Showing My Age

Time for a good rant. I haven’t had one for a while. Warning to those of you who are only interested in the Civil War–you’re going to hate this post. It’s a rant about something else that’s always been important in my life–music–and has absolutely NOTHING to do with the Civil War. So, proceed at your own peril.

I was born in the spring of 1961, meaning that I am 45 years old, although there was a time not that long ago (or so it seems) when the thought of being 45 was akin to being old as the hills. For the most part, I try not to act my age; I try to live my life by the title of one of my favorite Jimmy Buffett songs, “Growing Older But Not Up.”

One place where I am, apparently, an old fuddy-duddy is with music. Simply stated, I think that the vast majority of the new music being made today is beneath contempt. Calling most of this stuff garbage is an insult to rubbish (am I the only one who doesn’t get Green Day at all?). While there are notable exceptions (new Scottish singer K. T. Tunstall being one very notable exception), most of what’s out these days is trash. I had a discussion with a friend not long ago wherein we lamented the fact that it’s apparently not difficult to make it in the music biz today even if you don’t have a lot of musical talent. Britney Spears, for one, comes to mind when I say that.

I am a product of the 1970’s (I graduated from high school in 1979). Most of my favorite bands have been around since then. Many of my favorite bands fall within the category of progressive rock. Prog rock bands had genuine talent as musicians, and many of them were classically trained. See Kansas, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Yes, Traffic, and the other great prog bands if you need a few examples of what I mean here. My wife’s office assistant, who is all of 19, has never even heard of most of these bands.

Today was one of those rarest of days here in Central Ohio: a summer day with not a cloud in the sky, not too hot, and no humidity to speak of. So, on the spur of the moment and just for the hell of it, I decided to check and see whether I could tickets to a double bill concert here tonight: Huey Lewis and the News and Chicago. To my great surprise, I was able to get two tickets at face value in the 18th row center. Off we went to the show.

I guess I must be showing my age. I can only think of one other instance where I saw more gray hair and more receding hairlines at a concert than tonight, and that’s when we went to see Simon & Garfunkel on their reunion tour a couple of years ago. Fortunately, I still have nearly all of my hair (although it has receded a bit), but I do have PLENTY of gray. So much so, in fact, that it shocks me every time I get my hair cut and I see the volume of it.

I always really liked Huey when he was at the height of his fame in the 1980’s. I saw him live twice in 1982 and 1983, and always thought he put on a great show. He didn’t disappoint tonight. Although the band behind him has changed, they still sound great, and the crowd was really into it. He may be in his mid-50’s now, but he can still rock, and still play a mean blues harmonica. Huey had quite a run of hits in the ’80’s, and they still sound good. They did all but three of his really big hits: “Hip to be Square” (the biggest of all), “Jacob’s Ladder” (actually written by Huey’s friend Bruce Hornsby), and “Walking on a Thin Line”.

Chicago was fabulous. They’ve always been a favorite of mine. This is their 39th year as a band, and there are still five original members. They recently released Chicago XXX. Ponder that for a moment….

Each one of them is a consummate professional and a virtuoso musician. The three horn players are all remarkable musicians. They opened the show by playing the entire “Ballet for a Girl From Buchanan”, which made up an entire side of Chicago II. Everyone of my generation knows “Colour My World,” which was guitarist Terry Kath’s signature song. Kath shot himself in 1977, and it nearly killed off the band. When they did it tonight, it had Huey Lewis on lead vocal, and he nailed it. It was pretty remarkable. When they did “I’m a Man,” both bands performed it together–both Huey and the News and Chicago.

Chicago did all of their hits, all of them comfortable and familiar. Their second album, Chicago II, which came out in 1969 and was a double album, is generally considered to be one of the top twenty rock albums, and certainly one of the most influential. Songs from it include: “Make Me Smile”, “Colour My World”, “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?”, and, of course, Chicago’s signature song, “Twenty-Five or Six to Four.” They did all of these tonight, closing out with “Twenty-Five or Six to Four” as the final encore. They only did one of those sappy songs that sold so many records in the 1980’s, instead focusing on the first five albums and also on their newest record.

The five remaining original members are all in their sixties now, and these old boys can still play and they can still rock. Although the current bass player doesn’t quite have the magnificent soaring voice of Peter Cetera, he’s a tremendous musician and is able to sing Cetera’s songs quite competently indeed.

On one hand, I felt quite old tonight, although there were certainly plenty of folks in attendance tonight much older than me. On the other hand, I was completely in my element, singing along (quite badly, I might add) and knowing all the words to almost every song by heart. Most of all, I was totally digging the idea that I was getting to hear great music played live by consummate musicians. Huey Lewis put it quite well at one point tonight when he said “In an America that seems to enjoy watching amateurs ice skate, try competitive sports, and most of all sing, these guys [Chicago] are real pros.” He was, of course, right on the money. The great tragedy is that the current generation has never really experienced that. They’re content with mediocrity. We never were.