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Rock of Aged


bobsessed

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Okay here's the deal. I just turned 49 and I still wanna rock. My most recent bandmates are now playing country...not a THANG wrong with that.....but sometimes I get the feeling that some guys think theyr'e supposed to "tone down"(or whatever) when they get to a certain age. Yeah, there are alot of older rockers still making records, but I'm talking about us average Joes that aren't famous. As long as you don't wear spandex over a beer gut, or try to wear black fingernail polish, or do really stupid looking dances, then I say Let Us Rawk! I shall play Cheap Trick, T.Rex, ZZ Top, KISS, Blue Oyster Cult.....and any other rock stuff that my fingers will comply with, until I'm sho nuff old! Can I get a AMEN?

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Well I was the youngest guy here at one time. (has been 8 years? where does th etime go) and I'll Amen that!

Don't feel bad. My Dad is 57, plays a Hamer (I bought it for him) and still plays with his friends (some former high school and college band mates!) and they have gigs playing the music they love like Cream, Santana, etc. I jam with them whenever I'm in town during a rehearsal. Hell I listen to the music they play all the time. I never listen to the covers I do (Weezer, My Chemical Romance, whatever's hot this month, etc.).

If they can do it, so can you!

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I shall play Cheap Trick, T.Rex, ZZ Top, KISS, Blue Oyster Cult.....

Can I get a AMEN?

you can get an amen, no problem.

but, getting a gig playing that stuff might be harder. :ph34r:

seriously, there's not many classic rawk gigs around here.

but there is modern rawk, blues, and acoustic.

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I turned 50 this year and still love stuff the hard rockin' stuff.. The band(80's/90's indie/alt stuff) I played in/playing again in is very aggressive... A young band we were playing with gave us one of the best compliments we ever got: "How old are you guys?" "After you guys we're going to sound like a bunch of pu$$ies!!". I've done more stuff this year than I ever did at 20; racing, marathons... Go for it and have fun....

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I enjoyed playing rhythm guitar in a Cult tribute band recently, but when they brought in a new singer who steered things in a more generic cock-rock cover band direction complete with visuals like eye liner and leather pants (certainly a better business decision) it was time for me to step out. I just turned 40 and there was no way that was age appropriate for me. Well, maybe it would have been if I looked like pirateflynn instead of Uncle Fester (or Wolfman Jack when I had hair). Easily the saddest thing about leaving that band was losing my opportunity to let rip with my Valvetech 50-watter through a 4x12 at every rehearsal and gig.

I'm really loving the jam band thing I'm doing now though. It's come-as-you-are from an "image" standpoint and it's probably the most satisfying music I've ever played. So I'm having a Santana-esque resurgence: surrounding myself with younger players and trying my damndest never to play another chord again LOL!

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Yeah, I think music should be age-independent, but attire is another question entirely. :ph34r: Still, to each his own...

Like I said, if I looked like pirateflynn, there wouldn't have been a problem. Just like Clarence Thomas wouldn't have had a problem if he looked like Denzel LOL!

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Like Greg, I'm the youngest in my band at 42 also. We're playing the rocking stuff, but I'm staying away from classic rock when possible. What once was classic is now just oldies - no matter how loud you play it. I like a lot of new rock, so as long as we're not covering tunes about teen angst, I'm good with it. And we don't look silly.

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I turned 50 this year. In late August I was invited to join a 'classic' rock outfit, my first paying gig in 5 years.

We're doing everything from '50's standards to Velvet Revolvers' 'Slither' (that's a big bag of fun to play).

The youngest guy's in his late 30's, we're all family men at some level, and we kick major ass.

As long as I can stand up I'm young enough to play rock. I don't give a damn who's watching me do it, either.

Check www.stonewolf.com for our song list.

AMEN

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I'm 40 and still playing, but I lean towards music thats is in my opinion not youth oriented. Somehow at my age, I just can't see myself being in a band singing about teens angst. I think some music can span different age groups and some are more geared towards the younger crowd.

Van Halen is one of my favorite bands, but I have a hard time seeing a 60 year old Van Halen and still projecting the same image from when they were in their 20's. AC/DC singing "You Shook Me all Nght Long", as much as I like the song, at 60 does not conjure up a very good image in my head. The Stones on the other hand is different IMO. I think the music by the Stones and the Beatles span a wider age range. In my opinion, the bands that last for decades make music that span a wider age group or actually musically evolve over time.

Having said all that, I plan on playing for as long as I can. At my age, it is getting harder to find bands that I can play in.

-FunkyE9th

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Amen and a loud HOORAH! My 16 year old daughter has caught the guitar bug, and we get the chance to play stuff WE BOTH like (Skynyrd, Green Day, etc.), so there's a hidden benefit to keeping the mojo alive throught your life. My old '80's band is a different story, our old (pardon the pun) drummer has had 1 complete hip replacement, and underwent surgery on the other, and my good friend and former bass player was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor, these guys are both younger than I (43). As long as I can whack a power chord, play some Chuck Berry leads at high volume, and have the legs work well enough to reach my pedalboard, I'm not going to change a damn thing! Life is way too short to be worried about what others think.......Just random thoughts from a rapidly aging rocker.......

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I'm 43 and still love rock, but one listen to my new CD and you'll notice that my palette has expanded. I dunno if it is age or the experience of putting my iPod on shuffle, but I much prefer my rock mixed in with some jazz, folk, alt-country etc. If I go to a show and the band just has the amps kicked to 11 and playing full out balls to the wall rock on every song I just get bored. But if the band can swing on one song, lay back on the next and then come out rocking, that really makes for an exciting show.

My musical soul-mate and I have played together for years in various bands. He'd be happy to play the same songs every night if it got the crowd going. I always have to shake up the set list and add new material or I just lose interest. Similarly if the band I'm playing in seems stuck in a stylistic rut I'll become less enthusiastic.

For me the hardest thing about playing in a band is finding a really versatile drummer. The drummer for my band Emery's Misery is a great straight ahead rock drummer, but when asked to lay down a swing groove he was lost.

So maybe I'm just becoming an old fart, but all rock all the time just doesn't hold my interest any more. Heck, Led Zeppelin is widely regarded as the greatest hard rock band ever, and they were constantly working other styles into their albums. But come to think of it, while rock has always been the, uh, rock of my musical world, it's never been the whole of it.

-Jonathan

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You're only as old as the people who feel what you play : )

I think a classic rock band would do really well in private clubs (just do plenty of slow songs along with the rockers). There are also many suburban bars in our metro area that cater to "grownups", for lack of a better term. If you chose the right venues, you'll be fine.

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