If you were to have walked into the Steve Miller concert the night of April 2, you would have viewed the same stuff I did. A lead singer whose gut accounted for about half his body weight. A burned-out bass guitarist whose revealing apparel did not fit his over-the-hill physique. A drummer who was so bald his head served virtually the same role as that of the light projectors above him. And last but not least, a stage show filled with cheesy lighting and poor psychedelic imagery.
You would have also seen that as the concert progressed the band members got more and more into their music and for the last parts of the show, they managed to look semi-photogenic. The backup guitar, bass guitar, lead singer and electric harmonica all formed a line on stage; the drummer in the background to the left, the pianist in the background to the right. I began to think that 20 years ago, that setup would have been apt for band posters and advertisements. Now it is just a bunch of old men playing famous and beloved tunes on expensive instruments.
But why are they still beloved tunes? It has been 20 years since many of them have been written. Why do these men still tour even though they have plenty of money to retire happily, and as their age rises their health begins to dwindle? Why do baby-boomers and bikers flock to concerts performed by Steve Miller or any of his contemporaries -- The Allman Brothers, Santana and The Doobie Brothers? It is as if these concerts have become a new Mecca of music. Lastly, why is it that when I walked into the concert I said to myself, "I missed out on the good times."
It might very well be because I did. Steve Miller and his contemporaries grew as musicians in a time period that was fueled by countercultures, social revolutions, scandals and war. Their music was loud, revolutionary and powerful. It was written by people who loved the music, loved the time period and was received by people who cared.
Music has dwindled in my opinion over the past ten years. The grunge scene was a new music style that was fueled by the angst of Generation X-ers, but it lost its fire when Kurt Cobain died and Pearl Jam decided to fight Ticketmaster. A band like Live has the potential to go far, but their music is less defiant and more downright depressing. Rap and Hip-Hop have arguably been the only places where innovative work has brought musicians success.
Recently, however, the unoriginal covers of Mace and Puff Daddy and the success that they have accumulated leads me to believe that Hip-Hop and Rap aren't free from the taint of dullness and repetition. The recent Ska scene seems to be growing strength. It is unsettling, though, that many of the Ska and Punk bands that have made their way to the big radio stations have altered their music to make it more like pop to bring themselves success. Jam bands like Phish and Strange Folk along with groups like The Dave Matthews Band, Blues Traveler and Rusted Root have been successful with new music, but isn't their approach the same as that of The Dead, Santana and The Allman Brothers?
And why has there been no really new music? And why was Pearl Jam so unsuccessful in their attempt to lower concert prices? Twenty years ago that stunt would have caused a raucous of international proportions. In addition, what has brought Mace and Puff Daddy so much success when many of their top tens have been covers of previous musicians? In my opinion, it is the apathy of the '90s. No one cares. Most people today view important problems as already taken care of: Civil Rights is done, the starving children in Africa were fed, AIDS is raging, but I will never get it so who cares, etc. People go along with a cause as long as it stays trendy. No one has to feel sympathy for anyone's problems anymore, and most people don't care to. Instead, it is good enough for most if you hide your prejudices, racist beliefs and homophobic thoughts behind the pretentious curtains of political correctness in which no one is required to have real respect for anyone; you just have to refrain from saying a few nasty words. For the time being, the majority of music, politics and personal opinion is stagnant.
What does all this have to do with Steve Miller? It was refreshing to see a blast from the past. To see that even though they were rich musicians who looked far from stageworthy, they were able to build up enough endurance to play 26 songs, and they still had enough of the free-love mentality to devote "Serenade" to the Russians in the Mir Space Station. I know they were old and crusty and that their time has passed, but at their concert I was reminded that their time was one of action -- as opposed to the '90s a time of torpidity.
