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OT: Never to be seen again . . .


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Over in Mike Molenda's Guardians Of Guitar Forum, there's a link to an article that seems uncomfortably prescient, given the deaths of Eddie Money and Ric Ocasek. It's about the coming death of pretty much anyone and everyone we've ever listened to. It's a little discomfiting to realize that Debbie Harry, for example, is 74.

 

So, what's my point? I've been lucky enough to see most of the artists and groups whose work I've enjoyed, and I regret a few that I'd never gotten to see. As expensive, and aggravating as touring may be, it's one of the few ways for bands to make money anymore. Streaming pays pennies, at best, CD sales have bottomed out for some time, and while vinyl is coming back, it's too little, too late for many.

 

If you really love an artist, or a band, go see them, if you can manage it. Go out and see your friends' bands, or the local band everyone you know is talking about. Just do it, as the commercials say. When we lose one of our favorites, there's no do-over. What's gone is gone, never to be seen again. Don't waste time saying, "Man, I should have . . ." Get out there, go see somebody, go hear some Music, dance your ass off, if you feel like.

 

BTW, the same argument goes double for friends and family. Remember the video for Van Halen's "Right Now", where the little messages came up on the screen, and one said, "Call Your Mother"? Yeah, that.

 

Late edit: Trick of memory, but I just watched that video again for the first time in years, and the line really is "Right Now, Your Parents Miss You." Ah, well . . .

 

"Monsters are real, and Ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win." Stephen King

 

http://www.novparolo.com

 

https://thewinstonpsmithproject.bandcamp.com

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+1,000 If you have some favorites coming to your town, get out there and see them...I remember back in the 70's I had the chance to see Elvis in Lake Tahoe, Ca. as one of my workmates family were from Tennessee and friends with EP. I told him I couldn't go as the wife was sick but I'll catch him next time around. Well, he died in 1977 at the age of 42 so there was no next time around. Don't wait till they are in their 70's or 80's, see them when the opportunity comes to your area. And Call Your Mother...

 

We have a small local venue that gets some big names now and then. I saw Merle Haggard there just before he died and was so glad that I got to see him. I've been trying to see Los Lobos for a couple of years now but by the time I know they are coming, the show is always sold out. This year I got advance notice from the venue and have already got my tickets for the show coming back in January. They are not that old, but I'm not taking any chances! :cool:

 

Take care, Larryz
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I"d go see King Crimson in a heartbeat, but they"re not coming anywhere near me on the announced tour dates so far. I am, however, seeing Rival Sons for the second time come October.

 

...with Mom- AGAIN- I might add. So while I"m not getting to see an older act before they"re gone, I"m continuing to take an older person to see shows while she still can.

Sturgeon's 2nd Law, a.k.a. Sturgeon's Revelation: âNinety percent of everything is crapâ

 

My FLMS- Murphy's Music in Irving, Tx

 

http://murphysmusictx.com/

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I probably live in the worst place in the country for concerts, except maybe Alaska. We have a 45 year old stadium that needs to be demolished. I went to an Eagles concert last year and the concert was great, the facilities not so much. I can understand why no one wants to play there, even the NFL abanded us. We have two 8000 to 10000 seat arenas, but that's not enough to get any name act here. I looked how many concerts have been at the stadium, 16 in 45 years. I have seen some good concerts at the Blue Note this year and I try to catch as many local acts as I can.
Jenny S.
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All the stars of my era, (the hippy years) are passing on regularly. I am old enough to know that death is just a part of the human experience. It does not phase me like it did a few years back.
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...with Mom- AGAIN- I might add. So while I"m not getting to see an older act before they"re gone, I"m continuing to take an older person to see shows while she still can.

 

That's a great thing you're doing for your mom Danny! :thu:

 

Take care, Larryz
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Hey, if Momma ain"t happy, ain"t NOBODY happy! Mom likes some Rock music, and I"m almost the only person in the family who likes Rock & Metal who is also able to help her around the venues. IOW, If I don"t take her, she probably can"t go.

