Big Music Fest was a huge success.  Sold out crowd.  Fans were fired up.  There was one thing while watching Slash and Aerosmith show absolutely destroy their sets I realized. This is becoming a thing of the past.  

Music is evolving, there is much more emphasis on computers and beats in nearly every type of genre.  We have become obsessed with trying to make each and every sound a little bit different that we have forgotten the basic roots of rock and roll.  There are bands that can still hammer out riffs that give me goose bumps. My Morning Jacket and the War on Drugs come to mind.  Neither of these bands can sell out festivals of 25,000.  After seeing the show yesterday.  There is still a need for these bands past their prime to show us how it's done.

Slash was memorizing on lead   His guitar work is distinct.  He hammered out a half dozen Guns N' Roses songs.  There were points that I actually believed that I was at a GNR concert.  Side note, if a GNR reunion ever does happen.  It will be one of the biggest reunion tours of all time.  Maybe the biggest.  Watching Slash you have an injection of GNR that flows back into your veins. That first note of the Sweet Child O'Mine guitar solo is like a drug.  You don't understand how you could live without it ever again.  Seeing people in the crowd playing air guitar, and just drowning their mind in each sound the guitar was making was amazing  We need more of this.


I am not the biggest fan of Aerosmith.  One thing I can tell you though is that they know exactly how to keep the fans engaged.  Steven Tyler is a prototypical front man from the 70's and 80's.  He puts on a show.  He engages the crowd.  Makes it an absolute delight to listen to the band.  They played their greatest hits.  It was exactly what I expected to hear, but the way it was performed was an absolute masterpiece.  They have been doing this for so long that you can tell it's second nature.  They definitely didn't make you feel this way though.  It looked like their first show in years.  They were intense, comedic, and just a gigantic rock band.

With popular music changing you will be hard pressed to find a crowd that is that energized and feeding off of the guitar.  This is why these huge 60's, 70's, and 80's bands keep selling out.  Those era's party this way.  It's the way it's been for generations.  Dealing with the changing musical demographic is tough.  It's the way concerts have become.  People at laptops with giant light shows in the background.  Women divas with huge spectacles of dancers and eye candy outfits.  This is the new generation.  I have no problem with it.  I just have a hard time dealing with my choice of music not being the most popular.

There are still concerts that feature rock bands. Not near as many, but they are still around.  Osheaga in Montreal is huge, and becoming bigger every year.  There is still hope for the guitar.  There is still the need for a stage commanding front man.  There is still a love for an eight minute guitar solo.  It may never get back to the way it was in the 60's or 70's.  Watching people putting up their hands with signs of appreciation for Slash and what he is able to accomplish with a guitar makes me feel good.  What I got out of all of this is that the love for rock and roll is still alive and well.  Search for it and support it.