Attention Fellow Seniors

[gimme30]

I couldn't have seen the Stones in 1972 - it was $6.50 for a ticket up in the gods, and I couldn't raise the money in time at 13. I tried! After that, they had a wee problem with the mafia blowing up a sound truck in a dispute with the promoter, and avoided my city. By the El Mocambo shows, they were a spent force. They haven't done a solid album since Goat's Head Soup, and even then, they weren't at their peak. The last great one was Exile on Main Street.

Concert prices are through the roof. $6.50 to see the Stones sounds like the bargain of the century!! IIRC seats in the nosebleed section were $75 for the Voodoo Lounge tour-that same seat would be $300+ today. Not a Swiftie (or is it Swifty?) but I read somewhere her tickets can go for over $1k. I suppose someone has that I kind of money but I sure don't.

Exile was/is great but GHS had it's moments. I suppose being a fan I'm willing to cut them more of a break......but give Hackney Diamonds a listen. Still very "pop" for a Stones record but it's not as bad as I thought it might be-I actually like it, and I'm one of those that laments their straying from their roots. Sweet Sounds of Heaven is very much like old school Stones and Paul McCartney's distortion-maxed bass sounds mean on Bite My Head Off.

Which lp do I start with?

Feats Don't Fail Me Now is a good one for non-fans, or people new to the group.

 

[GaryE]

Exile on Main Street is to me one of the best albums I have heard, from anyone. It bounces back and forth with London Calling by The Clash and Darkness by Springsteen on my obscure personal favourites list. It set such a high standard I can be harsh on the later Stones.

I still listen to the Stones often. I haven't tried Hackney Diamonds, as Blue and Lonesome didn't do it for me. I had hopes, but found it sounded generic. By the nineteen eighties, I thought the new Stones material was waek, and here we are in 2025. It's been a long stretch...

Whatever a rocker is, I'm a consumer version of one. I like edgy loud rhythm guitars, minimal solos, and excellent drumming. Charlie Watts was soooo good. But objectively, while rock isn't dead, it isn't well. It's an old, now unpopular genre. But I think it survives, as a relic with some life to it. I go forward with bands like Fontaines DC or a recent find, Yard Act, but they are a different tradition from the early 70s sound - more discordant. They probably won't appeal to most older ears. My ears remain very immature, so I like them.

If I shake my hips, a leg might fall off, but my ears are still 21. Well, maybe not 21 because the music has to be louder, but it's processed the same way.

The lack of new material coming out makes me loop. I have found some older bands that like Little Feat didn't jump out at me in their day recently. Listeners now can stream almost anything easily, but pre-internet, you either got it from the radio, chosen by someone else, heard it from a friend's collection or paid to buy an LP you hadn't heard. An LP cost me 90 minutes' wages, so a few bands flew by, especially "hippy" bands.

 

[gimme30]

Rock isn't dead, it's just morphed and you've got to dig for the good stuff. I like it crunchy so Alter Bridge, Live, Red Line Chemistry, 10 Years, etc rings my slightly-dented bell.
Here's the trick for getting into today's music....listen to it in a language you don't understand! The Italians and Russians are cranking out some pretty tasty stuff lately.
Here's a little Mongolian ditty that will stay stuck in your head for days. (FF to 1:05) You're welcome!

 

[TwoTankAmin]

@GaryE

Start with Waiting for Columbus.



Exile was the last good Stones album. Better were:
Beggars Banquet
Get Your Ya Yas Out
Let It Bleed

 

[GaryE]

That Mongolian tune was good. I'll check the other bands you mentioned out when I check out Little Feat. I have a fish club tonight, but tomorrow evening looks good for sampling.

 

[Back in the fold]

I'll fire up the Spotify and give Little Feat a listen if I can today. I have weak wifi out in the fishroom, but I may be around the house a bit later. Which lp do I start with?

I’m curious . Does your internet come in from outer space or is there a cable or fiber optic line in your remote locale ?

 

[GaryE]

I’m curious . Does your internet come in from outer space or is there a cable or fiber optic line in your remote locale ?

My house and the fishroom/garage are about 150 feet apart, but the wifi signal is weak. I put in a range extender, but.
I don't go online out there anyway.

I'm remote for shipping and such because this town has a Canadian rust belt edge to it. It's a left behind sort of place, with dead industries (ship building, etc) and a declining population. It isn't a hub. It's a tough town to buy fish in, or to get things shipped quickly to.
But while I am surrounded by beasts, I can be on a highway in 5 minutes, and at a Costco in 15. I have the illusion of being somewhere wild because I am almost beside a UNESCO listed nature reserve/park, and housing ends at its border (3 doors down). So if I walk ten minutes' south, I can see nature. Ten minutes north, and I can see a pulp mill, a refinery and soon after, a port.

So a city, but a nature reserve stretching out to the south. I like this.

 

[gimme30]

That sounds like pure bliss to me.
Unfortunately I'm trapped in the middle of suburbia. It's like being surrounded by 1500 bass drum luggin' bug eyed monkeys. (that's from a song, ergo apropos)
But I can get to a McDonalds in any direction in under 5 minutes.

