Music Thread

[Demo]

9 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

Along those lines— I just stumbled across a live Maria McKee performance from this year on YouTube. Completely cringe-worthy. Sadly, one of the great Americana singers ever was Turrible Turrible. Still had some power behind her voice but off pitch and no emotional phrasing; just kinda screaming, even in ballads.

sadness

Mould is awesome and someday will expire still awesome— I guess Mould is like old blues men; great guitarists can last forever, but singers almost always use their instrument. And Sugar and Husker Du basically always used his lead vocals as a background instrument.

The deterioration of the artist is a painful thing to see. And the crowd thing gets me. My wife took me to see Bruce for my birthday maybe 10 years ago and the band still sounded good and Bruce was still Bruce and the tempo was a little slower but it was a very good show. But the crowd was a bunch of 50 and 60something middle manager types who for exercise now walk on a treadmill in their office busting out full-throated and for them unironically, “Tramps like us, baby we were born to run”, and it hit me. We may have never actually been that guy, but we’re certainly not that guy now, even for a night of nostalgia. I felt ridiculous. That’s when I made the call that oldies shows are out. Though to be fair, I saw Darlene Love a few years ago in her mid-70’s and she KILLED. Her voice at her age was otherworldly. 

[Stuhoo]

47 minutes ago, Demo said:

The deterioration of the artist is a painful thing to see. And the crowd thing gets me. My wife took me to see Bruce for my birthday maybe 10 years ago and the band still sounded good and Bruce was still Bruce and the tempo was a little slower but it was a very good show. But the crowd was a bunch of 50 and 60something middle manager types who for exercise now walk on a treadmill in their office busting out full-throated and for them unironically, “Tramps like us, baby we were born to run”, and it hit me. We may have never actually been that guy, but we’re certainly not that guy now, even for a night of nostalgia. I felt ridiculous. That’s when I made the call that oldies shows are out. Though to be fair, I saw Darlene Love a few years ago in her mid-70’s and she KILLED. Her voice at her age was otherworldly. 

Saw Springsteen 30 years ago: incredible. Saw him on Broadway five years ago. Meh.

Saw a very old Dylan ten years ago…absolutely brilliant. I guess it helps that he never could sing in the first place.

[cthomas]

1 hour ago, Stuhoo said:

Saw Springsteen 30 years ago: incredible. Saw him on Broadway five years ago. Meh.

Saw a very old Dylan ten years ago…absolutely brilliant. I guess it helps that he never could sing in the first place.

Dylan wouldn't be Dylan without that voice. My interest in music leans heavily into the lyrics. I want to hear things presented to me in a way I have never considered before. I was hooked on Dylan 60 years ago and he has been consistently the best songwriter of my lifetime.

[AZ Hoosier]

7 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

Saw Springsteen 30 years ago: incredible. Saw him on Broadway five years ago. Meh.

Saw a very old Dylan ten years ago…absolutely brilliant. I guess it helps that he never could sing in the first place.

Never was much of a Springsteen fan... but give me Dylan and Mellencamp and I'm a happy guy.

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Best oldtimer I've seen in person is Frankie Valli abut 10-years ago.  We were on a vacation in Vegas and saw news of a one-night performance at The Orleans.  His back-up group was cast members from the Jersey Boys.  Couldn't believe his voice still sounded that good and he still had that range in his voice.  

[cthomas]

17 minutes ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

Best oldtimer I've seen in person is Frankie Valli abut 10-years ago.  We were on a vacation in Vegas and saw news of a one-night performance at The Orleans.  His back-up group was cast members from the Jersey Boys.  Couldn't believe his voice still sounded that good and he still had that range in his voice.  

For me, Boz Scaggs a few years ago in Indianapolis.  I won the tickets and told my wife that if it didn't go well we could just leave. He was fantastic. The other would be Jerry Lee Lewis at Memphis in May around 1999. He was helped on stage but once he got to the piano, he was unbelievable. I still have trouble believing what I saw.

[Demo]

7 minutes ago, cthomas said:

For me, Boz Scaggs a few years ago in Indianapolis.  I won the tickets and told my wife that if it didn't go well we could just leave. He was fantastic. The other would be Jerry Lee Lewis at Memphis in May around 1999. He was helped on stage but once he got to the piano, he was unbelievable. I still have trouble believing what I saw.

