|
Post by kds on Mar 13, 2024 16:59:24 GMT
Well, I'm glad I went. It was a really good show.
LA Guns played a 45 minute set. Phil Lewis has still got some pipes.
Speaking of pipes, Tim Ripper Owens, my Christ. I think Rob Halford is one of the great metal singers in history, but Ripper was hitting notes Rob just can't hit anymore. And, I was impressed with KK's Priest as an overall band. I knew KK and Ripper would bring in. But, second guitarist AJ Mills (about whom I know nothing) was equally impressive.
|
|
|
Post by kds on Mar 14, 2024 17:08:21 GMT
A quick rant about the show the other night.
Between LA Guns and KK's Priest, I decided to use the restroom. On my way out, I noticed there were only four people in line at the bar, so I decided to grab a beer. There are two guy ordering mixed drinks, each of which require some effort for the lone bartender. Mercifully, the next two guys ordered beers.
So, my gripe here is with the venue. You're a concert venue, not a full service bar. You have to provide refreshments for, on a good night, as many as 2,000 people. Just have beer, wine, and canned / premade cocktails to keep it moving like they would at any other venue.
|
|
|
Post by Kapitan on Mar 16, 2024 11:39:14 GMT
I didn't attend--obviously, to anyone who knows me or my taste--but young superstar Olivia Rodrigo played the Twin Cities last night. She got a glowing review from the local paper, and not the younger music journalist, but the older guy who's been writing for the paper for 50 years, the guy who handles mostly classic rock.
And I can see why. Rodrigo is a former Disney actor, but she otherwise doesn't seem to fit that mold. She's not a dancer, not a typical pop creation. She writes or cowrites all of her material (usually with one other person, who is also her producer). She plays guitar and piano. She doesn't just pal around with similarly situated, young pop stars: she apparently has some sort of mentorships/friendships with Jack White and Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent). She comes across more as a rock star than a person might expect at first glance.
She played the Xcel Energy Center, which is the Minnesota Wild's hockey stadium, and she sold it out instantly. Fans were apparently crazy for her, singing every word. I looked up her discography and was surprised to see that not only did both of her albums top charts everywhere in the world (I mean literally: both were #1 in virtually every country listed), but the first one is 4x platinum in the U.S. and multiplatinum elsewhere; the second one is only about six months old but is gold everywhere.
Clearly I'm not in her target market, and I don't especially like anything I've heard by her. But I think Olivia Rodrigo is going to be around for a while, and she may be the next Taylor Swift-style megastar.
|
|
sambfc
Denny's Drums
Posts: 14
Likes: 11
|
Post by sambfc on Apr 17, 2024 13:42:11 GMT
Extreme have announced some more dates including in Ontario for September which I hope to attend, having frustratingly missed out on their London shows when I was back visiting in December.
Cigarettes After Sex are also playing (have we discussed them here before?) a bigger venue than previous around that time, but not sure if I will fork out to see them a third time.
Finally, topic adjacent if not on topic, has anyone seen recent YouTube content apparently exposing Don Henley, and possibly his colleagues, miming parts of their show for the past little while? Of course similar discussions have been had online for the likes of Frankie Valli for years. As always am interested in the thoughts of folks here about such things.
|
|
|
Post by Kapitan on Apr 17, 2024 14:21:02 GMT
Extreme have announced some more dates including in Ontario for September which I hope to attend, having frustratingly missed out on their London shows when I was back visiting in December. Cigarettes After Sex are also playing (have we discussed them here before?) a bigger venue than previous around that time, but not sure if I will fork out to see them a third time. Finally, topic adjacent if not on topic, has anyone seen recent YouTube content apparently exposing Don Henley, and possibly his colleagues, miming parts of their show for the past little while? Of course similar discussions have been had online for the likes of Frankie Valli for years. As always am interested in the thoughts of folks here about such things. I don't recall anybody mentioning CAS here before, or of ever hearing of them. I just took a super-quick look at a couple of songs. Seems mellow, moody, atmospheric: I'll check out some more. As for the Eagles/Henley ... I don't like it one bit. I know many music fans don't care--especially those who are more into pop music where a lot of the vocals and all or most of the instrumental tracks are prerecorded. Often those are more about the show, the dancing, etc., and that's fine for people who are into that. I don't think those artists (when pressed) even really deny it anymore. But for "real" bands, meaning rock or other groups and artists who don't get into any of that showiness, whose performances are supposedly them up there playing and singing live? I hate it. They can do it if they want to, but they ought to come clean about it. "We play live and sing our leads live, but background harmonies [or string sections, or doubled leads, or whatever] are prerecorded." Leave it up to the audience to decide whether it's worth it to shell out increasingly huge sums of money to watch bands mime to tracks. I'm sure some fans wouldn't care at all. But aside from some pretty strict exceptions, I'm 100% out in those situations. And when they deny it? (Kiss denied it for years. Motley Crue denied it. Both were demonstrably shown to be lying.) That's just hilarious and pathetic, and I hope they're all exposed. Don Henley is so unlikable, I actually enjoy seeing him outed. Not nice of me, but there it is...
