Nobody bolts fenders onto Buicks in Detroit and nobody has for years. Decades. I can't remember the last time anyone asked me, "Floor, please?" as I stepped into an elevator. I pump my own gas and you do, too.
We still identify with some occupation. Most of us do.
Greed and technology combined to kill most professions. In the case of rock'n'roll it has been both with assistance from old age. The Beatles quit touring in 1966 because it was no fun playing in baseball stadiums where they couldn't hear themselves.
Mr. Jagger, who studied at the London School of Economics, continues to cavort with his old friends at arenas and stadiums. His old friends are really old. An audience of a certain age pays ridiculous sums to see them before they croak. Somehow it makes them feel younger.
No-one has referred to his little combo as the Rolling Stones in years. They've just been the "Stones" for decades now.
Oh, wait- I do. Of course Ricky Nelson will always be Ricky Nelson for me.
I'm no luddite. I embrace the technology that makes my life better. I never wanted to see my rock'n'roll in a stadium. I don't even want to see sports in a stadium.
Of course I like to think that I'm not greedy, either. I never studied economics anywhere. I'll gladly play you my rock'n'roll in the living room.
I never thought the stadium approach allowed me to feel like I'd actually seen someone - god knows what paying $100 to sit in a hockey rink and watch a performance on a huge tv must feel like. I liked going to the Main Point in Bryn Mawr, close to where I lived - every seat was in 20 feet of the stage. I missed Richard and Mimi Farina because it snowed, but I saw a hell of a lotta good people there. Rick Nelson too.
ReplyDelete