Re: Get a grip on reality...
Date: October 19, 2005 22:28
Elmo Lewis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ...the sound on the new tour is great! Keith and
> Mick were both in fine form in Atlanta. Hell, even
> Ronnie played good. The new song don't embarrass
> themselves next to the classics. Enjoy and quit
> griping.
>
I'm with you Elmo, believe me, but I think that people may be commenting/ complaining about the idea that they should be happy or acritical about things like:
"even Ronnie played good" and
"the new songs don't embarrass themselves"
These are terms of faint praise at best or left-handed compliments, rather than statements reflecting the Stone's current greatness. Frankly, people have come to expect more, and I suspect that they're particularly sensitive to their expectations when a) they're asked to pay more for the shows and b) this may be the last time that the Stones tour and they'd like to remember them as going out with a bigger bang rather than a whimper.
For me it's akin to seeing a great sportsman (or woman) towards the end of his or her career. You've got the memory of the younger Pele or whomever, and you've also got a view of the impending end of the career. It's unsettling for fans and they're voicing this discomfort through their gripes. On the positive side, I beleive that people only gripe about something that they care about. Perhaps that's a silver lining for the griping.