First off, let me clear up two points. One, I like the Steve Miller Band. Two, I do not consider the Steve Miller Band a jam band… But last night my husband got a hold of the remote (the horror) and turned on this show with these geezers playing music. I realized it was the Steve Miller Band and thought “hey, maybe this won’t suck as much as the usual music shows he turns on”. I was so terribly, terribly wrong.
I own a Steve Miller Band Greatest Hits CD. I listen to it often. But last night I realized that the band is not what I thought it was. The first song of this show went on for 10 minutes. How long can you fly like a freaking eagle to the sea??? Where were the lyrics???? It was just a bunch of fogies getting off on rad guitar riffs. I thought my screaming son made me want to go deaf. Nope, bands that jam endlessly are worse. I started to tug on my ear in hopes I could rip it off and end the boring notes that never ended. This whole experience made me think of my musical tastes in general.
I am honestly not sure I am a fan of music… I don’t drool and wax poetic over this band versus that band. I think bootleg tapes are stupid. I have some music that I like and my favorites are quite varied, often influenced by ex’s from the past and my old theatre friends. I genuinely have no strong musical opinions except knowing what I DON’T like.
I do enjoy a good CD now and then, however. I wear an iPod at work. It’s not as if I want to burn down radio stations or blow up music studios. But my music needs to have a point! I want a beginning, a middle, and an end. I want a few verses and a very catchy chorus. Something I can sing along with. In fact, I most often focus on the lyrics and the singer, rather than the rocking drum solo or the slamming guitar playing. The only instrumental music that I don’t mind is the piano. I love Eminem and Bob Dylan because of their way with words. And this is why jam bands, or any jamming for that matter, not only bores me– it ANNOYS me. I do not have the luxury of being on acid 24/7 so the zone out, spacey music genre is simply wasted on me. That sort if music would make me fall asleep if it didn’t piss me off so much. If jam bands are a sign of taste and interest in music then declare me tone deaf and I will walk away from the joys of music altogether.
I don’t normally like dragged out songs. Especially when the artist thinks we would love to hear him drag it out. Paul McCartney bugged me with this a few years ago. While singing Let It Be, he just kept playing the ending over and over with no end in sight. I was like Paul, LET IT BE!!!