Thread: When are old rockers too old to rock?

Originally Posted by genghis61

I don't think anyone's going to miss me."

correct

Santana seems to be better than ever.

from Australia - the 2011 Byron Bay Bluesfest has a good mix of musicians

some older acts including:

ZZ Top
Los Lobos
BB King
Grace Jones
Toots and the Maytals
Little Feat

and some newer ones I'd like to see:

Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Band
Robert Randolph & The Family Band

-both these are on the 2010 Crossroads DVD with Eric Clapton

Full artist list here

Neil Young and Tom Petty still sound great. The Stones have not sounded great for the past 15 years or so. Mark Knopfler is still good - check out his duet with Emmy Lou Harris - it is not rock but it's great music.

Santana in Auckland
21/03/2011



It took Carlos Santana 20 minutes to utter his first words in this Auckland concert but they were sincere and flattering as he appraised his surroundings.

"Pristine," he said of New Zealand's glorious landscape. "Absolutely pristine."

He could have been talking of his own band, such was the sensational first stanza of a two-and-a-half hour extravaganza.

He'd started appropriately with Open Invitation and slipped through the classics Black Magic Woman and Oyo Como Va before producing a thunderous rendition of AC/DC's Back In Black.

After his brief breather to endorse New Zealand's "elegance and integrity" he took a tour through more old hits like Evil Ways but also the big numbers of his massive - and not so old - Supernatural album with Maria Maria, Da Le Yaleo and Smooth standouts with their beaty rhythms.

The 63-year-old Santana remains a huge musical force with his Latin influence crossing the borders for popularity.

A guitar genius, his skills were evident all night - some of his handwork was astonishing. But he was also happy to take a back seat - and why not when he has the backing of such a slick band.

There were nine of them at various stages, producing a huge sound and a smorgasbord of action for they eye, helped by some superb video work on the big screen.

The percussion division were outstanding, held together by the gum-chewing, bubble-blowing "Dr" Dennis Chambers on drums but with Karl Perazzo's stick-work the driving force in his frequent duels with Santana's guitar.

There was even a cameo from Carlos' new wife Cindy Blackman on the drums. She came on mid-show and thrilled in a funky combination with bassist Benny Reitveld. But she was soon left to her own devices, thumping the skins in a five-minute solo that received a rapturous standing ovation.

ZZTop still touring, in Hamilton, New Zealand for a round of the Australian V8 Supercars



Bearded rockers ZZ Top hit H-Town
17/04/2011
It was a bourbon-fuelled, bearded bonanza last night as ZZ Top rocked Seddon Park.

Racing fans were treated to an hour-long set by the American rock band which included all the classics with a few sneaky references to New Zealand.

Dylan wows the crowd at West Coast Blues 'n' Roots

The phrase "on for young and old" was probably coined for the West Coast Blues 'n' Roots festival.
A 20,000-strong crowd of kids, grandparents and everyone in between enjoyed performances from 25-year-old debutant Megan Washington to acts that have been making music for half a century, like Bob Dylan, Mavis Staples and the Blind Boys of Alabama at Fremantle Park yesterday.
A veritable spring chicken at 56, singer-songwriter Elvis Costello and his long-time band the Imposters defied a sultry afternoon to rock out, finishing with the Nick Lowe classic (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding.
While most punters were there to see rock legend Dylan, who turns 70 next month, a healthy crowd arrived in time to catch Costello on the main stage, and then blind indigenous superstar Gurrumul Yunupingu in the big top.
A more obvious hit was Michael Franti, who has been a regular visitor to Fremantle since his old hip-hop band, the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, toured in 1992.

Bob Dylan plays first ever Vietnam show to half-empty venue
Half the tickets for 8,000-seat venue went unsold as Dylan's setlist was vetted by government officials

Sean Michaels
guardian.co.uk, Monday 11 April 2011 13.47 BST


Half of the tickets for Bob Dylan's concert in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City went unsold, accoirding to reports. Photograph: Le Quang Nhat/AP

Bob Dylan played his first ever concert in Vietnam on Sunday, following two unprovocative gigs in China. Four decades after his songs became anthems for America's anti-Vietnam war movement, the folk legend appeared at a half-empty venue in Ho Chi Minh City.

