There is one very basic rule in computer driven creativity …save save save …or something you worked hard on will suddenly be gone one day …
I have had a devil of a time writing this blog and then a computer crash totaled what I had worked on so here goes again

Never to old to Rock and Roll

by Royal Hopper
I sat there breathing in whiffs of the purple smoke that was rising above the crowd gathered to hear the king of shock rock wow the crowd with his nightmare version of Rock and Roll . The warm up band a British punk band whose name I sadly dont eremember had topped off their set with their hit Mr President and the roadies were prepping the stage for the main act.
It was June of 1980 and the first real Rock concert I ever attended that was not on the back of a truck at a county fair or at school. I used part of my birthday money I had saved for months. The ticket cost me 11 dollars and change… It was Alice Cooper’s Flush and Fashion Tour 38 years ago and I was 18.
A few weeks ago I sat in the stands of my most recent concert Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson weathering the sonic assault of state of the art amplifiers that made Alice’s stack of old school amps seem like two cans and a piece of string.

As I managed to flash the occasional Devil Horns and the occasional woohoo and occasional head bang wondering how big a hit my credit card would take for buying the tickets and T shirts … It hit me like a ton of Heavy Metal bricks .. You really are never to old to Rock …..The evening cost well more than $100 as opposed to the 21 and change I spent 38 years ago including a T shirt and coke I bought but the feeling was the same ….
There may come a time when you physically cant take the pounding of the amps and have to watch every dollar you spend but you are never to old for Rock and Roll unless you allow your self to be convinced otherwise.
Thirty eight years ago the opening act finished up and the man Alice Cooper ( his real name is Vincent something) He bore a slouch that 18 years in the casino business tells me looking back he was stone drunk.
Marilyn Manson proudly proclaims he has been sober for 30 seconds and takes a big toke of what I presume was grass and starts to sing…The stageg show cost millions …
Back in 1980 I am thin, and good looking but such a nerd my parents drive me to the concert and dont look back. My mom was a bit concerned but dad waasnt even worried. At one point police lead a thin young man with skate punk clothing and long thin hair out the door. he never stops dancing as they walk him out.
In 2018 I went with my wife of nearly 24 years being nerdy enough to  hold hands during the concert. There are people smoking marijuana in the audience ….no one cares and both the headline acts do it openly.

Times change …Rock and Roll has become an exspensive hobby ..stage shows a massive digital production ..Im older and fatter and increasinglty hate loud noises and changes in my routine ..but I still love Rock…Rock and Roll….Heavy Metal..Punk…Alernative whatever you want to call it . The Spirit is still the same …Some people want to tell you that because you are older and less physically able to tolerate long periods of high intensity sound that you are suddenly going to start listening to show tunes and put away your Rock albums and fade into memory.. Let me tell you brothers and sister of Rock … Dont You believe It ..It aint true
For myself I can tell you it aint going to happen.. I will be a Rocker till the day I leave this earth and with any luck long afterwards….
You are never to old for Rock and Roll

Rock on Sinners ..Love you all
Renegade Out

 

 

One summer in 1980 I having survived high school sort of unscathed I used my birthday money to buy a ticket to a Rock and Roll show..It costs me $11 and change.