I've noticed over the years the process that rock bands seem to go through as they age. Since rock is new enough to only have one generation yet to reach old age, now is the first time this life cycle can be observed.
In the Seventies for some bands and in the Eighties for still others, famous rock bands originally formed in the Sixties began replacing band members. When these new players were added they were incorporated into the band as full fledged band members.
Ron Wood already had a reputation in rock as a member of The Faces, known as "The Stones Lite" when he replaced guitarist Mick Taylor who replaced founding member Brian Jones. Mick never really fit in as a true Rolling Stone as his playing was a little too slick (good) and his appearance a little too clean (good looking), and there was already a Stone named Mick (Jagger), but Ron Wood fit like a glove. He looked like a Stone, they all look like they could be related (ugly), and he played like a Stone (sloppy with attitude).
Kenny Jones joined The Who after the tragic death of Keith Moon and became a full member of the band and when Patrick Moraz joined The Moody Blues when they reformed and forgot to tell Keyboardist and founding member Mike Pinder, he was presented as having always been in the band. In the video The Moody Blues made to promote the song, I Know You're Out There Somewhere, the band is shown in flashback as young men just starting their music careers. A young lady who is a fan of the band early on becomes lost to them later on but resurfaces much later. In a scene taking place in a marketplace, Moodies drummer, Graham Edge spots the much older version of the female fan and points her out to the relatively new addition, keyboardist Patrick Moraz, asking him if he recognizes her. She leaves the scene before Moraz can see her but why ask him anyway? He wasn't in the band until he was practically in his forties, how would he remember a girl the Moodies haven't seen since their early Twenties? This video illustrates the band's desire to present their new member as one of the original members.
But then a little later in the Eighties the rules changed. In the late Eighties when a band replaced a band member it was with a session musician and he was not considered a full member of the band. Who knows who replaced bass in the Rolling Stones when Bill Wyman retired? In the Stones videos after Wyman left the four remaining Stones, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and the "new guy" Ron Wood are shown but no bass player is in the video unless it shows The Stones playing on stage and then maybe a bassist might be in the background in the dark. Only the four Stones are ever shown in official photos.
Ringo's son, Zak Starkey, has played with Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey, the last two original members of The Who, on their records and tours for years but is not shown in the official Who photos. There are only two members of The Who these days. It is now too late to officially join a Classic Rock band. If you join now you're considered a sideman. Even the replacement lead singers for bands like Yes and Journey are considered more impersonators of the original singers than a truly creative element of the band.
Now Rock has reached the age where the bands are losing their drummers and roadies (who burn out physically first) and are going "unplugged" or "acoustic". The Moody Blues who are now down to three members appear on cruise ships speaking about their history and answering questions from the audience while Justin Hayward, the guitarist, and John Lodge, the bassist, both play acoustic guitars and drummer Graham Edge plays a tambourine while all three sit on stools. Members of the Prog band, The Strawbs, do a similar show while Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake and Palmer sits on a stool playing acoustic guitar while playing along to pre-recorded tracks.
With the audience for Classic Rock getting smaller due to death, old age and a crappy economy, bands scaling down their live shows to just the singer and an acoustic guitarist or two (like The Kinks' Ray Davies has been doing for years), is a logical development. If you want to see an "old fashion" Rock & Roll show with a light show and a big sound system you can go see a tribute band.
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