Dylan was making his first visit to the city once known as Saigon, performing at the 8,000-seat RMIT University. Although thousands of locals and ex-pats bought tickets for the concert, around half the tickets went unsold, according to the Associated Press. The singer is not well known among Vietnamese youth, the BBC reports, and half of the country's 87 million people are under 30.

As in China, where Dylan appeared in Beijing and Shanghai last week, the 69-year-old had to vet his setlist with government officials. Vietnam's communist government does not often welcome major western acts, and maintains stringent controls over what music they perform. But though promoter Rod Quinton said no restrictions had been imposed, the songs Dylan chose were hardly controversial. Despite a handful of 60s classics, such as All Along the Watchtower and Highway 61 Revisited, there was no sign of Blowin' in the Wind or The Times They Are a-Changin', and Dylan's setlist leaned heavily on recent tunes. He closed the show with a rendition of 1974's Forever Young.

To the consternation of human rights groups, Dylan has refused to address political issues since arriving in Asia. "[He] should be ashamed of himself," said Brad Adams, executive director of the US wing of Human Rights Watch. "[Dylan] has a historic chance to communicate a message of freedom and hope, but instead he is allowing censors to choose his playlist."

***********************

a lengthy concert review in the Bangkok Post yesterday - just one quote

Ticket prices of US$50 [1,500 baht], general, and $120, VIP, didn't help). Of the 4,000-plus in attendance, the majority were Westerners _ a mix of young backpackers and those of Dylan's vintage.

If they're having fun, and people are having fun listening to them, then what's the harm? I agree with those that said to be a complete performer, thet should be doing new stuff as well, even if it's never going to be appreciated as much as the classics.

Although obviously not on the same level as the likes of Dylan and others, I still go and see Dennis Locorriere, of Dr Hook and the Medicine Show, if I'm in the Uk at the same time he's touring. He's my favourite performer of all time. His voice is identical to what it was in the 70's and he still churns out some OK albums. He still makes a room full of people very happy, and that's what it's all about, so why shouldn't they carry on for ever?

The reason that many of us think old fart rockers are a bit strange is that there were no old fart rockers when we were young- I mean rock music only got going in the late 60's, leading to the big band/ heavy rock era in the 70's. Folk & softer pop a bit earlier.

Before that, sure there were old Blues players, there were 1950's era 'rock n rollers'- Chuck Berry, Bill Halley & so on. That sort of stuff and jazz is what the old stagers were playing back then. There was no rock music when they were around doing their original stuff- that came later. So the young rock musicians then, when I was in my teens, are the old farts now- Jagger, Robert Plant etc, those that are still going and didn't choke on their own vomit that is. They sure weren't dinosaurs when we were in our teens and 20's.

It's 40 years on from the early 70's now- when Zep, Floyd, Sabbath, the Stones etc were big. Forty years before that was the 1930's- jeez, none of us teens then would listen to that sort of stuff in public. So i guess it's a credit to the rock era that people of all ages are out there still listen to it, and there are still some old of the dinosaurs pushing it out.

Leon Russell, Powerstation, Auckland, New Zealand
Concert 21 April 2011

Because we know keyboard players do their work sitting down, few would have been worried when Leon Russell - 69, walking with a cane - was gently guided to his seat at his electric keyboard.

The second he hit the opening chords of Delta Lady any doubts were assuaged. Certainly he took a backseat on Let the Good Time Roll (bassist Jackie Wessel stepping up) and allowed guitarist Chris Simmons an excellent solo spot on Robert Johnson's Kind Hearted Woman Blues, but otherwise Russell was a human jukebox powering through gospel-inspired rhythm and blues.

And although he made pit-stops in his own catalogue (Lady Blue, the lovely Back to the Island unfortunately demolished by thumping drumming, a gorgeous solo A Song For You and Tightrope among them), he and his young band rocked through Jimmy Reed's Baby What's On Your Mind; gave the Beatles' country-rocker I've Just Seen a Face a honky-tonk makeover; took the mood down for Ray Charles' Georgia (a standout, although Russell's vocal style, like Dylan's, is to suggest a melody rather than sing it) and a medley of Jumpin' Jack Flash, Papa Was a Rolling Stone, Paint It Black and Kansas City.

