First post of the New Year!My parents were a little older than most 1970's parents when they had me, so as a result I'm probably getting an advanced perspective on what the aging process has in store for us. Folks, it ain't pretty. You better have as much fun as you can now because there is absolutely no party coming up after the age of 65.
Now with that said, Tuesday night I watched one of my Christmas gifts to myself, the
Rolling Stones' Four Flicks Madison Square Garden concert DVD. Though I looked forward to seeing this, I wasn't expecting much. After all this was 2003 Rolling Stones, without Bill Wyman on bass, and a 60-year-old Mick Jagger out front. I figured it would be serviceable but nothing more.
I was pleasantly surprised. These guys bring as much energy to the stage as people less than half their age. Everyone, from Jagger down to the second alto saxophone, looks completely committed to giving a good show. No one is phoning it in, as I've heard can be the case with other bands approaching this vintage. There are genuine smiles and enthusiasm, like they wouldn't want to be anywhere else. "I read in the paper today that this will probably be the last time the Stones play Madison Square Garden," Mick Jagger says, "I don't think so."
Also nice was that they played a couple of their newer songs, and they melded in well with the classics instead of sounding like a cue to go to the bathroom. The way they play on stage, something from 2002 sounds comfortable next to something from 1969.
Back to the topic of aging, Mick Jagger is really a inspiration here. This guy has zero percent body fat and, as I had heard, never stops moving the entire show. It's like he's leading an aerobics class. I haven't been in as good of shape as him in my entire life, and I'm nearly half his age. Why isn't he running off stage to pee every 10 minutes, grabbing his lower back or stumbling off the edge of the stage from cataracts? I don't know, but he's not, and it's very encouraging.
Maybe I
don't hope I die before I get old.
Happy New Year!
One of the things I find most inspiring about them is their ability to cross over genres and to penetrate wall. As a folksinger, I've covered two Stones songs (No Expectations and Dead Flowers) and was really impressed with how easy their songs translated into the folk category. Gotta love a band who knows no boundaries.
OH yeah, and I FINALLY got around to listening to Exile on Main Street straight through and it's one of the greatest listening experiences of my life!