Commentary on Plant Says NO to Zep Reunion

[SteveAJones]

England's "Sunday Mirror" has finally published what insiders have known for six weeks. Robert Plant said no to a Led Zeppelin reunion.

How could he do this? The touring industry needs Led Zeppelin, the fans are ENTITLED!

Bullshit.

Robert Plant employed the artist's prerogative, which has not been seen in a top level act, never mind a classic rock act, this century. While every has-been known to man is touring at an inflated ticket price on a victory lap that would make those in attendance cringe if they heard the tapes after the fact, Robert Plant is saying let it be. To leave Led Zeppelin in the seventies. When they wrote the book, when rock excess was married with music critics pooh-poohed, but the little boys and girls understood it was the shit, as their kids now believe also.

YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO SEE LED ZEPPELIN! It does not come with your DNA, does not come with purchasing the tracks. You don't get to do everything in this life. Whether you made bread as a hedge funder or your parents indulged your every whim. The O2 show was a one time event, even though no one believed it. Not Jimmy Page, not John Paul Jones, not even ME!

You had to be there. That was the expression when Led Zeppelin ruled. You had to awaken before dawn to line up to buy tickets. There was no DVD, what you felt at the moment was all you got. A high you might remember forever. Music wasn't entertainment, it was life ITSELF! Not a single parent took his kid to a Led Zeppelin show. There was none of the father/son bonding of Stones shows today. Rock and roll isn't family entertainment, it's all about sex and drugs. If you didn't partake, YOU WANTED TO!

Led Zeppelin's music was created in this hot house. Jimmy Page was not the guy playing "Whole Lotta Love" at the New York Stock Exchange, rather he was holed up in the Ryatt House allegedly dripping wax on little girls. Not that that was the band's only infraction. Can you imagine an act today toting around the mud shark story? Have you even LISTENED to "Mothers Live At Fillmore East"? There was a cult culture, which was not on AM, not on TMZ, that only fans could be aware of, AND THEY WERE!

If you were too busy being safe and you missed Led Zeppelin in their ten year run, you deserve the silence. If you're a kid and you're wetting your still-attached diaper, I'm telling you I never got to see Babe Ruth. And therefore his legacy looms even LARGER! Hell, Joe DiMaggio would show up at Yankee Stadium, but he didn't take center field and show us how much he'd lost.

That's what a Zeppelin tour would be like. It would taint our memories of the seventies. Those hot chicks with their tits hanging out... They wouldn't be wearing tank tops. And they would be too heavy to sit atop their boyfriends' shoulders. Boyfriends with bad backs, pot bellies and no hair. Sure, it's not a crime getting old, but we don't get to go back to high school and we don't get to see Led Zeppelin!

They had to change the key. Robert's voice is different. This is no problem if he's singing new material with Alison Krauss, but you're going to expect "Stairway To Heaven" to be as good as the original, TRANSCENDENT! And do you want him to sing shirtless again too? Mick Jagger prancing around in those tiny outfits after working out ad infinitum is a joke. It makes you turn your head. I won't go to a Stones show. To think that I once thought they were...the greatest rock and roll band in the world. Even though they were uneven as hell. Now they're a P.T. Barnum act. Yup, you're a sucker if you go.

Robert Plant has not had plastic surgery. He grew up, can't you?

Part of being a rock and roll fan is believing. But we haven't been able to believe in the acts in eons. They all make deals with corporations, they won't take a political position. Their handlers say not to hurt their earning power, not to alienate potential ticket-buyers. These aren't rock and rollers, these are BUSINESSMEN! I can't believe in THEM!

As for Jimmy Page? I guess it's incumbent on him to find new players and make NEW MUSIC! Instead of traipsing around the world living on fumes, giving the people what they want. And they don't want new Zeppelin music, not of the quality of "Walking Into Clarksdale". Why tarnish the legacy? Wasn't "Coda" bad enough?

I expect sometime in the future the band will do another one-off. To honor someone's memory, probably not for a charitable cause, Zeppelin was never charitable. This is fine by me. Every fifteen or twenty years is okay. Kind of like a family or high school reunion. Only this time, I'M GONNA GO! Why schlep all the way to London, spend thousands of dollars, when the band will come to my hometown and I can DRIVE THERE? That's the way it is with all these acts. They create a buzz, they test the waters, then they say the public demands they go on the road. No, they want to get paid. And all their handlers say to do it, the agents and managers WANT THEIR PERCENTAGE!

