McCartney, Brian Wilson, the Monkees, Larry Graham, all oldie acts and better than ever and putting the lie to a truism that bands that traffic on past successes are not artistically valid.
The oldies circuit is mammoth. really, if you haven't had a hit in 20 years, you can consider yourself a nostalgia act.
Back in the day it was Frank Sinatra,Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles. Today, what do you think Prince is selling if not past hits. And, really, who doesn't want to hear the songs they love performed live by the original artists? I wrote awhile back about bands playing complete albums, and this is the same idea: it is giving you something you know in a different form.
And it is huge right now. The lifeblood of arena rock is oldies. For instance, Springsteen keeps on recording albums nobody likes, but when he comes on stage , he plays oldies. When I saw him at MSG late 2009, he played precisely TWO SONGS off this then current Working On A Dream.
Really? What choice is there. On the current leg of their 360 Degrees tour, U2 have re-aligned to start heavy with "Even Better Than The Real Thing" instead of "Breath" off the unspeakable No Line On the Horizon. Why? Starting with a newbie is like the away team scoring a goal in the first five minutes: it takes the fans out of it. Particularly when you've forgotten how to write a song.
A great band playing a great set is all about song placement: what do you give em and when do you give it to them. A Macca, A Springsteen -their catalogues are so deep it can be literally one hit after another. Of course, then you lose the uber-fans, so you have to mix it up.
And in 2011, the Stones (who have never played live better than since the 1990s), Bob Dylan (actually, Dylan isn't really an oldies act though he was reacted to as such), others, are playing among the best live music of the careers. In the world of modern music, 69 years old is the new 45 years old. The drugs the partying, the irresponsibility have rescinded, the technology has caught up with the studio in Arenas, the sound terrific, unimaginable when the Beatles played Shea, and life expectancy is sky high. They don't sound like your Grandpa because they are in such great health, they aren't your Grandfather.
Which makes it a pretty damn good time to be an oldies fan.