German critics mock wrinkled rockers on tour trail

By Erik Kirschbaum

BERLIN (Reuters) - Rock stars from the 1960s and 1970s have been hitting Germany's lucrative concert circuit but many of the grandpa-generation acts have disappointed fans and provoked withering reviews in Europe's biggest music market.

The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Genesis, the Who, the Police and Black Sabbath are among the acts appearing this summer in arenas between the Black Forest and the Baltic, in Europe's richest nation with a wealth of top-class concert venues.

The German dates are part of a wider trend as bands try to compensate for falling record sales, but never before have so many old-established acts swept the country, known for its loyal rock fans, efficient organization and high ticket sales.

"You can see the trend most clearly in Germany," said Christian Diekmann, chief operating officer at Deutsche Entertainment -- one of Germany's main concert organizers -- of the proliferation of wrinkly rockers taking the stage.

"It's got Europe's biggest economy and the most purchasing power," he told Reuters. "There are good-sized cities across the country and they all have football stadiums or good venues."

However, the reviews -- and ticket sales -- have been mixed.

"The question is 'why are they bothering?'," said Harald Peters, culture editor and music critic of the newspaper Welt am Sonntag. "Some of these groups are just plain burned out. Others are just old and boring.

"They're getting torn to shreds in reviews. I'm not saying all of them should have stopped at 40. But with some, it's so bizarre and you wonder why. Do they need the money? Didn't they get an education? Can't they do anything else for a living?"

Other critics have mocked the ageing rockers and some newspapers published unflattering pictures of performers who have lived the rock-star lifestyle, looking older than their years.

Ticket sales for a Rolling Stones' concert in Frankfurt in June were sluggish. The Peter Rieger concert agency then announced it would cut the capacity at the arena by 10,000 to 25,000 and reduced the lowest ticket prices to 59 euros from 82 euros.

'WE'RE STILL GOOD'

"Some people should retire at 30," Mick Jagger, 64, was quoted as telling Kirsten Szastrau of the newspaper Allgemeine Zeitung Mainz when she asked him bluntly when he was going to quit.

"I know that there's a lot of talk about that (retirement). But those are rules bureaucrats make. If you're an artist, poet or musician, other things matter. We have the feeling we're still a very good band, and we love what we're doing. Besides that, I'm a terrible plumber. There's nothing else I could do."

Other older bands such as Aerosmith and Genesis have had unenthusiastic reviews.

"The fondness for travel by the senior citizens has nothing to do with art," wrote Jochen Temsch, a critic at Munich's Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.