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MizzAmandaJonezMy review of the show last night with video links
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substack.com]
CHELSKEITH
First and foremost, I'm happy you had such a great time. With the way the world is these days, you gotta find joy where you can, and I'm truly glad you had an unforgettable night as you put it.
I wouldn't want to rain on the parade or anything, but I found elements of your review interesting. I think talking about longevity, I've kinda boiled it down to (feel free to disagree) that most bands have a 10 year active period. Not a revolutionary thought, but after 10 years, either you burn out, break up, or start coasting. The new material is just less, either actively or because the muse is gone. The Beatles The Who, Zeppelin, The Kinks, the Eagles. SOMETIMES you can reinvent yourself, but generally most bands are boiled down to 10 years and the quality starts to dip or the band members start leaving.
I also think the public will only accept a certain amount of changes in your lineup. You mention Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood Mac had a distinctive early period, then a long transition period, then what most consider the "classic" lineup. Worked out for them, but they couldn't anything after they solidified that. Same way as I don't think they'd have continued if they didn't find Linsey and Stevie. You only get so many chances and that was probably their last and they got REAL lucky. You also mention AC/DC. Super lucky post Bon to get Brian. It rarely happens. With maybe them and Iron Maiden. But at a certain point the public stops caring. Skid Row has gone through like 7 singers and sorry, no one cares if its not Sebastian Bach. People lose interest.
As for the rest, when I said the rain on parade stuff, I guess its just different strokes for different folks. The Eagles are great, and you talk about the lip syncing allegations. It doesn't seem to bother you, but to many it does. To me and others, the Eagles are not meant to be Cirque De Soleil. I like a visual, but if the music isn't even like what are we doing here? Its just not what I'd want to see. Thats similar to a band becoming a "brand" as you talk about with a lasting impact. KISS just ended their touring and want to continue as avatars. Just cause they can, in my mind, that doesn't mean its good. Its their band/brand, they can do whatever they want, but it loses the spirit of what I loved about them or the Eagles. Nostalgia is fine, its why I go see the Stones, so I don't need you to have something new to say. But if you're not singing live, its hard for me to justify, and its not bad for things to just be done. It seems the money is too good for most to stop nowadays. I get it, I'd probably feel the same in their situation, but its sad to see.
I see three general situations you get these days: the bands that still actively feel like they have something to say, or don't tour as much so when they do its still an event (like a David Gilmour). Then you have the bands that are just nostalgia machines. Not my favorite, but if they do it well why not still be out there bringing people joy. I may not show up, but I get why others would (that's your Rolling Stones these days, your Paul McCartneys, your The Who's). Then you have the bands that seem to have lost something so they supplement, and its more plugging holes than it is the legit band so many fell in love with (I'm talking about The Eagles, Roger Waters, KISS). If you like it, thats great, I'm truly not judging. But there's either vocal help, diminishing members left, that its really not the band I remember. It seems like a guy like Don who knows he doesn't make as much money touring as himself than with the "brand". Its the world we live in these days, and there's something for everyone. People can enjoy it and others can ignore it. But its strange to think that in 20 years I expect to see so many authorized cover bands of the same bands from the 70s than many new ones making it big, or just full VR/avatar experiences of bands that would have been inconceivable in 1972. Things change and I get that, but just cause we have the technology and people want nostalgia at a certain point it feels like evolving processes is actually leading to stunting interest in anything else. We have state of the art technology being used to replicate or freeze us in a past moment in time.