While the road may go on forever, the musicians who travel it all take an exit ramp. When they do, those of us whom they used to visit notice their departure. Too many times it has been from death, natural or otherwise. Recently it is from something that I’m sure many thought would never happen: aging.
Neil Diamond recently announced that he will no longer tour due to a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. Then came word that Lynyrd Skynyrd and Elton John were also parking the bus and opting for quiet evenings with a Hungry Man dinner in front of the television.
It was Sir Elton’s announcement that really got me thinking and remembering. It was October 6, 1984. The Breaking Hearts Tour rolled into Atlanta’s Omni. Ah, the Waffle Iron. It was a special place for me. Not because of the acoustics or the aesthetics, but because of the great shows I saw there. Elton’s was one of them. Kate and I had only been dating a short time when I took a chance and asked her to the show. She said, “yes,” but probably more for the chance to see Elton than me. I made the drive from Carrollton to the Omni box office just a couple of weeks before the show and was able to procure two excellent seats for about sixteen dollars.
Yep….sixteen bucks. While age may be catching up to my favorite musicians, inflation has caught up to me. I noticed that tickets for Elton’s Atlanta show in November and December range from $150 to just over $1200. I don’t begrudge him a single dime. Things have changed. The music industry has changed and so have I. Back “in the day” I would have sold an organ to afford a ticket. Now, I would actually have to sell an organ to make it happen. Truthfully, I can afford a pair of tickets in the nose-bleed section, but putting that money toward retirement seems like a better idea. Hmmmm….guess age is catching up to me, too.
And, that’s really the thing. It’s not the grey in my blonde or the deepening laugh lines in my face that makes me feel like the sand in my hourglass is running out. It’s the folks I listened to during my younger days retiring or worse, dying. While I am upset that they’re no longer touring or just no longer with the living, it’s the underlying reminder that I’m aging, too.
To drive this fact home-like it needs help-I was speaking with someone at a party recently. The topic of music, concerts and the cost of tickets came up. In the course of the conversation, we discussed which acts we’d be willing to fork out the big bucks to see. His choice: Journey on the Escape Tour. That tour rolled through Atlanta back in 1981 and I was there. It was the first of three Journey tours I would see with Steve Perry still belting out the vocals. I asked if he’d gone thinking he, like me, just wanted to relive that moment. He told me he wasn't able to go because he was around 8 years old at the time. I get it…I’m old…thanks for the Post-It Note reminder.
I hate that Elton is coming off the road, but I get it. It’s a hard life even when you can afford to do it right. I just wish I could afford the ticket. At least the memory of that one concert back in ’84 is still with me…and so is the girl who agreed to go.
Epilogue:
Boomers like me aren’t the only ones realizing that we will never see another concert by certain entertainers of our youth. My daughter is a big Allman Brothers fan, especially Gregg. She was fortunate enough to see him in concert before he passed. But now she too is aware that while the road may go on forever, the musicians that ride it don’t.