For far too long, the tail has been wagging the dog. The businessmen have held sway over the artists. Don't lament that Robert Plant won't reunite with his bandmates as Led Zeppelin, cheer out loud, that there's one Greek God rock star left who isn't beholden to the money, who's not worried about giving the public what IT wants, but is only concerned with what HE wants!

Bob Lefsetz

[eternal light]

Don't lament that Robert Plant won't reunite with his bandmates as Led Zeppelin, cheer out loud, that there's one Greek God rock star left who isn't beholden to the money, who's not worried about giving the public what IT wants, but is only concerned with what HE wants!

I wasn't going to; he does what he wants the last time I checked, and so do I.

[PJ Slocum]

AMEN TO THAT

100% on the money...I never saw Zep but I don't feel like they owe me anything. I'm grateful for the great music and all the years I've enjoyed it. I won't feel like I'm missing anything if they don't tour

and if they do then more power to them

[feather in the wind]

good read, thanks for the post. i agree with 'leave it alone'.

[SteveAJones]

I wasn't going to; he does what he wants the last time I checked, and so do I.

Oh my sides!

Your killing me. When the moon is right and your posts are light I'm convinced your the

funniest woman on the world wide web.

[MrZoSo]

Well written. I am not sure about the 6 week thing though. None the less, great job.

[PJ Slocum]

Oh my sides!

Your killing me. When the moon is right and your posts are light I'm convinced your the

funniest woman on the world wide web.

Easily amused are you Steve? It was mildly amusing I'll grant you that.

But that cheesy pickup line in your post was funnier to me

Well back on topic, I think Robert should be applauded for having alot of integrity and very little greed(everybody has at least a little)

[Reggie29]

Who knows what is going to happen?

Que Sera Sera.

I have had the pleasure of seeing the band live and with that memory and the many videos and cd's I have will be more than enough to see me through.

Oh yeah, EVERYBODY deserves to see the band live, even Bob.

Whether they get the opportunity to is another matter.

One thing this thread has succeeded in, is to bring out the passion and sometimes everyone

has probably overreacted at sometime due to this fact.

Good luck to the boys no matter what they decide to do as individuals or with other collaborations.

Thanks for the memories.

Cheers

One happy Zep Head.

[Gainsbarre]

I think one day Robert will regret not getting back together with the others.

I mean everyone goes through their defiant solo period, then eventually, they get to the point where they embrace their past and go on the friggin reunion tour.

It's like Dave Gilmour with Pink Floyd, you know I know they're big rock stars and there's a lot of ego about, but you know, just get over it and do it. Trust me.

[Zepp-4-Life]

No problem here .

Rob says no -- I say go Jimmy go.

The sooner Jim fully realizes that Robert won't tour again as LZ , the sooner his next project gets underway. And to be honest , I'm sure the two have already had " the talk ".

It's JP that has been the absent one from public performing .

I'd be happy to see any of the members live and touring , healthy and happy .

There's no big surprises , controversy or problem .

Lets be grateful for what was given .

One year ago we couldn't even have this conversation.

Amen to that .

BUT - we can still dream , but lets just do it respectively .

Peace and Rock n Roll

[marmorek]

Just because a fan wasn't able to see the O2 show doesn't mean they don't deserve to see Zeppelin. Even if they don't do a massive world tour, it would still be amazing if they just played a few more select shows. If they can play one, surely they can play a few more.

[barrios]

I think one day Robert will regret not getting back together with the others.

I mean everyone goes through their defiant solo period, then eventually, they get to the point where they embrace their past and go on the friggin reunion tour.

It's like Dave Gilmour with Pink Floyd, you know I know they're big rock stars and there's a lot of ego about, but you know, just get over it and do it. Trust me.

...you just dont get it...

"It's like Dave Gilmour with Pink Floyd" you sound like a girl... get a grip, all of you....

[Patrycja]

This decision (if true) makes Plant the thunderthief, then?

I guess it's as it should be, leaving on a high note. Most of me wouldn't want them to tour (this even after missing out on O2 *wipes a tear*)...

...though if they do decide to tour, I'd beg, borrow, and steal to get a ticket...a guilty pleasure, what can I say...

