In Praise Of Older Men – Keeping The Rock & Roll Torch Lit in NZ
This may not be the most popular opinion, but its one I felt I need to share, that of the good work done recently by old dudes like Shihad, The D4 and Guitar Wolf.
Granted, old white men have had a pretty good run…entitled is a word that gets bandied about. Yet, I couldn’t help but think, as I caught recent shows by Shihad, The D4 and Guitar Wolf, what a great job they are doing in keeping the rock & roll spirit alive and well in New Zealand.
I know a few of the participants, and I don’t think they are out there on the road because of their egos, or because of the big bucks they stand to make.
In fact, for most of them, I’m guessing, its something of a sacrifice.
Like all of us, they have families, partners, children and, in some cases, real jobs. Yet I saw them putting their bodies on the line and their hearts and souls on display for all to see (and hear).
These are all middle-aged men we’re talking about…Jon Toogood is 53, Dion Lunadon, 49, Jimmy Christmas, 42 and Guitar Wolf’s Seiji is 62…yet they were all touring New Zealand over the past couple of months, playing like 20 year olds.
I saw Shihad play two, 2-hour + shows at The Powerstation and Spark Arena. The D4 supported at Spark and also at Double Whammy for Guitar Wolf, who put on a master-class of garage rock, complete with crowd surfing and an on-stage human pyramid.
The Spark Arena Show with Shihad, The D4, Dick Move and Mim Jensen attracted over 6000 punters…quite a feat for local bands.
Now I hope you don’t think that raving about these old guys means that I don’t appreciate or acknowledge the fine work that younger, more “diverse” musicians do. Personally, I prefer to take each human as an individual, but that’s not really the world we live in. Race, age, creed and colour still rattle around in the backs of everyone’s minds. I guess its human nature.
But that shouldn’t negate the great work and sacrifice that these old dudes are doing.
So thanks Jon, Dion, Jimmy, Seiji and all of your bandmates and crew for getting out there and giving it your all when you’d could just as easily be at home watching Rugby or Severence.
And while I’m at it, a special thanks to John Baker, who along with fronting Ratso with Jake Harding, was and is responsible for a lot of these shenanigans.
Rock til you drop!
Marty Duda
Note: ages found via Google…hope they are close!
The Shihad Crew:
