Time to call it a day.

[M138]

The latest culprits is one of my favourite bands when they were in their prime, the Doobie Brothers.
How can these ageing acts still charge top dollar for over the hill performances?
Elton John, Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen etc all well past their best but still charge a fortune to see them.

[Vsix and Vtec]

Supply and demand, mixed with prestige. Even back in their prime it was possible to see them on an off day, you still get the satisfaction of knowing you saw them live. I would be very happy to go back and see David Bowie, even if it was a terrible performance. As it is, I never took the opportunity and dearly wish I had.

I made up for that by making sure I didn't pass up the next set of opportunities. Consequently I've seen Frankie Valli, Genesis, Duran Duran, Ramstein, OMD, Public Service Broardcasting, The Midnight, Bryan Adams, Garbage, Massive Attack, Pulp and Oasis (with Richard Ashcroft and Cast) all in the last 8 or so years.

Not once did I ask myself if it was their prime performance, I just enjoyed being in the moment.

[M138]

Vsix and Vtec said:

Not once did I ask myself if it was their prime performance, I just enjoyed being in the moment.

I’ve never took that approach to a live show tbh. First and foremost has always been the quality of the performance. It’s why I now would much rather listen to a studio recording of my favourite band than spend a fortune on a below par performance.
David Bowie, God rest him, lots of his live shows were below par even when his studio recordings were in his prime. I was brought a copy of live Ziggy Stardust show on cd format from the early 70s, when I got listen to it it was embarrassing. The show at Milton Keynes Bowl on the Let’s Dance tour was terrible by all accounts.
Another one that springs to mind is the shows Kate Bush did a few years back, refrained from doing much from her first three albums due to her voice not able to hit the high notes anymore. I was hoping to go but thankfully never did as it’s her first three albums I like the most.

[TGCOTF-dewey]

Massive rose tinted nostalgia glasses. See also classic cars, bikes, etc.

Nostalgia sells. I was going to see the pixies, saw the ticket price and thought better.

I prefer small intimate gigs where the band is full of energy and having a laugh. These days I'd rather see a good cover band live in a small venue.

[M138]

TGCOTF-dewey said:

These days I'd rather see a good cover band live in a small venue.

Probably better than the real thing in a lot of cases these days.

[TGCOTF-dewey]

M138 said:

TGCOTF-dewey said:

These days I'd rather see a good cover band live in a small venue.

Probably better than the real thing in a lot of cases these days.

I think so. Best live gig I've seen in years were Elvana. Elvis leading Nirvana. Sounds daft, but I haven't had so much fun since seeing 90s indie bands live a Student. Seen them three times now. Ticks every box for me. Small venues, musically superb, having a laugh on stage and not taking it seriously.

ETA.

Edited by TGCOTF-dewey on Monday 10th November 08:40

[Cotty]

TGCOTF-dewey said:

These days I'd rather see a good cover band live in a small venue.

Agreed. I have seen the Australian Pink Floyds twice.
I have seen the original but the tribute/cover band is so much cheaper.

[SwissJonese]

I've recently seen older band that I actually thought where better than the original gigs I saw them in.

Last week, we saw Reef on their 30th anniversary tour, the whole group just seemed to be really enjoying themselves and happy to play their big hits.

Also saw Bush supporting Vol Beat last week too. I saw Bush in 1997 and it was awful. It was their last date after a massive US tour, so zero effort. But seeing them almost 30yrs later, again they seemed to be loving life and just happy to be playing. Gavin Rossdale didn't seem to be pretentious at all, quite the opposite, letting everyone know it they are Bush and hope they enjoy the main act. Considering they used to sell out stadiums in US, I know they never where big in the UK, but excellent performance and happy I got to see them.

[M138]

SwissJonese said:

I've recently seen older band that I actually thought where better than the original gigs I saw them in.

Last week, we saw Reef on their 30th anniversary tour, the whole group just seemed to be really enjoying themselves and happy to play their big hits.

Also saw Bush supporting Vol Beat last week too. I saw Bush in 1997 and it was awful. It was their last date after a massive US tour, so zero effort. But seeing them almost 30yrs later, again they seemed to be loving life and just happy to be playing. Gavin Rossdale didn't seem to be pretentious at all, quite the opposite, letting everyone know it they are Bush and hope they enjoy the main act. Considering they used to sell out stadiums in US, I know they never were big in the UK, but excellent performance and happy I got to see them.

