How do these old guys figure on another tour? Isn’t time to be off to the nursing home? Mick looks ridiculous, and the rest of the band does too!
I can’t wait for them to start doing laxative commercials!
Give it up!
The most ridiculous thing are the people that keep lining up and throwing money at them…
Yeah, and maybe they could take Aerosmith with 'em…
I heard a deeply sad statistic from an English friend of mine who just visited here: Jagger’s solo album that he released a short while ago sold a grand total of 900 copies in the UK.
** * Nine Hundred * ** copies? I can’t even believe that, but my friend insists it is so.
There was an article in the NYTimes the other day stating pretty much exactly your feelings.
However, I think you are missing a very important point which Chuck Klosterman makes in his book Fargo Rock City.
“A band’s longevity isn’t necessarily dependent on what they produce; it’s more dependent on “what they’re about.”…I think the Rolling Stones are now loved by people who don’t actually like them and never really did…The Rolling Stones no longer represent Rolling Stones fans. They now represent “baby boomer rock 'n roll,” and every aging boomer wants to believe he or she still rocks. That being the case, they really have no choice but to love Mick Jagger–no one else is left. You can’t really go around acting excited about Uriah Heep. If you want to participate in the music of “Your Generation,” the Stones are just about the only option.”
Plus, look guys, no one is holding a gun to your fucking head and forcing you to buy tickets to the concert or to go and buy the new greatest hits CD coming out in October or forcing you to listen to Stones songs on the fucking radio.
This is the United States of America, not the Nation of Only Rolling Stones Fans.
Chill.
Besides, as a bluesman, Keith Richards is just now entering his prime.
As most of my favorite bands/musicians are companionably aging right along with me, I hesitate to jump in here… however – I think Mick Jagger is and always has been a talentless poseur and would have been delighted if he had retired 40 years ago. The rest of the guys, I don’t have a problem with.
What are you guys? 20, 25 years old? (Not you, WSLer…you sound…wiser).
Have you actually seen the Stones in concert? If not, then you have never seen such energy and professionalism on stage like this. They’re not called the “World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band” for nuthin’. They PUT OUT! It’s not all hype, they are for real. Very easy to dismiss them on their age but that’s a bit prejudiced don’t you think? For guys in their late FIFTIES and early SIXTIES…they are absolutely stunning. I’ve seen em’ many times and the last time they toured (No Security Tour in 99’) they were more brilliant than before. Keef dug into his guitar like a man on a serious mission and never let up all night and Charlie can throw out such a serious swing that most rock fans don’t even know what he’s doing or how he even fits in the band in the first place. He was incredible. And Mick Jagger? Knock the old boy around all you want about his age but his voice is still strong (unlike most of his contemporaries) and he’s dancing like a fiend ALL night. Incredible performer. I tell you this…you could put the Stones up against most bands HALF their age and you won’t get the energy that the Stones put into their efforts. Not to mention the fact that the Stones have written some of the greatest rock songs in the history of the genre.
I will agree with you WSLer that there are FAR too many halfheated boomers at the shows nowadays but the Stones make up for it by playing some of their lesser known material…this is a tip of the hat to the true Stones fan. We know it and appreciate it. You’d be suprised how many true Stones fans hate typical concert staples as “Miss You”, “Satisfaction” or “Start Me Up”.
Long live the Stones!
Cholo - I’m 37, and was raised in a family of musicians, including a very close uncle who introduced me to rock music when I was two. He loves the Stones, and it is to his utter dismay that I grew up to have better taste in frontmen than Jagger.
Really? I think Aerosmith’s doing pretty well for an aging rock band. Although their power ballads irk me, I thought “Jaded” was a pleasant surprise.
Cholo, I was going to say pretty much exactly what you said, except I’d add it’s amazing a bunch of guys who’ve been drinking, smoking, and drugging since they were - what, 12 or so? - can still bounce around on the stage like they’re on pogo sticks. They may be old, but the Stones know how to put on a show.