MaryJanes2ndLastDance
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Posts posted by MaryJanes2ndLastDance
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(What happend to King on a few tours was bordeline to me, while hearing Melinda evolve over time was more of an awesome example -
Are you referring to how the jam always built to the same climax? Prior to that, I'm assuming the soloing was different from night to night. Sure it would've been more interesting if they didn't always build to that moment but I'm fine with it.
Perhaps Melinda had more of an organic feel because of Benmont, though even that builds to a certain part before the song continues on.
cheers
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Not that they don't enjoy playing hits or faster numbers, but my impression is they most enjoy playing songs with a good midtempo groove, like Two Men Talking, or Tweeter. I wonder what a show would look like if they simply played only what they wanted to play and not what they expect the audience to hear? I guess it would be a lot of covers, which is a shame.
Keeping to the positive, they do a great job with the midtempo numbers, especially when the rhythm keeps going and Mike and/or Ben solo.
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Great!
Playing music is so much fun, be it on your own or with others.
Do you have a bunch of TPATH songs you run through?
You play in a band?
cheers
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The 2013 tour and past ones, would've been much improved if they had taken your suggested approach Shelter; all right, it's the same set list as the night before, but any song could be potentially extended given their mood and the crowd response tonight!
It sure would have been fun listening!
cheers
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I just mean that it would be awesome to go to an imaginable show and have a 12 minutes King and the next night hear how they switched it for a 8 minutes Mary Jane and a 4 minute Wasted Life and the third night perhaps they could perform just a 4 minutes King and a few shorter kick-#ss rockers in the same slots, saving the onslaught for Shadow People at some other point in the show ..
Sure, I'd enjoy that approach. If not as great as doing that and mixing up the set night to night, it would definitely reinvigorate their concerts. Sure, they played everything in the same order but gave us the 7 minute Running Down A Dream shredding festival and the six minute Forgotten Man!
I also picture a longer than 90 minute show. If that's what they were doing in 2013, I understand given their situation, but I was hoping they could at least do two hours.
Ahh, it doesn't take long to return to the set list discussion, does it?
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The more they improvise or jam in concert, the more variety within the standard set list.
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Anyway, to me it's just ironic that Stan was ousted - all personal differences aside, and I know those were key as well - due to musical differences, just to have TP&TH go back towards what could be called more of a "Stan way" within some 10 years of TP letting his Jeff-Jeffs out. Of which Stan already sat through at least 5, before he was let up.
I also think that Stan could've played on those records, could've done a good job with Wildflowers and so on. It's not like it was a series of non-stop dirges and while the songwriting did evolve, it's not like Tom started writing dissonant pieces. But there was more than musical differences.
And here is the biggest irony, in my opinion, about the whole Stan situation.
He didn't want to feel like he was in a covers band but most of a TPATH setlist is filled with songs that he played on. Had he stuck on through Wildflowers, only the Full Moon Fever hits would be where he hadn't been part of the album. The majority of the set are the classics from the 70s & 80s. To some degree, it's more of being in a covers band for Steve, than it would've been for Stan!
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Rule of thumb as far as jam goes. Peanut butter though, I like.
Nice!
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Yes. That is exactly it. Just that.. you seemingly suggest or encourage the "stretching out" as an almost universal remedy in your posts (I might be mistaken here, but hence my comment), while I think it's a tonic better served with severe caution for any band that are not Grateful Dead. But, oh yes, I love reworkings of songs - to do something with a song in the live setting is the whole point in performing it as I see it. Trying to duplicate the record is utter folly. But stretching things out, jamming extensively and what have you, is far from the only way to "do something", imo. But sure, I can appreciate a certain inspired looong It's Good To Be King here, a Chrystal River there.. Certainly. I don't particularly like to know if, when and how it's gonna happen though. Rule of thumb as far as jam goes. Peanut butter though, I like.
I don't see it as a universal remedy, I just enjoy it, be it a song that has a pre-planned moment to jam in (It's Good To Be King) or if they come to the end of a song and Mike or Ben or someone spontaneously takes another solo.
I enjoy long concerts, where there are many flavors being served up, so I definitely prefer more than one or two jam songs; it's about balance. I understand that some bands have songs they know are going to open up and explore in the live setting and that seems important to know ahead of time with six musicians on stage but I also, like you, enjoy when a band takes a song off the beaten path as it were.
I also think just even a little variation in a song can do wonders, like the bridge in Even the Losers, sometimes Tom lets that part go on, it's not some giant jam like King, but it's still something different, it's saying we're not in a hurry to get this over with, to get to the last verse, let's enjoy this spot here. Same with the Waiting sometimes.
So...I love the jamming, I could handle more, but not so much as to belabor every song, and also like when they offer up alternate takes. This has been discussed before, but I would like it if they switched up Learning To Fly, a hybrid of the original version and the sing-along-gospel-choir take on it.
cheers
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I'm curious to hear Stan's take.
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I really enjoy when TPATH jam on a song, when they open the middle and let the instruments go wild for a while. I think they have a good balance between doing this and keeping fidelity with the album versions.
Some of my favorites in random order:
It's Good To Be King---perfect for a long road trip. The guitars intertwine perfectly, going from a blasting solo to a moody, spacey sequence.
