Mick Mars to retire from touring

[Rollin Hand]

https://variety.com/2022/music/news/mot ... 235415269/

It appears ol' Mick is hanging up the platform boots, at least with respect to touring. It's a shame -- he's a good one -- but understandable given his medical condition and age (71!).

Rumoud has John5 taking the spot. He'd work, but...Mick's kind of unique, and it's hard for me to say it's the Crue without him there.

[uwmcscott]

Pretty amazing that he did it as long as he did based on that condition, I had read about that earlier in the year too. He's indeed one of the greats from his era that doesn't get talked about as much.

[Rollin Hand]

I heard on Trunk Nation that someone needed a guitar player for a session to play like on the old Stax records, and someone said "You should call Mick Mars." Mick came in and played perfectly, and the guy was amazed he had that other side to him.

And without a doubt he is the right guy for the Crue.

[mozz]

Geeze, if he's 71, ....Page, Beck, Clapton, Richards, must all be close to 100.

[Sinster]

He's indeed one of the greats from his era that doesn't get talked about as much.

Not a huge fan of MC, they lost me after Dr. Feelgood. I agree that he doesn't get recognized as much as should. He should be part of the greatest guitarist conversations.

[Rollin Hand]

John5 has officially been announced as the new touring guitarist.

Not sure how I feel about that fit, but....who else? I can't think of anyone else with the skill set to do it well.

If a band member is medically unable to continue, then I don't usually have an issue if someone fills the slot -- I understand that contracts have been signed, etc., so they face penalties if they don't play. And if Mick said to keep going, who am I to say anything.

Hell, ZZ Top is playing without Dusty, for Pete's sake.

[toomanycats]

The revered and venerable rock legends of our youth represent those same idealist values espoused in their music: notions like freedom, artistic creativity, reckless idealism, wanton partying, debauchery, the possibility of a human existence unrestrained by the domestic duties and prohibitions imposed upon us mere mortals.

To realize that lawyers, contracts, and accountants are pulling the levers behind the curtain of this fantasy dispels our suspension of disbelief. It is an unpleasant fact.

The fact is, Motley Crue, KISS, and ZZ TOP, etc., are all brands. No different than Coca-Cola or Nike. They are corporations for whom a substantial portion of their brand value consists in revenue generated through live performance. The show must go on.

Just like Wagner's Operas are still performed at Bayreuth, and Tolkien's stories are still being told, many of these bands will continue to endure long past the expiration of their original creators. That we are now living in an age of the simulacrum assures that.