 

Rival Sons has been one of OUR favorite bands since I first heard 'Pressure and Time' from their second album.

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MA0m1K2jW4

 

And each CD since then has stayed in my car"s CD changer until their NEXT release.

 

Well, somehow, she found out about them being on tour a couple of years ago- I was clueless- and asked if I would take her to see them if she bought tickets. My arm did NOT need twisting.

 

Well few weeks ago, she found out Rival Sons" 2019 tour was passing through town in October and asked me again...again with me not hearing the news first. She didn"t even know STP was the other band on the ticket. Or even who STP is.

 

Which, FWIW, is the same scenario that occurred when Slash opened for Aerosmith. She had no clue as to Slash, but had wanted to see Aerosmith for years.

Sturgeon's 2nd Law, a.k.a. Sturgeon's Revelation: âNinety percent of everything is crapâ

 

My FLMS- Murphy's Music in Irving, Tx

 

http://murphysmusictx.com/

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Elizabeth and I were very, very glad to catch Steely Dan live, more or less in their old stomping grounds, to boot; it was a fantastic concert, and Walter Becker was clearly stoked and enjoying himself.

 

Mere months later, we lost him.

 

We were very glad that we saw them when we did.

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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I saw Johnny Winter about a month or so before he died. He was fragile and sat through the whole concert. His voice was frail and his playing was a little rough but every once in awhile he would dish out a few licks that the younger Johnny did on a regular basis. So glad I saw him.
"Let me stand next to your fire!", Jimi Hendrix
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I'm sure this is the article, and it's worth reading and thinking about:

 

The Coming Death of Just About Every Rock Legend

 

Beyond the advanced age of rock legends, it's somewhat about the death of the genre, itself. There are not many new rock "legends" because rock is not the dominant form of popular music, anymore. There's only a handfull of rock artists under 55 whose success has been so massive and sustained in the past 20 years on the mainstream level that they are household names. Most of the grunge-era superstars have checked out early...

 

"Though popular music sales, in general, have plummeted since their peak around the turn of the millennium, certain genres continue to generate commercial excitement: pop, rap, hip-hop, country. But rock â amplified and often distorted electric guitars, bass, drums, melodic if frequently abrasive lead vocals, with songs usually penned exclusively by the members of the band â barely registers on the charts. There are still important rock musicians making music in a range of styles... But these groups often toil in relative obscurity, selling a few thousand records at a time, performing to modest-sized crowds in clubs and theaters."

 

Jazz was once a very prominent form of popular music in America, and to people like my dad it was life... he was pissed that his kids were not singularly focused on it and that we made him buy us KISS and Ramones records, which was braindead trash, comparatively. He never took the death of Jazz very well... American culture went to crap in his mind. I know Jazz is still around, and I live in one of the places where it's still a popular thing, but do any of us expect it to regain prominence on the TOP 40? I mean, Diana Krall might land a hit ballad or something, but...

 

the point of the article is that the deaths of rock legends (who, let's face it, have lasted longer than their bodies should've based on their exploits) hit us hard because they represent the death of a big chunk of culture, and we feel connected to that culture, and subconsciously know that it means we're on the way out, too.

 

Carpe Diem

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Been busy & away for awhile.

 

Haven't checked that post on Molenda's page.

Kinda sounds too morbid.

 

It's a seemingly unalterable fact that at some point our bodies wear out & few in modern times get much past 100.

 

However, I think there's a solution to to concept that "we're losing all our heroes/heroines"

That's too keep apace of new players (or at least new to each of us).

 

Consider if you were a young person tryna make yer way in the world in the hip-happenin- 1960s/70s era

& y' kept encountering ppl who only wanted to hear music from before WW2...

 

I like a lotta older artists from my youth (& before) but I also must say that when I hear ppl talking abt seeing/hearing some oldies act

(or stranger, to me, an imitation of that artist) & citing that as the best, most vital music they've heard

I really do wonder if they actually listen to anything new or that they haven't heard 1000s of times before.

 

If you find renewal in new art the loss of the old is less traumatic.

