Is this how bad it's become, that audiences over time have gradually just accepted it getting to this point? I mean, it's a supremely lousy song anyway, but my god...
Is this how bad it's become, that audiences over time have gradually just accepted it getting to this point? I mean, it's a supremely lousy song anyway, but my god...
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
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wow, and they didn't even get booed off the stage. If vocals sound too perfect live, there is a good chance that they are lip syncing.
My old band, a 7 piece " Blue On Shock"
did a support slot with a well known 2 piece Rave band back in 91. The 2 guys were in awe of us playing live. They had a couple of mics and their whole set on a DAT machine.
It was their gig though and their crowd tolerated us. I would have thought the sound crew would have at least had a bit of fun sorting us out.
To add. I saw Queen in about 1980 and they used a lot of recorded FX and stuff. Not sure about music though.
Last edited by clivey; 04-09-2022 at 04:43 AM.
https://cliveymacdougall.bandcamp.com/
Danger demos, jazz and warts stored here in vast amounts
https://www.soundclick.com/artist/de...bandID=1241900
I think Depeche Mode did this, which in a way was a turn of for me in those days. Later I've become to appreciate their music.
I saw Steve Howe on a solo tour years back.. he used backing tapes very effectively..
The only band I saw that I'm positive used backing tapes, both times I saw them, was Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. I wasn't particularly bothered by it.
I've seen a couple bands' performances in which the singer was drunk. Lip-syncing might have been an improvement.
Lou
Looking forward to my day in court.
I saw Daevid Allen (Gong) do a show in Worcester, MA back around 1980 -- just him playing guitar with a backing tape. It was quite enjoyable. Using tapes or MIDI tracks to add subtle embellishments is acceptable, but if they replace the entire vocal track, they're just lazy or incompetent.
Roger Waters is known for having pre-recorded vocals in his solo shows. Someone will say his shows are as much about the spectacle anyway, but this lip-synching puts him somewhat at odds with his contemporaries IMHO.
Kayak used for the live-performances of Merlin Bard of the unseen a backing-tape with the orchestra.
I don't mind it for effects and atmosphere, I'd even take backing vocals if your tour as a smaller band than your studio work, but replacing lead vocals or lead instruments would be a huge turn off
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
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Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
Yes, for sure the tapes have their usefulness for a band who simply don't have enough fingers to recreate every sound you hear on the records. They're still playing the main songs live. And if a solo musician like Steve Howe is touring and using backing, I get it. But when a band all walk away from their mics and all the lead vocals and playing continue on (as in this case, where they don't even pretend to sing or lip-synch), well, that's simply ridiculous in my view. And this example shown above is not even a song that requires anything extra. It's a cookie-cutter 1988 hair metal template with simple structure and an insipid chorus. These guys have no business even being on a stage, let alone charging admission.
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
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Rush used backing tracks for years, although never for the lead vocals like this guy was doing. It seems to be an increasingly common practice though. I remember a few years ago when Meatloaf collapsed on stage and his vocals kept going. He later claimed that he was using it at a “guide” vocal or something like that. There was the whole scandal when Steve Aqari was in Journey towards the end where some crew members claimed all his lead vocals were pre-recorded. I also remember seeing a certain band at ROSfest a few years ago that will go nameless whose backing vocals were so perfect and sterile sounding that if they were not pre-recorded those guys were the best backing vocalists in the history of rock n roll.
Anyway………I can tolerate some level of backing tracks, but when it is obvious the lead vocalist is not actually singing as in the video I think I would have turned around and walked out.
Tull did this with Songs From The Wood, where the chorus of backing vocals was clearly three or four Ians (directly from the record, I think?), while whoever was on bass & keys at the time mimed along (funny how Dave Pegg and Peter Vetesse sounded identical to John Glascock and David Palmer!) and the real Ian sang his lead parts live. But again, that one's kind of understandable and I don't think they were really trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes. Seems silly to mime along though, unless they really were singing quietly as well.
As for Rush, well, a perfect example of a band who were already so stretched to the limits of human capabilities that they had to have little additions on tape, as they didn't want to alter the dynamic and bring on a fourth member (an idea they did in fact toy with around the Hold Your Fire era).
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
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I've mixed feelings about it. I think I might prefer it if a group arange their songs for concerts, so they can be done live. A concert is not a record, so I think I prefer hearing just the group playing their stuff and leave out the parts that can't be done live. I want to see and hear what the group does. If they really need extra musicians, bring them on stage and don't hide them behind a curtain or under-stage, or put them on a tape. With some sound-effects, it might be different.
Hurtleturtled Out of Heaven - an electronic music composition, on CD and vinyl
https://michaelpdawson.bandcamp.com
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Pr...MCD-spc-7.aspx
In recent Who shows, Pete, Roger, and their band play along with video tapes of Keith and John. Very well done, and a nice tribute.
"Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"--Dalai Lama
Back in the 80's I saw Howard Jones open for Eurythmics. He had pretty much everything sequenced, it was just him and a mime (!).
He would just get up and dance around while the music played. Do some melodies, or keyboard stabs for effect.
A perfect encapsulation of 'The 80's sound' at the time.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
-- Aristotle
Nostalgia, you know, ain't what it used to be. Furthermore, they tells me, it never was.
“A Man Who Does Not Read Has No Appreciable Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read” - Mark Twain
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
I once saw Phil Keaggy live, solo, acoustic guitar, but he had this contraption that he could record loops while playing live. It was great. It was all him performing live and recording loops on the spot. It was awesome.
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