The Lost Generation of Rockers
I was at a local bar last night. Not being much of a drinker it was the type of place I would probably never go to. Small, dark and, dingy. I was there to see a friend of mine who had just joined a new band and was playing there. My friend is 27 years old and has been playing keyboards for 20 years. He can make them talk. To listen to him play is one of the joys of my life. I often wondered what went wrong for him. He is certainly as good, in fact, better than the musicians I see on TV.
I didn?t know it but when I walked into this little club I was in for a shock. There was a band setting up on the small stage and about 15 or 20 people watching. The 15 or 20 people made the small place seem crowded. I saw my friend drinking a beer in front of the stage. I thought to myself, there are three bands playing here tonight, there are 15 to 20 people watching the poor schmucks on stage set-up and they include the members of the other bands! These guys must stink.
My friend was overjoyed to see me. He shook my hand and introduced me to the singer, who seemed like a very nice guy and he introduced me to his wife. At this point I was really wondering what kind of night I had in store for myself. I looked around and there wasn?t even a chair to sit on. Then the air was filled with the unmistakable sound of feedback, a drumbeat pounded into my chest, and we were off!
The group on stage was pretty rag tag looking. Their equipment was beat up. But I found myself mesmerized by the sound. These guys were good! No, these guys were great. For the first time in years I was rocking. I mean I was really rocking. There was a melody to the songs, a beat, and the words made sense. And the guy could sing!
I thought I had died and gone to rock n roll heaven. But this place can't be heaven it?s Hell.
The band played for an hour. By the end of their set I was drained. They were drained. But more important they didn?t miss a beat. These guys were every bit as good as my friend. Nevermind why is my friend here, why are these guys here? I mean I am not a big fan of music for the last I don?t know how many years. It has been full of ?Performance Artists.? Singers who screamed not sang, people with guitars but not playing them, oh yeah they were loud and they were strumming them, no they were raping them not loving them. There is no melody to that crap. I forgot what the beauty of harmony sounded like.
My friends new band came on and I have to tell you they were better than the first band I saw. Then it hit me. I had stumbled across the Lost Generation of Musicians. Passionate, caring, rocking musicians who had their legacy stolen from them by the suits at MTV and the record labels. Sentenced to play and live their dreams in these bug infested rooms while lisping boy bands and Alternative goof-offs were given the prize.
Don?t tell me the audience decides what gets played because all you have to do is keep playing songs on the radio and MTV and you can make anything a hit. That is what these corporate a$$holes did. They took something that at one time was pure and corrupted it. Alternative was once a viable art but these bastards decided that Alternative was mainstream! And the public bought it! Now don?t tell me that you can?t make hits if you can sell the fact that Alternative is mainstream. And with that change music died. Or so the suits thought.
While they filled our airwaves with non-talented goofs who had no respect for the past and were only interested in filling their pockets, dedicated musicians were forced to sit on the sidelines. It seems to me if you play guitar in a rock band you should be able to play a song or two on your guitar. Oh it?s true they can rape it but who wants rape? I will admit I love making love and sometimes I?m in the mood for a good fvck, but rape? No not for me. And all those goofs could do was rape.
What the suits didn?t count on though was these kids who could rock. Kids who spent their lives learning their craft. People who loved music, loved rock and, loved to play. They would survive. They're older now, yes, but they still rock!
Give yourself a treat some night. Check out MTV or the crap that the rock station in your town is playing. Listen while you are driving to one of these dark and dank clubs. Walk in the club, buy yourself a beer, and be prepared to be blown away by some of the 30ish year old musicians on stage. Guys still playing because it is their life. The guys who the record industry screwed. Guys still playing because they love it. The Lost Generation of Rockers.
I was at a local bar last night. Not being much of a drinker it was the type of place I would probably never go to. Small, dark and, dingy. I was there to see a friend of mine who had just joined a new band and was playing there. My friend is 27 years old and has been playing keyboards for 20 years. He can make them talk. To listen to him play is one of the joys of my life. I often wondered what went wrong for him. He is certainly as good, in fact, better than the musicians I see on TV.
I didn?t know it but when I walked into this little club I was in for a shock. There was a band setting up on the small stage and about 15 or 20 people watching. The 15 or 20 people made the small place seem crowded. I saw my friend drinking a beer in front of the stage. I thought to myself, there are three bands playing here tonight, there are 15 to 20 people watching the poor schmucks on stage set-up and they include the members of the other bands! These guys must stink.
My friend was overjoyed to see me. He shook my hand and introduced me to the singer, who seemed like a very nice guy and he introduced me to his wife. At this point I was really wondering what kind of night I had in store for myself. I looked around and there wasn?t even a chair to sit on. Then the air was filled with the unmistakable sound of feedback, a drumbeat pounded into my chest, and we were off!
The group on stage was pretty rag tag looking. Their equipment was beat up. But I found myself mesmerized by the sound. These guys were good! No, these guys were great. For the first time in years I was rocking. I mean I was really rocking. There was a melody to the songs, a beat, and the words made sense. And the guy could sing!
I thought I had died and gone to rock n roll heaven. But this place can't be heaven it?s Hell.
The band played for an hour. By the end of their set I was drained. They were drained. But more important they didn?t miss a beat. These guys were every bit as good as my friend. Nevermind why is my friend here, why are these guys here? I mean I am not a big fan of music for the last I don?t know how many years. It has been full of ?Performance Artists.? Singers who screamed not sang, people with guitars but not playing them, oh yeah they were loud and they were strumming them, no they were raping them not loving them. There is no melody to that crap. I forgot what the beauty of harmony sounded like.
My friends new band came on and I have to tell you they were better than the first band I saw. Then it hit me. I had stumbled across the Lost Generation of Musicians. Passionate, caring, rocking musicians who had their legacy stolen from them by the suits at MTV and the record labels. Sentenced to play and live their dreams in these bug infested rooms while lisping boy bands and Alternative goof-offs were given the prize.
Don?t tell me the audience decides what gets played because all you have to do is keep playing songs on the radio and MTV and you can make anything a hit. That is what these corporate a$$holes did. They took something that at one time was pure and corrupted it. Alternative was once a viable art but these bastards decided that Alternative was mainstream! And the public bought it! Now don?t tell me that you can?t make hits if you can sell the fact that Alternative is mainstream. And with that change music died. Or so the suits thought.
While they filled our airwaves with non-talented goofs who had no respect for the past and were only interested in filling their pockets, dedicated musicians were forced to sit on the sidelines. It seems to me if you play guitar in a rock band you should be able to play a song or two on your guitar. Oh it?s true they can rape it but who wants rape? I will admit I love making love and sometimes I?m in the mood for a good fvck, but rape? No not for me. And all those goofs could do was rape.
What the suits didn?t count on though was these kids who could rock. Kids who spent their lives learning their craft. People who loved music, loved rock and, loved to play. They would survive. They're older now, yes, but they still rock!
Give yourself a treat some night. Check out MTV or the crap that the rock station in your town is playing. Listen while you are driving to one of these dark and dank clubs. Walk in the club, buy yourself a beer, and be prepared to be blown away by some of the 30ish year old musicians on stage. Guys still playing because it is their life. The guys who the record industry screwed. Guys still playing because they love it. The Lost Generation of Rockers.
