Billy Joel, Rod Stewart and Cover Bands: Keeping an open mind
It's been a strange weekend. There are times in your life when you need to rethink your values. This may be one of those times...maybe.
In the last few years, there have been three things in the musical world that I've disliked. Billy Joel. Rod Stewart. Cover Bands. Maybe not disco dislike and definitely not Donald Trump/Ted Cruz dislike but I haven't been very happy with these three.
Let's start with Rod. Big fan when he started out...a long time ago. He played with Jeff Beck and Faces. Maggie May, Every Picture Tells A Story, Stay With Me and so many more great songs. I even pulled into his driveway one day while on a tour of the Hollywood Stars homes and met his dogs...REALLY!
But then came the year 2002.
Rod released an album called "It Had to Be You: The Great American Songbook." It's an album of old standards written by people like Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Hoagy Carmichael. It was a huge hit and sold millions of copies.
It did so well that Rod decided to do another one...and another one and so on. He did five of these. FIVE!!!! And to make it worse, other rock musicians decided to do their own versions. Glenn Frey did one...horrible. Paul McCartney did one. Yes even Sir Paul Fucking McCartney did one. Sheesh.
I blame Rod for this trend which I call the pussification of rock music. And it's not just the standards...Rod does Christmas albums, too...and even plays this crap in concerts.
I'll continue in a moment. I need a break because just writing this is making me throw up a little in my mouth.
Let's move on to part two, Cover Bands. If you aren't familiar with them, they're bands that play the music of more famous bands. Most even have a name of a famous song from the group they're covering. For instance, there's a Led Zeppelin cover band called Kashmir.
Now I have nothing against the musicians in those bands. Most are pretty talented. Certainly more talented than a guy who can only play air guitar, even though it's pretty good air guitar. What I don't get is why these guys don't want to do something more challenging. Why not take a chance, write and play some of your own songs? I know it's hard but as Tom Hanks once said, "It's the hard that makes it great. If it was easy, everyone would do it."
I've been making it a point to avoid Cover Bands....until recently. Here's the thing and in my case, the problem. A lot of the musicians I loved are dead. Name a band from the 60's or 70's and most likely they have a member who has died. And before you 80's and 90's people start laughing or snickering, your time is coming and faster than you'd like it.
So where are you going to hear the music that you grew up on...the music that you love. COVER BANDS!! Sigh!! It's a conundrum.
Two weeks ago, I went to see a couple of Cover Bands at a local Chicago festival. One played music of the Eagles, the other played Beatles music. The people watching looked like they were having a good time. They knew all the songs and were singing along. What was the matter with them? Didn't they know that these weren't really the Eagles? But guess what kids, I had a good time, too.
At the fake Eagles show, there was a guy in front of the stage who was singing along and playing air guitar to the solos. I'm pretty sure I'm never going to do that but I think I can start seeing cover bands and enjoying them for what they are. Not too mention that it's much cheaper than the original.
Which brings us to Billy Joel.
Oh Billy...what the Hell happened to us?
I remember seeing Billy for the first time in college. He was on some late night music television show and he was jamming with Dave Mason. It was great and I became a fan right away. Throughout the 70's and 80's, he had some great songs and some classic albums. His live concerts were brilliant, full of energy. If you haven't seen it, check out his concert video of when Billy played in Moscow, Russia.
But like a lot of great things, it comes to an end.
In 1993, Billy Joel made his last album. It's been twenty-three years since he's made any new music. Plus, at least to me, his concerts have become stale. It's tough when you play the same songs over and over and over again. I know a lot of acts play their hits because that's what the audience wants but they try to sprinkle in some new stuff to keep it fresh. Billy hasn't written anything to keep it fresh in more than two decades.
The last few years, Billy has been playing at Wrigley Field, in Chicago. He's been a staple there, the most popular act. He keeps coming back and keeps selling out and I could never figure out why.
It started in 2009, when the Face to Face Elton John/Billy Joel tour came to Wrigley. They played solo sets and then played together, helping out on the others songs. It was horrible and that's not just me talking. The tour got bad reviews. The concert made each of them seem old and in turn, just watching them made me feel older, too.
Next was coming back to Wrigley in 2014 for a couple of shows. Same old, same old. All the predictable hits. It just seemed to lack the energy of the younger Billy and I left feeling bored. I think I may have been the only one to feel that way. People loved it. They loved it so much that he was invited back to play again in 2015. I sat that one out.
We move to last Friday and Billy Joel is playing Wrigley Field AGAIN!! C'mon!! I make a decision to try him one last time. I mean, it was free and it was either that or go to the burbs to see Blue Oyster Cult (SMH). I figured the worst that will happen is I'll leave early and go watch the Cubs play the Dodgers.
Can you guess what happened? I LOVED IT!!!!
Yeah, I know it was the same greatest hits gig but there was a different energy to it and the crowd felt it, too. They and Billy brought me along with them. I dunno...maybe it was just that I was in a Billy Joel state of mind? It turned out to be the best show I've seen in the last few years. I never would have guessed that. NEVER!
What's the point of all of this? Maybe it's that if you keep yourself open to new things or even just revisit things from the past, you'll find new experiences that will help you enjoy yourself more...maybe. I'm even getting ready to go to the burbs to see a cover band playing music of The Police.
Still....I'm never going to listen to those Rod Stewart Songbook albums. I mean a guy has to draw the line somewhere.
Here's my review of the Billy Joel concert from 2014. See, a guy can change his mind.
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