Driving Down to Georgia---Even though there's no album version for comparison, it can vary a bit in length, with the middle and the outro. A great song for both audience and band to have fun with!
Saving Grace from 08----Ahh, this is fantastic! One of my favorite reworked songs, it elevates the entire tune from a Bo Diddley/John Lee Hooker mashup to a long, rocking jam. From MIke's slide intro to Steve's pummeling drums, this is the best version of the song by far.
Mike's Surf Instrumental circa 95 & 99----Great opportunity for Mike to take the band in any direction he feels like it. Some inspired riffing on Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit and a variety of surf instrumentals. A lot of fun!
Dog on the Run---a great 70s jam song, fantastic moment for Ron and Stan to shine.
Melinda----Benmont!
Two Men Talking---And what a conversation!
Do you enjoy the same, or does the 12 minutes of It's Good To Be King have you wishing for a rebellion?
What are some of your favorites?
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Granted, TPATH have been giving electronic copies of new LPs to people when they buy a ticket to the show, but you gotta play the music live if you want people to get invested in it and do it often or it quickly gets forgotten.
I remember going up to a guy in a Hypnotic Eye concert t-shirt and asking what he thought of the new album. I think he barely listened to it and seemed indifferent. But that still is a good way to get people, especially the ones who are just there for the hits, exposure to the new record.
cheers
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I'd rather cross the Atlantic to hear them jamming than sit through the greatest hits again. It's always good but Isle of Wight was a nadir as opposed to the Beacon.
That's understandable. I checked out the setlist, highlights for me would've been King, Something Good Coming and Good Enough.
They should do a residency in Europe, especially if they are there for a festival.
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Let me up......A metaphor for Stan's last defiant stand as a rock n roll drummer before looking miserable on Take The Highway tour video trying to play in what he termed a Full Moon Fever ''cover band''. Things were never going to be the same again after this Let Me Up album.
I think it could've worked if Stan had stayed in the band. There's nothing that Tom wrote that he couldn't have handled. I understand the reasons given for his departure/firing. I just think it would've been interesting had he remained, to have that many original members with the band all these years.
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As you may know, I'm generally not a jam man myself. I prefer short, sweet and intense, if I get to choose.
Do you enjoy moments like It's Good To Be King? Or the long Saving Grace? I think for the most part, TPATH do a good job between stretching songs out, reworking songs (acoustic Kings Highway or I Won't Back Down, etc.) and playing them pretty much as is, like with Free Fallin'.
Too many extended songs become a slog, not enough and I could just stay home and listen to the album.
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You don't say?
As you may know, I'm generally not a jam man myself. I prefer short, sweet and intense, if I get to choose. But I do try to strech out the endings of my posts at times, which perhaps is to your benefit then, and is something that perhaps you can tell from this totally erratic subordinate clause, for example, or this whole second part of my post if you like................ Enough of the same old same old erratic subordinate clause; I think it's way past time you brought back the unattached participle clause...perhaps when you post a residency?
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I'm curious to read what martin03345 has to say.
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I'll give a more in depth post on each song later and why I think the album works as a whole and is under appreciated but I just wanted to kind of post my thesis and see what the likes of Shelter have to say
That sounds interesting.
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The album is the peak (or nadir) of the 80s style begun on Southern Accents while the off-the-cuff songwriting points the way towards Wildflowers down the road.
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Cause, in reality, this particular 1987 vibe -
This "vibe" ruined Runaway Trains. There's a good song struggling to be heard under all the f/x. Had it been recorded on Wildflowers, or as you suggested, Mojo, I think it would be a much loved classic, at least by people who read this forum.
That and Let Me Up would be great at a residency. Runaway Trains could have that extended moody jam like Shadow People or Tweeter & the Monkey Man, while Let Me Up could have its ending stretched out.
cheers
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I think it's one of the best rock songs they wrote from the Stan era. I thought it would've been performed on the Let Me Up tour but I guess not.
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I think I've convinced myself this album is better than I remember.
When I just looked at your list of songs, I thought, I like most of 'em. Maybe it's just the order that drags this down, or maybe any combination of these particular songs; maybe they just don't flow the way great albums do.
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*In the light of this, the most amazing thing of all is that something that sounds like Full Moon Fever could be reached by largely the same bunch of people within two years! I am stunned every time I realize how little time elapsed between LMU and the Wilburys/Fever era. Seriously - just think about it. As much as most things are floating, this definately is where some kind of line has to be drawn in terms of TP creative eras.
Good point! That is an amazing progression. And I think it's what adds to the neglect, disregard, avoidance of Let Me Up. In some article I read, around that tour they had to throw a curtain over some areas of arenas because of the empty seats. I think, as with a lot of TPATH's work, if I'm in a certain mood this record works for me. And who knows? Maybe one day someone in the band will suggest a song off here, maybe even the title one. They did play When The Time Comes, after all...!
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Oh how such a song would have swung had it been cut during Mojo sessions or performed live in the 2000s! It's so disappointing that they never revisit songs like that, giving them a second chance to proove greatness.
That's a really good idea! I think the song would've worked nicely on that album and would've been a real gem.
How I pass the evenings ..
in Anything That's Rock N Roll
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That's awesome and sounds like a lot of fun! Thanks for sharing.
Ha ha ha about converting them. What tpath songs do you play?
cheers