In 2001, Stephen Davis’ epic book on The Rolling Stones was published.
It was called Old Gods Almost Dead: The 40-Year Odyssey of the Rolling Stones.
That was 14 years ago and The Stones seemed ancient then.
Old Gods Almost Dead.
Now as we embark on the spring and summer of 2015, a soon-to-be 72-year-old Mick Jagger, a 71-year-old Keith Richards and a soon-to-be 74-year-old Charlie Watts will be prowling the stage on the Zip Codes tour that begins May 24 in San Diego.
“Everybody’s really been enjoying the last few years,” Richards told Rolling Stone for its April 23 edition. “We’re all feeling energized.”
I saw The Stones in 2012 at Newark’s Prudential Center for a show that appeared on pay-per-view and featured Lady Gaga doing the above killer version of ‘Gimme Shelter’ with Mick, and Bruce Springsteen playing ‘Tumbling Dice’ with the boys. It was one of the greatest shows I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot of great shows. (Here’s the full show.)
The Stones won’t be the only Old Gods Almost Dead out on tour this summer, either.
The surviving members of The Grateful Dead along with The Who, Robert Plant, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Aerosmith, Billy Joel, Van Halen, AC/DC, U2, The Eagles, John Fogerty, Van Morrison, Steely Dan, Rush, Steve Winwood and Gregg Allman are or will soon be out on the road.
The Dead had initially planned to play three final shows at Chicago’s Soldier Field in July to commemorate the band’s 50th anniversary and the 20th anniversary of Jerry Garcia’s death.
Since then they added two additional dates in late June in their hometown of Santa Clara, California (which my wife and I plan to fly out for, leaving the kids with a babysitter.)
There is now talk of a full-fledged Dead tour this fall with John Mayer replacing Phish’s Trey Anastasio as the lead singer, according to Billboard.
Mayer is reportedly already rehearsing with members of the Dead for the tour, which would kick off in October. A representative for the band called the report “premature,” though Billboard cites multiple insiders who have knowledge of the band’s plans.
The promoter behind the band’s Fare Thee Well performances, Peter Shapiro, says any future tour wouldn’t be billed under the Grateful Dead banner. He tells Billboard, “What you won’t see is the four surviving members together saying goodbye in this kind of way. This is it. Chicago is the end, and Santa Clara is leading into the end. But like a great Dead tune, it will evolve and they will wander around on their own.”
Meantime, The Who begin a North American tour Wednesday in Houston and will play multiple arenas in New York, including Nassau Coliseum, Barclays Center and Forest Hills Stadium in May.
Roger Daltrey is 71 and Pete Townshend turns 70 in May, but Townshend says this may not be the band’s last tour, even though it’s their 50th anniversary.
“We’ve been in this place before,” Townshend told Rolling Stone. “We must’ve done three fucking last farewell tours in our career. I don’t know what’s going to happen next.”
The Who plans to break out some old gems that have been hidden away for years, like ‘Pictures of Lily,’ ‘So Sad About Us,’ ‘A Quick One’ and ‘Slip Kid.’
“It if were my doing, I would have probably left them untouched,” Townshend said. “Roger’s been keen to dig into the band’s early career.”
While The Stones, The Dead and The Who are hitting the road, don’t expect to see the mighty Led Zeppelin back on stage anytime soon.
The band did a one-off reunion show at The 02 in London 2007 (with Jason Bonham on drums) that was billed as a tribute for the late Ahmet Ertegun, the President of Atlantic Records, and was universally hailed as brilliant.
Even though Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones appear ready to tour, Robert Plant doesn’t want to revisit Zeppelin.
But he is touring this summer — including June 4-7 at Mountain Jam in New York — and does play Led Zep songs in his current set.
“I completely understand that, of course I do,” Townshend told Rolling Stone of Plant not wanting to revisit Zeppelin, “but I don’t want to say what leaps into my mind. Robert could probably do everything that he wants to do. He could do the occasional Led Zeppelin comeback and make a lot of people very happy. There’s a kind of churlishness to that [opinion]. But he’s his own man, and he has to make his own decisions.”
Old Gods Almost Dead.
Catch them on tour. Before it’s too late.
