Comparing older Artist

In this article I am going to compare older artists and bands. I will compare several things like the audiences and how they sound and more.

I am going to start with Journey. I will start by saying I know the new lead singer is only 57. If you watch him live, he acts like he is in his late 30’s early 40’s. The band sounds really good. The sound quality has not gone down over the years. They can still get the audience involved. The audience was good for this show. I had a good time at this concert. I had a chance to see them again. I wish I had taken it.

The opener for Journey was Toto. The lead singer is 64. He has come and gone with the band. He has been back with the band since 2010. The average of this band is about 60. The youngest is 49 and the oldest is 77. The lead singer still sounds Ok. You can tell it is an older voice. They can get the audience involved with their popular songs. The band is still good. The audience overall was good.

Let's move on to the only country singer I have seen live. That would be Hank Williams Jr. He is 75. He sounded good overall. Some songs sounded better than others. He worked the audience a little bit. The audience did most of the work when the popular songs came on.

Let's talk about the audience. This was a diverse crowd in terms of age. It spans from mid 20’s to people his age and older. I had two girls in their 20’s try to sit next to me. It wasn’t their seat. One was drunk or something else before the show even started. There were a few drunk people by the end of the show.

I am just glad he wasn’t drunk. I had heard stories about him being drunk at concerts. Maybe he wasn’t this time because his son opened for him. It was a good show. Probably one of the few times I will say I wouldn't go see them again. I just think once you see him once you are good.

Next up is a band I have wanted to see for a long time. That band would be Lynyrd Skinner. This band has no surviving original members. The longest member in the group now would be the lead vocalist Johnny Van Zant. He has been with the band 37 years. He is 64.

They sound perfect. Their voices sound perfect. The band is great. The audience was older as expected. This was a great show. There is a reason they have been popular for 50 years.

ZZ top opened for Lynyrd Skinner. The 2 remaining original members are 74. This is the first and only time I will say this, but I didn’t think their voices sounded that good. Their voices did not hold up over time. What I did like is their synchronicity especially with a new guitarist. I loved that part of the show.

Now we come to who I think is the best older person still performing today. That would be Peter Frampton. He is 74 and has a progressive muscle disease. Even with that he can still sing and play better than any of the older musicians. I have seen him 3 times in a little over a year.

He has been great each time. The audiences have been different each time. The first show was outside in summer. Not a lot of people stood up. Second time was in a small venue. That crowd and overall experience was better. They still didn’t stand up much. Then we come to the third show. There was just something different about this audience. They stood up a lot for standing ovations after every popular song. This was a fun audience.

Now let's compare them to younger artists. Let's start with the bands. I will use Fall Out Boy as a comparison. I think they are about tied with the voice. The audience was a little more engaged than the older groups. I know this is a different genre, but I think the only group that could beat the older ones I have seen live is Falling in Reverse. I have seen them 3 times. A runner up would be Disturbed.

For Peter Frampton the closest younger person I have seen would be John Mayor. Peter Frampton wins. John is a great guitarist, but Peter is better.

I don’t have a comparison for Hank Williams Jr.

I will say I wish I had gotten to see Aerosmith live before he messed up his throat. That would have been the only person that might have beat Peter Frampton.