Touring the way Mark and the band do, with luxury hotels, personal drivers, top-notch catering, the possibility to be in bed fairly early and sleep long, the possibility to stay in shape, is not hard work, even for a 70-year-old. Sure, performing for two hours is demanding, but he has been doing this for 40 years. It's a breeze for him. Maybe he's more bored than anything else.
That's a question that I have often asked to myself, how it is difficult to handle such big tours. As you said, they're touring in top-notch conditions, good for them. I guess they deserve it after almost 40 years doing what they do, and doing it well.
What I don't understand is why some people here keep saying that he's bored. He's obviously not. He keeps repeating night after night that he'll play until he "dies" on stage etc.
C'mon, he doesn't do it for money so I assume he does it because 1/ he likes it and 2/ he likes doing it for us.
You can always debate about setlists, show duration etc. ; keep in mind though that we have a perfect 2 hour show every night.
We all have anecdotes about bands - whether big names or not - tanking a show. My cousin once went to see a big group from the late 90s playing in a big arena with expensive seats etc. They played for 1h15 and 0 encore! I still remember how disappointed / upset he was.
Yesterday I was reading about a big name in France - whom I barely know
but never mind - performing in front of 10000 people. They wrote that the "
1h30 show was great". OK then… but it's still only 1h30. The least that Mark has played since the tour has begun is, what, almost 2h00? That ain't bad.
I mean, have DS / MK and co ever tanked ONE show in 40 years? No.
So "bored", I don't think so. The static setlist is probably Mark's choice and that's what it is. It has been said before but 99% of the audience attend one show and don't give a shit to "static setlists". They don't even know about it and anyway, everyone is cheering at the end of the gig… so why bother?
Some will say "be careful the patrol is watching us" never mind, but once again we shall keep in mind that it will be over for good (?) far too soon… Then you (we) will moan about the definite absence of setlist… a good reason for endless moaning !!
