Aging Rock Acts Still Hot on Concert Circuit
May 10, 2005 — -- The Rolling Stones -- with a combined age of 242 -- took to the stage today to announce a world tour and perform a mini-concert for fans gathered outside New York's Juilliard School.
The crowd -- full of hipsters, AARP members, guys in ties and women in business suits -- sang along together. Some of the younger fans were the most enthusiastic, but it is baby boomers -- with their disposable income and bottomless nostalgia -- who are largely fueling a flock of lucrative tours by wrinkled rockers.
Aging rock acts also on the road this summer include The Allman Brothers Band, Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, the Eagles, the Moody Blues, Carlos Santana and Paul McCartney.
This senior generation of rock stars does have its critics. There are those who lampoon concerts by bands such as the Rolling Stones as "zombie jamborees" and say they are sucking all the edge and youthful rebellion out of the music.
Bands like the Stones used to be counterculture icons. Now lead singer Mick Jagger is a British knight, and the band's tour is sponsored by a mortgage company.
Younger fans -- for whom seeing the Stones is almost like their parents going to see jazz legend Benny Goodman -- reject the notion that coolness can be measured chronologically.
"So many of the bands now, they'll be gone in a year, like two years. Nobody will have heard of them," said one young fan who attended the band's press conference. "These guys have been around longer than I have. So that says something about how good they are."
The Stones wouldn't say if this is their last tour. But Jagger said the group's new album is almost done, and they insist they still have plenty of "gas, gas, gas."
Dan Harris filed this report for "World News Tonight."
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