O/T:- Glastonbury Highlights

[jackal2]

Funny to think now that the punks and new wavers in the 70s/80s were calling the previous generation of pop/rock stars - who were still in their 30s back then - "dinosaurs" and treated them with total contempt. In some ways that used to annoy me, because I much preferred the music produced before and around the time I was born, but I've always felt pop/Rock was and should be a young person's game.

Attitudes seemed to shift with Live Aid in '85 when - as Morrissey observed - "nobody younger than Bob Geldorf was invited to appear", I think the most contemporary new act on that bill was Howard Jones, who was 30 at the time. Since then the oldies have commanded the same levels of respect as old football club heroes but with people still willing to pay to see them perform. It's the equivalent of the Premier League today being pre-match entertainment for the main event, a 5 aside walking football match between Man Utd over 60s and Liverpool over 60s.
Personally I get the same feeling seeing 60,70+ year olds grinding out ****age angst/love songs as I did seeing that grannie who played Ivy Tilsley in Coronation St turning up on "The Word" talking about her toyboy conquests, it's embarrassing.

I'm as big a fan of Blondie - the band - as you'll find anywhere, but they're a case in point. The musicians still sound good enough and Clem Burke on drums is a God, but Debbie (sorry, Deborah) Harry's voice is gone, which renders the act pointless. Her powerful voice back in the 70's/80's was such a key part of their sound, especially on tracks like 'Atomic'. I found her performance yesterday quite sad to watch.

The thing is, the headline acts at Glastonbury back in the 1990's were the huge acts of that era: Oasis, Blur, Pulp, Happy Mondays, Levellers, Ash, The Prodigy, Radiohead, REM etc. I hate the term when it's used by critics, but they were "relevant" to what the young people of that time were listening to.

This year and in recent years, Glastonbury's headline acts seem to be harking back to two, three or even four decades earlier. What was once a cool, cutting edge music festival now seems to be a platform for old stagers seeking their last hurrah. It might go down well with the (surprisingly old) demographic of the Notts MAD message board, but it should be evolving in line with the new, young generations of today.

[PedroTheFisherman66]

I'm as big a fan of Blondie - the band - as you'll find anywhere, but they're a case in point. The musicians still sound good enough and Clem Burke on drums is a God, but Debbie (sorry, Deborah) Harry's voice is gone, which renders the act pointless. Her powerful voice back in the 70's/80's was such a key part of their sound, especially on tracks like 'Atomic'. I found her performance yesterday quite sad to watch.

The thing is, the headline acts at Glastonbury back in the 1990's were the huge acts of that era: Oasis, Blur, Pulp, Happy Mondays, Levellers, Ash, The Prodigy, Radiohead, REM etc. I hate the term when it's used by critics, but they were "relevant" to what the young people of that time were listening to.

This year and in recent years, Glastonbury's headline acts seem to be harking back to two, three or even four decades earlier. What was once a cool, cutting edge music festival now seems to be a platform for old stagers seeking their last hurrah. It might go down well with the (surprisingly old) demographic of the Notts MAD message board, but it should be evolving in line with the new, young generations of today.

I think the beauty of Glasto is its combines new & old , current and iconic. Enough for the young , pretending to be young and old to be entertained