Playing songs too fast

JB128716

I blame Ticketmaster.

(shakes fist violently back-and-forth) damn you Ticketmaster.

nevmiles

kjw818 wrote:

Why does the band play some songs so much faster than they used to?

Same goes for this, right?:

1998:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MYMNTPG-l4

2013:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zChpa5KrrpI

It's just gotten faster & faster over the years . . not that I mind, but some songs do need to slow down a bit IMO. Some, like above, may work better with the tempo increased a bit...

Abe Froman

NHiding wrote:

I certainly can't speak for any band members, but I know if I was one of 'em, and posed with this question/topic, my answer would be to quote that Jefferson Starship song 'Stairway To Cleveland'....which goes..."fuck you, we do what we want!"

:thumbup:

Abe Froman

mfc2006 wrote:

as a musician, I can tell you this much.....

the tempo changes all the time. whether it's the mood, the vibe, the flow....whatever...

when you play live, things tend to speed up. sometimes (very rarely), they slow down.

it's all about energy....and it just happens.

So true.


And I like faster!

mydogmookieblaylock

kjw818 wrote:

I also think that playing songs too fast really strains Ed's voice. I think that's a big reason why he doesn't sound nearly as good as he used to.

has nothing to do with the cigarettes or the fact that every one sounds worse as they get older ..... except Eric Clapton maybe.

NHiding

by Spiritual_Chaos » Apr 18th, '13, 04:44

NHiding wrote:
I certainly can't speak for any band members, but I know if I was one of 'em, and posed with this question/topic, my answer would be to quote that Jefferson Starship song 'Stairway To Cleveland'....which goes..."fuck you, we do what we want!"

http://i.qkme.me/dmf.jpg

It's not about kissing their ass on both cheeks, I just find the entire argument stupid. They play how they play. If they wanna slow something down like they did Jeremy in '95, they will.

mydogmookieblaylock

NHiding wrote:

by Spiritual_Chaos » Apr 18th, '13, 04:44

NHiding wrote:
I certainly can't speak for any band members, but I know if I was one of 'em, and posed with this question/topic, my answer would be to quote that Jefferson Starship song 'Stairway To Cleveland'....which goes..."fuck you, we do what we want!"

http://i.qkme.me/dmf.jpg

I just find the entire argument stupid

see every argument on Porch

cmm6734

I think they do it to change it up. They have been playing some of these songs for over 20 years. I can't stand Evenflow now, it is WAY too fast and sloppy. They need to slow it back down, like the old days.

rearviewross

mfc2006 wrote:

as a musician, I can tell you this much.....

the tempo changes all the time. whether it's the mood, the vibe, the flow....whatever...

when you play live, things tend to speed up. sometimes (very rarely), they slow down.

it's all about energy....and it just happens.

Completely agree with this. It just happens when you play live. You have nerves, adrenaline you feed off each other. It doesn't necessarily fall on the drummer. It is basically up to whoever starts the song to set the temp. I like the tempo up for live shows. It gives the songs more energy. The only real downside is it makes it a lot more difficult for the singer to breathe. So it can hurt the vocals sometimes.

goldrush

It's all Stone's fault!

mca47

Songs are played waaaaaaaay too fast theses days.
You cannot possibly blame Matt for this. Do you think if everyone else wanted to play it slower they wouldn't say "Hey Matt, slow it down a bit"?

The band wants to play them this way otherwise they wouldn't. I think they do it for two reasons...
They've played the songs 1000x and they just want to get through it.
They just want to get in as many songs as possible.

Neither is a good thing IMO.

rbrum7

RedMosquito02 wrote:

kjw818 wrote:

Why does the band play some songs so much faster than they used to?

1998
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjCmxkeeYks

2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hygggctNT8g

Two words: Matt Cameron

Matt Cameron drummed on the 98 Yield tour. So if he is playing fast he was playing it slow at one point as well. Give Matt a break.

green_girl

kjw818 wrote:

I also think that playing songs too fast really strains Ed's voice. I think that's a big reason why he doesn't sound nearly as good as he used to.

Eddie still sounds amazing.
But I have noticed when the band plays songs fast, he has to struggle to get some air.
Slow down, band. Give the guy a fighting chance. Breathing...it's pretty important for a singer.
:fp:

KM78948

i always think this when listening to the boots....the two a lot of people mention, gtf and unthought known, especially. i really really enjoy the gtf's from the earlier days, like the one on LO2L. I don't think it's nearly as noticeable at the show, but can def tell from the boots. i disagree that it's matt too, as people have pointed out he did the entire 98 tour. Some of the early 2000 US tour stops still had the live version close to the tempo from the record (i like the greensboro or charlotte one a lot, can't remember which), but seems to have started to speed up at some point with that tour.

that said, i would love to be able to go this fall and see gtf live, sped up, slowed down, upside down, inside out, etc.

TheGhost

Fast... slow... whatever! Tempo is just one of many musical changes the songs go through night by night, year by year. Sometimes a song will feel rushed and sometimes it will feel like it's dragging. It's what we sign up for as PJ fans. If you'd prefer, go see most any other band play their well rehearsed showcase of hits. Dig?

Rossum20

I definitely agree they blow through some of their songs way too fast these days -- I think Ed is more responsible than Matt is...I think it's all that garbage underground punk rock that Ed loves so dearly

rearviewross

Rossum20 wrote:

I definitely agree they blow through some of their songs way too fast these days -- I think Ed is more responsible than Matt is...I think it's all that garbage underground punk rock that Ed loves so dearly

I like that they play them faster. More speed, more energy. Kinda like Allen Rossum.

mschostok

Sorry to revive this 7 year old thread, but I was listening to some 98 shows earlier and the tempo of the songs was incredible. Given to Fly, Corduroy, and Even Flow sounded soooo much better slowed down. The painfully obvious sped up tempo is undoubtedly them flying through songs to get in as many as possible so they can play 32+ songs. In my opinion, I'd love for them to play 23-25 songs a night slowed down to their original tempo, like it was back in the day. This would make the songs sound better and probably prolong and preserve Ed's voice instead of having him sing 35 songs a night at breakneck speed without being able to breathe - I know he's an expert, but damn, playing the songs slower has got to help no? Just my opinion though. 

Vedd Hedd

I normally dont mind if they are slightly faster in person.  But, to me, Alive and Jeremy need to be slowed down a bit....or rather...played at normal speed.  

DTE, Even Flow, sure play them faster.  But those 2 songs above need their original tempo back. 

densan

Switch your membership level to Analog and things slow down.