Saturday, December 12, 2009

a quick thought on culture

I was watching VH1 today and someone said that The Who was the first rock band to smash their equipment on stage -- and that at the time, that was a huge deal.

I took note of that and then remembered seeing Nirvana at the Cow Palace back in 1993. At the end of an extraordinary set, they not only smashed all of their own equipment, but Kurt Cobain climbed up on top of a giant wall of speakers and launched himself through the air into Dave Grohl's massive drum set.

Thus The Who was the first rock band to smash their own equipment on stage and Nirvana was the first rock band to smash their own bodies on stage.

I wonder if this then captures some of the differences between Baby Boomers and Generation X. Baby Boomers directed their rage outwards for the first time, and Generation X directs their rage inward and turns it up to 12.

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