I saw Rod at the NEC three years ago and last night was far better, wether it was because it was outdoor, or there was 10,000 more there, possibly so, but he deserves his knighthood for services to music, and he did 26 songs without the resorting to an autocue, which a lot of artists use on stage now. Rods voice was still very good, I saw the Stones in Orlando last year and Jagger has had to adapt his voice to cope with the high notes, similar to Elton and Paul McCartney, it's only age so I suppose Rod has done well, like Tom Jones. It would be good to see other bands at the KC it's a great venue with it being in Hull and only 20 minutes to get home, 25,000 is a big place to fill and there aren't that many newish bands could sell it, seems like the old timers do a lot better.
That's because most of the "old timers" are still a lot better than the present-day "artistes", most of whom would have been booed off the stage in the good old days, when men were men ...
I honestly don't see how my distaste for the dumbing down and exploitative commercialisation of popular culture need suggest anything to do with my mood. But as it seems to be a popular method of avoiding addressing the points I actually made, I think I understand. Enjoy your headlong rush to the lcd. I am pretty sure my opinions won't impinge on it.
I hate to shatter your delusions, but despite your pompous verbosity you haven't actually made any points worth addressing -- unless they were all as obscure as your allusion to liquid crystals. By the way, your "distaste" for the "dumbing down ..." of "popular culture" displays a rather odd attitude to life. I would be much more concerned about the dumbing down of the general population in regard to actual culture and useful knowledge. I'll leave it there.
Got back from Manchester about an hour ago. The Stone Roses were rather good. When I say rather good I mean abso-****ing-lutely awesome.
How many were there? Would the KC be big enough for them to appear there? Not my bag, man, as they used to say but that is unimportant. What is important is bringing acts that will fill the stadium , bringing people and money into the city, which they would.
A bit of help, I am going to York Races music weekend in July, has anyone seen the Kaiser Chiefs and do they perform a good live gig? It is either that on the Friday evening or the Corrs on Saturday?
Hard to say, the whole pitch was rammed, the East stand was packed, the other two stands about 3/4 full. Reports saying 50,000.
I think he did make some valid points. Although he did it in a way I wouldn't have chosen. Would a singer from the 1920s have attracted 25,000 people to a concert in Hull in 1976? I don't think so. The questions Old Tige asked in his own way was, why did Rod Stewart? Why did some of the people go to see him now when they wouldn't have bought any of his records in the 1970s? I haven't seen anyone try and answer those questions. BBC4 currently has a series on the best part-time bands in Britain. It sort of follows the X-factor pattern. Midge Ure did the first programme and on the back of that I borrowed his autobiography from the library. He currently tours up and down Britain playing small clubs. In Birmingham a bloke caught the sound check and said great a Midge Ure tribute band and bought his ticket. When told it was the real Midge Ure he got his money back. Why would anybody pay to see a Midge Ure tribute band and not the real thing? The tribute band would play his hits, Midge Ure would play his current songs with maybe one or two hits if he felt like it. Rod Stewart gives us something safe, something we can rely on. As do tribute bands. Old Tige wonders where the new music is going to come from, so does Midge Ure, so do I.
There are plenty of bands which would pack out the KC, or DJ's even. They seem to go for a certain demographic at the KC with music like Neil Diamond, Rod Stewart, or the Who which is fair enough if they sell the tickets but it's not that appealing to anybody under the age of 40
The point about music from the 1920's is a red herring, pop stars as they currently exist have really only been around since the 1950's and those who've remained popular have always been able to attract audiences. How the hell does anyone know whether these people bought Rod Stewart records in the 70's or not? They don't, it's a stupid claim to make. It was a very an old audience, not the demographic you'd normally get at gigs and certainly not the most significant portion of the record buying public. If they weren't going to see Rod Stewart, it's likely they wouldn't be going to see anyone (other than perhaps other similar acts like Elton John), so it's unlikely to be having a significant effect on record sales or new music coming through, something that far more badly damaged by the ****e that the likes of X-Factor churn out. Midge Ure clearly states that he does all the Rich Kids, Visage and Ultravox hits at his gigs, so that bloke that wanted a refund just sounds like he was a bit of a plum. In short, I don't accept that a bunch of old people going to see Rod Stewart has any bearing on the development of new music, there's plenty of room for both.
