Classics rock on: Why golden-age oldies dominate concert scene

MIAMI — They say rock 'n' roll will never die. Neither, apparently, will the careers of many rockers, at least to judge by the concert scene.

"I never thought I'd be around this long, much less playing these kind of shows," says Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry, 58, amazed that he's still rocking stadiums more than 30 years after hits like "Dream On" and "Walk This Way."

Acts like Fleetwood Mac and AC/DC filled local arenas last winter, while Bruce Springsteen heads here on Sept. 13 and Leonard Cohen kicks off the next leg of his U.S. tour here on Oct. 17.

Billy Joel sold out six nights at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Fla., a haven for musical nostalgia where upcoming shows include Crosby, Stills and Nash and the Allman Brothers Band.

This month, West Palm Beach's enormous Cruzan Amphitheater will rock to '80s idols Def Leppard, Poison and Cheap Trick and Motley Crue. And across the country, acts like Elton John, Bob Dylan and Bonnie Raitt continue to thrill audiences decades after they first made their mark.

How long can they rock on and on?

"For as long as people want to come and hear me play," says Perry, whose legendary hard-rock band has been touring this summer with blues-rockers ZZ Top.

In an era in which pop music seems geared toward tech-savvy, Internet-splintered young audiences, older acts remain a powerful onstage presence. According to Pollstar, which tracks the concert business, seven of the 10 best-selling U.S. tours last year were by acts that first hit in the '80s or earlier: Madonna, the Eagles, Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Diamond, The Police and Tina Turner. So were all the top-grossing tours of the past 15 years.

Acts such as the Stones, Turner and Elton John may no longer get airplay except on oldies stations, but they came up in a less-crowded musical landscape that made universal hits easier to achieve and gave artists more opportunities to hone their musicianship and stage skills before hitting stardom.

"It's hard for good bands to become great bands when they can't really play for an audience," Perry says. "We grew up in an era when 'live' was what it was all about. And we're still there. We're transformed when we hit the stage. We're back in 1976.

"How do we keep it fresh? It's never gotten stale."