[Cactus]

Zeppelin has already given us more than any one person can deal with in a single lifetime. The recordings, music, the lyrics and the history of the band are enough, interviews, then you add the live shows, bootlegs, reunions, solo albums and tours etc etc. A film and a DVD. Plus the 02 show.

Any more from Zeppelin is a bonus. They owe us nothing more than what they have already given.

If they toured, however, I would go and I know a lot of other people who want to see them too. But you have to realise that this time last year, no-one thought we would ever see Led Zeppelin live ever again. Because we got something we didn't even realise we could have, we now have a taste for it and want more....

[LadyRaven]

I have a choice phrase I'd like to post here, but I'm not going to seeing how things have been around here over the last few months especially in these last few weeks.

All I'll say is it inovolves somebody taking a trip to the proctologist to see if their head can be removed from a certain bodily cavity.

[coronapete]

England's "Sunday Mirror" has finally published what insiders have known for six weeks. Robert Plant said no to a Led Zeppelin reunion.

How could he do this? The touring industry needs Led Zeppelin, the fans are ENTITLED!

Bullshit.

Robert Plant employed the artist's prerogative, which has not been seen in a top level act, never mind a classic rock act, this century. While every has-been known to man is touring at an inflated ticket price on a victory lap that would make those in attendance cringe if they heard the tapes after the fact, Robert Plant is saying let it be. To leave Led Zeppelin in the seventies. When they wrote the book, when rock excess was married with music critics pooh-poohed, but the little boys and girls understood it was the shit, as their kids now believe also.

YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO SEE LED ZEPPELIN! It does not come with your DNA, does not come with purchasing the tracks. You don't get to do everything in this life. Whether you made bread as a hedge funder or your parents indulged your every whim. The O2 show was a one time event, even though no one believed it. Not Jimmy Page, not John Paul Jones, not even ME!

You had to be there. That was the expression when Led Zeppelin ruled. You had to awaken before dawn to line up to buy tickets. There was no DVD, what you felt at the moment was all you got. A high you might remember forever. Music wasn't entertainment, it was life ITSELF! Not a single parent took his kid to a Led Zeppelin show. There was none of the father/son bonding of Stones shows today. Rock and roll isn't family entertainment, it's all about sex and drugs. If you didn't partake, YOU WANTED TO!

Led Zeppelin's music was created in this hot house. Jimmy Page was not the guy playing "Whole Lotta Love" at the New York Stock Exchange, rather he was holed up in the Ryatt House allegedly dripping wax on little girls. Not that that was the band's only infraction. Can you imagine an act today toting around the mud shark story? Have you even LISTENED to "Mothers Live At Fillmore East"? There was a cult culture, which was not on AM, not on TMZ, that only fans could be aware of, AND THEY WERE!

If you were too busy being safe and you missed Led Zeppelin in their ten year run, you deserve the silence. If you're a kid and you're wetting your still-attached diaper, I'm telling you I never got to see Babe Ruth. And therefore his legacy looms even LARGER! Hell, Joe DiMaggio would show up at Yankee Stadium, but he didn't take center field and show us how much he'd lost.

That's what a Zeppelin tour would be like. It would taint our memories of the seventies. Those hot chicks with their tits hanging out... They wouldn't be wearing tank tops. And they would be too heavy to sit atop their boyfriends' shoulders. Boyfriends with bad backs, pot bellies and no hair. Sure, it's not a crime getting old, but we don't get to go back to high school and we don't get to see Led Zeppelin!

They had to change the key. Robert's voice is different. This is no problem if he's singing new material with Alison Krauss, but you're going to expect "Stairway To Heaven" to be as good as the original, TRANSCENDENT! And do you want him to sing shirtless again too? Mick Jagger prancing around in those tiny outfits after working out ad infinitum is a joke. It makes you turn your head. I won't go to a Stones show. To think that I once thought they were...the greatest rock and roll band in the world. Even though they were uneven as hell. Now they're a P.T. Barnum act. Yup, you're a sucker if you go.

Robert Plant has not had plastic surgery. He grew up, can't you?

Part of being a rock and roll fan is believing. But we haven't been able to believe in the acts in eons. They all make deals with corporations, they won't take a political position. Their handlers say not to hurt their earning power, not to alienate potential ticket-buyers. These aren't rock and rollers, these are BUSINESSMEN! I can't believe in THEM!

