“The moral of this story, of course, is that you’re not going to hear the world’s greatest rock ‘n’ roll band by listening to records and downloading mp3s in your room. You have to get out and get caught up in the spirit, yell and scream, dance if you feel like it, and walk out at the end with a thousand volts of power coursing through your body.
They’re playing tonight. You’re probably not going to be there, but they’re out there somewhere. Go find them.”
–Ed Ward, “The Greatest Rock Band in the World”, Paste Magazine (Feb 07)
acciochocolate
Good quote! Alas for me, I will never see the real Beach Boys again. 🙁 Nor the Who. Didn’t see Queen or the Ramones ever, and must kick myself for that. But I did see Horslips. 🙂 Wish the 3kees would play again. Have seen all the guys since by themselves, but as the 3kees they had something special.
technoshaman
I don’t know, I think we saw some pretty damn fine rock bands last weekend, did we not? They just weren’t playing normal rock and roll. But that’s just fine with me. (Can Jeff Bohnhoff shred it or what? I’ve seen some pretty damn fine licks in my time, but *damn*… )
Any band that can sing about pigs and make me laugh, or Seattle and make me cry, or dead Romans and make me go, yep, ain’t that the truth… that goes in my desert island discs…
Rob Wynne
Er, yeah, but that’s kinda the *point* of the quote. If you want to find the really good stuff, go out and experience it, rather than waiting for it to come to you in a package.
fleetfootmike
I refer sir to http://fleetfootmike.livejournal.com/88682.html which sorta says the same thing.
madfilkentist
Personally, I prefer sound engineers who properly ground their equipment.
redaxe
Damn, what a straight line.
Reaction 1: “But I HAVE at least ten Rolling Stones [aka “The World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band”] concerts downloaded.”
Reaction 2: “Actually, I make better music than most of the so-called bands out there these days.
Reaction 3: Damn. I really do need to get back out and see more live music. Glad the kids are getting older, so that they can stay home. (And soon, so they can tell me which groups are the ones to see! 🙂
Rob Wynne
Reaction 1: “But I HAVE at least ten Rolling Stones [aka “The World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band”] concerts downloaded.”
In the article this quote was excited from, Ed Ward noted that it was Keith Richards who originally reacted to the suggestion that the Rolling Stones were the world’s greatest rock and roll band by suggesting that the world’s greatest rock and roll band was probably playing a bar somewhere in front of a dozen people. He goes on to suggest that whoever that greatest band is tonight, tomorrow night it’ll be someone else, in a different bar in a different city.