I never want NMA to stop

[Pol]

Yeah jc got it right, it's not all about the music there so much more to it . Have met some excellent people thru my love for the band who will always be  friends n loved for life . People who I would anything for ( within reason lol ).

[ldopas]

2A)
I'm not going across the pond.
1) I'm an American, we are like Kings -- you come here to see us,
2) we have everything here in America, no need to visit some B, C, or D-level nation.

The first part says a lot about you.

The second part is not true. You don't have the pyramids, Mount Everest, Taj Mahal, the worlds finest wines, Norwegian Fjords, and many other things that you would fine eye opening. Too many to list. You don't have New Model Army either, they are over here.

Still back to the first part. The fact you see no reason to travel tells us a lot about how expansive your mind is. Shame really. I would recommend travelling, the world is a fantastic place.

And as for buying music and not listening to it, I'd file that as wasting your money. As someone who has died once, what is the point of waiting? You may not live long enough to hear it. Live now, its all you can guarantee you have.

[Whirlwind]

You don't have the pyramids, Mount Everest, Taj Mahal, the worlds finest wines, Norwegian Fjords, and many other things that you would fine eye opening. Too many to list.

And as for buying music and not listening to it, I'd file that as wasting your money. As someone who has died once, what is the point of waiting? You may not live long enough to hear it. Live now, its all you can guarantee you have.

Come on. We have deserts, tropical jungles, huge cities with gleaming skyscrapers, grand canyons, swamps, coral reefs, majestic mountains, impenetrable forests, frozen tundra, two oceans, glaciers, ice bergs...I could go on forever. USA is mighty large. We do have everything the globe has to offer in one nation. No need to travel. (And Pyramids? Las Vegas has one. I saw it. No big deal.)
(Full disclaimer: I do wish to travel to Switzerland. I am a skier and I have skied the greatest mountains in North America. I would love to have a go at the greatest mountains in Europe.)

As for buying music and not listening to it, we have been down this road before. It is a brilliant strategy as this very thread proves. You are all stating that you will all be distraught when Justin announces NMA is being put to bed. Me? No distress for I will have two or three NMA albums still to listen to. 

[ldopas]

You don't have the pyramids, Mount Everest, Taj Mahal, the worlds finest wines, Norwegian Fjords, and many other things that you would fine eye opening. Too many to list.

And as for buying music and not listening to it, I'd file that as wasting your money. As someone who has died once, what is the point of waiting? You may not live long enough to hear it. Live now, its all you can guarantee you have.

Come on. We have deserts, tropical jungles, huge cities with gleaming skyscrapers, grand canyons, swamps, coral reefs, majestic mountains, impenetrable forests, frozen tundra, two oceans, glaciers, ice bergs...I could go on forever. USA is mighty large. We do have everything the globe has to offer in one nation. No need to travel. (And Pyramids? Las Vegas has one. I saw it. No big deal.)
(Full disclaimer: I do wish to travel to Switzerland. I am a skier and I have skied the greatest mountains in North America. I would love to have a go at the greatest mountains in Europe.)

As for buying music and not listening to it, we have been down this road before. It is a brilliant strategy as this very thread proves. You are all stating that you will all be distraught when Justin announces NMA is being put to bed. Me? No distress for I will have two or three NMA albums still to listen to.

Yes you do have all those things. And I've been over there many times. I wasn't suggesting you do not, the US covers a landmass that is huge compared with the island on which we live.  England for example is the size of Alabama. For a tiny country we have done pretty well, though I suspect you won't find many here saying we are "kings of the world" and people must come here rather than we bother with other nations.

Well if your strategy is to not listen to music, very strange, then more power to you. Though your ability to judge whether albums are the best or worst, as you do here from time to time, is pretty much undermined by you telling us that.

[Bever]

You don't have the pyramids, Mount Everest, Taj Mahal, the worlds finest wines, Norwegian Fjords, and many other things that you would fine eye opening. Too many to list.

And as for buying music and not listening to it, I'd file that as wasting your money. As someone who has died once, what is the point of waiting? You may not live long enough to hear it. Live now, its all you can guarantee you have.

Come on. We have deserts, tropical jungles, huge cities with gleaming skyscrapers, grand canyons, swamps, coral reefs, majestic mountains, impenetrable forests, frozen tundra, two oceans, glaciers, ice bergs...I could go on forever. USA is mighty large. We do have everything the globe has to offer in one nation. No need to travel. (And Pyramids? Las Vegas has one. I saw it. No big deal.)
(Full disclaimer: I do wish to travel to Switzerland. I am a skier and I have skied the greatest mountains in North America. I would love to have a go at the greatest mountains in Europe.)

OK. Apparently I will have to be the one to break it to you. What you say is true. American nature is stunning. One day I want to get on a bike and have one hell of a road trip coast to coast. But what you are lacking, is culture. You have no history. What you have is a few hundred years old. The oldest buildings are what? 17th century? At best. Almost all culture that was older than that, was destroyed when the pioneers cleansed the country and got rid of as many native Americans as possible.

Funny you should mention Vegas though. I've been there. Quite a lot. There is a pyramid (I've been inside). Impressive beam of light, I'll give it that. There's the Eiffel Tower (I Prefer the real one), and The Venetian is good fun (but I prefer Venice). It's all fake and phoney. And shallow. It's a desperate effort to try and be like nations that do have culture. Sure you can play it down as just having a laugh, but you and I know it's more than  that. Many Americans truly think they don't need to visit Venice because they had a fake gondola ride in Las Vegas.

You are lacking history and culture. What was there, you destroyed. Americans that want to enjoy culture, travel to Europe (among others). Then there's those like yourself, who think America is a gift of God and Americans are brought down on earth by angels, who can't tell a Rubens from a Picasso and think the world has nothing better to offer than what they know.

[Whirlwind]

.
1..
.England, for a tiny country we have done pretty well, though I suspect you won't find many here saying we are "kings of the world"

2.
Well if your strategy is to not listen to music, very strange, then more power to you. Though your ability to judge whether albums are the best or worst, as you do here from time to time, is pretty much undermined by you telling us that.

.
1. Maybe not today you won't find anybody in England saying "we are kings of the world," but from about, say, 1590 to 1920, that's all the world heard from England. It was both arrogant and boring.

2. We all listen to and enjoy music in various ways. Headphones, massive stereos, at live shows, in our cars, radio... Who is to say which is the best way? However, my setting aside a CD or two has nothing to do with how I listen to music. It is simply a way of saving something for later. You eat your dinner all in one shot...and then you starve. I will not starve. I will always have new New Model Army material to listen to and enjoy even after the band has said its good-byes.

[Whirlwind]

OK. Apparently I will have to be the one to break it to you. What you say is true. American nature is stunning. One day I want to get on a bike and have one hell of a road trip coast to coast. But what you are lacking, is culture. You have no history. What you have is a few hundred years old. The oldest buildings are what? 17th century? At best. Almost all culture that was older than that, was destroyed when the pioneers cleansed the country and got rid of as many native Americans as possible.

Funny you should mention Vegas though. I've been there. Quite a lot. There is a pyramid (I've been inside). Impressive beam of light, I'll give it that. There's the Eiffel Tower (I Prefer the real one), and The Venetian is good fun (but I prefer Venice). It's all fake and phoney. And shallow. It's a desperate effort to try and be like nations that do have culture. Sure you can play it down as just having a laugh, but you and I know it's more than  that. Many Americans truly think they don't need to visit Venice because they had a fake gondola ride in Las Vegas.

You are lacking history and culture. What was there, you destroyed. Americans that want to enjoy culture, travel to Europe (among others). Then there's those like yourself, who think America is a gift of God and Americans are brought down on earth by angels, who can't tell a Rubens from a Picasso and think the world has nothing better to offer than what they know.