Glad you enjoyed the show.
I know they’ve been around a while but my op was more about the acts that have been around since the 70s.

[MCBrowncoat]

They don't have to be old.

Now where's that clip of Ian Brown "singing" F.E.A.R...?

I've ticked off quite a few people at Glastonbury that were older and really glad I did, because they were all excellent. Probably the best way, because the ticket price is shared among so many artists. Would I pay full price to see them stand alone? Not sure

Rolling Stones
BB King
Leonard Cohen
Burt Bacharach
Buddy Guy

All brilliant

Elton John however, that might be the worst gig I've ever been to. Full of idiots, a horrid crush, left after five songs to see QOTSA with no regrets

As mentioned above, gutted I never got to see Bowie too

[marcosgt]

M138 said:

I ve never took that approach to a live show tbh. First and foremost has always been the quality of the performance. It s why I now would much rather listen to a studio recording of my favourite band than spend a fortune on a below par performance.

How could you ever know how good a performance would be on a specific day at any given venue?

Listening to live music is always a compromise - 'Perfection' can be achieved by repetition, over-dubbing, re-recording, etc, in a studio, given time, but you can never predict with any degree of certainty if a 4 minute song is going to be well performed by a set of musicians (or even just one) in a specific location on a specific day (or even if they actually played it 2 minutes later!).

There's a different feeling to hearing (and seeing) music performed live.

Sure, as others have said, there are performers who objectively really should step off the gravy train, but while there are sell-out crowds prepared to pay top whack to see them, why would they necessarily want to turn down the adulation and, yes. money?

I go to see a fair number of live concerts a year and, in reality, the majority are acts who were, theoretically, better decades ago, but in some cases, that's not true (I can't compare, but I remember seeing Madness in the early 1980s and they were poor, people say they're good these days, so maybe they've improved with experience?) and anyway, if the moment brings me pleasure, then that's the measure of a 'good gig' for me, not if they hit every note perfectly.

Yes, I've seen some acts who were, I felt, poor (I would describe Bob Dylan as st, when I saw him), but I don't expect the impossibility of a perfect performance when I see live music; it's an unreasonable expectation, but it, undeniably, adds something to see and hear music performed well live.

M

[M138]

marcosgt said:

How could you ever know how good a performance would be on a specific day at any given venue?

M

If the singers voice has gone it’s not coming back. Elton John a case in point. His voice went in the late 70s.
My favourite live performances would be Van Morrison at Glastonbury in 1982, someone who can still to this day put in a performance, wherever he’s playing, Rickie Lee Jones at the Dominion Theatre in 1979, fantastic show,wouldn’t be interested in seeing her now, her voice has gone.

[marcosgt]

M138 said:

If the singers voice has gone it s not coming back. Elton John a case in point. His voice went in the late 70s.
My favourite live performances would be Van Morrison at Glastonbury in 1982, someone who can still to this day put in a performance, wherever he s playing, Rickie Lee Jones at the Dominion Theatre in 1979, fantastic show,wouldn t be interested in seeing her now, her voice has gone.

Yes, that's fair, but many performers have good and bad days, even at their best.

That said, I do cringe at some of the Glastonbury 'legends' performances shown on TV, although twice now I've seen St Vincent's Glastonbury set and thought it terrible and then seen them live a few days later and thought they were excellent, so maybe that's down to the Glastonbury coverage quality or the nature of the venue.

M

[Yahonza]

I don't see the problem with bands keeping going, as long as people want to see them - that's their choice.
There will be some contemporary bands that aren't that great live.

[Mr Tidy]

There's nothing wrong with older bands still performing all the time people will pay what they charge, even if they don't always get a great show.

I've paid top money for The Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi, Paul McCartney, Foo Fighters, Muse, Oasis and others because I wanted to see them live, in some cases while they were still around.

I still regret never seeing Queen or David Bowie so I'm glad I won't have any regrets about the bands I have seen!

[Turn7]

I saw Bowie at MK Bowl , 87 maybe ?

Wasn’t that impressed tbh.

[NDA]

I am always glad to have seen legends perform - even if they're not as good as they were.

Like many here, I never got to see Queen... but I have seen most of the greats - Dylan, Stevie, Elton, Steely Dan, Jeff Beck, Clapton, The Stones, Wings, and many others. Some great, others a bit shabby.

[Rollin]

Seen the Doobie Brothers twice in the last year or so and thought they were pretty good TBH