As for Jimmy Page? I guess it's incumbent on him to find new players and make NEW MUSIC! Instead of traipsing around the world living on fumes, giving the people what they want. And they don't want new Zeppelin music, not of the quality of "Walking Into Clarksdale". Why tarnish the legacy? Wasn't "Coda" bad enough?

I expect sometime in the future the band will do another one-off. To honor someone's memory, probably not for a charitable cause, Zeppelin was never charitable. This is fine by me. Every fifteen or twenty years is okay. Kind of like a family or high school reunion. Only this time, I'M GONNA GO! Why schlep all the way to London, spend thousands of dollars, when the band will come to my hometown and I can DRIVE THERE? That's the way it is with all these acts. They create a buzz, they test the waters, then they say the public demands they go on the road. No, they want to get paid. And all their handlers say to do it, the agents and managers WANT THEIR PERCENTAGE!

For far too long, the tail has been wagging the dog. The businessmen have held sway over the artists. Don't lament that Robert Plant won't reunite with his bandmates as Led Zeppelin, cheer out loud, that there's one Greek God rock star left who isn't beholden to the money, who's not worried about giving the public what IT wants, but is only concerned with what HE wants!

Bob Lefsetz

u moron led zeppelin is better than ever i was at the o2 if robert plant wants to be a country singer or play with a back up band good for him he is not rock and roll if i want country ill listen to garth brooks

[coronapete]

AMEN TO THAT

100% on the money...I never saw Zep but I don't feel like they owe me anything. I'm grateful for the great music and all the years I've enjoyed it. I won't feel like I'm missing anything if they don't tour

and if they do then more power to them

somebody please tell robert plant that he is not a country singer he is not carl perkins he is led zeppelin

[TheWriter]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. And Bob makes some interesting points below. But the truth is that Plant has lost all the respect I ever had for him. A Zeppelin tour is a win - win - win situation. The fans win by getting to see a legendary band perform live; the concert industry wins by hosting what promises to be the most successful tour in the history of mankind; and the band wins by earning unimaginable sums of money; re-igniting album sales and radio play; and securing their place with a new generation of music fans - and in history.

By disregarding the people who made Plant who is is - and gave him the choice to turn down US$200-million; and by disrespecting the bandmates and friends who hired him to lead Led Zeppelin and become a world renowned celebrity, Plant is demonstrating a childish selfishness that rock'n'roll has never seen before.

It was one thing to not play Led Zeppelin songs for the first half of his uneven solo career (can anyone name just three memorable tunes from all of his solo albums?), but to disregard this opportunity at a time when he, Page, Jones and Bonham's son are all alive and well - and the world is clamoring for them - is to spit in the face of those who made him who he is and gave him everything that he has.

This is not about reliving the 70s or tarnishing a legacy. This is about wanting to witness one of the world's most powerful bands perform some of the world's most memorable songs live and in person. It IS still about the music. And if Plant doesn't care about the money, then let him give his earnings to charity - or let tickets to the show simply cover the cost of the production. But don't deny the people who love you one last chance to cherish you and your music. That's a legacy you do not want to leave.

England's "Sunday Mirror" has finally published what insiders have known for six weeks. Robert Plant said no to a Led Zeppelin reunion.

How could he do this? The touring industry needs Led Zeppelin, the fans are ENTITLED!

Bullshit.

Robert Plant employed the artist's prerogative, which has not been seen in a top level act, never mind a classic rock act, this century. While every has-been known to man is touring at an inflated ticket price on a victory lap that would make those in attendance cringe if they heard the tapes after the fact, Robert Plant is saying let it be. To leave Led Zeppelin in the seventies. When they wrote the book, when rock excess was married with music critics pooh-poohed, but the little boys and girls understood it was the shit, as their kids now believe also.

YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO SEE LED ZEPPELIN! It does not come with your DNA, does not come with purchasing the tracks. You don't get to do everything in this life. Whether you made bread as a hedge funder or your parents indulged your every whim. The O2 show was a one time event, even though no one believed it. Not Jimmy Page, not John Paul Jones, not even ME!