Along the way he told anecdotes of playing clubs at 14, listening to blues and gospel on his crystal set and drinking ("I was over my alcoholism by 18"), of his friendship with Gram Parsons who insisted he record this next song (the Stones' Wild Horses), watching Bob Dylan write (cue A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall) ...

And by way of an encore - they didn't leave the stage, one of them was too old to maybe get back up, he said - a medley of crowd-pleasing Fifties rock'n'roll hits.

Russell is an entertainer, albeit one who sits stock still behind his keyboards, and has played enough small club gigs over the decades to not bother plugging the new album.

He delivered for 80 minutes... then was gently ushered off. A legend.

not exactly a 'rocker' - this review from Herbie Hancock's Sydney concert - he performs in Bangkok's Paragon Hall, Siam Paragon on May 8th.

HERBIE HANCOCK
Opera House, May 1

THIS was the best band Herbie Hancock has brought to Australia. In James Genus (electric bass) and Trevor Lawrence (drums) the infinitely elastic pianist had a rhythm section that was equally convincing playing jazz or funk; being spectacularly interactive or nailing a simple groove.

You never know what a Hancock concert will bring, given the man's long career of flitting between wildly diverse projects, charmingly oblivious to the fact that the audience for one aspect of his music might be appalled by other manifestations.

This concert drew on the recent The Imagine Project, with its swag of singers of different ethnicities performing pop, folk, reggae and soul songs. To this end Hancock, pictured, was joined by the refreshingly unassuming presence, attractive contralto voice and sound musical instincts of Kristina Train. The songs included Imagine, Exodus and Space Captain.

The Hancock gig is clearly her big break, and she is lapping it up and acquitting herself commendably, singing simply and honestly, without imposing herself on the music.

Which is a polite way of saying that the sparks all flew when she was off stage. With Genus (who has worked with a jazz who's who) and Lawrence (whose eclectic history includes Dizzy Gillespie, Stevie Wonder and Snoop Dogg) Hancock was in vintage form. His solo introduction to Imagine sounded like Lennon as imagined by Debussy. There were lengthy reworkings of those funky staples Watermelon Man and Canteloupe Island, with sizzling drumming and good-humoured interaction between bass and strap-on synth.

In between we were treated to a substantial solo piano improvisation of exquisite delicacy and rigorous form, which reiterated Hancock's trademark ability to make both harmony and time float.

When the band rejoined it segued briefly into Dolphin Dance, then a gorgeous 'Round Midnight, with Train adding violin parts. She also provided an Irish-style fiddle introduction to The Times They Are a-Changin'. They certainly are, but Hancock stays abreast of them - perhaps more so than for 30 years.

Originally Posted by genghis61

Leon Russell, Powerstation, Auckland, New Zealand
Concert 21 April 2011

Because we know keyboard players do their work sitting down, few would have been worried when Leon Russell - 69, walking with a cane - was gently guided to his seat at his electric keyboard.

The second he hit the opening chords of Delta Lady any doubts were assuaged. Certainly he took a backseat on Let the Good Time Roll (bassist Jackie Wessel stepping up) and allowed guitarist Chris Simmons an excellent solo spot on Robert Johnson's Kind Hearted Woman Blues, but otherwise Russell was a human jukebox powering through gospel-inspired rhythm and blues.

And although he made pit-stops in his own catalogue (Lady Blue, the lovely Back to the Island unfortunately demolished by thumping drumming, a gorgeous solo A Song For You and Tightrope among them), he and his young band rocked through Jimmy Reed's Baby What's On Your Mind; gave the Beatles' country-rocker I've Just Seen a Face a honky-tonk makeover; took the mood down for Ray Charles' Georgia (a standout, although Russell's vocal style, like Dylan's, is to suggest a melody rather than sing it) and a medley of Jumpin' Jack Flash, Papa Was a Rolling Stone, Paint It Black and Kansas City.

