Editorial: More than just nostalgia

Friday, Oct. 21, 2005 | 8:18 a.m.

Their music may be fodder for classic rock radio, but a USA Today report shows old rock 'n' rollers still are packing in the fans at concert halls. And it's not just such superstars as Paul McCartney or the Rolling Stones.

All seven of the shows in which Van Morrison was the headliner have sold out so far this year, USA Today reports. Jimmy Buffett has sold out 99 percent of the seats for 19 shows in facilities with an average seating capacity of 24,300, and Neil Diamond sold out 98 percent of an average 14,100 seats for the 35 shows he has performed.

It's a testament to creating timeless music. And it's a sign that good showmanship still counts, even in the age of digitally enhanced sound and laser light displays. Live performances are, after all, what took these older acts to the top. Concerts sold records.

Today, many a star is made overnight with a great CD -- one recorded in a highly technical studio where, if the singer can't sing on-key or can't project over the band or doesn't even know how to sing with the band, the computers can fix it.

It is fed to the public immediately through the Internet or on television stations set up solely for the purpose of showing music videos. By the time they tour, these performers can already be superstars. And if they can't carry the tune live, the computers backstage can still fix it.

Certainly, all performers now exercise such options. But Baby Boomers, born from 1946 to 1964, still want to see their favorites live and might be disappointed to walk out of a show that "sounded just like the record." And as many are reaching retirement age, they have the money and time to be picky.

Maybe the aging rockers benefit from this largest generation's seemingly endless fascination with its own nostalgia or its fervent pursuit of everlasting youth.

More likely, it's because such performers as Buffet, Morrison and Diamond are just that good. And great music, though it ages, never gets old.