Reflections on the Desert Trip: October 6, 2016

Most, if not all, of the articles I’ve read about the first weekend of the Desert Trip share a preoccupation with nostalgia and a snarky need to mention everyone’s age.  I think the 70,000 people who showed up for three nights know how old they are and whether they were around 50+ years ago when Mick and Paul started redefining music.  And some of us actually got to see them way back when.  I saw the Beatles during their second and last American tour (1965) and the Rolling Stones when I was in college (sometime in 1975 or 1976–it’s a blur). One article made the point that the music of the 1960’s and 70’s is really current music because young people are listening to it today.  Uh, no.  It’s our music and by that I mean the music of the people known as the baby boomers.  And the reason our music is still around is because it’s better than anything that followed.  And we have the hearing loss to prove it.

I read today that media is calling the Desert Trip “Oldchella.” Well here’s a message for you, young media know-it-all: you’re going to be older one day, with physical and maybe mental challenges, and that’s if you’re lucky. BTW, ICYMI, we’re the generation that made “F” an all-purpose word. One could say that your f’ing attitude shows how f’ed you are; you’re kind of an f”er. (adjective, adverb, noun). So verb you, Buddy. LOL.

 

Next blog–the first night, the heat, the merchandise, the food, glamping….