Not harsh at all. No more harsh than my original sounded. Opinions vary and people of a certain age understand the concept of being able to agree to disagree.
The comment about learning to weld just meant that there comes a time when it's over and like an athlete that plays 5 years past their prime and stinks the place out, a musician has to know when they don't have the juice anymore and not milk "one more tour" out of it with the brother-in-law of the cousin of the hair stylist's boyfriend as the "one remaining member". Is Styx really Styx without Dennis DeYoung? Is REO Speedwagon really REO Speedwagon without Gary Richrath? Is Journey really Journey without Steve Perry? Or The Tubes without Fee Waybill, Vince Welnick, or Prarie Prince? How dare these "ghosts of lineups past" tour and charge full price when the key members are no longer performing?
Many years back I opened for a nostalgia tour of Three Dog Night. Chuck Negrone was not with them due to some intense problems in his personal life. Danny Hutton and Cory Wells sounded great, but they were considerably less than amused when I asked them if they shouldn't call the band Two Dog Night without Chuck. I also opened for Alvin Lee, and though he WAS 10 Years After, he did not bill himself that way to sell tickets. And I opened for The Vogues several times playing that rib burnoff circuit and not one of the players or singers had ANY ties closer than second generation to The Vogues. One of them replaced someone who had replaced someone and then bought the name so legally he could keep it alive, and I supposed as long as it was legal it was okay, but still... If I go to see Jay & The Americans, I want to see Jay Black, not the guy who replaced the guy who replaced him. Of course at our age, a lot of them are dead or too old to perform. Some, like Frankie Valli, still touring at 78, still can.
Yes, the business has changed. There are very few "music clubs" in our area (and we are in the same place) and the places that DO have music don't treat bands well anymore, short paying, not keeping promises on booking, etc.... sad to see.