Rock 'N' Roll

My ex just bought tickets for Coldplay at the Riverport amphitheater. She’s taking our kids for their birthdays. A $20.00 handling fee plus mandatory paid parking were added to the already ridiculous charges. The handling fee is for each ticket! The folks that always hated rock and roll have subverted it from within. Live Nation/Ticket Masters are the enemy.

Valerie and I went there to see Radiohead. It was terrible. It was like being in the temple of moneychangers. I wanted to throw them all out and it’s not just my Jesus complex.

I know with the free exchange of digital music live shows are the only way bands can make money but this is ridiculous. It’s become totally corrupt.

You pay $8.00 for a beer and rent chairs for lawn seating. You used to bring coolers and whatever else you wanted to places like the Mississippi River Festival at SIUE. There was a strong sense of underground community. This community would change the world.

My first concert was Joan Baez at the River Festival. Everyone was great. I must have been 11. I kept wondering what that strange smell was. I probably got a contact high.

But the man wanted control. I think control really is the issue. “Just imagine if sex and drugs got so out of hand that society collapsed. We’d be living in caves. We’ll have to put a lid on this and squeeze every dime out of it while we’re at it.”

I guess the kids grew up and became the establishment. It must be the path of least resistance.

This is our fault. My kids both have every kind of guitar and amp imaginable. We used to just fantasize about them. I think the strenuous pursuit of your dreams is very important and I feel guilty that my kids will never know that hunger.

Kim and I took the kids to the Point birthday party at the Family Arena in St. Charles. I couldn’t believe the flag waving gratuitous tributes to our troops from every band. Buck Cherry even performed To Drunk to F#ck by the Dead Kennedys. Is Jello Biafra hip to this? What a bunch of republicans! Where’s the outrage? What are we teaching our kids? Rock ‘N’ Roll has turned into a cartoon.

There are venues for oldsters like us. Smaller acts at local clubs and places like The Pageant. Open drug use is a thing of the past except you can still catch a whiff at the teen events. I wish I could see Radiohead at a smaller venue. I wish the big acts would boycott places like Ticket Master. I wish there was reason.

Pic is The Mississippi River Festival. It seems like I saw a hundred acts there.