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Quote: kenarman

I must admit though that my memories of the concerts I went to in the 70's are a little fuzzy for some reason.

They did not form as a group until 1985 and it would have been until about 1990 that you would have seen them in Vegas. Kris Kristofferson said in 2010:

"I just wish I was more aware of how lucky I was to
share a stage with those people. I had no idea that
two of them would be done so soon. Hell, I was up
there and I had all my heroes with me. These are
guys whose ashtrays I used to clean. I'm kinda
amazed I wasn't more amazed."

Waylon Jennings died in 2002 and Johnny Cash died in 2003. Willie Nelson will be 89 next month and has four ex-wives seven children. His oldest son at 65 years old. One thing most people don't realize about Willie Nelson is he's really really short. He claimed to be 5 ft 6 but people who know him say it's more like it's more like 5 foot 5. Now that he's almost 90 he shrunk so much he's he's lucky if he's five foot two. I just found out in my last doctor visit in January that I shrunk 2 inches. It happens to all of us if we live long enough, it's inevitable.

Willie Nelson's bought his Martin guitar in 1970 and has used it in over 10,000 live performances. It's been signed by over a hundred famous people and is valued at over 2 million dollars. Willie says even in it's beat up condition it sounds better acoustically then any other guitar he can find.

Quote: kenarman

I must admit though that my memories of the concerts I went to in the 70's are a little fuzzy for some reason.

Gee, could it have been that your brain was mush-like due to the then-heavy indoctrination by the Young Republicans?

If so, drugs would have helped.

Quote: Evenbob

Willie Nelson's bought his Martin guitar in 1970 and has used it in over 10,000 live performances. It's been signed by over a hundred famous people and is valued at over 2 million dollars. Willie says even in it's beat up condition it sounds better acoustically then any other guitar he can find.

Willie's guitar is a classical nylon string guitar and was never meant for his aggressive style. Most acoustic guitars have a pick guard in that area where Willie has worn a hole through the top of the guitar. Just like Willie, there is no way it should still be performing after all those years of abuse. Mark Erlewine here in Austin has been keeping that instrument going for over 40 years.

Here's a video from Mark showing some repair work. He also tells the origin story of the guitar.

Quote: missedhervee

I mostly avoid paying to see live performances from singers I listened to in my youth.

I agree with you on that. There are are too many out there milking nostalgia that should be retired. On the other hand, Paul McCartney is such a genius, I made an exception. I have tickets to see him in May. I don’t expect his voice to be what it was but as a musician and performer he still brings it.

Sure, there's always exceptions; for example I saw Fleetwood Mac at MGM.

The thing is, most "dinosaur bands" rest on their laurels and play the same stuff they played back in the day; they don't continue to write and play good, popular new songs.

There are a few exceptions such as Neil Young, who has written and performed new stuff throughout his career.

Concert tickets have become hideously expensive; I recall paying less than five bucks to see Led Zep in Phila. Spectrum around 1970.

Case by case I guess. I saw Sting last year at Caesars. He hasn’t slipped at all. But I wouldn’t go out of my way to see the Stones now.

Here’s Phil Collins at a show a few weeks ago. Great career Phil, that’s enough.

Some other factors. Some bands weren't that good live anyway. They need to play on a regular basis to keep their skills up. Some of the lead singers damage their voice with bad technique. Particularly rock singers.

Good grief.

While I didn't listen to country and western as a college kid I do recall hearing how Willie loved smoking marijuana.

Gotta think he more than anything has led to millions of rednecks embracing reefer.

It's all going to pot

Quite the legacy.