>>>>Talkin' 'bout my g-g-generation....
>>>
>>>Old Roger didn't die before he got old, eh? Instead he's making a small fortune from the CSI shows, and kicking back in his trout farm.
>>>
>>>Stll gigging as well. Why don't they all fffffffffff-ade away?
>>
>>You won't get fooled again?
>
>Well not into thinking that he can still sing! Have you heard them lately?!


Not me. I salute the geri-rockers for still being able to go out there and put on a show but they are such pale imitations of their former selves I consider the shows for first timers only, so they can say they saw Mick or Pete or Bruce. Me, I put on an old CD instead and listen to them when they still had something new to say and weren't just banking it.

You know who I think is hanging in there pretty well? Prince. You probably missed him as the halftime act at the Super Bowl. I was pleasantly surprised by his act, especially given that he was on stage in a driving rain. (Not a purple rain, a driving rain). I saw him years ago when he was still on his way up and wouldn't say he was much if any better then. He was the opening act for the Stones, ironically, at a show at the L.A. Coliseum in 1981 or '82. If he was known at all to the Stones crowd it was as that black guy with the dirty songs. He got to "Delirious" early on -- check out the lyrics to THAT one sometime -- and it was no sale to the Stones fans. They quickly made this apparent and he fired back just as quickly. The stage was pelted with every kind of vegetable, fruit, can, and bottle. Even a leather boot. I can still picture the bassist using his guitar simultaneously as a musical instrument and a shield, batting projectiles away.

Prince must have anticipated the reaction because he was dressed for the occasion: a long gray jacket over a ruffled shirt and some very brief underwear. He turned his back to the audience and flipped up the coat to literally show them his butt. You can imagine how well that went over with the crowd. My buddy and I had muscled our way to within 50 feet or so of the stage. There was a surge behind us from even bigger guys who seemed intent on reaching the stage with murderous intent. They were pushed back and in some cases punched back by the bouncers in front of the stage, the biggest and baddest guys of all. Prince and his band finished the song and then walked off after an obviously abbreviated three song set.

Bill Graham, the promoter, grabbed the microphone and chided the crowd for its bad behavior. "We're bringing Prince back out and I expect you to show him the respect any musician deserves." The words went unheeded and the pelting immediately resumed. Prince cut that song short, huddled with his band, and then they played "Jack U Off" and left the stage for a second time, not to return.

And that was just the opening act. George Thorogood came on second and within about 8 bars of riff-heavy Chuck Berry style rock had the crowd eating out of his hand. "I met a German girl from England who was going to school in France / We met in Mississippi at an Alpha Kappa dance / It wasn't me / No no child it wasn't me". The Coliseum was rocking. And then the Stones came out, just around sunset....