 

[GaryE]

But, @gimme30 , can McDonalds get to you?

I lived in suburbia for too long - close to 15 years. I loved the work I was doing nearby, but the place was awful. True, I had a nice fishroom, but for things like walking or biking it was painfully all the same. I was glad to sell the place and move out here. I have no desire to even visit that neighbourhood again. For the people there - they often didn't live in homes, but rather in investments.

I either have to live in a place surrounded by nature, or the centre of a city. And since we're on a seniors thread, the centre of a lively city is very expensive for seniors. Since we're on a music thread, I do miss live bands and new ideas, but the price of admission is more than the ticket.

I went to see Anti-Flag, one of the old nineties US punk bands, just before the pandemic, and it was a weird feeling. They were opening for Alexisonfire, who had a teenage rebel following, and the average age in the large club was maybe 19 or 20. I was standing there, a tall white haired old geezer, and I felt like I was 110. I went and stood over by the sound board so I wouldn't weird the kids out. When I'd seen the Dropkick Murphys not long before, there'd been a few old school punk people limping about, but I realized that appearance can be a problem at shows now. If I had a chance to see a good band, I'd deal with it, but you do realize your age on the edge of a mosh pit.

 

[gimme30]

But, @gimme30 , can McDonalds get to you?

Oh yeah, it always revisits. And not in a good way.

I hear you about the white-haired thing. It'd probably bother me if I gave a d*** what anyone else thinks but I don't. Fortunately at smaller venues the geezer to gen x or y or l m n o p ratio is around 70:30 so we've got the upper hand there. Not that I'd want to mosh with them. They've all got pointy metal things sticking out all over their bodies.

 

[GaryE]

. Not that I'd want to mosh with them. They've all got pointy metal things sticking out all over their bodies.

If I could time travel back, I'd base my punk wardrobe on trying to look like a Cory. A little armour, a few spikes...

 

[GaryE]

So I worked through a couple of Spotify playlists of Little Feat, and liked some of it. Some was music I had heard here and there and hadn't followed up.

I also listened to The HU, Alter Bridge and Red Line Chemistry. I haven't gotten to the others. I'll return to them all, and try them out in different moods and contexts.

It's funny with music in other languages. At one point I listened to a bit of African rap. I'm not a person who can listen to music without taking in the lyrics, unless I have no idea what's being said. Right now, there's a lot of good stuff coming from non English speaking bands.

 

[fishorama]

We both like the HU song, their instruments looked cool too. I'll check out the others another time.

We're old rock, punk & ska fans, some 60's & later pop. My husband played guitar & bass in a couple bands, so we are into those aspects of music. Blue Oyster Cult is a long-time fav we've seen many times but only guitar player & fading singer are left so it was more sad last time 15 years ago. We got to see the Ramones in a small club with the originals (maybe a different drummer). I stood by 2 bouncers to be protected from moshers. We went to several Warped Tours too. Found some new fun bands & old favs. Green Day was quite disappointing; I didn't want to hear some rando kid play. However a big thrill it was for him, it wasn't for me. We only like their early stuff.

In Boston we saw bands fairly often, a few oldies for free. Johnny Rivers & Animals were still great! A couple bands were better than we expected, others much worse. That's what happens I guess when "the band" means an original drummer & bass player, bah! I remember asking when will they play any songs I know? They had, ugh!!

I thought when we moved to California, we'd see lots of bands! But no, everything is far, sold out, expensive or too late for us old folks. We did see the Dickies at an "all ages" (early) show. They were 1 of our early punk-y bands. The Queers opened for them & were quite good live (hated their studio work). We were not the oldest to attend by far, but we got there early enough to snag a couple of the few seats

We often like cover songs by new artists. The Bagpipe girls (Dropkick Murphys), the 2 cello guys (ACDC), the Danish Orchestra (the Good, the Bad & the Ugly with opera singer!) & The Dickies "Paranoid".

Husband's old bandmate sent links to new Australian punks The Chats. They even played here but too late for us.

Another sign of aging was when (2 or 3 times) I rocked out to a car CD, went into the grocery store & the same album was playing. Yep, I practically danced down the aisles...but didn't anyone listen to the lyrics?!? Not what I'd call PC or all ages appropriate, lol...I'm not a parent, but sheesh! If I can understand the words...

 

[plebian]

I tend not to like that period, but there are gems undiscovered.

Seriously? That's the golden age of rock (country, reggae, lounge, etc.). Doors, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, CCR, Sly and the Family Stone, Bob Marley, James Brown, and literally dozens of others worth mentioning. Even if you're only into jazz or classical music, there was some good stuff being produced.

 

[gimme30]

They're a bit sheltered up there in the great white north. Kept mostly indoors to avoid being trampled by moose and Bob & Doug on every tv channel. The frequent beatings with rubber hoses keeps 'em tough though.

CAUTION! This will push you quickly down the dementia highway. Watch at your own risk!