You had to be there. That was the expression when Led Zeppelin ruled. You had to awaken before dawn to line up to buy tickets. There was no DVD, what you felt at the moment was all you got. A high you might remember forever. Music wasn't entertainment, it was life ITSELF! Not a single parent took his kid to a Led Zeppelin show. There was none of the father/son bonding of Stones shows today. Rock and roll isn't family entertainment, it's all about sex and drugs. If you didn't partake, YOU WANTED TO!

Led Zeppelin's music was created in this hot house. Jimmy Page was not the guy playing "Whole Lotta Love" at the New York Stock Exchange, rather he was holed up in the Ryatt House allegedly dripping wax on little girls. Not that that was the band's only infraction. Can you imagine an act today toting around the mud shark story? Have you even LISTENED to "Mothers Live At Fillmore East"? There was a cult culture, which was not on AM, not on TMZ, that only fans could be aware of, AND THEY WERE!

If you were too busy being safe and you missed Led Zeppelin in their ten year run, you deserve the silence. If you're a kid and you're wetting your still-attached diaper, I'm telling you I never got to see Babe Ruth. And therefore his legacy looms even LARGER! Hell, Joe DiMaggio would show up at Yankee Stadium, but he didn't take center field and show us how much he'd lost.

That's what a Zeppelin tour would be like. It would taint our memories of the seventies. Those hot chicks with their tits hanging out... They wouldn't be wearing tank tops. And they would be too heavy to sit atop their boyfriends' shoulders. Boyfriends with bad backs, pot bellies and no hair. Sure, it's not a crime getting old, but we don't get to go back to high school and we don't get to see Led Zeppelin!

They had to change the key. Robert's voice is different. This is no problem if he's singing new material with Alison Krauss, but you're going to expect "Stairway To Heaven" to be as good as the original, TRANSCENDENT! And do you want him to sing shirtless again too? Mick Jagger prancing around in those tiny outfits after working out ad infinitum is a joke. It makes you turn your head. I won't go to a Stones show. To think that I once thought they were...the greatest rock and roll band in the world. Even though they were uneven as hell. Now they're a P.T. Barnum act. Yup, you're a sucker if you go.

Robert Plant has not had plastic surgery. He grew up, can't you?

Part of being a rock and roll fan is believing. But we haven't been able to believe in the acts in eons. They all make deals with corporations, they won't take a political position. Their handlers say not to hurt their earning power, not to alienate potential ticket-buyers. These aren't rock and rollers, these are BUSINESSMEN! I can't believe in THEM!

As for Jimmy Page? I guess it's incumbent on him to find new players and make NEW MUSIC! Instead of traipsing around the world living on fumes, giving the people what they want. And they don't want new Zeppelin music, not of the quality of "Walking Into Clarksdale". Why tarnish the legacy? Wasn't "Coda" bad enough?

I expect sometime in the future the band will do another one-off. To honor someone's memory, probably not for a charitable cause, Zeppelin was never charitable. This is fine by me. Every fifteen or twenty years is okay. Kind of like a family or high school reunion. Only this time, I'M GONNA GO! Why schlep all the way to London, spend thousands of dollars, when the band will come to my hometown and I can DRIVE THERE? That's the way it is with all these acts. They create a buzz, they test the waters, then they say the public demands they go on the road. No, they want to get paid. And all their handlers say to do it, the agents and managers WANT THEIR PERCENTAGE!

For far too long, the tail has been wagging the dog. The businessmen have held sway over the artists. Don't lament that Robert Plant won't reunite with his bandmates as Led Zeppelin, cheer out loud, that there's one Greek God rock star left who isn't beholden to the money, who's not worried about giving the public what IT wants, but is only concerned with what HE wants!

Bob Lefsetz

[JohnnyO]

I really wanted to see Zep live one more time. I refuse to buy anymore of Plant's music or see him live until he relents and gives the fans what they want

[mos6507]

You guys are getting carried away by press melodrama. I find NOTHING here that contradicts what Jimmy himself said about Robert having "prior commitments". Robert was encouraged to tour with Zep immediately and had to decline in order to do the Raising Sand tour. As he said in recent interviews, he would be open to the possibility of playing with "his friends" again if it "made sense". Just NOT RIGHT NOW as he has every right to let Raising Sand and its associated Grammy run its course. He was forced to actively turn down offers in order to make good on his prior commitments and this is just being blown out of proportion.

So cool it.

