Agreed. We got to see him here in Houston last month.
And I go to see Al Stewart every time he comes to town. He’s still got the voice and when he starts telling stories, the audience is entranced.
And now it’s even older.
Everybody got the point, they just didn’t/don’t agree with it.
Every so often Frankie Valli comes through town, the guy is like that bunny with the battery, he just keeps going and going. He’s been touring for something like fifty years and he just doesn’t seem to have a life outside of being a performer. Every time he comes to town I stare and stare at the listing(because you can’t get even a nosebleed seat for less than ~$150) trying to convince myself that I need to go see this man, because he’s a legend and eventually his battery will run down and I will have missed the chance. Every time, so far, I haven’t shelled out the cash, and every time he leaves town I feel a bit of remorse that I may have missed my chance to see one of history’s great entertainers.
There are people who perform because they want the money/fame(Garth Brooks), and then there are people who perform because it’s in their soul and they BELONG on a stage. I’ve worked in theatre for over twenty years and I know some people just don’t feel right unless they’re working on a show. I’ve been in after-parties where people were literally crying into their drinks because they weren’t working on a show anymore. They had just taken their bows three hours ago, but they weren’t in a show and the itch was already on them.
That’s what I imagine Valli feels, and that kind of drive plus his kind of talent, it just eats at me every time I pass up a chance to see him. I know he’s not the man he was in 1962, but he’s still Frankie Valli.
Enjoy,
Steven
Well, part of every day.
“Let’s hang on to what we got!
Don’t let go girl, we got a lot.
Got a lot of love between us.
Hang-on, hang-on, hang-on,
to what we got!”
Frankie will turn 80 in May, and he began his professional career in 1951, though he probably didn’t begin “touring” until a few years later. So at minimum, well over 50 years of touring, and more than 60 as an entertainer.
As a general answer, and as others have noted, most performers are still out there because they actively enjoy playing. A non-musician probably can’t understand how genuinely good it feels to sing and play music you love. I just turned 62 and have been doing it since I was in high school. I can’t imagine NOT doing it.
If you’re just going through the motions, or your skills have truly deteriorated to the point of pain, then you’d be best advised not to play — or to at least change your approach to your repertoire. Barring that, carry on by all means. No one is being forced to go to see artists who are past their prime. It’s a personal choice.
One thing that genuinely pisses me off is snarky young snots who decry The Rolling Stones still being out there on the boards. I want to give these assholes a hearty “fuck you” and tell them to shut up. The Stones have earned the right to play for as long as they want to, and to die on the stage if it comes to that.
When these jerk-offs have contributed one-one millionth of what The Stones have contributed to my life and others’, then they can start talking.
Mike Love complained that people think 367 (random 3-digit) is the year his group started. He suspects Mick Jagger.
As a general rule, the professionalism of the older groups is also admirable. We went to see k-os a few years ago, and we’re pretty sure he was drunk, and put on a fairly weak show (complete with it being at a stupid venue that pissed us off mightily for their bush-league antics). We saw The Fixx a few years ago too, in a small venue that was only about three-quarters sold out, and they put on a fantastic show and stuck around afterwards to chat and sign autographs.
Speaking for myself, one thing that does kind of bug me is when bands that peaked a long time ago and are still touring, try to recreate the peak years through clothing and hairstyle. Like a band that peaked in the late sixties and still perform in tie-dye and bell bottoms. Worst of all is a bad wig.
I find it distracting.