I posted the other day about how Vinny Appice was not too old to rock n' roll. Albeit 54 is not that old but to play heavy metal it might be in the upper age bracket. For a singer though, you are only as old as your pipes. That's why Sinatra toured into his late 80's. He could still technically sing even though he uses a teleprompter and sat on a stool. The aforementioned Tony Bennet is still singing and he's getting along in years. February of 2010 we saw Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson sing. Merle was top notch; Kris sang the same words to 2 different songs but he figured it out.
Last night we saw George Jones at the Star of Texas Rodeo sing and perform on the revolving stage. We were super excited and he started out with "Why Baby Why". I'm not going to say we were let down. I'm not going to say we were disappointed. George will be 80 in September (a fellow Virgo!) and he has done much more in his musical life than I will ever do. But he is old. He had 2 teleprompters on stage that he referred to constantly. His voice, though on excellent pitch, was the voice of an old man. Every song was slow(er) and he only raised the tempo for the fiddle instrumentals and "White Lightnin'". Most every other song was in the ballad tempo range.
He is George Jones. He is a classic Traditional Country icon. He showed up, did the gig, and during his victory lap in the Dodge Ram pickup truck you could see he was smiling and waving and that he was having fun. I was glad to see him perform as you never know how long some of the older folks will be around. He is George Jones. I forgive him for reading from a teleprompter. He is George Jones. It's ok if he sang quietly and slow. He IS George Jones. He is country music.
So know for the promised smackdown.
When the concert started there were 3 girls sitting directly behind us who started screaming when George took the stage. I mentioned he started with "Why Baby Why" to which these girls SCREAMED the lyrics. So Liz and I moved down 5 rows where there were seats available and away from the screamers. As the concert went on we noticed another sound. The sound of 2 different girls talking LOUDLY over the music. As I also mentioned George was singing very quietly and we were fairly far from the stage. We looked around at them to give them the eye - they were oblivious. The couple in from of us started to look around as well. They would talk very loudly through each song and then when the song was over they would clap and go "Whooooo!" as if they were actually paying attention to the music. At one point the lady in front of us turned and said "Could you keep it down? We're trying to hear the concert." Nothing. Liz turned around and said "Really guys could you quiet down?" Nothing. By now all of our dander was up. I wear 2 rings on my hands - on my left is my tungsten wedding ring which is one of the herder metals; on my right is my "ECH" silver carved ring. I turned around and banged my hand on the metal bench row behind us LOUDLY, using my ring as an attention getter (a little metal on metal). I think I hit the bench 3 or 4 times. There was stunned silence by this particular group. I was so pissed I don't even remember what I said. Probably something like "Would you stop talking? We are trying to hear the show!!!!" To which one of the harpies said "Excuse me?! I have never...." the sound trailed off as the blood was POUNDING in my head. I have not been that mad... in a very long time. Needless to say except for a few childish remarks and their own tapping on the bench (not nearly as loud and Liz said "That behavior will get you thrown out" and she meant it) the rest of the concert was enjoyable. Of course these assholes cheered the loudest for "White Lightnin'" and "He Stopped Loving Her Today". Two great songs but... too obvious. He played some killer songs that I hadn't heard before and I though those were very poignant. If you want to talk during the concert stay at home and play the hits on your fucking iPod.
Now I know this is not classical music or an intense jazz show where you are "forced" to listen - that music tends to command your attention. But any music worth listening to should command you to listen. And this was one of those times where you want to listen, you have to listen. I guess for that matter EVERY concert or show I have been to is one where I wanted to hear the music. I didnt want to go and talk. Maybe it's just me. I am too used to being on the stage that when I am the general population I can't deal with it. We had the same thing happen when we saw Merle - 2 assholes yelling during the concert. They got thrown out. OK enough rambling. Let me know your thoughts. He is George Jones.
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