Boz Skaggs would have been a tough one to say no to. Hell of a career. The one that could, I hope, come up and I’d just have to do it is Johnny Marr. He was supposed to be in KC right when Covid hit and I don’t know if he’s toured the States since. Don’t particularly love his voice but he’s Johnny freaking Marr and that’s all it takes. 

[JSHoosier]

15 minutes ago, cthomas said:

For me, Boz Scaggs a few years ago in Indianapolis.  I won the tickets and told my wife that if it didn't go well we could just leave. He was fantastic. The other would be Jerry Lee Lewis at Memphis in May around 1999. He was helped on stage but once he got to the piano, he was unbelievable. I still have trouble believing what I saw.

Jerry Lee Lewis was called the killer for a reason.

[Stuhoo]

I saw J. Mascis/Dinosaur Jr. last year; I think he’s in his early 60’s.

I’d put him in the same category as Bob Mould—his voice blends into the hyper-decibel guitar fuzz. The show was spot on great and the guitar sounds from that one man were as much of a sonic explosion as ever.

[Stuhoo]

4 hours ago, AZ Hoosier said:

Never was much of a Springsteen fan... but give me Dylan and Mellencamp and I'm a happy guy.

FWIW, if you’re okay with Mellencamp now singing like a Midwest version of Tom Waits (I 100% am), then his 2024 album Orpheus Descending is a rare and wonderful piece.

For me? It is the single best album of his career. It’s too musically catchy to be morose, the lyrics are too nasty and cutting to be pop music, he’s back to his Big Daddy era Appalachia-meets-Indiana arrangements, and the whole thing just works.

[Stuhoo]

On 8/15/2026 at 11:35 PM, Demo said:

I have a hard and fast rule that I don’t go to geriatric rocker shows. Almost never not depressing. Make 1 exception: the great Bob Mould. Husker Du. Sugar. Solo. 40+ years of making incredible music. Has never taken a backward step. Love him. Today came across this very cool just out little 20 min doc on the creation of Sugar. Turns out they’re going out for a short reunion tour. That is happy-making beyond words and an absolute must do. Closest it gets to me is 10/21 in Nashville, TN. Will be there with bells on. 

Holy sh!t— just found/watching the one hour, thirty minute full show NyC concert from the tour on YouTube. What an f-ing guitar rock god. 65 years old and absolutely shredding and crushing.

Wow:

 

[AZ Hoosier]

This is a great watch... I think it's currently streaming on Netflix...

 

[AZ Hoosier]

The world of rock lost another legend today... ZZ-Top drummer Frank Beard passed today.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/frank-beard-zz-top-drummer-dead-obituary-1235607415/

[Stuhoo]

27 minutes ago, AZ Hoosier said:

The world of rock lost another legend today... ZZ-Top drummer Frank Beard passed today.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/frank-beard-zz-top-drummer-dead-obituary-1235607415/

Of note… the only member without a physical beard had a beard-name.

[Demo]

21 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

Holy sh!t— just found/watching the one hour, thirty minute full show NyC concert from the tour on YouTube. What an f-ing guitar rock god. 65 years old and absolutely shredding and crushing.

Wow:

 

Will die on the hill of Mould being the most criminally unappreciated truly great rock artist ever. 45 years the guy’s been doing it and the quality never fades and the fire never dims and the dude just does his thing, whether anybody’s listening or not. A stone killer.  

[str8baller]

12 hours ago, AZ Hoosier said:

The world of rock lost another legend today... ZZ-Top drummer Frank Beard passed today.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/frank-beard-zz-top-drummer-dead-obituary-1235607415/

Sounds like he was touring with until recently. They were just up in Ft Wayne. 

[mamasa]

15 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

Of note… the only member without a physical beard had a beard-name.

Also of very little note, before ZZ Top, he and Dusty Hill were in a version of The Zombies. Before joining ZZ Top, future bandmates Dusty Hill and Frank Beardplayed in a fake, unauthorized touring lineup of the British rock band The Zombies in the late 1960s. When the original group split up after a hit single, record promoters sent imitation American bands on the road to tour under the name

[Demo]

30 minutes ago, mamasa said:

Also of very little note, before ZZ Top, he and Dusty Hill were in a version of The Zombies. Before joining ZZ Top, future bandmates Dusty Hill and Frank Beardplayed in a fake, unauthorized touring lineup of the British rock band The Zombies in the late 1960s. When the original group split up after a hit single, record promoters sent imitation American bands on the road to tour under the name

That is outstanding. Will definitely go down this rabbit hole at some point.