Glastonbury

[Thomas]

Suffering the occasional bouts of FOMO, I watched Billy Eilish headline the Pyramid Stage (the main stage) last night, then flicked to Twitter to get a sense, and lo! In among the praise and the delight, a succession of apparently forty-something white men trashing her act, apparently the headline spots belongs forever to the bands of their heyday ...

Sad that they don't realise that the torch has passed on, that their views are anecdotally interesting, hopefully amusing and enlightening, but largely irrelevant.

For those who manage to grow old gracefully, there is the bask in the warmth and glow of youth's torch, a remembering when, and a sharing without lecture, and smile when they laugh and, yes, a smile when they take themselves far too seriously.

And so it goes, as Kurt Vonnegut says.

Tonight, Paul McCartney is headlining after Noel Gallagher.

Were I there, the latter I would definitely avoid, and if something else caught my eye and I missed McCartney, I'd not worry ...

 

[RJM]

Keith’s opinion, lol:

Keith Richards has made public his indifference towards today’s music, sharing that he finds the popularised use of synthesisers “cheap and corny”.

The Rolling Stones guitarist voiced his thoughts in an interview with Rolling Stone. When asked if he had been listening to new music from the rock world, Richards offered, “There is no new rock ’n’ roll. It’s pointless.”

“There’s great musicians and some great singers and stuff. Unfortunately, to me, in music, it’s been synthesised to death,” he explained. “Once you start synthesising things, you’re not getting the real thing.”

Richards added: “I don’t want to go into a long discourse on what’s wrong with synthesisers and music these days, except to say they’re cheap and corny.”

He went on to add: “We’re in the midst of a heavy-duty ‘showbiz’ period, even stronger than when we killed it last time. The X Factor and all this competition shit. It’s just for people who want to be famous. Well, if it’s fame you wants, good luck. You’d better learn to live with it.”

https://guitar.com/news/music-news/keith-richards-new-rock-and-roll-synthesisers/
https://www.nme.com/news/music/keith-richards-5-1196841

 

[Thomas]

Well, we watched him last night ...

Not my favourite Beatle, it must be said, but oh my good gosh, credit where credit is due: an 80-year-old does a two-and-a-half hour set – 30 minutes over time! No-one's gonna pull the plug on what is, undeniably, a living legend.

Yes, his voice is gone, notably on the more ballad-like songs (Blackbird evoked sympathy), but would suddenly belt out in the rockier numbers... Stops a story mid-sentence when he spots something happening in the crowd... knows how to play an audience ... put on a show ... duets with a virtual John ... a cred it to George ... (the possible guest spot of Ringo never materialised) ... brings on Dave Grohl and Bruce Springsteen, both grinning like schoolboys ...

Fave Beatle?

I rate George simply because he's under-rated, or perhaps overshadowed, as a songwriter, but really he's up there with L&McC.

Ringo, too, gets a raw deal sometimes.

 

[wil]

Is there a video link.

He'll I quit listening to new music in 79...disco and punk drove me away.

This old rocker was a side B fan...the bilubblegum played on the radio did not appeal.

I still listen to the hundreds of great bands and the thousands of songs I enjoy (and new ones I find) from the 60s and 70s. However I do admit in the past 40 years there have been a couple dozen decent bands.

 

[Thomas]

Is there a video link.

Only for the UK. You need to find one of your kids/grandkids with a VPN!

He'll I quit listening to new music in 79...disco and punk drove me away.

I watched Billie Eilish, and last night watched 80 minutes of Kendrick Lamar, rapper ... not at all my taste, bush sheesh, each song's lyrics are like a chapter from a novel ... my tastes reflect my age, but span deep ambient through to headbanger rock.

This old rocker was a side B fan...the bilubblegum played on the radio did not appeal.

We have terrible radio choices here in the UK compared to the US. Mainstream, BBC Radio 1, Radio 2, is too full of self-important DJs who spend as much time inflating their own egos as they do playing music ... there are some good ones in there, and the late and legendary John Peel was in a faraway league of his own.

(BBC Radio6 is a lot better)

Fleetwood Mac is still going, but 'my' Mac is the Albatross band, Peter Green et al.

What staggers me is the number of song lyrics I know from the 50/60s! I catch myself coming out with old sons, thinking when did I ever hear that? It's not as if we had music radio on when I was a kid ...

 

[wil]

Check out the classic rock channel on 3wk.com

I rarely feel the need to fast forward thru what they curate. they play tunes I know and forgot...as well as a plethora of bands I never heard of but have that distinctive late 60s early 70s sound.