 

 

 

d=halfnote
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I wanted to see Tom Petty a few years ago but tickets were $450 and neither my GF or any of my friends would pay that much and I had no interest in going alone. Fleetwood Mac is coming shortly but tickets are almost as much plus they no longer have Lindsay Buckingham.

 

I paid $300 for McCartney a month prior and then the day of the concert seats in the same section were selling for $100.

 

I want to see some people before they pass but I'm not paying that much.

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I just went to a website that lets you calculate your life expectancy. I put in 72 years old (about typical for a lot of rockers from the Sixties and Seventies), smoke 1/2 a pack of cigarettes a day, drink 2-7 alcoholic drinks a week, and it showed a life expectancy of 86 years old, with a 75% chance of living to 79. That sounds pretty high to me, but if this is close to accurate, we won't see a lot of Sixties and Seventies rockers dying off for about ten or more years.
I rock; therefore, I am.
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I'm very glad that I caught Stevie Ray Vaughan several times. The second and third times he was merely excellent, but the first time was one of those performances that was transcendent, just channeling from another plane, amazing.

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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There are some shows I've had to pass on because of ticket prices, and others I passed on because they were obvious 'money-grab's", like a certain 80's trio that re-united for an expensive tour not long ago. In online posts from the band, you could read about the disrespect and infighting that made it obvious these guys were only putting up with one another for the money. Why would I pay to see or support that?

 

OTOH, there are still affordable shows out there. My SIL recently saw an ad for the Psychedelic Furs, at a venue not far from where I live, and the tickets were under $40. It was a great show, too.

"Monsters are real, and Ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win." Stephen King

 

http://www.novparolo.com

 

https://thewinstonpsmithproject.bandcamp.com

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Welcome Aboard PrairieGuy! :thu:

Thanks...although I was here several years ago with a different name and email address that I've long since forgotten.

 

I got to see Fleetwood Mac before they fired Lindsey Buckingham, and was so glad I did...+1 ticket prices are getting out of hand these days.

Ticket prices are only part of it...at some point it's no longer the original band or they no longer have the chops. A friend's wife went to see Foreigner and loved them but she had no idea that the only original member left was Mick Jones. And due to his health he sometimes doesn't play with them. So, you're really paying to see a cover band...albeit a very good one. That being said, Kelly Hansen does a great job with the vocals.

 

 

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Ticket prices are only part of it...at some point it's no longer the original band or they no longer have the chops. A friend's wife went to see Foreigner and loved them but she had no idea that the only original member left was Mick Jones. And due to his health he sometimes doesn't play with them. So, you're really paying to see a cover band...albeit a very good one. That being said, Kelly Hansen does a great job with the vocals.

 

 

There was a big Prog Festival up in Baltimore this Summer, and Asia was among the bands headlining? Asia, without John Wetton? That was just one instance, as several of the bands listed were mere shells of the originals, with one or two founding members.

 

Kind of like what happened with a lot of the Doo-Wop groups from the 50's, where some manager owned the name, so you could still go see The Coasters, or The Drifters on tour long after the founding members had retired or died.

"Monsters are real, and Ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win." Stephen King

 

http://www.novparolo.com

 

https://thewinstonpsmithproject.bandcamp.com

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There was a big Prog Festival up in Baltimore this Summer, and Asia was among the bands headlining? Asia, without John Wetton? That was just one instance, as several of the bands listed were mere shells of the originals, with one or two founding members.

 

Like this year's Soft Machine tour. No founding members, but people who had been in the last extant incarnation of the band from the 90s.

 

Scott Fraser
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I just went to a website that lets you calculate your life expectancy. I put in 72 years old (about typical for a lot of rockers from the Sixties and Seventies), smoke 1/2 a pack of cigarettes a day, drink 2-7 alcoholic drinks a week, and it showed a life expectancy of 86 years old, with a 75% chance of living to 79. That sounds pretty high to me, but if this is close to accurate, we won't see a lot of Sixties and Seventies rockers dying off for about ten or more years.

 

Well, aside from entertainment value... I mean, you might as well use a Magic 8 Ball for tax advice...