Along the way he told anecdotes of playing clubs at 14, listening to blues and gospel on his crystal set and drinking ("I was over my alcoholism by 18"), of his friendship with Gram Parsons who insisted he record this next song (the Stones' Wild Horses), watching Bob Dylan write (cue A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall) ...

And by way of an encore - they didn't leave the stage, one of them was too old to maybe get back up, he said - a medley of crowd-pleasing Fifties rock'n'roll hits.

Russell is an entertainer, albeit one who sits stock still behind his keyboards, and has played enough small club gigs over the decades to not bother plugging the new album.

He delivered for 80 minutes... then was gently ushered off. A legend.

Leon has recently released a collaboration with Elton John. "The Union' is a stunning piece of work. Produced by T Bone Burnett. The track 'Gone To Shiloh' has Neil Young guesting.

Seems to me, the Blues are better the older the singer.
John Lee Hooker's voice just got better and better the older he got. Same with Muddy Waters.

Originally Posted by taxexile

Dylan is still a valid performer,

Dylan is a horrible old cont, seen him ten years ago unfortunately and my mate walked out on that one as I should off.

His voice was shite, he did not say one word to the punters and put on a right royal piss take of a concert not giving a flying fuk about his quality of concert or the paying punters.

He played here last week and the reviews were all unanomous in condemning his continess and shambolic performance.

His only redeeming feature is his total reliability in providing a truly pathetic attempt of providing value for his audience.

Google up Bob Dylan and a picture of a katoey's arsehole pops up, this is bob as he is now.

The only service he provides now is for young people so they can say that they have seen him in the flesh which aint much as he's a skinny wrinkled up old fuk and makes Jagger look like a five year old.

Fok U Bob, I want my cash Back.

JETHRO TULL: "AQUALUNG" 40TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR
March 28, 2011 3:32 PM

UK prog folk pioneers Jethro Tull celebrates the 40th anniversary of Aqualung with North American tour

16 concerts from 8-27 June 2011



The current line-up of the group features longtime members Ian Anderson (flute, vocals, acoustic guitar) and Martin Barre (guitars) and Doane Perry (drums). The newer members are David Goodier (bass) and pianist John O'Hara.

^ Bunch of grandfathers.

they all look like people I've seen wandering around Pattaya.

Got a night in London tonight.... Could go and see Roger Waters do The Wall for about 90 quid or go and see some new young upstarts called Everything Everything for about 15 quid.

Has to be Roger Waters doesn't it?

Originally Posted by taxexile

dylan is still a valid performer, hes recent albums have been as good as anything he ever did.

likewise clapton and santana. their music is timeless.

its a bit painful however to watch old men rocking n' rolling and singing songs that were written when they were in their 20's.

i saw the rolling stones concert film, "shine a light" recently and found it embarrassing to watch. its the music of youth and of rebellion and it doesnt look or sound right coming out of the mouths of men approaching 70. its not that they performed badly, it was a brilliantly executed performance, every move and keychange rehearsed down to the last split second, but there was no soul in the performance or in the music. compared to a stones video from the 70's it would come a poor second.

so in answer to your question, i would say they should stop when their age is not compatible with the emotion of the music they are singing.

a sixty seven year old should not be singing about street fighting men, or honky tonk women anymore, it becomes self parody, a joke.

But it's still okay to honky tonk with BG's?

Steely Dan Down Under



Steely Dan Down Under

Posted on Monday May 16, 2011 at 05:01 PM Add |

Steely Dan’s Shuffle Diplomacy Twenty Eleven tour will close out the year by shuffling down to Australia and New Zealand.
The upcoming trek marks the jazz rock band’s first dates Down Under since the group’s inaugural Australia/New Zealand tour in 2007. The tour will include both arena gigs as well as several performances booked as part of the popular winery concert series “A Day On The Green.”
British singer/songwriter Steve Winwood is coming along as Steely Dan’s special guest. The trek marks his first visit back to Australia in more than two decades.

Yeah have to agree mate still can listen to them still good tunes