Some groups don’t age well.
Here in Vegas, we get almost every “old” group touring, and you can pretty much tell from the venue and prices how good they might be, or how horrible they are.
If they are playing at a big venue on The Strip for $100 cheap seats, you can be guaranteed they are still good (or the ticket booth will be attacked by the audience). But if they suck today, you will find them at some locals’ casino for $29 tickets or free.
We learned this about the group America (they had a hit with Horse With No Name and other songs) that was a free concert (should have been our first hint), and not worth the gas it took to drive down to see them. Voices were, to be kind, pretty rough. Audience leaving in droves after about 3rd song.
If I were you, I would do some Googling to find reviews from recent concerts to see if they are still worth paying to see. Granted, $100 is not that wildly expensive for a good group and good seats - but they damned well better sound like the “old days” for that money.
The present guitarist, Steve Morse, is a god. Seriously. He was the first guitarist put in Guitar Worlds hall of fame, iirc. The man can play anything and does it all well.
One potential benefit of going to the show not mentioned: Many years from now, when the kids on your lawn are going on about how “Classic Rock” sucks and how could anyone think it was worth anything–you can stand tall and say, “You kids don’t know what you’re talking about. I saw fucking Deep Purple, and they kicked ass!”
You don’t have to remember the whole concert or every song on the setlist. There’s a shining moment in almost every show where everything comes together, even for just a chorus or a long solo. Those are the times you cherish and hold close to your rock '‘n’ roll heart. Of course, throwing up in the bathroom during an encore is always a good story too!
If you are worried about making rent or paying the heat bill…not so much.
Yes, they are mostly senior citizens. But I saw Paul Simon a month or so ago (free tickets). He still sounded pretty good. And fairly spry for an old dude. Granted, he decided not to play my faves, but he played a long set of more current material.
Emphasis on “good seats.” I recently spent approx $140 on a Stevie Wonder benefit concert with several big-name artists. However, this turned out to be the back row (not near the back row. THE BACK ROW!) Seriously, we were like a football field away from the stage. I was reduced to watching the shots on the projection screens WITH BINOCULARS and still I could barely see anyone. The person I specifically went to see (whose name is verboten here) - I felt like I was just watching him on YouTube. VERY disappointing.
I would definitely agree, seeing as I didn’t pay a cent to see him (he and the band performed at my college in 1975, just as things were breaking big for him nationally).
I would not be inclined to attend a peformance by any group as over the hill as Deep Purple is likely to be at any price, but with Deep Purple there might be morbid curiosity to see if they’ve penned any new songs with lyrics as laughably bad as the old ones.
I somewhat disagree. I went to see Squeeze a couple years ago and they were just depressing; they didn’t seem like they did give a shit, and they were just going through the motions. It was a nice night sitting outdoors, but I would rather not have gone. If I were going to do something like that again, I’d find out if the specific band was still putting on good shows.
I’d take the $100 and spend it on five concerts by less known bands at small venues. And probably have change left over to see a Deep Purple cover band that would put on a better show then the official band.
Maybe because groups used to make serious money on album sales, but not anymore. I think concerts are providing much more of their income than in the past. I don’t have a cite, but I’m sure this is the reason. And if Lady Gaga can get $200 a ticket (or whatever), the older bands are saying “hey we should go out on the road again and make some serious coin!”
I think if you’d enjoy it, spend the money, go. What else are you going to do with that $100 for a ticket? Buy bread, toilet paper, gas? A couple of years ago we splurged and saw Peter Frampton (at about $75 a ticket), and he was just awesome, and his audience of graying baby boomers thought so, too. For a couple of brief hours we all felt like we were in our 20’s again.
I did not know he was with them now. I saw Morse perform at a Dixie Dregs concert in the late 80’s. I’ll second the recommendation, not that Steve Morse needs me to recommend him.
Snerk. As the super-famous person WHOSE NAME SHALL NOT BE NAMED pretty much phoned it in, despite him having been granted 4 songs when every single other person/artist during the entire (3 1/2 hour-UGH!) show, including Drake and Michael MacDonald…Oh, and you could tell he was PISSED AS HELL! (Can’t blame him!) Was..wait. Did I mention I’m s huge fan of this person? KERFLUFFLE!
