Richard Thompson has announced a short set of solo UK and Ireland dates for October/November (link at the end). I’ve already bought tickets for London of course. Not only would I hate to miss out on a chance to see him, but by the time these dates roll around Richard will be 72. He’s always kept fit, hasn’t touched alcohol for decades and so on, but who knows how long he will want to, or possibly be able to, keep on touring.
And that is what got me thinking. The night before London he’ll be playing in Cardiff. The night before that in Manchester. The night after London he’ll be in Dublin. That sounds utterly exhausting. The travel, the different bed every night, the daily technical checks, maybe some interviews and other press duties, the adrenaline rush of the show late at night and the pressure to give your best for the audience.
I’m almost 20 years younger than Richard and reckon I would collapse after a week of that. Rock stars are just made of different stuff I guess.
When I saw Donald Fagen fronting Steely Dan in Dublin during the 2017 Blues Fest (over three days, the band played in three countries of the British isles), I found myself wondering the same thing.
While `ver Dan is backed by a huge road crew, the last time I saw Thommo it was just him and his guitar tech. Must be absolutely knackering
Donald’s always struck me as someone who plays live under sufferance anyway. I may be wrong.
There are some bands who seem to be pretty much touring all the time because that is how they make a living – I’ve no idea how they do it. The Searchers were playing something like 200+ dates a year before Frank Allen decided enough was enough. I interviewed him near the end of the final run of dates and it is staggering how much time they spent driving around, criss crossing the country to play small to middling venues for years on end.
And that’s your answer: it’s their living. No tour, no dosh. Probably no pension either. And even royalties won’t keep you flush, without any massive hits. Tho’ RTs royalty cheques must add up to a fair bit by now.
It ended up killing poor old Duck Dunn who died alone in his sleep shortly after a gig in a Tokyo nightclub a few years back
Duck: Done.
During his 2019 world tour Mark Knopfler would thank the audiences for all the good times and made it clear that this was the last big jaunt. More records, certainly. But no more touring.
He’s in his 70’s too, and from the YouTube fan footage I’ve seen he looked stiff and sore. I think he’s had back trouble for some while.
Having said that I haven’t seen any subsequent confirmation stated anywhere.
I caught him on that tour and it was clear his mobility had lessened – about half of the gig he sat on a stool. Sad because that band live is something else and I still believe him to be the one artist guaranteed to put on a great show.
Hopefully the albums will continue.
Knopfler now has a gig as a SiriusXM DJ in North America (satellite radio).
The Covid year+ has brought a few artists of a certain age to the conclusion that it’s time to retire – Arlo Guthrie and Kris Kristofferson, for instance. Possibly without the enforced sabbatical they might have trundled on for a few more years without really finding ‘the right time’ to call it quits. So, in that sense, the year off has had a positive effect – Arlo announced his retirement especially gracefully, I felt. I suspect that there will be others of that age who will similarly retire, but maybe just slip away without the announcements. I know one 70-year-old rocker who fears that much of his older-demographic audience will have got out of the way of going to shows by the time touring resumes. It’s an interesting question. On balance, I feel that most active fans thus far will be delighted to see the return of live music. But who knows…
The Blues Band are calling it quits after their 40-odd booked dates are fulfilled, though Dave Kelly and Paul Jones will still go out as a duo every now and then because old bluesmen never stop. Uhhh-huh.
Well, Paul Jones isn’t even 80 (until next year.)
A mere toddler!
I saw Charles Aznavour, working on his 90th birthday on a stage in Berlin, singing and dancing for three hours plus.
Also at a similar age, Compay Segundo used to get requests from his backing musicians on stage, asking for a break.
They don’t make ’em like that anymore.
Didn’t BB King play something like up to 300 shows a year even in his 80s? He was still playing up to the year of his death at 89 in 2015, although I guess he had cut down by then…..
Saw BB in the mid 80’s thinking it was a “last chance to see”. Little did we know
I remember a 2007 Kris Kristofferson gig in Glasgow Royal Concert Hall when, at the end, a few rather mature female fans tried to clamber on to the fairly low stage to show Kris how much they appreciated him. As a rather surprised steward tried to figure out a polite strategy to restrain the ardent and possible slightly tipsy ladies, a rather perplexed Kris stood above the scene and, in his low Texas drawl, proclaimed ‘ladies, you do realise I’m 71 years old now. This ain’t happening!’. Kris looked a tad ‘weary’ during that gig although he gave a great performance. Amazing that he continued to tour for a long while after that time.
Saw KK in Castlebar two and a half years ago with Merle Haggard’s band when he was 81 years young (as the odious Hughie Green used to say).
Must have been the same time he played Hyde Park – thought his voice was shot to be honest although the songs and the band still great.
Well he is 81.
Having seen him get lost at Glastonbury a couple of years before, don’t really think a huge outdoor gig like Hyde Park would be a great place to see him tbh. The venue I saw him in was about a 1500 capacity hall in a conference venue and he was able to get a real rapport going as everyone present was a fan.
I wonder if a factor is that they are used to it. The rest of us aren’t. They been doing it for decades and I assume they have their routines.
Fagen makes it clear in Eminent hipsters that he hates touring. For others maybe it is a way of life.
Mark Ellen, I think, remarked on one of The Word podcasts that Ronnie Wood told him that for a good while after a lengthy tour his adrenaline would start to flow unbidden at about 8pm each evening. This being the time just before hitting the stage at some enormodome regularly for the previous few months.
Guess Ronnie and his fellow Stones’ body clocks must have still been adjusting the last time I saw them
In Morrissey’s book, he and Michael Stipe walk through London for several hours, just talking. Eventually Morrissey realises that they are approaching the Hammersmith Odeon – Stipe says he has a show to do and minutes later he walks onstage wearing the clothes he’s had on all day.
Hope MS wasn’t sporting his Hamburglar look that particular day
World leader pretend would be a great cover for Morrissey.
I’m told by showbiz chums that about two weeks is as long as you can go before ‘tour syndrome’ sets in.