agree that few groups or acts could write songs as well as The Beatles. No one could bring it like Led Zeppelin. Precious few could rip it like Metallica or Van Halen.
Having said that, there is a lot of talent in today’s and yesterday’s (“post-1960s-to-1980s”) generations. There are some great songwriters and a good number of great musical acts. But there is nothing that you can call “ground-breaking” like the British Invasion of the 1960s or the guitar riffs of the rock gods like Page, Hendrix, Beck or Clapton.
I mean, I love the Foo Fighters and their ilk. But if you listen to the late Millennial and Next-Gen-Whatever “experts,” then the Foo’s should be looking for a retirement home soon.
Hey, there are plenty of occupations to “age out” of — most notably, pro sports and maybe airline pilots and for-gourd-sakes…POLITICIANS, right? But let Mick and the boys keep adding to their bank accounts for crissake. If someone or something else were just as good or better, we’d prolly go see them instead.
I tried to make this argument as nuanced as I could, so I wouldn’t sound like my late Dad (“They all need a haircut”), while I rolled my eyes. Let’s face it: the “golden age” of anything — music, radio, television, Broadway, whatever — usually existed before you were born, and usually comprised of the early years of something. Can’t help it…it’s just the way we are.
Bottom line: maybe if today’s acts — collectively speaking — could bring the power and creativity that the Stones, Jimmy Page, McCartney, Eric Clapton, ad nauseam exhibit year after year…we wouldn’t be having this discussion. We’re not paying these people for “nostalgia” necessarily; we’re paying them for excellence. Even when they can’t hit the high notes anymore.
So just lay back, chill out, bring the family…and enjoy. Us oldsters will be dead soon then you can have the world to yourselves. And thank the gourds I didn’t invoke the name of one T***** S****.
