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I think everyone will admit Victor is one of the best, but also that the stuff played in that video was not up to par..
Ill take this Victor anyday, now this is where Victor shows off his talent..
That is some of THE crassest, tackiest crap I've heard and seen in a long time. It is to music what the Ronco 'Chop-o-matic' is to the culinary arts; it appeals to the LOWEST common denominator, and is mainly for people who don't know how to use a knife properly.
Jaco used to do that s***, but he had a diagnosed and severe mental condition, was off his much-needed medication, and was high on huge doses of self-inflicted drugs and WAY too much adulation; he had TOTALLY lost it. Victor is apparently clean as a whistle, which leads me to believe that he is just drunk on power, showbiz, and his own ego. Also, look what happened to Jaco, and how he wound up; that video looks to me like the beginning of the end, like HE'S really starting to lose it. Zawinul said of Jaco: "towards the end, it wasn't about the music anymore, it was all about 'the show'", and I think, sadly, that's what's happening here. I think Victor needs a sabbatical, and to rediscover the power and the beauty of music, real music, not look-ma-no-hands Chopin's-minute-waltz-in-25-seconds Hollywood-show-biz grandstanding bull****.
I LOVE the guy; he has done some incredible stuff, and he is the most amazing technical virtuoso to come along in a generation, possibly ever, but it is what he does with it that is so appalling. And the singing... "I'm too funky for my socks..."
He is capable of so much more. When will we hear his 'Portrait of Tracy', the solo to 'Havona', the marvellous sparse bass line, just 12 notes long that anybody could play, to 'The Juggler'? That miraculous, once-in-a-lifetime sound that excites you and you can identify with one note? Victor could do this, all of this and more, instead he's swinging his bass around his freakin' neck and going fwapety-fwapety-fwap on a bunch of pentatonic b******* at 100 notes a second that we've heard him do 500 times before. It's just sad, man. Maybe his production company is 'forcing' him to do this stuff, maybe it's the producer, he's under contract, or maybe he's just too busy, not enough time to reflect on stuff, that he feels obligated to do this. I know he can really play - everybody knows it. So when's it going to happen?
To me, this should be in a circus tent, not a concert hall. He could do so much more. We see enough moronic, crass semi-musical pretentious crud on MTV or MuchMusic played by imbeciles without having to watch the greatest living electric bassist resorting to it. What's next; join the Stones for their 'One-Last-Kick-At-The-Cat Flogging it to Death' tour?
Victor, baby, we love you and we need you in one piece. Take a holiday, man; you're getting too old for that sh**. It's time to get serious.
A big fan,
but anxiously awaiting some real music,
Cameron
BTW: On the same YouTube page, there's a link to Zawinul Syndicate at the same concert as Victor's band. If you want to hear some serious freakin' bass playing and deep, astonishing grooves, check out Linley Marthe:
Definitely one of my favorites, and to think, I got him his DR String endorsement, and he doesn't even know it...
That is some of THE crassest, tackiest crap I've heard and seen in a long time. It is to music what the Ronco 'Chop-o-matic' is to the culinary arts; it appeals to the LOWEST common denominator, and is mainly for people who don't know how to use a knife properly.
Jaco used to do that s***, but he had a diagnosed and severe mental condition, was off his much-needed medication, and was high on huge doses of self-inflicted drugs and WAY too much adulation; he had TOTALLY lost it. Victor is apparently clean as a whistle, which leads me to believe that he is just drunk on power, showbiz, and his own ego. Also, look what happened to Jaco, and how he wound up; that video looks to me like the beginning of the end, like HE'S really starting to lose it. Zawinul said of Jaco: "towards the end, it wasn't about the music anymore, it was all about 'the show'", and I think, sadly, that's what's happening here. I think Victor needs a sabbatical, and to rediscover the power and the beauty of music, real music, not look-ma-no-hands Chopin's-minute-waltz-in-25-seconds Hollywood-show-biz grandstanding bull****.
I LOVE the guy; he has done some incredible stuff, and he is the most amazing technical virtuoso to come along in a generation, possibly ever, but it is what he does with it that is so appalling. And the singing... "I'm too funky for my socks..."
He is capable of so much more. When will we hear his 'Portrait of Tracy', the solo to 'Havona', the marvellous sparse bass line, just 12 notes long that anybody could play, to 'The Juggler'? That miraculous, once-in-a-lifetime sound that excites you and you can identify with one note? Victor could do this, all of this and more, instead he's swinging his bass around his freakin' neck and going fwapety-fwapety-fwap on a bunch of pentatonic b******* at 100 notes a second that we've heard him do 500 times before. It's just sad, man. Maybe his production company is 'forcing' him to do this stuff, maybe it's the producer, he's under contract, or maybe he's just too busy, not enough time to reflect on stuff, that he feels obligated to do this. I know he can really play - everybody knows it. So when's it going to happen?
To me, this should be in a circus tent, not a concert hall. He could do so much more. We see enough moronic, crass semi-musical pretentious crud on MTV or MuchMusic played by imbeciles without having to watch the greatest living electric bassist resorting to it. What's next; join the Stones for their 'One-Last-Kick-At-The-Cat Flogging it to Death' tour?
Victor, baby, we love you and we need you in one piece. Take a holiday, man; you're getting too old for that sh**. It's time to get serious.
A big fan,
but anxiously awaiting some real music,
Cameron
BTW: On the same YouTube page, there's a link to Zawinul Syndicate at the same concert as Victor's band. If you want to hear some serious freakin' bass playing and deep, astonishing grooves, check out Linley Marthe:
Definitely one of my favorites, and to think, I got him his DR String endorsement, and he doesn't even know it...
Jauqo, how do you know everything about everything? Amazing. Really.
Also, I saw Vic in concert with these guys.
Sure, Vic is flashy and a showman, but you won't find a deeper pocket on the road today.
