The front page of today's St. Pete Times has a story asking who will be the "big arena-sell out every show-mega band" that lasts for 30 years after U2, Springsteen, and The Stones are gone? After all, while those are the huge tours this year, everybody is getting older. Can The Stones still tour (and draw) at 70? The story goes on to say that the industry really isn't producing good bands with longevity anymore. I wonder if the author was just being ego driven and nostalgic about "his generation's" bands. If maybe he can't see a band of today being around for 30 years because today's bands don't speak to him. While there are young fans going out to see The Stones and U2, the majority of the crowd who paid an incredible amount of cash to see the show (what ever happened to the low dough show?) are those who grew up listening to these bands. The guy who knew every word to "Where the Streets Have No Name" while he was in Gainesville at the University of Florida back in the late 80's, is now the married father of three pharm rep with the two car garage who is willing to sit through the new stuff to relive his youth. Why won't this happen to young Green Day fans in 20 years? Why won't tomorrow's doctors pay stupid amounts of money to see an older Green Day? I don't think it's 'cause all of today's music won't still speak to people as the decades move along. Hell, artists are artists. Springsteen sang about "running" as a young man. Now he sings about figuring out where all that running got him, and we listen because we're wonderin' where all our runnin' got us too. Nah, I'm not sold on that St. Pete Times article. Rock won't die. Never. There will always be kids with guitars in garages, and just like U2 didn't sound exactly like Elvis, it spoke to the next generation (ours), and Green Day is speaking to the next generation (our kids'). People will always relive their lives to a sound track, and that sound track will be made up of that generation's artists. And when that band comes back to town 20 years later, they'll fork out the bucks and make a night out of it. Take the wife to dinner and a show... a rock show. Take care. Later, Butch