|
|
|
Post by kds on Apr 17, 2024 14:33:49 GMT
Extreme have announced some more dates including in Ontario for September which I hope to attend, having frustratingly missed out on their London shows when I was back visiting in December. Cigarettes After Sex are also playing (have we discussed them here before?) a bigger venue than previous around that time, but not sure if I will fork out to see them a third time. Finally, topic adjacent if not on topic, has anyone seen recent YouTube content apparently exposing Don Henley, and possibly his colleagues, miming parts of their show for the past little while? Of course similar discussions have been had online for the likes of Frankie Valli for years. As always am interested in the thoughts of folks here about such things. I hadn't heard that about Henley. I know Roger Waters has done that on his tours. Roger was never a particularly gifted vocalist, but he seemed to really blow out his chords at some point in the mid to late 80s. And, he became a touring artist again at the turn of the century, it was pretty obvious on some songs that we were hearing a younger Roger over the PA.
|
|
|
Post by Kapitan on Apr 17, 2024 14:47:54 GMT
The YouTube channel Wings of Pegasus in particular seems like a slam dunk. He's showing and analyzing audio files that I think remove any realistic doubt of whether Henley is singing live, at least on the iterations of "Desperado" included in his videos.
One thing that isn't proof, but definitely lends itself as evidence, is that he also plays a version from 2015 (as well as versions from 2022-24). In 2015, they were performing the song a whole step lower, and the audio is clearly also live--or at least, different from the others. Then we're supposed to believe an aging Henley chose, seven to nine years later, to bring the song back up a whole step again? I'd love to see examples of singers dropping the key when they're in their mid-60s, but then as they get into their mid-70s, deciding to take it back up again. As I said, that's not proof: it's not impossible. But in the real world, it doesn't tend to happen. Aging artists typically drop the key to make a song more manageable ... that or they stick to the original key and either hand off the vocal or use prerecorded tracks.
And in Henley's case, where the audio files line up so perfectly across different performances in different years, it's obvious what he's doing.
The Eagles are largely a vocal harmony group. To me, that makes the sin greater. It's why I'm more forgiving of, say, Pink or Janet Jackson: they don't hang their hats on perfect vocals or vocal harmonies. But if you can't do what you're there to do, then perhaps you don't belong there... Imagine Janet Jackson having a huge production, massive dance numbers with great choreography and effects, but she mostly just stands there, or occasionally is obscured and one of those new digital avatars replaces her on stage to do the challenging parts of the dance routine.
|
|
sambfc
Denny's Drums
Posts: 14
Likes: 11
|
Post by sambfc on Apr 17, 2024 15:36:06 GMT
Yep the Wings of Pegasus channel has some interesting stuff, though it is a little tedious at times when his auto-tune expose videos go phrase by phrase to show where a performer's pitch remain impossibly "on the line" throughout a performance or recording. If you haven't checked it out already, he has also done deep dive analysis on some classic Beach Boys content which is worth a watch.
|
|
|
Post by Kapitan on Apr 17, 2024 19:11:32 GMT
It does get a little excessive when he is going over the same basic issue again and again with each phrase or note. But to be generous, I think he also probably was trying to show how it's not just one coincidental little blip, but overwhelmingly obvious.
However, for the purposes of watching a video, it's not exactly riveting! It's the kind of thing that, in a book, you could just mention and then have a citation referencing where all the supporting evidence can be found.
|
|
|
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Apr 17, 2024 20:08:32 GMT
Finally, topic adjacent if not on topic, has anyone seen recent YouTube content apparently exposing Don Henley, and possibly his colleagues, miming parts of their show for the past little while? Of course similar discussions have been had online for the likes of Frankie Valli for years. As always am interested in the thoughts of folks here about such things. I hadn't seen that. I was kinda following Don Henley's recent lawsuit where he tried to recover/retrieve some handwritten Eagles' lyrics that he "gave" to a biographer for a book that was never published. Apparently Henley lost (or is losing) that case.
Anyway, I have to say that this lip synching news surprises me very much. Whenever I hear/read about these lip synching controversies, I'm usually not too surprised when I consider the performer, whether it be Britney Spears, Frankie Valli, or even Paul Stanley. However, while I'm not necessarily a Don Henley fan, I do consider him not just a performer but an artist. He always came across that way to me, so this is surprising. There are also a few other musicians in The Eagles including Joe Walsh, Timothy B. Schmit, and Vince Gill with very good reputations. While they probably won't/can't say anything, I wonder how they feel being in a band where lip synching is...allowed.
|
|
|
Post by Kapitan on Apr 17, 2024 20:30:43 GMT
Finally, topic adjacent if not on topic, has anyone seen recent YouTube content apparently exposing Don Henley, and possibly his colleagues, miming parts of their show for the past little while? Of course similar discussions have been had online for the likes of Frankie Valli for years. As always am interested in the thoughts of folks here about such things. I hadn't seen that. I was kinda following Don Henley's recent lawsuit where he tried to recover/retrieve some handwritten Eagles' lyrics that he "gave" to a biographer for a book that was never published. Apparently Henley lost (or is losing) that case.
Anyway, I have to say that this lip synching news surprises me very much. Whenever I hear/read about these lip synching controversies, I'm usually not too surprised when I consider the performer, whether it be Britney Spears, Frankie Valli, or even Paul Stanley. However, while I'm not necessarily a Don Henley fan, I do consider him not just a performer but an artist. He always came across that way to me, so this is surprising. There are also a few other musicians in The Eagles including Joe Walsh, Timothy B. Schmit, and Vince Gill with very good reputations. While they probably won't/can't say anything, I wonder how they feel being in a band where lip synching is...allowed.
Another video by a different YouTube acct shows some evidence of Walsh participating in it, at least for some higher parts.
|
|