Wednesday night, The Auteur & I attended the Marilyn Manson and Smashing Pumpkins  concert when they made their stop in our area.  I haven’t seen either of these artists live in over twenty years (I’m not even 100% sure I’ve ever seen Manson live before) but the fact is, concerts simply aren’t as fun as they used to be.  There are probably several good reasons for this, but there is one that I keep returning to:

We are all getting older.

I’m 41.  According to wikipedia, Marilyn Manson is 46 and Smashing Pumpkins front man Billy Corgan is 48.  I don’t know about those guys, but sometimes I feel a little too old to be in the crowd at a rock concert.  to me, the typical concert-going crowd is in their late teens or early twenties and has the disposable income to spend as many concerts as they can attend- as I once did.  Those days are certainly behind me.   Granted, I wasn;t the oldest person there.  There were people there who looked older than me, as well as other who definitely were older than me, but they’re just kinda pathetic.

Also, at the risk of sounding prudish, there’s a lot of smoking of tobacco – and other indulgences – that goes on at most shows.  I’ve never smoked.  The Old Man smoked for as long as I can remember; so it never fazed me much growing up.  But I really have no patience and no tolerance for it anymore.  The alcohol doesn’t really faze me, but then i do still like the occasional beer or three.  In fact, the older I get, the more I appreciate the art of tailgating.

I don’t feel like there’s as much energy at these shows as there once was.  Again, I think this is because the bands are older, and therefore the crowd is older accordingly.  Older crowds don’t sing along nearly as much.  They don’t pump there fist (or throw up devil horns).  They don’t head-bang and they sure as hell don’t tear up the lawn at an outdoor amphitheater and throw it toward the stage.The truth is, I have changed, the musicians have changed and the crowd has changed somewhat – although not enough for me to feel comfortable among them anymore.

This reminds me of older athletes who try to come out of retirement and return to their respective game.  Sometimes they still think they’ve got something left in the proverbial tank.  Other times, it’s because they love the game and don’t want or know how to do anything else.  Usually when they do, they realize that either their desire to play – or their ability to play – are gone.  That’s where I feel I’m at with this whole post.

At least until they next time one of my favorite acts comes to town and I go on this rant again.