.
Bever, great post.

But even something great - OJ Simpson for instance -- can be completely loony. (For those that don't know, OJ was a phenomenally great football player. As much as we despise that animal, we all still acknowledge he was a God on the football field.)

Bever, you say we have no culture. But please tell me why you feel culture has to have a calendar date applied to it? You feel something in 1600s is far more cultured than something from 1920 simply due to age? Even OJ would say that's loony. You really believe Louis Armstrong and jazz is not culture? Elvis Presley and rock and roll is not an addition to man's culture? Hip hop and the voice of the black man and woman adds nothing to culture?  A Martin Scorsese film has no value because it comes thousands of years after Greek drama? And the top of the Empire State Building is an architectural marvel that rivals any European edifice. And, I might add, that big gorilla Kong with his beloved girl beside him battling bi-planes atop that Empire State Building is something that has moved beyond culture -- it is the stuff of legend, lore, myth. Ah, but it is only from 1933 so you feel it is worthless.

As for Vegas. Yup, I have no need to see Venice, or Giza, or even New York City, because all that great stuff is right there on one road in the desert. Who needs to fly to Paris when I can go a few hours west to see The Eiffel Tower? (Let me ask you...is The Globe Theater in London the real Globe Theater? Nope. So why complain about The Eiffel Tower in Vegas not being real?)

And, yes, I and many others do know that America is a gift from God bestowed onto the Earth. We give culture to the world and we save the world when you need us. (And God does have a sense of humor because he gave us Mr. Trump to howl at for a few years.)

[jc]

Hello Whirlwind/Space,
 
Not going to play this tourism top trumps game. I do have a sense of humour but you and I don’t know each other well enough and I did not find your earlier response funny.
 
I am sensing automatic defence mechanisms kicking in and wanted to say that I’m not in the business of ulterior motives and the invite was genuine. I obviously don’t know the reasons behind these barriers to going to an actual real live gig, whatever they are there are better ways of dealing with it than rubbing people up the wrong way.

Anyway, my point is that you are missing out on a big part of the NMA experience if you only concentrate on the static media. If you wish to come before its too late (what are the chances of them going over there), and the barriers are not insurmountable, then share your concerns and we can will make it happen.


Cheers
 
jc

[Bever]

OK. Apparently I will have to be the one to break it to you. What you say is true. American nature is stunning. One day I want to get on a bike and have one hell of a road trip coast to coast. But what you are lacking, is culture. You have no history. What you have is a few hundred years old. The oldest buildings are what? 17th century? At best. Almost all culture that was older than that, was destroyed when the pioneers cleansed the country and got rid of as many native Americans as possible.

Funny you should mention Vegas though. I've been there. Quite a lot. There is a pyramid (I've been inside). Impressive beam of light, I'll give it that. There's the Eiffel Tower (I Prefer the real one), and The Venetian is good fun (but I prefer Venice). It's all fake and phoney. And shallow. It's a desperate effort to try and be like nations that do have culture. Sure you can play it down as just having a laugh, but you and I know it's more than  that. Many Americans truly think they don't need to visit Venice because they had a fake gondola ride in Las Vegas.

You are lacking history and culture. What was there, you destroyed. Americans that want to enjoy culture, travel to Europe (among others). Then there's those like yourself, who think America is a gift of God and Americans are brought down on earth by angels, who can't tell a Rubens from a Picasso and think the world has nothing better to offer than what they know.

.
Bever, great post.

But even something great - OJ Simpson for instance -- can be completely loony. (For those that don't know, OJ was a phenomenally great football player. As much as we despise that animal, we all still acknowledge he was a God on the football field.)

