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Stanley Clarke bummed me out last night

#41
Colin_D said:
You would think someone with that much experience would realize what doing an entire set of songs that your audience hasn't ever heard isn't going to be super popular with the average fan. But hey I guess you could always be irritated with the crowd for calling out the names of songs they paid for your carreer with instead.

I get wanting to show the fans the new directions you are going in, and not wanting to be stuck in the past, but hey, c'mon, if it's a good song, and you wrote it, why not play it to get em juiced and when they are excited, hit them with some of the standouts from the new album.
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have a buddy who loves yes but he hated the album tales from topographic oceans, as most sane people do. he saw them on the tour to support that album, they played siberian khartru and heart of the sunrise as they usually did, then jon anderson announces that they're going to play the entire tales from topographic oceans album from start to finish. if you're not familiar, it was an 80 minute album where every song lasted 20 minutes. he and his friends left before they even started the first song.

i once heard a really funny comedian describe the ideal concert for people 35 or over...

---starts at 7, ends at 8

---no opening act

---only hits or popular album tracks allowed, except for one new song halfway through the show to allow those with bladder problems to pee

say what you want about van halen, but when they reunited a couple years ago to tour, they played the hits and nothing but. i lose a lot of respect for bands who refuse to play their hits. i guess if you're neil young, you think the crowd who paid to see you play owes it to you to indulge your every boring thought, but guess what? without those people, neil young is just another canadian hippie with a high voice and mediocre guitar skills. and i say that as a compliment because i like neil.
 
#42
dougjwray said:
What ever happened to going to a concert because the artist intrigued you and you wondered what surprises the night could bring?
Too many people confuse performers with expensive jukeboxes, IMO.


(Sorry about the rant...)
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+1, That's why so many bands use tracks for live shows, people want the concert to sound just like the record, boring!;)
 
#43
Todd Rundgren is another one of those artists you have to learn to expect the unexpected when he performs. A friend of mine saw him twice over the past several years and still says Todd stole his money both times.

Like the OP I've been to some performances that turned out wildly different than what I was expecting, but as long as the artist in question was one I truely appreciated I never really minded it. In this particular case I probably would've felt the same way. That being said, I do agree with most of the responders in that NOBODY is worth $100/ticket, unless that ticket included some 1-on-1 facetime or another perk.
 
#44
I saw Bela Fleck and the Fleck tones at the Blue Note (NYC) in December of '08. I was all geared up for some bluegrass fusion but they played Christmas tunes the entire show. They rocked them but thats not what I expected. I guess thats how it goes sometime.:hmm:
 
#45
When you think of Stanley, do you think of just Upright? I don't, so I expected some of both. I'm hip to an artist sharing "where he's at" with his music, but I also believe at least a nod to what made them famous is appropriate.
 
#47
krafty said:
Todd Rundgren is another one of those artists you have to learn to expect the unexpected when he performs. A friend of mine saw him twice over the past several years and still says Todd stole his money both times.
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todd's another one of those guys that irritate me. used to love him but man is he a jerk! he once had the arrogance to say, "i did all the favorites on the last tour and gave to my audience. now it's their turn to give back to me."

BACK TO YOU??? hey dude, your fans gave at the door. they've given you all they need to...play the freaking hits!
 
#49
I've seen stanley a whole bunch of times and there were a few tours where he didn't even bring an electric. It never occured to me...

this is the best solo Stanley has done:


I also have the Bass Player mag from when he turned 50 and was considering giving up on the electric because it's a "young person's instrument".

~Jimm
 
#50
I saw Jeff Beck a few years back and I recognized not a single song that he & the band played. I guess I was lucky, the show was still really good and sounded good too.

I paid good money to see Patrick Moraz & Bill Bruford. Reconized nothing of the music, but it was still cool.

I went to see Jack DeJohnette because someone said "he is cool". He was! Tore my head off.

I saw Eugene Chadbounre. He played covers, completely wreckin' on precious classics. I loved every minute of it.

After being stood up at the last minute for a date by a lovely circus girl, a friend dragged me to see the Butt Hole Surfers. It was the biggest mess of noise I had ever heard. Worth every minute & made being stood up not seem so bad.

I was living in Ann Arbor then. A university town. You get used to seeing different stuff and not knowing what to expect.
 
#51
I'm going to see Stanley in Philly in June. Its advertised as an acoustic jazz show. I would rather see him play upright personally, I find his upright playing more musical. I play electric and love his electric playing too but it seems to me that his upright playing is just more emotional. Just my opinion. I hope he plays songs I never heard, I always like when artisits do that. Its cool to hear the hits too though. He's touring with Hiromi, not sure who else is playing with them.
 
#55
JimmyM said:
have a buddy who loves yes but he hated the album tales from topographic oceans, as most sane people do. he saw them on the tour to support that album, they played siberian khartru and heart of the sunrise as they usually did, then jon anderson announces that they're going to play the entire tales from topographic oceans album from start to finish. if you're not familiar, it was an 80 minute album where every song lasted 20 minutes. he and his friends left before they even started the first song.

i once heard a really funny comedian describe the ideal concert for people 35 or over...

---starts at 7, ends at 8

---no opening act

---only hits or popular album tracks allowed, except for one new song halfway through the show to allow those with bladder problems to pee

say what you want about van halen, but when they reunited a couple years ago to tour, they played the hits and nothing but. i lose a lot of respect for bands who refuse to play their hits. i guess if you're neil young, you think the crowd who paid to see you play owes it to you to indulge your every boring thought, but guess what? without those people, neil young is just another canadian hippie with a high voice and mediocre guitar skills. and i say that as a compliment because i like neil.
Click to expand...

I would have totally loved to see Stanley do a concert on upright. As for Yes, their Tales From Topograhic Oceans IMO was completetly BRILLIANT and I also caught their supporting it and loved every song. I've never been one to listen to or get stuck on whats popularly received. If an artist produces as good song and has a history and catalog showing their artistry I would have no problem sitting thru a concert listeningto new material. NO laughing, my wife when we got married 15 years ago was and is a HUGE Gino Vanelli fan and when we heard he was coming to town around 7 years ago I bought tickets thinking he'd do songs like "Living Inside Myself" or People Gotta Move", boy was I wrong. He launched into some material I had no clue about, his band was supremely tight and he is probably the best vocalist I've ever heard. It was nice being introduced to new sounds and experiences as a musician. As Maki would say "Just my $0.02"
 
#59
Ticket prices are insane. I just called to see what tickets were for the Circus and they were $90. So before you walk in the door, a family of 4 has dropped $360 - then you have concessions etc....

In contrast, I recently saw AWB, for $30 - two hour set, the band came out and met everyone after and signed autographs. That was a good take for a little money - they played and sounded great!
 
#60
As much as he broke ground on the electric back in the day, I much prefer his upright playing. I've seen both (although it's been decades) and found the upright shows to be far more compelling. The electric stuff rocks out (and the Clarke/Duke Project was a lot of fun) but his acoustic playing seems deeper. Just my 02c.
 

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