Mixed Sensations, by Llàtzer Moix

The Rolling Stones’ Spanish concert, at the beginning of the month at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid, produced an expected torrent of hyperbolic qualifiers: exciting, overwhelming, sublime, eternal, etc. Stones produce what the Anglo-Saxons call me mixed feelings (mixed feelings). On the one hand, I appreciate their work, outstanding contribution to the history of rock music, and their extraordinary vitality and longevity: they met together in 1962, sixty years ago, and are still active, especially Jagger, who never stops running on stage. On the other hand, it sometimes seems pathetic to me, because behaving like a young man – Jagger will turn 79 in July; Richards, DECEMBER — With their insistence on their role as the lead squad and their cartel of demonic majesties, it could bring them closer to self-caricature. They have sometimes been called the “walking dead” and not entirely unjustly. At their age, many congeners have already obtained a death certificate, or if they are unable to do so, are looking for a place in a nursing home.

Why do the stones keep wandering? It’s not about money, of course. It is true that in the age of digital works, the song is produced on the Internet three times less than on CD, and that work in live concerts: the tour No filter Which started in 2017, has grossed around $415 million, with the Stones taking the largest amount of the group (60% of every gig, according to industry sources). It is also true that the fortunes of its members amount to about 1,500 million, and therefore it is enough to face retirement with reasonable calm.

Stones are not on the road for money. They should keep going because they love what they do

I can think of two other reasons why they are still active. First: global audiences love seeing their idols (or their surrogates, depending on the originals) up close. Mythomania can beat some, they go to the concert like someone attending a religious liturgy, and they go every Sunday if they can. Others are being rejuvenated, or so it seems. The second and perhaps final reason: Stones love to do what they do. Not only because they are artists and because, regardless of partying, they have spent their lives in studios, concerts, and tours that lasted for months. Also because at this point, between the concert and the concert, they get a princely treatment wherever they go.

We associate the tours with a grueling experience, on trucks that travel hundreds of kilometers every night to connect shows in two cities. But in the case of the Stones, they are more like lavish, premium tourism, with concerts interspersed, not overwhelmed. This European tour, called sixties, Only 14 concerts will take place and will end at the end of July. Thus, the rhythm will be one concert every four days, which is very convenient and bearable for rock musicians of the ’80s around the time.