Stones simply do-do-do-do-do what fans want

POOR Robert Hilburn: a rock critic of his renown reduced to the role of an addict seeking an ever greater high. In his regrettably predictable put-down of the Rolling Stones performance in Southern California [“ ‘Brown Sugar’ Overdose,” Nov. 7], Hilburn has evidently forgotten that the primary purpose of an entertainer is to entertain.

For those of us who actually paid the ridiculous cost of tickets to see the Stones, rather than getting in free on our press passes, the concert Sunday night at the Hollywood Bowl, at least, was fan-tastic. When at last we all departed, I did not overhear one person complaining, “Gosh, I really wish they had challenged us more.”

I was surrounded instead by euphoric fans -- all of whom, it seemed, had seen and experienced exactly that for which they had paid.

MICHAEL G. HERMAN

Los Angeles

*

THE Stones epitomize many qualities: They are committed to a partnership that has outlasted most marriages, they continue to be creative and entertaining and they still out-perform many who are less than half their age. And in a society obsessed with appearances, they are comfortable aging in their own skin.

I know, it’s only rock ‘n’ roll, but I like it!

PAUL CARTER

Long Beach