Bever, you say we have no culture. But please tell me why you feel culture has to have a calendar date applied to it? You feel something in 1600s is far more cultured than something from 1920 simply due to age? Even OJ would say that's loony. You really believe Louis Armstrong and jazz is not culture? Elvis Presley and rock and roll is not an addition to man's culture? Hip hop and the voice of the black man and woman adds nothing to culture?  A Martin Scorsese film has no value because it comes thousands of years after Greek drama? And the top of the Empire State Building is an architectural marvel that rivals any European edifice. And, I might add, that big gorilla Kong with his beloved girl beside him battling bi-planes atop that Empire State Building is something that has moved beyond culture -- it is the stuff of legend, lore, myth. Ah, but it is only from 1933 so you feel it is worthless.

As for Vegas. Yup, I have no need to see Venice, or Giza, or even New York City, because all that great stuff is right there on one road in the desert. Who needs to fly to Paris when I can go a few hours west to see The Eiffel Tower? (Let me ask you...is The Globe Theater in London the real Globe Theater? Nope. So why complain about The Eiffel Tower in Vegas not being real?)

And, yes, I and many others do know that America is a gift from God bestowed onto the Earth. We give culture to the world and we save the world when you need us. (And God does have a sense of humor because he gave us Mr. Trump to howl at for a few years.)

I loved my little trip along the Historic Route 66 in Arizona and California. That's great American culture right there. I said you are lacking culture and history. I didn't say you had none.

[Whirlwind]

my point is that you are missing out on a big part of the NMA experience

.
What "experience"? Are you trying to say that New Model Army gigs are like Grateful Dead gigs? Well, if that's the case then I surely pass.

Going to a concert is not about those around you, not about the fans. It's about hearing a band you like play some of their tunes. That's it. Some bands pull that off well, some do not. I could care less about the hundreds or thousands of people behind me. My focus is on the band in front of me. If one needs camaraderie with fellow fans at a gig, then the band sure isn't doing their job.

.

You suggest the fan experience is the key to NMA gigs. Similar to the stoned experience being the key to Grateful Dead gigs. Well there's a great joke we tell in America about that. Here goes:

What did one Dead fan say to the other when they ran out of weed?
Man, this music really sucks.

So by your suggesting that the fan experience is the key to an NMA gig, you are basically saying about NMA the same thing the weed-less Dead fan says in the joke: man, this music really sucks.

[jc]

Thanks for the reply Whirlwind, I hadn’t heard that joke before and think it is funny.

I suppose we will have to agree to disagree about the camaraderie at a gig thing, and after the live experiences are gone, we will still have the music and it most definitely won’t suck.

Cheers

jc

[Whirlwind]

Thanks for the reply Whirlwind, I hadn’t heard that joke before and think it is funny.

.
Yes, it is a good joke.
And it is even funnier when you tell it to an actual fan of the Dead.

[Ghosttrain]

NO IT'S NOT............ .............I am joking,i am a huge Dead fan........and a couple of my mates remind me about it all the time 

[Stephanie]

Baryshnikov could dance to absolutely anything, that is for sure. This cannot be subject to any discussion, it's a fact. 

As for the rest...not worth getting into anymore, it would seem. 

As for the topic at hand: I agree...it's so hard to imagine NMA NOT being around. I mean, years and years ago I could not imagine them still being around at a certaing age...but as we age ourselves, perspectives do change, don't they? 

Of course it's going to happen - but I sure hope it's going to be quite some time until that happens - but I am also beyond grateful for all the great tunes and all the awesome shows I was lucky enough to have seen.

I haven't really met many of the fine people from this forum yet...I have to admit that this is partly my own fault - but it's always such an awesome feeling to be at the gigs, to see the same faces, share a smile, a greeting - and then just enjoy the show, that feeling that you get, knowing those around you are as happy, as excited, as you are, you share the emotions, nothing beats that feeling, it is as important as the music, the performance itself. Only really great bands manage to create this atmsophere, this feeling of being part of something, in a good way. 

[Tony S]

I don't think they will ever stop, until such time as Justin is no longer physically capable.