[Phhhl]

I am probably entirely wrong. But, I really get the feeling that, inspite of so many people praising his singing at the O2 concert and excepting the changes Robert had to make to do the songs similarly to how they were meant to be sung, he really feels like something a lot less than the singer he was in Zep's hey day. I doubt he's embarassed about it, but maybe it's not something he wants to wake up looking forward to for a four or five month period of his life. Maybe he feels like it is cheating the fans. The way his improvisations and wails interacted with Page's guitar playing was the signature of Led Zeppelin, especially the live performances. From what I have seen online, the O2 show was incredible. But, that type of thing was the one element of it that was not to the same level as the BBC Sessions, for instance. Or, even TSRTS. Personally, I can live with what they did last year and be more than happy with it, and I am sure the majority of you can as well. But, if Robert Plant can't, you really have to respect that and move on.

If it is true that he really turned down $200,000,000 to do the tour, that is an unfathomable degree of integrity. I am impressed with his resolve, if slightly bummed.

[bonzo65]

In my opinion, Robert is right.

The only way to do a tour is with a new album. I think we don´t need another reunion tour just with the old songs. They can´t play like in the seventies.

Robert is the only one how has shown musical development. I don´t think that Jimmy is able to do this too.

We all want to see them like they was, but it´s over. There are too many bad examples ( Deep Purple, Rolling Stones, Van Halen etc.)

[MistyMountain67]

In my opinion, Robert is right.

The only way to do a tour is with a new album. I think we don´t need another reunion tour just with the old songs. They can´t play like in the seventies.

Robert is the only one how has shown musical development. I don´t think that Jimmy is able to do this too.

We all want to see them like they was, but it´s over. There are too many bad examples ( Deep Purple, Rolling Stones, Van Halen etc.)

i quote jimmy as saying he has a lot of stuff written down that he said he was proud of. so you never know

[KidLed]

Only someone who has seen them could write that and believe it! Bottom line there are many of us who have loved them for yrs, and never got the chance. There is NO WAY to tarnish the image, period!!!! I am not asking for a world tour, do a couple shows not 50 not 100. Maybe 10? I will never give up hope of seeing them! I never saw them because I was only twelve when Bonzo died. There are so many of us out here who grew up on their music, even thought they werent even together anymore. i graduated high school in 1987, guess who was voted favorite band in the yr book.... LED ZEPPELIN!!!!! They hadnt even been together for 7 yrs at that point!!!! i happened to look at a yr book from the class of 1990 from my high school, guess who was voted favorite band?.....LED ZEPPELIN!!!! Bottom line most people who got to see the 02 show were not your average Zep fan, and your in a fantasy world if you believe they were. You had to have and spend a lot of money to go to that show, and thats why i think they should do at least a few more shows. how could I a middle class working guy, take time off(without pay), pay somewhere around at least 2grand for a ticket, then pay for a flight them pay for a hotel room, and meals and whatever misc. stuff, and not go bankrupt? or be financially starined bigtime? Could not be done.

[ziggyp22]

I have to say that I find some people very peculiar on their stance. They put Robert Plant on a pedestal for refusing to buckle to money. Why would he? He is a multi millionaire. I suspect money is like dirt to him. Nobody cares about money if they have a lot. So, him turning down lots of money to tour is not as impressive as some people make it out to be. Would he do the same if he was the average joe -- quite unlikely. I bet he wouldn't be quite so "honorable" then.

Secondly, Plant can do what he wants -- its his life. I, and many other hate the stance, but thats life.

Thirdly, I love Led Zeppelin more than I can put into words, but people need to realize that they are a rock and roll band playing music. Why can't they reunite and play? How does that tarnish the past? That is the silliest thing I have ever heard. We want to enjoy them as they are now -- people really need to lighten up. Can't we all just go to the concert and enjoy their music as it is performed now and be entertained?

Lastly, I am skeptical that they won't do more shows. Every week a headline tells us how they are touring or not touring. All gossip until the band actually speaks. With that being said, if Plant is truly not onboard, the other three(JP, JPJ, JB) should grab a singer and play music like they want to. No one person should be deciding for all. If I were the other three, I would ask him if he is in or out and then move forward with other plans.

Just my thoughts. Feel free to pick it apart, but at the end of the day, it is still a band doing music and trying to entertain the fans. I think a lot of people have lost sight of that.