 

but let's not steer this in morbidity territory. Every day past your 70th birthday is a gift to be thankful for... I have a few health-conscious athlete friends who haven't lived to be 40.

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Welcome Aboard PrairieGuy! :thu:

Thanks...although I was here several years ago with a different name and email address that I've long since forgotten.

 

I got to see Fleetwood Mac before they fired Lindsey Buckingham, and was so glad I did...+1 ticket prices are getting out of hand these days.

Ticket prices are only part of it...at some point it's no longer the original band or they no longer have the chops. A friend's wife went to see Foreigner and loved them but she had no idea that the only original member left was Mick Jones. And due to his health he sometimes doesn't play with them. So, you're really paying to see a cover band...albeit a very good one. That being said, Kelly Hansen does a great job with the vocals.

 

 

OK so Welcome Back PG!

 

I was invited to see CCR at a Casino with some old buds a few years ago. There were a couple of original CCR members but no John Fogertyâ¦.I declined the invite as seeing CCR without Fogerty would be like seeing the Stones without Jagger.

 

+1 on those Doo-wop groups Winston...they keep the names of those groups without the original members alive somehow LOL!

Take care, Larryz
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Welcome Aboard PrairieGuy! :thu:

Thanks...although I was here several years ago with a different name and email address that I've long since forgotten.

 

I got to see Fleetwood Mac before they fired Lindsey Buckingham, and was so glad I did...+1 ticket prices are getting out of hand these days.

Ticket prices are only part of it...at some point it's no longer the original band or they no longer have the chops. A friend's wife went to see Foreigner and loved them but she had no idea that the only original member left was Mick Jones. And due to his health he sometimes doesn't play with them. So, you're really paying to see a cover band...albeit a very good one. That being said, Kelly Hansen does a great job with the vocals.

 

 

OK so Welcome Back PG!

 

I was invited to see CCR at a Casino with some old buds a few years ago. There were a couple of original CCR members but no John Fogertyâ¦.I declined the invite as seeing CCR without Fogerty would be like seeing the Stones without Jagger.

 

+1 on those Doo-wop groups Winston...they keep the names of those groups without the original members alive somehow LOL!

 

I saw Creedence Clearwater Revisited at a festival in Atlanta in the late 90s... the lead guitarist in the band at that time was... Elliot Easton, from The Cars!!!!! That might seem strange, but I remember reading an interview with him in GP in the early days of The Cars and he talked about how CCR was his favorite band and that and surf music was what he'd played in bar bands before ending up in bands with Ric Ocasek.

 

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John Fogerty isn't CCR but he was the heart and soul of the band...he wrote most of the songs (wrote all the good ones), was the lead vocalist and the lead guitarist, so I'd pay to see John Fogerty before spending a dime to see the other members of CCR.

 

I saw Pink Floyd many years ago...they had everyone except Roger Waters. So they were missing one key member but had 3/4 of the other members.

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I hope to see John Fogerty one of these days if he ever comes to my area next year...He's definitely on my bucket list. I have a DVD of his "The Long Road Home" which I highly recommend. All of his CCR hits are on it with him doing all of the original guitar leads...he can get by exceptionally well without the other 3 (or should I say 2...as the original bass player is in the mix with the rest of the players). I still love their old albums. They were a California local San Francisco Bay Area 4 piece garage band that made it big back in my high school days, and are still one of my all-time favorites! :cool:

 

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkqjNBfAmA8

 

:cool:

Take care, Larryz
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For those of us who grew up listening to popular music in the 60s and 70s, this is becoming a brutal time. The irony is that we lost so many artists when they were still young. We all know who they were. In the meantime, many of them have hung on and have continued to excell. The music is still there to listen to, that's the most important thing. For those of us who are approaching old age, we can still rock on in our own way. I love many different forms of music, not just the popular music of my generation. I love classical music for example, but my heart is with the music I grew up with. It's not rocket science. So as the legends of my popular music era die off, so be it. Their music is still in the wind as long as I live.
"Let me stand next to your fire!", Jimi Hendrix
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